Lexis related to education

🔊 The teacher reads for you

From kindergarten to a doctorate, a student's life is full of words: you take exams, you pass or fail them, you graduate, one day you may hold a degree. English has a precise word for every stage, every school and every step — and they are not always the words you expect. So how do you talk about schools, studies and exams in English?

🎓في نهاية هذا الدرس ستكون قادرا على:

تسمية مراحل التعليم ومؤسّساته في بريطانيا والولايات المتّحدة، والشهادات الجامعية بترتيبها
استعمال أفعال الدراسة والامتحانات، مثل ⁦take an exam, pass, fail, graduate, take up a course⁩
تصنيف مفردات التعليم إلى أسماء وصفات وأفعال وعبارات
فهم عبارات الاختيار الدراسيّ، مثل ⁦set one’s heart on, stand in someone’s way⁩

🔑يفترض هذا الدرس أنّك تتقن:

أقسام الكلمة: الاسم والفعل والصفة
الماضي البسيط والجملة الشرطية من النوع الأوّل
مراحل التعليم في الجزائر: الابتدائيّ والمتوسّط والثانويّ والجامعيّ

1. Stages, schools and degrees

لكلّ نظام تعليميّ مراحله ومؤسّساته: من روضة الأطفال والمدرسة الابتدائية إلى الثانوية ثمّ الجامعة، وللشهادات الجامعية ترتيبها.

In Britain, children are in full-time education between the ages of 5 and 16. They receive their primary education at an infant school and then a junior school, or at a primary school that combines the two. At about 11, they begin their secondary education at a comprehensive school or a grammar school, and study towards the GCSE. Some then go to a sixth-form college to study for Advanced (A) Levels in order to enter university. In the United States, formal education begins at 5 in kindergarten; kindergarten and the next five or six years are called elementary school. Grades seven to twelve are part of secondary education — junior high school and senior high school. After twelfth grade comes post-secondary education, also called higher or tertiary education.

Stages in Britain and in the United States

Stage	In Britain	In the United States
the first years	infant school and junior school, or a primary school	kindergarten, then elementary school
secondary education	comprehensive school or grammar school, from about 11	junior high school and senior high school, grades 7 to 12
after secondary school	a sixth-form college for A Levels, then university	post-secondary education: university, higher or tertiary education

Every word of this table comes from the texts of the unit on education in Britain and in the United States.

Academic qualifications — in which order are they conferred?

Master of Arts or Science (M.A, M.Sc) · Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) · Bachelor of Arts or Science (B.A, B.Sc) · Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) · General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE)

Task 1 — Put the qualifications in order. And what is the British equivalent of the lycée?

رتّب الشهادات بحسب منحها. وما المؤسّسة البريطانية التي تقابل الثانوية؟

GCSE (at the end of compulsory secondary education) → Bachelor (B.A, B.Sc) → Master (M.A, M.Sc) → Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) → Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D). The lycée corresponds to British secondary school — and for its last two years, to the sixth-form college, where students prepare the A Levels needed to enter university.

2. Studies and exams: nouns, adjectives, verbs

حول كلمة ⁦education⁩ تتوزّع المفردات على ثلاث مجموعات: أسماء، وصفات، وأفعال وعبارات.

Around the word education, the vocabulary falls into three groups: nouns (a timetable, school fees), adjectives (qualified, hardworking) and verbs and phrases (take an exam, pass, fail, graduate). Sort each new word into its group: it tells you how to use it in a sentence.

Put these items around the right heading: nouns, adjectives, or verbs and phrases

failpasssuccessfuldo a courseget a commendationbe up to standardstake up a coursegraduatesucceedtake (exams)hardworkingqualifiedassessevaluateassessmentfall behindhold a degreeschool feestimetableskillstraininggo to university

Task 2 — the three groups, and three more items for each

المجموعات الثلاث، مع ثلاث مفردات إضافية لكلّ واحدة.

Group	Items	Three more
nouns	assessment · school fees · timetable · skills · training	curriculum · regulations · discipline
adjectives	successful · hardworking · qualified	private · public · illiterate
verbs and phrases	fail · pass · succeed · graduate · take (exams) · assess · evaluate · do a course · take up a course · get a commendation · be up to standards · fall behind · hold a degree · go to university	attend school · graduate from university · study towards the GCSE

Fill in the blanks with items from the groups.

Karim …(1) his Baccalauréat exam last June. If he …(2) it with distinction, he will …(3). But if he …(4), he will …(5) in a vocational training school to become either a plumber or an electrician.

Task 3 — the answers

في كلّ فراغ اسأل: هل يُنتظر فعل أم عبارة؟ وفي أيّ زمن؟

(1) took — the exam took place last June: past simple of take (exams).
(2) passed — the result is not known yet.
(3) go to university.
(4) failed.
(5) take up a course (or do a course).

Watch the difference: you take an exam (you sit it), then you pass it (you succeed) or you fail it.

3. Choosing your studies: four expressions

أربع عبارات تُستعمل حين نتحدّث عن اختيار الدراسة: ⁦set one’s heart on⁩، ⁦take up⁩، ⁦have one’s way⁩، ⁦stand in someone’s way⁩.

Rewrite the words in bold using their equivalents: 1. had been free to choose · 2. is determined to · 3. prevent him from doing what he wants · 4. engage in

A. He has set his heart on becoming an artist. B. He ought to take up something more secure. C. I wouldn't have been a teacher myself if I'd had my way. D. I don't think you should stand in his way.

Task 4 — the answers

كلّ عبارة ومقابلها.

A — 2. He is determined to become an artist.
B — 4. He ought to engage in something more secure.
C — 1. I wouldn't have been a teacher myself if I had been free to choose.
D — 3. I don't think you should prevent him from doing what he wants.

4. What education is

نصّ يعرّف التعليم: حوّل الأفعال إلى أسماء بإضافة ⁦-ing⁩ أو ⁦-ion⁩ لتحصل على مفردات التعليم.

Transform the verbs in brackets into nouns by adding -ing or -ion (-ation), so as to get a meaningful text.

(Educate) is the process of (develop) intellectual capacity, manual skills, and social awareness, especially through (instruct). At the (begin), (learn) takes place mainly at home. At the age of 5 or 6, children start (go) to school. This compulsory (school) lasts for nearly 10 years. It helps to complete the process of (socialize), and it provides the minimum (train) for (function) normally in society.

Task 5 — the text, and the ten nouns

النصّ كاملا، والأسماء العشرة.

Education is the process of developing intellectual capacity, manual skills, and social awareness, especially through instruction. At the beginning, learning takes place mainly at home. At the age of 5 or 6, children start going to school. This compulsory schooling lasts for nearly 10 years. It helps to complete the process of socialization, and it provides the minimum training for functioning normally in society. Education, instruction, learning, schooling, socialization, training: six nouns that name what school does.

Do this alone, in writing. Write five sentences about your lycée for its home page, using at least five words of this lesson — the curriculum of studies, the regulations, the exams, the extra-curricular activities, the staff, pass, graduate, hardworking… Then check: is each word in the right group — noun, adjective or verb?

اكتب وحدك خمس جمل عن ثانويتك لصفحتها على الإنترنت، مستعملا خمس مفردات على الأقلّ من الدرس.

A model answer

Our lycée offers a rich curriculum of studies, from philosophy to foreign languages. The regulations are clear: pupils must attend school every day and respect the timetable. Our hardworking teachers help us prepare for the Baccalauréat, and most of our students pass it. After class, extra-curricular activities include sports and a theatre club. Every year, some of our former pupils graduate from university.

In the exam, vocabulary is tested on the text: you find a word closest in meaning to a definition, or a word opposite in meaning — pass ≠ fail, private ≠ public, succeed ≠ fall behind. Have three things ready: ① the stages and schools of the two systems (primary, secondary, higher education; kindergarten, elementary school, high school); ② the actions of a student: take an exam, pass, fail, graduate, take up a course, go to university; ③ the degrees in order: GCSE, B.A, M.A, M.Phil., Ph.D. The frequent mistake: using pass for « sit an exam ». You take an exam; you pass it only if you succeed.

What I keep — Education goes through stages: primary education (infant, junior or primary school; kindergarten and elementary school in the US), secondary education (comprehensive or grammar school; junior and senior high school), then higher or tertiary education. Degrees come in order: GCSE, B.A or B.Sc, M.A or M.Sc, M.Phil., Ph.D. A student takes an exam, passes or fails it, graduates and holds a degree. And to choose one's studies: set one's heart on, take up a course, have one's way, stand in someone's way.

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