PROGRAMA DE NIVEL AVANZADO

Inglés
Guía del estudiante

2020-2021
Mission Statement Table of contents 

MISSION STATEMENT
The College Board’s mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. We
are a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education.

About the College Board

The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to
college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand
access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of more than 6,000
of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and
equity in education. Each year, the College Board helps more than seven million students
prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college
readiness and college success — including the SAT® and the Advanced Placement Program®.
The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy
on behalf of students, educators and schools.
For further information, visit www.collegeboard.org.
El College Board Puerto Rico y América Latina (CBPRAL) desarrolla programas y servicios
similares a los que se ofrecen en los Estados Unidos, pero especialmente diseñados para
poblaciones cuyo vernáculo es el español. Estos programas están dirigidos a sistematizar
los procesos de evaluación y admisión universitaria, a fortalecer la orientación académica
y personal y a promover la excelencia educativa.
Entre nuestros instrumentos más conocidos se encuentran la PAA™; las Pruebas de Ingreso
y Evaluación para el Nivel Secundario (PIENSE™); el Programa de Nivel Avanzado (PNA™);
el Inventario CEPA™ (Conoce, Explora, Planifica y Actúa); el English Language Assessment
System for Hispanics (ELASH™); las Pruebas de Conocimiento por Área (PC™) y la Prueba
de Certificación de Maestros (PCMAS™).

El College Board está comprometido con el principio de igualdad de oportunidades, y sus programas, servicios y política
de empleo se rigen por este principio.

El College Board está comprometido con el principio de no discriminación y con combatir el hostigamiento sexual
en el reclutamiento de personal, así como en todos los servicios que ofrece y en las actividades que desarrolla.

El College Board basa el empleo en la capacidad personal y la preparación, sin discriminar por razón de raza, color, origen nacional,
religión, sexo, edad, condición social, afiliación política, impedimento o cualquier otra característica protegida por la ley.

© 2021 College Board. College Board and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board. All rights reserved.

PNA - Inglés - Guía del estudiante 2

Table of Contents 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
2 Course Description

2 Oral Communication

2 Grammar

6 Reading

10 Essay Topics

11 Course Outline

11 Unit 1: Oral Communication and Grammar Skills

13 Unit 2: The Essay and Expository Writing

14 Unit 3: Short Stories and Novels

16 Unit 4: Poetry

17 Unit 5: Drama

19 Bibliographic References

22 Advanced Level Test – English

22 Description

22 Practice Exercises

28 Practice Answers

29 Answer Sheet

31 Writing

33 Scoring Rubics for Essays

34 Advanced Level Committee

34 Advanced Level Readers Committee

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Course description Table of contents 

Course description
The Advanced Level (AL) course in English was In terms of content, the AL course can be roughly
developed by the Puerto Rico and Latin America Office divided into four areas: oral communication, grammar,
of the College Board for high school seniors whose reading, and writing. You should keep in mind, of
ability to understand and use English is above average course, that this “division” is more theoretical than
for their grade level. The course is comparable to the real because the four skill areas combine with each
content and difficulty level of higher achievement level, other in effective language use. No one can speak or
first-year English courses offered in most colleges and write well without a good command of the structure of
universities in Puerto Rico. You have been selected by the language, and reading leads to better writing and
your teachers and school officials to take the AL course control over a wider range of grammatical structures.
this year, a recognition you can be very proud of. You Furthermore, the word “skills” does not adequately
will find that the course offers you many rewards and cover the increased knowledge and intellectual and
advantages, all of which will be proportionate to the cultural development expected from the reading
effort you put into your study and class participation. component of the course, which, in turn, promotes
mature, more interesting writing and discussion. But
The most important advantage is the opportunity to
for reasons of organization and testing, it is convenient
take part in an exciting educational experience. The
to think of the course in terms of the four principal
teachers selected to offer this AL course in English
areas mentioned above.
possess the skills and preparation needed to guide
their students to high levels of achievement. The books
and other course materials are the same or similar as Oral Communication
those used at the university level in Puerto Rico; they
Oral communication, the first of these areas, is not
are selected for their teaching effectiveness and their
tested on the AL English Test. Because there is a high
interest and cultural values as well. Finally, classroom
correlation between different language skills, students
activities will consist of challenging, stimulating, and
who are good in other areas are likely to be good in oral
engaging experiences.
communication as well. Furthermore, your teacher’s
The second major advantage of the AL English course class evaluation will certainly take into account how
is that students who get high scores on the Advanced well you did in oral reports, group discussions, debates,
Level English Test, which is prepared and administered dramatic presentations, and similar class exercises.
by the College Board, receive some credit for the first-
Since grammar, reading, and essay writing are all tested
year English requirement at the college or university
separately, each of these areas will now be described
they decide to attend. Some universities have slightly
individually along with the types of questions or
different policies than others about granting credit for
exercises you may find on the AL English exam.
AL courses, so you should find out the specific policies
of the university you are planning to attend. Your high
school counselor or the admissions office Grammar
at the university will normally have this information.
Grammar refers to the relationships between words
Even if you do not go to college or do not get a high and phrases in a single sentence or, occasionally,
enough score on the AL examination to receive college between two closely related sentences. What are these
credit, completion of the AL course will still be a relationships? There are many kinds; the following are
positive addition to your high school record and your some of the most common:
high school experience. It will make future employers
ƒ Word order determines the position of each word
aware of your special academic achievement and your
in relation to all the other words in a sequence.
superior command of English. It will also provide you
with a variety of skills that will be useful in many of ƒ Agreement, in English, normally means number
your future endeavors. (singular and plural) correspondence between
subjects and verbs and between nouns and
pronouns.
ƒ Tense governs the choice of the particular verb form
required by the time referred to in the sentence or
by grammatical conventions, such as those which
determine the verb forms in reported speech and in
some types of conditional sentences.

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ƒ Verb phrases are a combination of two or more An effective device for testing word order is
verb forms that create certain tenses or meanings. an exercise offering a choice of five different
Some verbs, like those dealing with the future, may arrangements of sentence elements.
be single words in Spanish and verb phrases in
English.
1
ƒ Modal auxiliaries (should, may, can, etc.),
connecting words (but, furthermore, otherwise, Choose the best sentence.
etc.), and some modifiers (too, very, enough,
A) They went home after the meeting quickly.
etc.) affect the meaning of other words or the
relationship between sentence parts. B) They went after the meeting quickly home.

ƒ Comparison refers to the special forms of adjectives

C) Home they went quickly after the meeting.
and adverbs used when two or more objects or D) They went home quickly after the meeting.
actions are being compared. E) Quickly went they home after the meeting.
ƒ Special sentence types, such as questions and
negative sentences, have characteristic verb forms
This fairly simple test item examines whether the
and word order.
student knows that adverbs usually come at the
ƒ When two or more clauses are linked together, they end of an English sentence and that, in a series,
may have to be modified for grammatical or stylistic adverbs of place come first and adverbs of time
reasons. come last. The correct choice, then, is (D).
ƒ The forms of individual words, such as noun
plurals or past tenses of verbs, also come under the
heading of grammar. 2

If you - - - - me, I - - - - you.

Now, we will observe how different areas of the test could
be presented. A) had asked .. would have told
B) asked .. had told
On the Advanced Level English Test, grammar C) have asked .. told
and reading are tested through multiple-choice
D) had asked .. told
exercises.
E) asked .. would have told
A multiple-choice exercise on any College Board
examination consists of two parts: (1) a stem or lead,
which may be an incomplete sentence or a set of Although each of the ten verbs given in the options
instructions, and (2) a set of five options, of which you could occur in different kinds of conditional
are asked to select the best. It is important to remember sentences, the only acceptable combination is
that the “correct” option is the one that best illustrates (A). This exercise would not be hard for a native
good contemporary American English usage; many of speaker of English, but those who learned English
Shakespeare’s usages would not be considered correct as a second language might find it difficult because
if they were used today. the answer involves two elements and because
the English verbs do not, on the surface, resemble
their counterparts (hubieras preguntado .. hubiera
dicho) in an equivalent Spanish sentence.

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Course description Table of contents 

The next exercise is on the use of adverbs The next test items examine your knowledge
modifying adjectives. of parallel structures.

3 5

It is - - - - cold to go outside without a heavy sweater. On Thanksgiving Day my mother serves the family
A) too much baked turkey; on Christmas Day

B) very too A) roast pork is served.

C) too many B) she serves roast pork.
D) much too C) the family is served roast pork.
E) a lot D) there is roast pork.
E) we have roast pork served us by my mother.

The answer is D, much too, because it modifies

an adjective (cold) that refers to the temperature, Adjacent, closely related clauses influence each
which is uncountable. Both C and E are used to other stylistically in the sense that the same
refer to countable nouns. The other options are not structural pattern is preferred in both. That is why
viable combinations in this context. (B) even “sounds better” than the other options
below. Only (B) is parallel in structure to the first
part of the statement. (A), (C), and (E) contain
Here is an exercise that tests your knowledge passive structures. The subject in (E) is in the
of how connecting words bridge the meaning predicate.
between two clauses.

In a different kind of multiple-choice exercise,

4
the student is asked to choose the option that is
Frank is studying hard; - - - - , he is failing in physics. closest in meaning to the sentence given in the
stem.
A) moreover
B) besides
6
C) however
D) consequently Could I turn my paper in tomorrow?

E) furthermore A) Would you be willing to receive my paper?

B) Could I copy my paper over tomorrow?
C) Could I change my paper tomorrow?
Among the options, only (C) indicates the
contrasting relationship existing between the two D) May I turn in my paper tomorrow?
clauses. Options (A), (B), and (E) would lead us to E) Could you receive my paper tomorrow?
expect a continuation in the second clause of the
information given in the first. And (D) would suggest
that Frank is failing physics because he is studying This exercise is on the meaning of modal
hard! auxiliaries, and the correct response is (D). There
is similarity in meaning between (A) and (D), but for
a person who understands the uses of could and
may, (D) is indistinguishable from the stem, while (A)
is open to different interpretations.

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Verb forms can also be used as subjects or objects Another area in which it is hard to give general
of sentences, as well as in other functions. The rules is adverb comparison.
particular forms required in these functions are
very difficult to give rules for; sometimes they just
have to be associated with a given context, 8
as they are in the following exercise.
The manager urged the men to work
A) fastly.
7
B) more fastly.
On lazy summer afternoons I enjoy - - - - light C) fastlier.
operatic music.
D) more faster.
A) hearing to
E) faster.
B) to hear
C) to listen to
(E) is the correct option, because faster is the
D) to listen comparative form of the adverb fast. On the other
E) listening to hand, quickly is the adverbial form of the adjective
quick, and more quickly is the comparative form of
quickly. How can these differences be explained?
If a verb form follows enjoy as its object, that verb A great deal of research into the past history of
form must end in -ing. So far, then, both (A) and the English language combined with some shrewd
(E) seem to be possibilities. But hear is followed guesses might produce a satisfactory explanation.
immediately by its object, while listen requires the But for you the important thing is to learn the forms
word to between itself and its object. Therefore, in use, and this requires greater familiarity with
(E) is the correct option. Notice that, if the lead them. Using languages properly always requires
sentence had the verb like instead of enjoy, (B), (C), plenty of work, so do study hard in the AL course!
and (E) would all be correct, because like can be
followed either by the verb form ending in -ing or
by to and the basic verb form. Later on, you will be given more grammar exercises
to practice, but for now, we will turn to the next section
of the course.

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 Course description Table of contents 

Reading
There are basically two kinds of readings, prose and poetry, and prose can be divided into fiction and nonfiction.
Nonfiction, also called expository prose, is the kind of reading matter we are most familiar with; we find it in
newspapers, magazine articles, sets of instructions, textbooks, speeches, and so forth. The booklet you are now reading
is an example of expository prose. The purpose of expository prose is usually to give information, develop an idea, or
persuade the reader to adopt an opinion or a course of action. The idea or information contained in a piece of nonfiction
is sometimes called its content, and the way the idea is organized or developed is called its form. As you will find out
in the AL course, there are many different patterns of development: cause and effect, comparison or contrast, examples
and illustrations, and others. Form also covers the logically or rhetorically patterned beginning-middle-end structure of
a prose unit, the division of the unit into paragraphs, and the transition devices connecting paragraphs and groups of
paragraphs with one another. In addition to recognizing the formal properties of prose in reading, you will also learn to
apply them in your own compositions.
Fiction is less easily described, because it is, for the most part, about interactions among human beings, and there is
no limit to types of human beings or to the ways in which they interact. The form of a work of fiction—a short story or a
novel—is called a plot and usually centers on a problem or conflict that grows increasingly complex until it is resolved
at a turning point, or climax, in the story. Plot is only one element of fiction. Characterization is also very important, and
the physical setting of the story or novel may be a determining factor in a plot or a decisive influence on the characters
and their actions. The point of view from which a novel or short story is narrated also affects our interpretation of it. (Is
it told to us by one of the characters? By an omniscient author? By an author who heard it from someone else?) Even
style—the choice of words and the use of figures of speech and other literary devices—can modify our perceptions in
ways that we are not always consciously aware of.

The following short story and the exercises based on it will introduce some of the elements
of fiction mentioned above.

The following events had their setting in a subway local there was no one on the echoing platform at that chilly
plodding toward Fort Hamilton Parkway at an hour long hour, no one in the change booth? In her imagination she
past one in the morning. A young woman who lived out was already trying to make her legs walk up the stairway
that way with her folks had been to a theater and supper to the street, sick with the knowledge that the monstrous
(5) party in Manhattan. One of the men at supper had made (35) three were following her silently at her heels. Her knees
what it would be effusive to call a half-hearted offer to see turned to water. Panic possessed her. She had an impulse
her home, but she had rewarded that heroic gesture by to tear her foolish watch from her wrist and pitch it
an amiable refusal. Accustomed to pushing competently across the aisle. She glanced up and down the car. By this
about in the crowds downtown, the thought of an time its only occupants were a benign, bespectacled old
(10) untimely jaunt into darkest Brooklyn seemed dreary but (40) gentleman and his wife, a serene, white-haired couple
not alarming. who would not be of much help if she should absurdly
Her first disquieting sensation came shortly after scream out to them that the mute triumvirate across the
three forbidding ruffians got into the almost deserted car were plotting assault and robbery, when, as some
train at the first stop beyond Myrtle Avenue. The man in remnant of her reason told her, they were probably doing
(15) the middle seemed so drunk that his companions were (45) nothing of the kind. Besides, the old couple were getting
practically carrying him, and his insouciant legs had the up to leave at the next station. They were passing her on
curious detachment of a scarecrow’s. The young woman their way to the door. She had a numbing sense that all
was eyeing these wastrels with distaste when she realized law and order was then and there taking its departure
that the man in the middle had fixed one bleary eye upon when, without looking at her and without moving his
(20) her, and, nervously following the direction of his gaze, (50) lips, the old gentleman said something.
she saw that there on her wrist, defiantly visible, was her “Follow us off this train.”
bracelet watch with its chains of diamonds. She hastily It took her a second to realize that this was meant for
drew her sleeve down over it, made a slight pretense of her. In another, she found herself on the station platform,
looking up and down the car, and then, out of the corner the door closing behind them. In still another, the train
(25) of her eye, reconnoitered. It was true. Slouched down (55) grunted, pulled itself together and lurched off into the
between his friends, he was looking at her, and out of the tunnel, carrying the dreadful three with it. She wanted
corners of their eyes, as furtive and as wary as herself, his to laugh hysterically at her own relief. Now the old
two companions were looking at her, too. gentleman was speaking to her.
Her heart sank, two more stops and she would be
(30) at her own station. Suppose they followed her? Suppose

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 Course description  Table of contents 

“My dear,” he said, “I apologize for issuing orders to 11

(60) you, but there was no time for ceremony. Did you notice
those men who sat across from you?” It seemed she had. The point of view in the story is that of
“Did you observe anything peculiar about that man in A) the young woman.
the middle?”
B) an omniscient author.
“He was very drunk,” the young woman said.
(65) The doctor shook his head. “Perhaps he had been,” he C) the doctor.
admitted, “but not when they carried him into the train. D) a narrator with selective omniscience.
When they carried him into the train, the man in the E) the three ruffians.
middle was dead.”

Here are some exercises of the sort that might Exercises about point of view can be tricky. You
be asked about a short story. The commentary might think that, because the story tells us what
accompanying the exercises contains hints about the young woman is thinking and feeling, it must be
how they should be approached. told from her point of view. But if you read the story
carefully, you will notice that it is not the young
woman herself who tells us what she is thinking and
9 feeling. Someone else tells us, and that someone
else is a narrator or author who knows a great
The brief characterization of the young woman
deal, more than the young woman does—such
at the beginning of the story shows her as
as the fact that the old gentleman was a “doctor”
A) self-confident and competent. (line 65)—but who doesn’t know everything. The
B) timid but competent. narrator apparently doesn’t know that the man in
the middle is dead, for example, until the doctor
C) excitable but competent. breaks the news. So (D) is the best option.
D) nervous and incompetent.
E) incompetent but friendly.
12
The young woman is characterized in the very
The doctor’s participation in the incident
first paragraph, which shows her as both self-
demonstrates
confident and competent (A). Do not be misled by
the fact that she was nervous during her subway A) admirable bravery.
experience. Who wouldn’t be? B) cowardly behavior.
C) discreet behavior.
D) improper behavior.
10
E) erroneous bravery.
In line 53, the word “another” refers to another
A) station. In view of the doctor’s age and the potentially
B) train. violent circumstances, (C) is the obvious choice.

C) stop.
D) second.
E) minute.

Like most pronouns, another refers to something

that has been recently mentioned, and in this
instance, it is repeated from the previous sentence,
where it clearly referred to “second” in line 52. The
rapid repetition of “another” captures the feeling of
seconds passing, so (D) is the only possible answer.

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Course description Table of contents 

13 Another literary genre included in the AL course in

English is drama, which may be regarded as a special
The mood of the story is BEST described as variety of fiction in which the plot is acted out instead
A) exciting. of narrated. Indeed, many of the basic elements of
fiction—characterization, setting, conflict, turning
B) unpleasant. point—are equally basic to drama, and novels or
C) depressing. short stories are frequently dramatized into movies or
D) terrifying. television programs. Because of these similarities with
fiction, drama needs no further elaboration here.
E) suspenseful.
Poetry is a challenging genre. Most of us find poetry
more difficult to read than prose—and with good
The clue to selecting the right option for this reason. Prose, fiction and nonfiction alike, deals in
exercise is the phrase “BEST described,” which is most cases with objective situations and occurrences
used in the stem. There is no doubt that the story is that are within most people’s range of experience; even
exciting, and some readers might find it unpleasant if you have never been on a New York subway, you
and terrifying in places. But, from the second can appreciate the young woman’s anxiety in the story
paragraph to the very end, the dominant feeling above. Poetry, on the other hand, tries to convey the
generated by the story is suspense, so its mood private, interior feelings of an individual, and feelings
must be “BEST described” as suspenseful, which are not constructed, as ideas are, out of common
corresponds to (E). reason. It is difficult, in fact, to say what feelings are
made up of, but we know that they are often shaped
by memory and associated with objects to which they
are only arbitrarily related. For example, the color gray
suggests sadness, and spring in temperate climates
brings hopefulness. So poetry sometimes uses a
language of association and indirection: connotation,
simile, metaphor, ambiguity, symbolism, and irony. Its
origins, acknowledged in its use of meter and rhyme,
are in music and dance rather than in the shared logic
of prose.
This does not mean, obviously, that poetry is
impossible to understand; if it were, no one would
read or write it. Like the writer of prose, the poet
wants to communicate, and the poet, too, deals in
ideas and experiences. But the poet’s interest in ideas
and experiences is different—more personal, more
searching—and the methods and language used are
appropriate to his or her aims. As a reader of poetry,
you should also tap into your own experiences when
interpreting a poem.

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The following poem and exercises will clarify 16

some of these points.
The signs of continuing life in the world
Dark house, by which once more I stand A) give hope to the poet.
Here in the long unlovely street, B) remind the poet of the job to be done.
Doors, where my heart was used to beat
C) seem gray and horrible to the poet.
So quickly, waiting for a hand,
D) remind the poet of the presence of God.
(5) A hand that can be clasp’d no more— E) make the poet feel his lack of sleep.
Behold me, for I cannot sleep,
And like a guilty thing I creep
At earliest morning to the door. Although continuing life is often presented as a
hopeful sign, the poet’s language clearly points
He is not here; but far away to (C) as the correct option: life is “noise,” and the
(10) The noise of life begins again, “blank” day breaks “ghastly” on the “bald” street.
And ghastly thro’ the drizzling rain
On the bald street breaks a blank day.
17
14
In line 7, the poet describes himself as similar to
The time of the poem is a “guilty thing” in his
A) midnight. A) movements.
B) early morning. B) sorrow.
C) dusk. C) sleeplessness.
D) noon. D) unnatural friendship.
E) Christmas Day. E) rejection of life.

The answer is given directly in the references to The movement described by the word creep is
“earliest morning” in the last line of the second frequently associated with stealth or guilt, though it
stanza and to daybreak in the last line of the third can also, as in the poem, be associated with sorrow
stanza. The correct option, therefore, is (B). or despair. Notice that the poet does not say that
he feels guilty, but only that his movements are
similar to those of a guilty person. The correct
15 answer is (A).

The narrator cannot sleep because he is

A) consumed by guilt.
B) fond of walking at night. Before going on to the writing component of the
C) in love. course, which uses a completely different testing
D) disturbed by a friend’s death. system, you may want to examine more examples
of multiple-choice exercises and try to answer
E) going to an appointment. them. (For that purpose, turn to the section on
practice exercises.) If not, continue with the next
section, titled Essay Topics.
The hand grasp mentioned in the first line of the
second stanza is a symbol of intimacy or friendship;
the fact that the hand can be grasped “no more,” a
phrase bearing the resonance of finality, suggests
death, an interpretation supported in the next
stanza by the information that “He is not here,” in
contrast to the life beginning far away. The correct
answer is (D).

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Essay Topics
Consider the following sample topics for writing essays.

Part 4
Essay Topic - English
Time limit - 25 minutes
Read the essay topic carefully. Take a few minutes to analyze it and be sure that you understand what is being
asked. Organize your ideas before you start writing. You should write exclusively about the specified topic. Write your essay
in English. YOUR TEST WILL BE INVALIDATED IN FULL IF YOU DEVELOP A DIFFERENT TOPIC IN YOUR ESSAY, WRITE IN A
DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, OR DON’T ANSWER THIS PART OF THE EXAM AT ALL.

Some people believe that classes in the arts (for example music, drawing, painting, drama, and appreciation
of art/ music) should be required in all public and private schools in Puerto Rico.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Please support your opinion with clear and relevant arguments in your
composition.

Part 4
Essay Topic - English
Time limit - 25 minutes
Read the essay topic carefully. Take a few minutes to analyze it and be sure that you understand what is being
asked. Organize your ideas before you start writing. You should write exclusively about the specified topic. Write your essay
in English. YOUR TEST WILL BE INVALIDATED IN FULL IF YOU DEVELOP A DIFFERENT TOPIC IN YOUR ESSAY, WRITE IN A
DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, OR DON’T ANSWER THIS PART OF THE EXAM AT ALL.

Some educators believe that students should be required to do community service as part of their high
school graduation requirements.
Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Please support your opinion with clear and relevant arguments in your
composition.

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Course Outline  Table of contents 

COURSE OUTLINE A. Formal and informal oral communication

in different contexts
B. Pronunciation
Unit 1: Oral Communication C. Idiomatic expressions
and Grammar Skills
D. Means of overcoming cultural and linguistic
Oral communication and grammar skills must be barriers to communication
emphasized to achieve the objectives for each of the
following units (units 2, 3, 4, and 5). Appropriate and E. Discussing controversial issues
relevant oral communication and grammar activities Students will
should be incorporated throughout the school year.
1. use appropriate persuasive vocabulary
and semantic structures to present their
Part A: Oral Communication Skills argument.
2. use examples and evidence that support
I. Description their position.
This section aims to improve students’ oral 3. consider different points of view.
communication in planned and spontaneous
speech situations. The students will prepare
formal and informal presentations and participate Part B: Grammar Skills
in group discussions and role-playing situations.
Through these activities, the students will develop I. Description
effective communication skills and improve their
pronunciation. This subunit aims to improve students’
grammatical skills and their knowledge of
II. Objectives correct language usage in both oral and
written communication. A strong foundation in
A. General grammar will improve students’ understanding,
Students will be able to interpretation, and appreciation of written
texts. Students will be actively involved in the
1. organize and express their thoughts. acquisition of grammar skills, which will always
2. communicate in planned and spontaneous be presented and practiced in context. Interactive
situations. and collaborative grammar activities will help
students acquire grammatical knowledge in an
3. communicate effectively in formal and applied and contextual environment, which will
informal speech situations. enable them to use the English language correctly
4. speak with greater fluency. in oral and written discourse.

B. Specific II. Objectives

More specifically, students will be able to A. General
1. utilize correct pronunciation to achieve Students will be able to
effective communication.
1. express their thoughts in grammatically
2. interact orally in small group activities. correct sentences and phrases in both oral
3. retell stories, conversations, and anecdotes. and written form.

4. understand and use the general conventions 2. understand the meaning of different verb
of beginning, ending, and interrupting a tenses, modal auxiliaries, and word order in
conversation for purposes of clarification. sentences, reported speech, questions, and
phrases.
5. comprehend and use idiomatic expressions.
3. recognize grammatical modifications for
III. Content stylistic reasons.

The content of this part is based on the following: 4. identify, analyze, and use diverse language
structures in context.

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Course Outline Table of contents 

B. Specific 6. Verbals (infinitives, participles, and gerunds

used as adjectives and nouns)
More specifically, students will be able to use
correctly and understand 7. Modal auxiliaries (can, could, shall, should,
will, would, must, have to, may, might,
1. the meaning of a number of verb tenses
ought to)
(see below for more details), subject-verb
agreement, modal auxiliaries, active and 8. Subject-verb agreement (compound subjects,
passive voice sentences and verb structures, indefinite pronouns, collective nouns, and
verbals, different types of questions and inverted word order)
answers, and various ways of expressing
9. Negation
negation in both oral and written form.
B. Questions and answers
2. adjectives and adverbs in their basic,
comparative, and superlative forms, 1. Tag questions
and word order.
2. Direct and indirect questions
3. modifying phrases and clauses.
C. Adjectives and adverbs (comparative and
4. different types of nouns and pronouns as superlative)
well as pronoun antecedent agreement.
D. Misplaced, ambiguous, and dangling modifiers
5. prepositions and prepositional phrases
E. Pronouns
in context.
1. Pronoun consistency
6. connecting words and expressions,
especially in writing, to form different types 2. Pronoun-antecedent agreement (reference)
of sentences (complex, compound, and
3. Use of different types of pronouns (subject,
compound-complex) for stylistic purposes
object, possessive, possessive adjective,
and logical development.
reflexive, and demonstrative).
7. parallel structures in written discourse.
F. Connecting words and expressions
(coordinating and subordinating conjunctions,
III. Content
conjunctive adverbs, transitional expressions,
The content of this part is based on the following relative pronouns, and correlative
language components: conjunctions).
A. Verbs G. Parallelism
1. Tenses (simple present, present progressive, H. Prepositions and prepositional phrases
simple past, past progressive, future, future
1. Prepositions (such as about, across, after,
progressive, and present perfect, including
among, around, at, before, behind, below,
irregular verbs)
beside, between, by, during, except, for, from,
2. Active/passive voice in, into, of, off, on, over, through, to, under,
until, and with).
3. Subjunctive mood
2. Prepositional phrases (such as according to,
4. Sequence of verb tenses (compound/
because of, except for, in addition to, in front
complex sentences)
of, instead of, in spite of, and with respect to).
5. Direct/indirect quotations (reported speech)

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Course Outline  Table of contents 

Unit 2: The Essay and 3. read a selection critically and respond

Expository Writing to it orally and in writing.
4. use a variety of prewriting techniques,
I. Description such as free-writing, outlining, clustering,
brainstorming, and keeping a journal.
This unit includes the reading, discussion,
and analysis of nonfiction prose to improve the 5. write, revise, and edit their drafts as well as
students’ reading and critical thinking skills, engage in peer reviewing process to develop
which in turn will enable students to enhance clear and well-organized essays.
their writing skills. Through guided practice in
the writing process, students will compose well- III. Content
developed essays.
This unit includes the following:
II. Objectives A. Reading comprehension and analysis
A. General 1. Thesis or central, controlling idea;
appropriate title; author’s purpose
Students will be able to
2. Major supporting ideas and specific details
1. improve their comprehension and analytical
skills through the reading of nonfiction prose. 3. Reading strategies, such as distinguishing
between fact and opinion, drawing
2. use models of expository writing as the
conclusions, and making inferences
basis for further development of their
composition skills. B. Patterns of development
3. express themselves effectively in writing 1. Major types of essays and rhetorical
through ongoing practice. modes (narration, description, exposition,
argumentation, formal, and informal)
4. write different types of essays in response
to texts read in and out of class. 2. Types of paragraph development (narration,
description, comparison, contrast, cause
5. improve their problem-solving and critical
and effect, definition, process, classification,
thinking skills.
examples, illustrations, reasons, opinions,
B. Specific specific details, facts, analogy, anecdotes,
repetition or restatement, analysis,
More specifically, students will be able to
exposition, argumentation, persuasion, and
1. understand the meaning of an essay by testimony of experts and authorities)
grasping the main idea or thesis of an essay
3. Paragraph structure (topic sentence,
a. following the development of the central supporting sentences, and concluding
idea. sentence)

2. recognize, understand, and explain the 4. Coherence (devices used to establish

structural components of an essay and relationships among sentences) through
different expository patterns of development,
a. pronouns and their antecedents.
such as narration, definition, analysis,
comparison, contrast, and argumentation. b. transitional expressions and sentences to
add similar ideas, contrast ideas, give an
a. recognize the basic organization of an
example, introduce a result, show cause
essay (chronological, spatial, deductive,
or reason, and summarize ideas.
or inductive).
C. Order (spatial, climactic, importance, inductive,
b. recognize the different types of
deductive, chronological, process, and logical
paragraphs (introductory, developmental,
organization)
transitional, and summary).
c. understand the use of punctuation,
connectives, and other transitional
devices used between phrases, clauses,
sentences, and paragraphs.

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Course Outline Table of contents 

D. Author’s style/stylistic devices Unit 3: Short Stories and Novels

1. Diction (denotation, connotation, word
choice, use of certain parts of speech, I. Description
abstract, concrete, appropriate, complicated, This unit includes the study of the elements
formal, informal, conversational, colloquial, of fiction through the reading of selected short
scientific, technical, and jargon) stories and novels. Oral and written analyses
2. Sensory imagery (visual, auditory, gustatory, of these literary works will enable students to
olfactory, tactile, thermal, and kinesthetic) comprehend, interpret, and respond to fiction.

3. Figurative language and other literary II. Objectives

devices, as these terms and concepts relate
to the meaning and purpose of the essay A. General
(personification, hyperbole, understatement, Students will be able to
metaphor, simile, paradox, allusions,
analogy, pun, and oxymoron) 1. read, comprehend, and interpret short stories
and novels.
4. Syntax (length and structure of sentences,
parallelism, punctuation, complexity, 2. analyze the elements of fiction in selected
simplicity, word order) works.

5. Tone/voice (e.g., affectionate, amusing, 3. read short stories and novels independently.
angry, belligerent, challenging, 4. respond orally and in writing to short stories
compassionate, condescending, and novels.
contemptuous, conversational, despairing,
didactic, disappointed, ecstatic, 5. think critically about literature.
enthusiastic, excited, fanciful, formal, B. Specific
friendly, frightening, gloomy, happy,
hopeless, humorous, indignant, ironic, More specifically, students will analyze the
judgmental, loving, melancholic, merciless, following elements of the short story and
optimistic, pessimistic, philosophical, the novel
pitiful, playful, resigned, reticent, sad, 1. plot and method of presentation.
sarcastic, satirical, satisfied, sentimental,
serious, shocking, solemn, sorrowful, and 2. setting, mood, and atmosphere.
sympathetic) 3. characterization.
E. Expository writing 4. theme, ideas, and purpose.
Students are guided through the writing 5. stylistic devices.
process, which includes prewriting, drafting,
revising, editing, and proofreading. Special 6. point of view.
attention will be given to writing argumentative
essays. III. Content
The content of this unit is based on the following
aspects:
A. Theme and central ideas
B. Plot details and plot structure
1. Comprehension of the events that make
up the plot
2. Exposition, conflict, complication, rising
action, crisis, turning point or climax, falling
action, resolution (open or closed), and
suspense

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