SAP conceives English as an essential component in comprehensive education from its beginnings. Due to globalization, it is a priority that every person can communicate with an almost “universal” written and spoken language. Nowadays, learning English is what allows us to communicate, even though it is not the most spoken language but the one most cultures handle. Giving our students this important tool is vital for their working future. And the knowledge of a language includes knowing about the culture it represents, which gives our students a wider view not just in the academic areas but in their lives.

 

Here in SAP, students are able to learn a second language, as they did with their mother tongue. The teaching method of a second language must be based on the idea that students need a constant exposure to the new language and that the main objective is significant communication. Students will be motivated and respond correctly when they are fittingly encouraged and given the right support.

 

To achieve this, SAP has chosen a teaching method which is the sum of the following methods:

 

The Natural Approach. It emphasizes in the idea that language is learnt in the same way that we have learnt our mother tongue and that is used for communicative purposes.

 

Inmersion. It highlights the importance of creating an environment in which students are constantly exposed to the new language.

 

Total Physical Response (TPR). This idea remarks that when students carry out activities in which they have to make something physical, the learning adopts a different meaning and it is more effective.

 

Multiple Intelligences Theory. It guarantees that the different individuals have strengths in different types of intelligences, and that teachers must include activities for everyone to develop theirs.

 

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). It supports the development of abilities which make use of the language in situations which are important to students. The emphasis is made in the communication and not in the ability to make structured forms.

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The Spiral Approach. It focuses in the continuous revision of the material in different contexts and reinforces the vocabulary and the key structures as long as it is appropriate.

 

Our plan aims to take our students from the basic and initial level in Kinder to a level B2 (corresponding to the Common European Framework) in 12th grade, allowing the students to sit for an international exam which shows their independent level and their control over the language.

 

To accomplish this program we have the support of the University of Cambridge, which is a world leader and one of the main sources in the area of English as a second language for investigation, training professionals of ESL and ESL evaluation.

The Cambridge University exams are accepted in more than 13,500 universities, companies, and governments all over the world.

They are used for jobs and academic admission.

 

                       “The world doesn’t care what the students know,

                           but what they can do with what they know”

 

                                         Tony Wagner,

                         Expert in Education, Harvard University

 

                                 So, how can our students go from

 

                                    what they know in English

 

                                                 to show

 

                                     what they can do in English?

 

                                            The answer is CEFR

 

                             Common European Framwork of Reference

 

The Common European Frame of Reference establishes international standards for learning, teaching and evaluating English (and every modern language in Europe)

 

The CEFR descriptors provide us with the reference for the production of the language.

 

The complete global scale of the CEFR describes deeply the skills and knowledge related to situations in the learning of the language (people, places, time, organization, etc.) and contexts (work, study, social, tourism, etc.)

Using the CEFR descriptors to focus on the production in ESL, takes the Panamanian student from the local and limited level to national and international English regulations.

 

 

                    Why Cambridge in Smart Academy Panama?

• To prepare students for the international economy.

• To reach and overcome international university standards.

• To be leaders in Panama, with an International System with the acknowledgement and quality offered by the University of Cambridge.

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