Components

Communicative language activities portray actual language in use and are considered the core of the curriculum. They are divided into four modes. Reception Activities are where learners receive and process language input from oral, written, or multimodal texts, constructing a representation of the meaning expressed. This includes spoken reception (listening comprehension) and written reception (reading comprehension), which involves reading various genres for orientation, information/argument, or leisure. Production Activities involve learners generating language through both speaking and writing. Spoken production covers "long turns," such as short descriptions or formal presentations/monologues, while written production encompasses written reports, essays, and creative writing. Interaction Activities involve at least two individuals exchanging language orally, in writing, or online, where production and reception alternate. This includes spoken conversation, written correspondence, and online interaction, which may involve simultaneous or consecutive exchanges and the use of symbols and codes to convey tone or emotion. Lastly, Mediation Activities involve the learner serving as an intermediary for others who lack access due to linguistic, cultural, semantic, or technical constraints. Mediation may also involve processing a text for oneself (e.g., taking notes) or expressing reactions to creative texts.

Communicative language strategies are a type of link between communicative language activities and communicative language competences. They involve applying metacognitive principles such as pre-planning, execution, monitoring, and repair related to the activities. Specific strategies, like “taking the floor” or “turn taking,” are relevant in the context of interaction activities. The can-do statements for specific strategies appear immediately following the can-do statements for each activity at each level of the curriculum, excluding Pre-Basic User I.

This component is based on the notion that an individual learner’s languages and cultures are interrelated and interconnected, meaning they are “not kept in separated mental compartments”. The learner's communicative competences are derived largely from this combined knowledge and experience. The curriculum recognizes that the construction of meaning in diverse societies may take place across languages and may draw upon the user/learner’s plurilingual and pluricultural repertoires. The term plurilingual competence refers to an individual's dynamic ability to communicate in several languages and switch among them to suit circumstances, recognizing that language acquisition and use are dynamic.

These competences, based on models in applied linguistics, originally relate to four main aspects: strategic, linguistic, socio-linguistic, and pragmatic. Since strategic competence is presented as a separate component, the remaining three make up the communicative language competences component. Linguistic competence relates to correct usage, covering general linguistic range, grammatical accuracy, phonological/orthographic control, and vocabulary size and depth. Sociolinguistic competence defines the necessary knowledge and skills for dealing with the social dimension of language use, also known as sociolinguistic appropriateness. Pragmatics describes the actual use of language in the construction of discourse, focusing on how messages are organized, structured, and arranged to perform communicative functions.

The vocabulary component, termed Lexical Bands, aims to provide learners from elementary through high school with the essential vocabulary needed for fluent and natural discourse, both spoken and written. The component is divided into three main bands—Band I for elementary, Band II for junior high, and Band III for high school—which are further split into core lists. Frequency was the main selection criterion for most lexical items, combined with expert judgment considering local context and learners’ age. The lists include single words and numerous multiword units or chunks. The curriculum differentiates between receptive (recognition) and productive (use) vocabulary for all levels starting from Basic User I. Since Band I covers high-frequency foundation vocabulary, all its items are expected to become productive by the end of elementary school. In Bands II and III, the ratio of productive to receptive items decreases, reflecting the fact that language users typically recognize more items than they frequently use. Meeting the targets ensures that high school graduates (4- and 5-point Bagrut) will know high-frequency vocabulary and crucial mid-frequency items necessary for academic, professional, and social purposes. For instance, the cumulative target for the 5-point Bagrut level (Independent User II) is approximately 5,400 receptive items and 3,000 productive items.

The grammar component, based primarily on the English Grammar Profile (EGP), aims to enable learners at all proficiency levels to understand and produce messages in context. Grammar conveys meaning and supports the achievement of the can-do statements specified for all levels of schooling. Grammatical constructions are characterized by three dimensions: structure or form, meaning, and use (pragmatic appropriacy). Unlike traditional teaching that stressed form, the curriculum places more emphasis on meaning and its relation to context, given that most English structures are context-dependent. The acquisition of grammar is gradual, enhanced by exposure and use, requiring constant recycling and reintroduction across all levels. The component comprises three CEFR-aligned bands, spanning from Basic User I through Independent User II, which are reentered within and across bands to allow for the development of in-depth knowledge and pragmatic appropriateness. Progression from receptive knowledge to productive use is viewed as a continuum with four flexible transition points. These points include Mostly receptive, where learners understand the general message using mostly memorized chunks; Emerging usage and accuracy, where learners attempt creative production but errors may interfere with intelligibility; Evolving usage and accuracy, where errors mostly do not interfere with intelligibility; and Mostly correct usage and accuracy, where production is mostly accurate with only occasional non-interfering errors.