SENIOR 5
CEFR B1+ – Independent User
The students...
CAN understand most TV news and current affairs programmes.
CAN understand the majority of films in standard dialect.
CAN predict content in a conversation, a radio interview, chat-show, etc.
CAN understand standard spoken language, live or broadcast, on both familiar and
LISTENING
unfamiliar topics normally encountered in personal, academic or vocational life.
CAN understand the main ideas of complex speech on both concrete and abstract
topics delivered in a standard language including technical discussions in their field of
specialisation.
CAN understand extended speech and lectures and follow even complex lines of
argument provided the topic is reasonably familiar
CAN identify text type.
CAN understand some new words in authentic texts such as magazine articles.
CAN interpret writer’s intentions.
CAN read correspondence relating to their fields of interest and easily understand
the essential meaning
CAN understand specialized articles outside their field with the help of a dictionary.
READING
CAN read any kinds of texts quite easily at different speeds and in different ways
according to their purpose in reading and the type of text.
CAN quickly identify the content and relevance of news items, articles and reports
on a wide range of professional topics.
CAN read articles and reports concerned with contemporary problems in which the
writers adopt particular attitudes or viewpoints.
CAN understand contemporary literary prose.
CAN interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular
interaction with native speakers quite possible.
CAN express news and views effectively, and relate to those of others.
SPEAKING
CAN take an active part in discussions in familiar contexts, accounting for and
sustaining their views.
CAN present clear, detailed descriptions on a wide range of subjects related to their
field of interest.
CAN explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages
of various options.
CAN use a variety of linking words to mark clearly the relationships between ideas
CAN Spell and punctuate reasonably accurately.
CAN write clear, detailed and connected text on a range of subjects related to their
interests using the cohesive devices expected at this level.
CAN give reasons in support of or against a particular point of view.
CAN highlight the personal significance of events and experiences.
WRITING
CAN produce the following formats:
An informal letter or email
A formal letter or email
A narrative
A description of a person, place, object or event
A review
A short essay expressing their opinion on a topic, book or film.
GRAMMATICAL CONTENT
By the end of the course the students should be able to understand and
produce the following in addition to the contents listed in the previous
Senior syllabi.
FUNCTIONS GRAMMAR
Asking for specific information Subject and object questions
Speculating about the present Must, can’t, might, may, could
Talking about habits in the present and in Usually
the past Used to
Be /get used to
Expressing conditions Zero, first, second, third conditional
sentences
Changing focus Passive voice – all forms
Have/get sth done
Comparing Revision of comparative and superlative
forms
Reporting Reported speech
Indirect questions
Talking about the present Revision of present tenses
Talking about the past Revision of past tenses
Talking about the future Revision of future tenses and future
forms (will-going to-present continuous)
Describing if something is sufficient Too and enough
Talking about experiences, recent events, Revision of perfect tenses
etc
Using of Articles Articles (zero, a, the)
Expressing quantity Quantifiers (both, neither, either, all,
none, most, some, any, a little, a few, a
lot, plenty of, too, not enough)
Revision of modal verbs, permission and must, have to, mustn’t, can, can’t, don’t
possibility have to, should, ought to, etc.
Expressing obligation and absence of
obligation
Adding information Defining and Non-defining relative
clauses
TOPICS AND VOCABULARY AREAS
The list below does not provide an exhaustive register of all the areas which can be taught
at the level and it is simply meant as a guide of the most likely semantic fields the students
may encounter. It is strongly recommendable that all the listed Topics and Vocabulary
Areas should be addressed.
Clothes
Daily life, free time and hobbies
Education
People/Relationships/ Family
Personal feelings, experiences and opinions
Entertainment and the media
Food and drink
Health
House and home
Places and buildings
School and study
Shopping
Social interaction
Sport
Environmental issues-The natural world
Transport, travelling and holidays
Weather
Work and jobs
Technology
Music
The verb phrase: Verb patterns: look + adjective / look like + noun phrase / look as if + clause
Adjectives followed by prepositions
Phrasal verbs
Reporting verbs
In addition to these lexical areas, students are expected to start systematizing the simplest
aspects of word formation such as the use of prefixes, suffixes, antonyms and synonyms
WRITING
The candidates will be asked to produce a text of about 150 words using any of
the following formats
An informal letter or email
A formal letter or email
A narrative
A description of a person, place, object or event
A review
An opinion essay
An article
