jTELS/TELSa- Intermediate Award in English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) EQF/MQF Level 3 – 10 ECTS credits – Equivalent to B1 of CEFR

• The course is designed for Middle and Secondary level students and adult individuals who, for educational purposes, or for reasons relating to work or other personal issues, wish or need to gain a certificate which represents their actual level of The course certificate provides proof of the holder’s ability to interact comfortably with English speakers on familiar topics, and to function with a measure of efficiency, at the workplace, demonstrating an ability to read simple reports on familiar topics and write simple emails on subjects in his/her field. However, this level is not adequate to function fully in such a scenario (i.e. the workplace).
• Total Qualification Time is approx. 250 hours, split up as follows:
  • 80 ‘guided learning’ hours (i.e. contact hours)
  • 163 hours – active self-study
  • 7 hours – Assessment + feedback

• The design of the course is based on a ‘continuous-improvement’ process, with interconnected components in each of its 6 modules.

Entry Requirements:

Learners joining the course will need to sit a (standardised) Placement Test which will determine their actual current level of performance.

As a minimum, a learner joining this course should be able to communicate and exchange information on everyday topics. S/he should be able to …

• introduce himself simply and use basic greetings, tell where he and others are from and give a basic description of his/her city, – talk simply about family and colleagues, describing their appearance and personalities,
• discuss clothing at a generally basic level and express preferences
• talk about favourite foods and make simple orders at a restaurant or take-away,
• talk about daily activities and arrange meetings with friends and colleagues,
• describe current weather conditions and suggest activities according to the weather forecast,
• talk in general terms about his/her health and describe common medical symptoms to a doctor,
• describe their home and its location, providing simple directions on how to get to it,
• demonstrate an understanding of simple directions,
• talk about his/her hobbies and interests
• discuss their holiday plans with friends and colleagues, and talk about their past holidays
• complete simple transactions at a hotel, including checking in and checking out,
• complete simple transactions at the bank
• discuss common products, make basic purchases and discuss basic problems relating to faulty goods,
• demonstrate correct pronunciation of individual sounds in order to form intelligible words, as well as correct pronunciation of basic set phrases and expressions,
• talk about and explain rules,
• understand simple notices, as well as information in simple texts,
• demonstrate an understanding of simple grammatical structures and an awareness of proper sentence structure,
• describe their past and relate events from their past, including activities and interesting stories,
• describe an accident or injury,
• talk about the natural world,
• talk about films of their choice,
• engage in basic business socializing, welcoming guests and attending networking events,
• understand and make very basic business proposals in their area of expertise,
• engage in basic communication at work, including attending meetings on familiar topics,
• evaluate co-workers’ performance in the workplace

Programme Objective:

• This course focuses on developing the learners’ language knowledge and their competence in the four skills of Reading, Listening, Writing and Speaking, with regard to the English language, ensuring that they can achieve a level of competence which allows them to use the language with a degree of fluency, accuracy and a measure of
• Additionally, the course aims to foster the development of language skills needed to proceed to the next level and encourages methods of learning which help learners build up the knowledge, skills and attitudes (i.e. Communicative competences) needed to become more autonomous in their language acquisition
• By the end of the course, learners will be able to ….
  • communicate with reasonable accuracy in familiar contexts, with generally good control over grammatical and lexical structures, though with noticeable mother-tongue influence. Errors do occur, but it is normally clear what they are trying to express.

• • identify key language features in earmarked short extracts/sentences, relating to familiar topics, in order to transfer and reformulate
  • demonstrate good control of elementary vocabulary, although major errors still occur when expressing more complex thoughts or handling unfamiliar topics and situations.
  • demonstrate an ability to express themselves and interact with relative ease on a variety of topics relating to familiar matters and non-routine issues of immediate interests and in their professional field, notwithstanding some problems with formulation which result in pauses and acceptable hesitation, normally followed by self-correction and/or rephrasing in cases of misunderstanding
  • demonstrate pronunciation which is clearly intelligible, even if a foreign accent is still clearly evident, and with occasional
  • – interact with ease during conversation and discussions relating to familiar topics and matters of personal interest, demonstrating an awareness of key politeness conventions
  • – produce continuous writing which is generally intelligible, with spelling, punctuation and layout which are accurate enough to be followed most of the time and with register that is generally informal or neutral.
  • – write straightforward connected texts on a range of familiar subjects within their field of interest, demonstrating an ability to convey, ask for and/or check information with reasonable precision, getting across the point/s they feel to be important
  • – demonstrate an increasing ability to evaluate his/her own written work for coherence, accuracy of structures, meaning and arrangement of words and phrases (i.e. Semantics and Syntax)
  • – demonstrate an increasing ability to experiment with exploration of written or recorded material on internet, during guided learning hours and/or during self-study session, so as to carry out research relating to familiar topics, thereby also registering development in his/her digital literacy and enhancing his/her ability to relate to digital text in his/her everyday life.
  • – demonstrate an increasing awareness of key skills relating to different forms of communication (writing and speaking), and of social behavior when interacting with others on a 1-1 basis, or during group/team work in class, such as class debates, carrying out collaborative research, preparing group presentations (level specific), creating a class blog, etc.
  • – read straightforward information in everyday material, such as letters/emails, brochures, signs, notes, adverts, flyers and other material about everyday topics or issues relating to their field of interest with a satisfactory level of comprehension.
  • – identify appropriate strategies required (skimming, scanning, predicting content, drawing conclusions, reading between the lines) to read, with increased independence and flexibility, an increasing variety of texts, using appropriate reference sources (such as learner dictionaries) selectively, demonstrating also an increased ability to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words from surrounding context or information.
  • – demonstrate an increasing ability to evaluate information presented in straightforward text on familiar topics and select what is relevant.
  • – recognise differences in style and register in texts on familiar topics or issues of personal interest.
  • – identify link of ideas and cohesive devices in a text which is appropriate to the level, and proceed to restore order in a jumbled text, where necessary.
  • – demonstrate an understanding of the main points of clear, standard speech on familiar matters, provided speech is clearly articulated in a generally-familiar accent.
  • – identify main ideas, key details, and specific information in recorded dialogues or short monologues, demonstrating an understanding of roles, feelings and opinions, as well as an ability to identify the speaker’s attitude and/or opinion from accentuation, intonation and other features of speech.
  • – identify, with the help of the tutor, and establish an after-school learning programme (by way of recalling, recording, recycling and/or activating earmarked structures) targeting a variety of issues covered during guided-learning hours
  • The above-indicated course objectives are mirrored in the overall aims of the relative syllabus for the jTELS/TELSa Level B1 examinations which are the earmarked instruments for the assessment of (i) progress registered during the course, and (ii) language proficiency at course termination.
  • Assessment during the various stages of the course is meant to endorse the candidates’ competence in the four language skills, specifically targeting their ability to use English to communicate in simple situations.

Learning Outcomes

The learner will be able to:

1. pursue further studies outside the classroom, on his/her own initiative, and under the teacher’s guidance, using memory strategies, such as ‘distributed practice’ where he/she is able to determine essential information, establish patterns, and practise newly-acquired skills and strategies
2. establish goals in order to improve his/her language knowledge and to hone targeted strategies learned during guided-learning hours in order to ensure further development in his/her communicative competencies and accelerate his/her learning,
3. plan and manage time, prioritizing as necessary, in line with material covered during guided learning hours
4. seek help when necessary, and demonstrate an increasing ability to evaluate his/her own development, and, with the guidance of his/her teacher, plan future development and establish goals through reflection and self- assessment based on the prescribed Learner Outcomes (See Learner Outcomes document), regular feedback from the teacher and peers, and regular assessment (i.e. progress tests)

To apply for the next available intake or to register your interest for the programme, kindly contact us on  info@esatqualifications.com