IN-102 English II · A1.2

Description (nature and purpose)

IN-102 General English II (A1.2) is the second of three levels of the foreign language subject at UNAH, which together aim at the complete A1 level of the CEFR. It is designed for face-to-face, blended and virtual modalities nationwide, ensuring accessible, consistent and inclusive education. It follows an action-oriented, competence-based model that promotes active and meaningful learning, supported by the UNAH Virtual Campus, physical and digital materials and multimodal resources. At the end of this second level, students can describe where they live, describe their city and design visit itineraries, ask for and give directions, locate themselves in space, shop and describe items, using different formats (oral, written and audiovisual) coherently and appropriately for their level.

Cross-curricular axes

Ethics: Takes part in activities, workshops and seminars that promote the fundamental principles of the university reform and their impact on language teaching and learning, in line with the ethical and educational guidelines of the institution.

Living conditions and quality of life: Promotes habits and practices that support quality of life, in order to enhance personal and professional development in learning and using the language, based on principles of overall well-being and self-regulation during language acquisition.

Prior capacities

• Communicates observations about linguistic and cultural diversity coherently, using basic English vocabulary and structures correctly to support understanding, through presentations.
• Clearly analyzes similarities and differences between English and the mother tongue in linguistic and cultural aspects, applying this knowledge to interpret simple oral and written texts.
• Produces greetings, farewells and introductions orally and in writing with intelligible pronunciation, ensuring that others understand and respecting the sociocultural conventions of the language.
• Understands personal information coherently and appropriately in real or simulated contexts, applying sociocultural norms and using basic vocabulary and grammar of the target language, through information exchanges.
• Interprets information about physical appearance, personality traits and family relationships accurately and coherently, including sociocultural norms and showing respect for diversity.
• Produces oral and written descriptions of people and family relationships clearly, with understandable pronunciation and appropriate basic vocabulary and grammar.
• Interprets information about routines, daily activities and personal habits coherently and appropriately, including expressions of frequency, likes and preferences in real or simulated contexts.
• Produces oral and written messages about daily life with clear and correct pronunciation, using basic vocabulary and grammar appropriately.

Generic competences

• Manages autonomous learning in different environments to support personal, academic and professional growth, based on self-regulation strategies, time management and reflective use of available resources.
• Analyzes, synthesizes and applies knowledge in different contexts to build meaningful learning through reflection on practice, based on criteria of relevance, coherence and knowledge transfer.
• Proposes creative solutions to changing situations to face challenges and seize opportunities for improvement in different environments, based on criteria of flexibility, relevance and innovation.
• Promotes interaction and learning practices that respect the principles of equity and inclusion to ensure coexistence and educational quality in learning environments, based on ethical norms, social responsibility and institutional commitment.
• Manages information, knowledge and technological tools to solve problems and collaborate in academic and professional contexts, based on criteria of critical analysis, innovation and informed decision-making.

Specific competences

• Understands and produces simple expressions about housing and accommodation, describing their home or room and making a basic hotel or online accommodation booking, giving and asking for simple information.
• Understands and uses simple expressions to describe their city or a known city, identifying its features, services and places of interest and expressing basic opinions or preferences about them.
• Understands and uses everyday expressions to ask for and give simple directions about the location of places and means of transport, understanding basic information about urban mobility and explaining how to get from one place to another with simple structures.
• Understands and uses everyday expressions to buy clothes and other products, asking about prices, sizes or colors, describing items simply and taking part in basic buying and selling interactions, politely and appropriately.

Sub-competences

• Describes their home, room or immediate surroundings, using specific vocabulary for furniture, spaces and locations with simple grammar and coherent discourse.
• Interacts in everyday accommodation situations (in person or online), asking for, offering and confirming basic information with polite expressions suited to the context.
• Presents general information about a city or a known place, highlighting relevant sites, services and cultural aspects, using basic connectors and structures.
• Expresses personal opinions and preferences about urban places and activities, using descriptive vocabulary and appropriate evaluative expressions.
• Understands simple directions to move around or find places, using common orientation and transport expressions.
• Interacts in everyday urban mobility situations, asking for and giving directions accurately, politely and with clear pronunciation.
• Interacts in basic shopping contexts, asking and answering questions about prices, quantities, sizes and product features, using appropriate polite expressions.
• Uses simple vocabulary and structures to describe and compare products, with clarity, understandable pronunciation and communicative appropriateness.

Thematic areas

Unit I: Routes and journeys in the city (directions)

• Location
• Directions
• Means of transport
• Respecting city signs

Unit II: Portraying cities and landscapes through language (the city)

• Features and description of the city
• Places of interest and tourist attractions
• Public spaces and urban activities
• City life: pace, customs and services

Unit III: Personal spaces and accommodation (home and lodging)

• Describing the home: spaces, rooms and furniture
• Types of accommodation: hotel, hostel, Airbnb
• Making bookings and confirming availability
• Expressing preferences and needs in accommodation

Unit IV: Commercial interaction and consumption (shopping)

• Buying clothes and accessories
• Describing products and items
• Shopping in stores and markets
• Expressing prices, quantities and personal tastes

Learning and teaching strategies

Face-to-face modality

In the face-to-face modality, students learn collaboratively through social interaction, working individually, in pairs, in small groups or as a whole class. The methodological strategies that guide the course include projects and contextualized communicative and pedagogical tasks based on the different language skills. The course combines oral, written and audiovisual reception, production and interaction activities.

Activities include conceptualization, language practice, information gap, pronunciation correction, simulations, role plays, gamification (kamishibai, escape rooms, storytelling), debates and intercultural reflection from an inclusive and critical perspective, as well as preparation for international exams. Contextualized activities promote intercultural reflection and plurilingual competence.

From a plurilingual and intercultural approach, this course promotes intercomprehension between related languages as a strategy to access written, oral and audiovisual texts. This practice develops receptive skills, strengthens language awareness and supports learner autonomy. Students' linguistic and cultural capital is recognized and valued as a key teaching resource. For this reason, the course includes presentations, dramatizations and plurilingual debates (translanguaging) that allow expression in different languages and encourage reflection on cultural diversity.

Authentic and teaching documents with a communicative and functional focus, adapted to young people's interests, are used: social media posts (memes, reels, TikToks), literary texts (poems, micro-stories, manga), digital materials (podcasts, vlogs), functional texts (reviews, forms, messages), visual documents (infographics, ads) and interactive resources (quizzes, escape rooms, digital portfolios).

Blended modality

The blended modality uses the flipped classroom model, combining face-to-face sessions with virtual meetings on videoconference platforms. It uses both physical resources and the university's virtual classroom, which brings together varied digital materials and language activities designed to support learning.

These include written, oral and digital reception, production and interaction tasks, as well as games, training exercises and video tutorials that help students understand grammar, vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. The activities and types of documents are the same as in the face-to-face modality and follow the principles and approaches of online learning.

Virtual modality

This course, hosted in the university's virtual classroom, follows a learner-centered methodology in which students take an active, autonomous and reflective role in building their learning. Based on self-study, it promotes self-regulated learning and the strategic use of digital resources. Contents are organized around students' interests, giving priority to real and motivating situations that help them make the language their own. During the course, students manage their progress, choose resources and assess their own progress, developing the learning-to-learn competence and their self-management.

A key axis is the development of autonomy through metacognitive activities to reflect, set goals, manage time, adjust strategies and transfer learning. Tips, self-assessments, reflective journals and portfolios support this process.

The virtual classroom is a repository, a communication channel and an assessment space. Optional synchronous sessions are offered for tutoring or collaborative feedback. The teacher guides the process through meaningful tasks, formative feedback and virtual support. Students access interactive materials and tools, including topic video tutorials, so they can progress at their own pace and autonomously.

Learning outcomes

• Understands, produces and interprets oral, written and audiovisual messages about housing, accommodation, cities and urban mobility, using appropriate grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, with discourse coherence and respect for the sociocultural norms of the target language.
• Interacts effectively in everyday situations such as bookings, directions and shopping, expressing and interpreting essential information with clear pronunciation, correct grammar, specific vocabulary and cultural and discourse appropriateness in oral and written production.
• Interprets and conveys information about cities, places and urban services in different oral, written and audiovisual formats, using appropriate structures, varied vocabulary and clear pronunciation, with organization and cultural appropriateness.
• Expresses opinions and preferences about city life through understandable and coherent interactions, using basic grammar and pronunciation resources, descriptive vocabulary and a register suited to the sociocultural context.
• Interprets and produces oral, written and audiovisual messages to give or ask for directions, using prepositions, connectors and imperatives accurately, with clear pronunciation and coherent discourse in urban mobility contexts.
• Takes part in everyday orientation and travel interactions, using expressions of location and movement with understandable pronunciation, relevant vocabulary and cultural and communicative appropriateness.
• Understands and exchanges information in shopping situations, identifying and communicating price, size, color and features, with appropriate commercial vocabulary, polite formulas and clear, coherent pronunciation.
• Describes and comments on products or clothes in oral and written production, using specific vocabulary, simple structures and natural intonation, with clarity, coherence and sociocultural appropriateness.

Assessment strategies

Face-to-face modality

At the beginning of the course a diagnostic assessment focused on pragmatic, linguistic and cultural aspects identifies students' prior knowledge. This sets the route and time needed for coherence between the contents of A1.1 and this course, supporting effective progress.

Formative assessment is continuous, through direct observation, oral and written feedback and teacher support while students complete tasks. It includes self-assessment and peer assessment, which promote social learning as well as students' self-regulation and autonomy.

Summative assessment uses meaningful tasks that integrate several language skills (oral, written and audiovisual comprehension, interaction and production) and show the development of competences in real or simulated contexts. It includes collaborative projects, final task presentations, dramatizations, debates and problem solving, integrating linguistic and intercultural knowledge as well as analysis, collaboration and critical thinking. Competence- and outcome-based rubrics, checklists and portfolios are used to grade it. These instruments ensure coherent, valid and reliable assessment.

Assessment in this modality can be fully face-to-face or combined, partly online and partly face-to-face.

Distance modality

In the hybrid modality, diagnostic, formative and summative assessment are similar to the face-to-face modality. Summative assessment can be fully face-to-face or combined, partly online and partly face-to-face. Formative assessment mainly uses delayed feedback, self-assessment activities and, in group activities, peer assessment.

Synchronous videoconference meetings are used for personalized pedagogical support and direct guidance. Summative assessment is recommended at the end of each unit, using e-portfolios and rubrics based on the descriptors of competences, sub-competences and expected learning outcomes.

In these assessments, especially online, validity and reliability are guaranteed to ensure a fair and rigorous process. Assessment in this modality includes digital projects, multimedia products and online collaborative activities, as well as tasks for oral, written and audiovisual comprehension, production and interaction. All activities are set in real and meaningful situations to show the development of specific competences in the use of English.