2 Applying the skills of English to communicate both spoken and written in
intermediate level. English in Vocational High School is divided into three different levels
namely 1 novice level for the first graders, 2 elementary level for the second graders, and 3 intermediate level for the third graders.
b. Competence
Because of having the different aims from other schools, vocational high school has the different basic competences and standard competences.
Below is presented the standard competence and basic competences of level novice in Vocational High School used in the developed materials
Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan
, 2006: 385-386:
Table 2.1: Standard Competence and Basic Competence of Level Novice of Vocational High School Used in the Developed Materials
Standard Competence Basic Competences
1. Communicating in
English at
Level Novice
1.2 Mentioning things, people, characteristics,
time, days, months, and years 1.3
Describing things, people, characteristics, time, days, months, and years
1.4 Producing simple expressions for the basic
functions 1.6
Understanding memos and simple menus, schedules of public transportations, and
traffic signs
There are some micro-skills for each skill in each basic competence used to develop the materials. Below is the table describing the micro skills
for each basic competence adapted from Brown 2000.
Table 2.2: Basic Competences and Micro Skills Basic Competences
Micro Skills
1.2. Mentioning things, people,
characteristics, time,
days, months,
and years
Listening: -
Discriminate among the distinctive sounds of English.
- Distinguish word boundaries, recognising a core
of words, and interpret word order patterns and their significance.
- Recognise grammatical word classes nouns,
verbs, etc., systems e.g. tense, agreement, and pluralisation, patterns, rules, and elliptical forms.
- Recognise that a particular meaning may be
expressed in different grammatical forms. -
Recognise the communicative functions of utterances, according to situations, participants,
and goals. -
Infer situations, participants, goals using real- world knowledge.
- Develop and use a battery of listening strategies,
such as detecting key words, guessing meaning of words from context, appeal for help, and
signalling comprehension or lack thereof.
Brown, 2000: 256 Reading:
- Discriminate among the distinctive graphemes
and orthographic patterns of English. -
Recognise a core words, and interpret word order patterns and their significance.
- Recognise grammatical word classes nouns,
verbs, etc., systems e.g. tense, agreement, and pluralisation, patterns, rules, and elliptical forms.
- Recognise that a particular meaning may be
expressed in different grammatical forms. -
Recognise cohesive devices in written discourse and their role in signalling the relationship
between and among clauses. -
Recognise the communicative functions of written texts, according to form and purpose.
- Infer links and connections between events, ideas,
etc., deduce causes and effects, and detect such relations as main idea, supporting idea, new
information, given information, generalization, and exemplification.
- Develop and use a battery of reading strategies
such as scanning and skimming, detecting 1.3. Describing
things, people, characteristics,
time, days,
months, and
years 1.4. Producing
simple expressions for
the basic
function 1.6. Understanding
memos and
simple menus, schedules
of public
transportations, and
traffic signs
continued
