Warm-up
Answer a few quick questions before today’s lesson about school.
Listening
Listen to the recording and answer the questions in each part. You can replay the audio as many times as you need — click anywhere on the progress bar to jump to a specific moment. Read the questions in each part first, then submit when you are ready; your answers will be marked together at the end of each part.
Listening — Getting Ready for IB English B
This listening task is split into parts. The player stays at the top of the page. For each part, read the questions first, then listen and answer. You can change your answers until you click Submit; feedback appears once you submit each part.
Reading
Read the passage on the left, then work through the questions on the right.
Reading — Sixth-Formers Begin Language Course as Schools Report Rising Demand
Read the passage on the left, then answer the questions one by one. For every answer, be able to point at the words that prove it.
Sixth-Formers Begin Language Course as Schools Report Rising Demand
Schools across Asia and Europe are reporting growing numbers of students entering the final two years of secondary school this September, and for many of them the course they begin is Diploma Programme English B.
English B is a two-year language acquisition course for students who already have some experience of English. It has run in its current form since 2018. Work is organised around five themes — identities, experiences, human ingenuity, social organisation and sharing the planet — and students are expected to handle these themes across a range of text types, from emails and blogs to reports and speeches.
Assessment is divided into three parts. Students sit a writing paper of 75 minutes at standard level, choosing one task from three and producing between 250 and 400 words. They sit a second paper testing listening and reading, which is worth half the final grade. The third part is an oral assessment, conducted by their own teacher and worth the remaining quarter.
Teachers say the opening weeks matter more than students expect. “Students who set specific targets early make measurable progress,” one coordinator said. Many schools ask students to begin a portfolio in the first unit, collecting written work, self-assessments and vocabulary so that progress can be seen rather than guessed at.
The Diploma Programme does not define the course by a single level of ability. Research commissioned by the organisation places standard-level students across a wide range, with the strongest finishing well beyond the point at which they started.
Vocabulary Practice
Practise the 14 key vocabulary items from this lesson through three exercises.
Vocabulary Practice — Introductory Unit
Work through all three parts. Each part uses the same fourteen words in a different way.
Writing Task
You have joined a new Year 12 English B class. Your teacher has not met you. Write an email introducing yourself before the course begins properly.
You should address:
- Who you are — where you are from, and what you do outside school
- What you are strong at in English, and what you find difficult
- Your goals for the two-year course
Speaking
Speaking task. Read the instructions, then complete the task.
After the Lesson
Reflect on what you learned and how confident you feel now.
Teacher Guide
Practise with
- assignmentnoun
a task or piece of work given to a student
- deadlinenoun
the latest time by which something must be completed
- educateverb
to teach someone knowledge or skills
- feedbacknoun
Opinions or information given about something that has been done.
- hand inphrasal verb
to give something completed to someone in authority, especially schoolwork
- keepverb
to have something and not lose or give it away
- lecturenoun
a talk given to teach a group of people
- meetverb
to come together with someone
- peernoun
a person of the same age or social position as you
- strengthnoun
the quality of being physically strong
- syllabusnoun
a document listing topics and information about a course
- targetnoun
something you want to achieve or reach