PRE-UNIVERSITY REMEDIAL PROGRAM FOR

ESSLCE LOW SCORER STUDENTS

ENGLISH MODULE
Total Credit Hours: 64 hrs.

REVIEWED AND REVISED

BY

Dr. Dejen Chaka, Kotebe University of Education

February, 2025
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
 English module for pre-university remedial programme

1. Introduction

This module outline has been developed to implement the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia’s initiative to provide remedial courses for the substantial
number of students who did not achieve the minimum Ethiopian School Leaving Certificate
Examination (ESLCE) scores required for university admission. According to the provisions of this
initiative, students whose ESLCE results fall significantly below the Ministry’s established standard
cut scores for university entrance will be placed in remedial programmes aimed at helping them
meet the minimum requirements for admission. The initiatives involves identifying underachieving
students and offering them the necessary assistance to overcome their academic challenges. Its
objective is to provide targeted support to students who are struggling, regardless of their
background, origin, school type or subject area.

Students in this target group were identified as underprepared in English and other subjects, and did
not meet minimum cut-off scores. Hence, this remedial English module aims to equip them with the
necessary skills to achieve higher scores, enabling them to pursue college or university-level
courses and succeed academically, regardless of their intended stream (Natural or Social Sciences).
Remedial teaching, also known as compensatory or corrective teaching, is an integral component of
the teaching-learning programme.

This module outline is designed to address the purpose of remedial teaching by rectifying
ineffective learning habits, providing targeted support to improve learning, reinforcing language
items and skills that were not adequately mastered, fostering student engagement through
stimulating approaches, addressing potential low self-esteem related to poor ESLCE results, and
delivering practical, differentiated instruction to meet diverse learner needs. This proposed thus
material integrates fundamental skills at both macro and micro levels with engaging topics and
advanced content. This remedial program aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills
necessary for university success. By fostering interpersonal communication and interaction within
the English classroom, it addresses students' low self-esteem and provides a flexible pave way for
their academic development.

In essence, this module aims to provide students with an accessible remedial resources. The
contents of material are from grades 9-12 curricula, focusing on the four macro skills, grammar and
vocabulary. These elements have been chosen based on their prevalence across the curricula with
resultants of 48 units and their relevance to both university entrance exams and subsequent
university education. In other words, contents of this module are largely derived from grades 9-12
English textbooks. However, acknowledging the inherent limitations of any individual textbook,
this outline has been designed to integrate additional key elements that are deemed necessary to
address perceived deficiencies in the existing materials.

2. Organization of the Content of the Module

This module is organized thematically, using a content-based approach. It primarily draws upon the
content of the Ethiopian Ministry of Education's textbooks for grades 9-12. The module
comprehensively covers the four macro skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing), as well as
essential micro skills (vocabulary and grammar). It integrates these macro and micro skills through
the following timely and widely applicable topics: Road Traffic Accidents, Artificial Intelligence,
Tourist Attractions, Global Warming, Time Management, and Indigenous Conflict Resolution.
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 English module for pre-university remedial programme

3. Topics of the English Module for Pre-University Remedial Programme

Unit 1: Road Traffic Accidents
Unit 2: Artificial Intelligence
Unit 3: Tourist Attractions
Unit 4: Global Warming
Unit 5: Time Management
Unit 6: Indigenous Conflict Resolution.

4. Macro-Skills
4.1. Listening Skills
4.2. Speaking Skills
4.3. Reading Skills
4.4. Writing Skills
5. Micro-Skills
5.1. Vocabulary
 Contextual Word Uses
 Phrasal Verbs
 Word Formations
5.2. Grammar
The textbooks in grades 9 to 12 have been carefully reviewed, and a comprehensive range of
grammar topics, considering their frequency, has been selected for this English remedial
coursework. Thus the grammar focus covers the following key areas:
• Basic Tenses in English:
o Simple Present Tense
o Present Progressive Tense
o Present Perfect Tense
o Simple Future Tense (using "be + going to," present continuous, "will + infinitive")
o Simple Past Tense
o Past Continuous Tense
o Past Perfect Tense
• Structure-Based Classification Sentences:
o Simple Sentences
o Compound Sentences
o Complex Sentences
o Compound-Complex Sentences
• Grammatical Focused Types of Sentences
o Statement
o Interrogative
o Imperative
o Exclamatory
• Punctuations and Mechanics in Writing
• Errors in Sentence Structures
• Varieties of Conditional Sentences
• Modal Auxiliaries:
o Expressing Ability
o Expressing Obligation/Absence of Obligation
o Prohibition
o Expressing Necessity
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 English module for pre-university remedial programme

o Suggestions/Advice
• Degrees of Comparison: Positive, comparative, and superlative degrees
• Quantifiers: many, much, few, a few, little, a little, some, any, a lot
• Articles: a, the, an
• Linking Words: Coordinating and subordinating Conjunctions
• Relative pronouns and clauses
• Verb Forms and Patterns
• Question Types:
o Wh- Questions
o Yes/No Questions
o Tag Questions
o Indirect Questions
• Adverbs: frequency, manner, time, degree
• Adjectives,
• Prepositions,
• Reported and Direct Speech
• Expressing Purpose with to, so as to, in order to, for, and so that

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 English module for pre-university remedial programme

The Contents of the Units and Time Allotted

1. Unit One: Road Traffic Accidents (11 hrs.)

1.1. Listening Skills: Causes of Road Traffic Accidents
1.1.1. Listening for details
1.1.2. Cloze test based on the listening text
1.2. Speaking Skills: The Alarming Rise of Road Traffic Accidents
1.2.1. Discussing the causes, consequences, and solutions road traffic accidents in Ethiopia?
1.2.2. Agreeing and disagreeing
1.2.3. Asking for and giving opinions
1.3. Reading Skills: Socio-Economic Impacts of Road Traffic Accidents
1.3.1. Reading for details
1.3.2. Extracting the main ideas the reading text
1.4. Vocabulary
1.4.1. Guessing the meanings of words in context
1.4.2. Phrasal verbs
1.5. Grammar
1.5.1. Transitive and intransitive verbs
1.5.2. Simple present tense (Active and passive forms)
1.5.3. Present progressive tense (Active and passive forms)
1.5.4. Present perfect tense (Active and passive forms)
1.5.5. Simple Future tense ((Active and passive forms)
1.5.6. Verb forms
1.5.6.1. Regular verbs
1.5.6.2. Irregular verbs
1.5.7. Asking questions
1.5.7.1. Wh- questions
1.5.7.2. Yes/No questions
1.5.7.3. Tag questions
1.5.7.4. Indirect
1.5.7.5. Questions
1.6. Writing Skills
1.6.1. Rearranging words to write meaningful sentences
1.6.2. Paragraph writing
1.6.3. Letter informal (personal) writing
1.7. Assessment
1.7.1. Revision Questions
1.7.2. Self-Assessment Activities

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 English module for pre-university remedial programme

2. Unit Two: Artificial Intelligence (11 hrs.)

2.1. Listening Skills: What is Artificial Intelligence?
2.1.1. Listening for details
2.1.2. Listening and taking notes
2.2. Speaking Skills
2.2.1. Pronunciation
2.2.2. Using so and neither
2.2.3. Apologizing
2.3. Reading Skills: Merits and Demerits of Artificial Intelligence
2.3.1. Reading for details
2.3.2. Reading for main ideas
2.3.3. Inferencing
2.3.4. Referencing
2.4. Vocabulary in Context
2.4.1. Contextual Meaning
2.4.2. Collocation
2.4.3. Phrasal Verbs
2.5. Grammar
2.5.1. Simple past tense (Active and passive forms)
2.5.2. Past continuous tense (Active and passive forms)
2.5.3. Past perfect tense (Active and passive forms)
2.5.4. Conditional sentences
2.5.4.1. Zero-condition
2.5.4.2. Type I: Likely/ Probable condition
2.5.4.3. Type II: Unlikely and imaginary condition
2.5.4.4. Type III: Impossible condition
2.5.5. Modal auxiliaries
2.5.5.1. Expressing ability
2.5.5.2. Expressing Obligation
2.5.5.3. Expressing Necessity
2.5.5.4. Suggestions/advice.
2.6. Writing Skills
2.6.1. Run-on sentences,
2.6.2. Jumbled paragraphs,
2.6.3. Writing narrative paragraph
2.7. Assessment
2.7.1. Revision Questions
2.7.2. Self-Assessment Activities

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3. Unit Three: Tourist Attractions (11 Hrs.)

3.1. Listening Skills
3.1.1. Tourist Attractions in Ethiopia
3.1.2. Listening for details
3.2. Speaking Skills
3.2.1. Discussing tourist attractions and benefits
3.2.2. Asking for and giving direction
3.2.3. Describing places, people and objects
3.2.4. Pronouncing the plural marking morphemes –s and –z
3.2.5. Pronouncing interdental voiced and voiceless sounds [Ɵ] and [ð]
3.2.6. Pronouncing the diphthongs [ai] and [ei]
3.3. Reading Skills: Tourism Industry
3.3.1. Detailed reading
3.3.2. Reading for the main idea
3.4. Vocabulary
3.5. Grammar
3.5.1. Degrees of Comparison: Positive, comparative and superlative degrees of comparisons
3.5.2. Relative clauses
3.5.3. Adverbs
3.5.3.1. Frequency,
3.5.3.2. Manner,
3.5.3.3. Time,
3.5.3.4. Degree
3.5.4. Adjectives and prepositions
3.5.5. Reported Speech
3.6. Writing Skills
3.6.1. Dangling modifier
3.6.2. Letter formal (business) writing
3.6.3. Expository essay writing
3.7. Assessment
3.7.1. Revision questions
3.7.2. Self-assessment activities

4. Unit Four: Global Warming (11 Hrs.)

4.1. Listening Skills: What is Global Warming?
4.1.1. Listening for details
4.1.2. Listening and taking notes
4.1.3. Extracting main ideas
4.1.4. Cloze test activities based on the listening material
4.2. Speaking Skills
4.2.1. Describing cause and effect
4.2.2. Practising public speech
4.2.3. Ask for and give permission
4.2.4. Likes and dislikes
4.2.5. Debate
4.3. Reading Skills: The Effects of Global Warming on Economic Development
4.3.1. Prediction
4.3.2. Anticipation
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4.3.3. Skimming and scanning

4.3.4. Inferences and references
4.4. Vocabulary
4.4.1. Contextual meanings of words and phrasal verbs
4.4.2. Synonyms/Antonyms
4.4.3. Analogy
4.4.4. Commonly confusing words
4.5. Grammar
4.5.1. Revision of the present, past and future tenses
4.5.2. Quantifiers: many, much, few, a few, little, a little, some, any, a lot
4.5.3. Articles: a, the, an
4.5.4. Linking words
4.5.4.1. coordinating conjunctions
4.5.4.2. subordinating conjunctions
4.5.5. Relative Pronouns and clauses
4.6. Writing Skills
4.6.1. Spelling Rules
4.6.2. Mechanics and Punctuation
4.6.3. Faulty Parallelism
4.6.4. Writing a Report
4.6.5. Writing application letter and curriculum vitae (CV)
4.7. Assessment
4.7.1. Revision questions
4.7.2. Self-assessment activities

5. Unit Five: Time Management (10 Hrs.)

5.1. Listening Skills: Time Management
5.1.1. Listening for details
5.1.2. Listening and taking notes
5.1.3. Listening and transferring information
5.2. Speaking Skills
5.2.1. Discussing cultural views of time management in Ethiopia
5.2.2. Expressing result,
5.2.3. Expressing opinion and purpose
5.2.4. Agreeing and disagreeing
5.3. Reading Skills: Time Management and Productivity
5.3.1. Identifying the themes of the text
5.3.2. Extracting the main idea
5.3.3. Specifying the details of the reading passage
5.3.4. Word attack
5.4. Vocabulary
5.4.1. Contextual meaning
5.4.2. Collocation of words/phrasal verbs
5.4.3. Analogy
5.5. Grammar
5.5.1. Talking about the future (be + going to, present continuous, will + infinitive, simple present)
5.5.2. Sentence types based on structure
5.5.2.1. Simple sentences
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5.5.2.2. Compound sentences

5.5.2.3. Complex sentences
5.5.2.4. Compound-complex sentences
5.5.3. Verb patterns of followed by gerund and infinitives
5.5.4. Wishes
5.5.5. Common Variations in conditional sentences (with but, so if unless, didn’t have, if, or etc.)
5.5.6. Direct and indirect speech
5.6. Writing Skills
5.6.1. Writing memos and formal Letter
5.6.2. Argumentative writing
5.7. Assessment
5.7.1. Revision questions
5.7.2. Self-assessment activities

6. Unit Six: Indigenous Conflict Resolution (10 Hrs.)

6.1. Listening Skills: The Role of Indigenous conflict resolution
6.1.1. Listening for details
6.1.2. Note completion
6.1.3. Identifying main ideas
6.2. Speaking Skills
6.2.1. Asking for clarification
6.2.2. Asking for apology
6.2.3. Asking for information
6.2.4. Conducting interview
6.2.5. Panel Discussion
6.3. Reading Skills: Strategies of Indigenous Conflict Resolution
6.3.1. Skimming
6.3.2. Detailed reading
6.3.3. Extracting the main idea
6.4. Vocabulary
6.4.1. Word formation (prefixes and suffixes
6.4.2. Idiomatic expressions
6.4.3. Homophones and homographs
6.4.4. Practising phrasal verbs with ‘get, do, and make’
6.5. Grammar
6.5.1. Expressing purpose with to, so as to, to, for, so that
6.5.2. Expressing regrets (wishes)
6.5.3. Clauses of result
6.6. Writing Skills
6.6.1. Expository essay writing
6.6.2. Interpreting charts and diagrams
6.7. Assessment
6.7.1. Revision questions
6.7.2. Self-assessment activities

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Mode of Delivery

A blended approach that combines gap lectures with collaborative learning—rooted in individual
reflection, pair sharing, small group discussions, and larger group dialogues—culminating in whole-
class sharing, is highly recommended for effective and interactive language classroom instruction.
This strategy harnesses the advantages of targeted instruction alongside peer learning. Specifically,
the instructors are assumed to implement techniques that pyramid individual work, pair work, and
small group work to enhance students' language proficiency development.

Assessments

A two-tiered assessment system will be implemented to evaluate both successful coursework

completion and the achievement of required language proficiency. First, ongoing assessments
conducted by classroom instructors will account for 50% of the final grade, while the remaining
50% will stem from a final exam. This approach provides students with continuous feedback,
enabling them to monitor their performance and progress. Second, a high-stakes central assessment,
weighted at 100%, will be administered at the ministerial level to make final determinations
regarding improvements in target language proficiency. The assessment scheme is as follows:

Assessments modalities at a university level

• Continuous assessment (50%)
o Quizzes
o Tests
o Group and individual assessment
o Presentation and participation
• Final Exam (50%)
Assessments modalities at the ministerial level
• Examination 100%

References
Brown, H. D. & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language
pedagogy (4th.ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
Haley, M. H. & Austin, T. Y. (2014). Content-based second language teaching and learning: an
interactive approach (2nd.ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
Hewings, M. (2022). Advanced grammar in use: The self-study reference and practice book for
advanced learners of English with answer (4th.ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MoE. (2022). English for Ethiopia: Student Textbook Grade 10. The Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia: Addis Ababa.
_____ (2023). English for Ethiopia: Student Textbook Grade 9. The Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia.
_____ (2023). English for Ethiopia: Student Textbook Grade 11. The Federal Democratic Republic
of Ethiopia.
______ (2023). English for Ethiopia: Student Textbook Grade 12. The Federal Democratic
Murphy, R. (2019). English grammar in use: A self-study reference and practice book for
intermediate learners of English with answers (5th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.