The ISIS Academic Profile
Classes
Students study English from Monday to Friday in classes with a maximum of 15 students. Lessons run on the following timetable :
| Morning (Standard) |
Afternoon (zig-zag only) |
| 09.00 – 10.30 |
14.00 – 15.30 |
| 11.00 – 12.30 |
16.00 – 17.30 |
Afternoon classes run in our larger centres and students will be required to follow the ‘Zig-zag’ programme – a group staying for two weeks would have lessons in the morning for one week and lessons in the afternoon for one week.
Note: some centres may vary slightly in start times but length of class does not change.
Academic Staff
All teachers are appointed in accordance with British Council Accreditation UK guidelines and have been chosen by ISIS for their commitment, attitude and communicative ability.
In each centre there is a Director of Studies (DoS) who manages the teachers and guarantees that the ISIS Syllabus is maintained. All DoS’s are ELT professionals, recruited for their higher qualifications, extensive experience and suitability to managing large vacation programmes. All queries or requests concerning classes during the stay should be addressed to the DoS.
Our Peripatetic Academic Managers move around the country to support the academic setup and maintain academic standards in all our centres. They are senior ELT professionals who work with ISIS year-round to perfect the Syllabus and train staff in preparation for the summer centres.
ISIS Syllabus : The National English Framework
2007 sees the launch of the National English Framework (NEF) in the ISIS summer centres. The framework is designed to provide students with effective lessons in practical English and a set of assessments to help students, group leaders and parents to assess the individual student’s ability.
The NEF has been tied to the European Union’s Common European Framework to help identify the levels of the syllabus more clearly:
| National English Framework |
CEF |
TCL GESE Exam |
| Level 1 (Beginner) |
A1 |
1-2 |
| Level 2 (Elementary) |
A2 |
3-5 |
| Level 3 (Pre-intermediate) |
B1 |
5-8 |
| Level 4 (Intermediate) |
B2.1 |
8-9 |
| Level 5 (Upper Intermediate) |
B2.2 |
9-10 |
| Level 6 (Advanced) |
C1/C2 |
11-12 |
The NEF focuses on effective English for international communication. As such it includes work on speaking, reading, writing and listening skills, and covers lexical, grammatical and functional content. Every lesson leads to a functional task that students are required to complete. This provides continuous assessment of their abilities and a strong source of confidence for the learner.
A normal lesson would consist of the following process (the example shows an Elementary lesson) :
Lexis
e.g. activities |
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Grammar / Function
e.g. polite requests |
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Language Objective
e.g. Making diary
ppointments |
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Task Assessment
by teacher |
Pronunciation
e.g. key difficulties /s/ vs /z/ |
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Study in the UK
The NEP makes the most of the student’s time in the UK with native speaker teachers.
It also aims to integrate the activity programme and regional excursions into the classroom through Link Lessons and by requiring the students to complete an on-going record of their trip in the ISIS Gazette. Excursions are developed and made more meaningful and enjoyable through this type of study.
The benefit of working with a native speaker is something we try to exploit in every lesson, particularly in the areas of pronunciation and fluency. These aspects are built into the syllabus for regular attention each lesson.
Finally we try to encourage students to analyse how they learn and improve their habits : learner training plays a part in all lessons and is particularly important in completion of the ISIS Workbook which aims to provide students with support and information study after their course at ISIS.
Assessment and Certification
On arrival in the centre all students are tested through written and oral tests. They are placed carefully into levels that are designed to challenge them with purposeful material.
Students complete on-going assessment in each lesson through the use of focused tasks.
At the end of the course all students complete a listening and reading assessment, to complement the assessments from the lessons and the completed ISIS Gazette and Workbook. Collectively, these assessments form the basis for the ISIS Report Card and Certificate that is given to each student at the end of their course.
All students have the chance of taking a Trinity College London Spoken Examination during their stay – see the Trinity section of our website for more details or contact Mark at mark@isisgroup.co.uk for booking an exam.
