Ce chapitre ne porte pas sur un point de grammaire, mais sur la méthode : comment devenir un apprenant autonome (Objectif Général 5) et comment utiliser concrètement l'anglais dans des situations de classe et de la vie courante (Objectif Général 6). Ces compétences seront réinvesties toute l'année et à l'examen du Baccalauréat, notamment à l'oral (travail de groupe, débat) et dans les activités de production écrite (formulaires, brouillons corrigés).
A semantic field is a group of words that share a common theme or meaning, even if they belong to different grammatical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives). Classer son vocabulaire par champ sémantique — plutôt que par ordre alphabétique — aide à mémoriser et à réemployer les mots dans un contexte donné.
Le programme de Première demande de constituer un lexique personnel autour de six grands thèmes :
| Semantic field | Useful vocabulary |
|---|---|
| Employment | a job vacancy, to apply for a job, a curriculum vitae (CV), a job interview, an employer / an employee, wages, to be made redundant, unemployment, self-employed, a career |
| Social / political issues | a citizen, a government, a policy, an election, human rights, poverty, corruption, to protest, a demonstration, democracy |
| Women | gender equality, women's rights, a housewife, maternity leave, discrimination, empowerment, a working mother, equal pay |
| Leisure | a hobby, to relax, entertainment, a leisure centre, to go sightseeing, board games, outdoor activities |
| Food / health | a balanced diet, malnutrition, junk food, a nutrient, to stay fit, a disease, to fall ill, a treatment, a check-up |
| Demographic / ecological problems | overpopulation, a birth rate, rural exodus, deforestation, pollution, global warming, natural resources, sustainable development |
Au sein d'un même champ sémantique, regrouper aussi les mots par famille (même racine, catégories grammaticales différentes) :
to employ (verb) → employment (noun) → an employer / an employee (nouns, persons) → employed / unemployed (adjectives)
Consigne méthodologique : tenir un carnet de vocabulaire (a vocabulary notebook) organisé en colonnes : Thème — Mot en anglais — Nature — Traduction — Exemple de phrase.
Un apprenant autonome sait où chercher l'information sans attendre que le professeur la lui donne. Les principaux outils de référence sont : le dictionnaire (bilingue et unilingue), la bibliothèque, l'index et la table des matières d'un livre, ainsi que les émissions de radio et de télévision en anglais (news, documentaries, songs).
| Outil | À quoi il sert |
|---|---|
| Bilingual dictionary | trouver rapidement la traduction d'un mot |
| Monolingual (English-English) dictionary | comprendre un mot par sa définition en anglais, voir des exemples et sa prononciation |
| Library (library card, catalogue) | emprunter des livres, magazines, romans gradués en anglais |
| Table of contents | repérer rapidement un chapitre ou une leçon dans un manuel |
| Index | retrouver une notion précise (grammaire, mot) et sa page dans un livre |
| Radio / TV in English | s'entraîner à l'écoute (listening) avec de l'anglais authentique |
Redrafting means reading your own first draft again, finding your mistakes (spelling, grammar, missing words) and writing a corrected, improved version. C'est une étape indispensable avant de rendre un travail écrit.
First draft : "My sister she work in a hospital since two years and she like her job a lot."
Redrafted version : "My sister has worked in a hospital for two years and she likes her job a lot."
(Corrections : suppression du pronom redondant « she » ; present perfect + for ; 3rd person singular -s.)
Self-assessment consiste à vérifier son propre travail à l'aide d'une grille de critères (a checklist), avant même la correction du professeur.
Travailler en groupe suppose de répartir des rôles (a leader/chairperson, a secretary/note-taker, a spokesperson/reporter) et de respecter le principe du turn-taking : chacun parle à son tour, sans couper la parole brutalement.
| Fonction | Useful expressions |
|---|---|
| Interrompre poliment | "Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to add something." / "Excuse me, may I say something here?" / "Just a second, please." |
| Distribuer la parole | "What about you, Marie? What do you think?" / "Let's hear from someone who hasn't spoken yet." / "Go ahead, it's your turn." |
| Faire participer un camarade silencieux | "Do you agree with that, John?" / "Would you like to add anything?" |
| Reprendre la parole après une interruption | "As I was saying, ..." / "To go back to my point, ..." |
Pour collecter des informations en classe ou pour un exposé, on peut utiliser : observation (regarder et noter des faits), un questionnaire (a written list of questions), une enquête / survey (interroger plusieurs personnes sur un sujet et analyser les résultats), une interview (a face-to-face conversation to get information from someone).
Interviewer: "Good morning. Could you tell me how long you have been looking for a job?"
Interviewee: "Good morning. I've been looking for a job for almost eight months now."
Interviewer: "In your opinion, what is the main difficulty young people face when looking for employment?"
Interviewee: "I'd say the lack of work experience. Many employers ask for experience we simply don't have yet."
Un débat organisé (an organised debate) suit une structure précise : un chairperson (modérateur) ouvre le débat et présente le sujet, donne la parole à tour de rôle aux orateurs "pour" (in favour) et "contre" (against), puis conclut.
| Étape | Useful expressions |
|---|---|
| Ouvrir le débat | "Today's topic is... Who would like to start?" |
| Demander un avis | "What is your opinion on this?" / "How do you feel about that?" |
| Donner son avis | "In my opinion, ..." / "As far as I'm concerned, ..." / "I strongly believe that..." |
| Exprimer un désaccord poli | "I see your point, but I don't quite agree." / "I'm afraid I have to disagree." |
| Conclure | "To sum up, ..." / "Thank you all for your contributions." |
Chairperson: "Good afternoon everyone. Today's topic is: 'Should women have equal job opportunities as men?' Who would like to start?"
Speaker A (in favour): "I'd like to start. In my opinion, women are just as competent as men, so they should have the same opportunities."
Speaker B (against): "Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to add that in some jobs, physical strength still matters."
Chairperson: "Thank you both. What about you, Aline? What do you think?"
Aline: "As far as I'm concerned, competence matters more than gender."
Chairperson: "Thank you everyone. To sum up, most of us agree that equal opportunities should be the rule."
Surname (nom de famille) · First name(s) (prénom(s)) · Date of birth (date de naissance) · Place of birth (lieu de naissance) · Nationality (nationalité) · Occupation (profession) · Address (adresse) · Signature.
LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM
| Field | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Surname | MABIKA |
| First name(s) | Grâce |
| Date of birth | 14 / 03 / 2009 |
| Place of birth | Brazzaville |
| Nationality | Congolese |
| Occupation | Student |
| Address | 12, Avenue de la Paix, Poto-Poto, Brazzaville |
| Signature | G. Mabika |
Remarque : à l'écrit, on répond de façon brève sur la ligne prévue (pas de phrase complète), sauf indication contraire.
| Compétence | Outil / technique | Objectif |
|---|---|---|
| Vocabulaire | Semantic field notebook | Mémoriser le lexique par thème |
| Recherche | Dictionary, library, index, table of contents | Trouver l'information rapidement |
| Écoute | Radio / TV in English | S'entraîner en autonomie |
| Écriture | Redrafting | Corriger ses propres erreurs |
| Évaluation | Self-assessment checklist | Vérifier son propre travail |
| Oral | Group work / turn-taking | Coopérer efficacement |
| Enquête | Observation, questionnaire, survey, interview | Recueillir des informations |
| Oral collectif | Organised debate | Argumenter et écouter les autres |
| Administratif | Form (surname, first name, date of birth...) | Renseigner ses informations personnelles |
Classez chacun des mots suivants dans le bon champ sémantique : Employment ou Women / social issues.
Employment : a job interview, a curriculum vitae, wages, to be made redundant.
Women / social issues : gender equality, maternity leave, women's rights, a working mother.
Lisez la présentation suivante puis remplissez le formulaire ci-dessous avec les informations correspondantes.
"My name is Jean-Pierre Okemba. I was born on the 2nd of September 2008 in Pointe-Noire. I am Congolese and I am currently a student at Lycée Savorgnan de Brazza. I would like to become a member of the school library."
Dites si chaque expression sert plutôt à (A) interrompre poliment ou (B) distribuer la parole à quelqu'un d'autre.
Lisez le texte suivant, écrit par un élève, puis rédigez en anglais une grille de 4 à 5 critères d'auto-évaluation (self-assessment checklist) qu'il aurait dû utiliser avant de le rendre.
"Yesterday I go to the market with my mother. We buy fruits and vegetable. It was very interesting because I see many things and I learn a lot about how peoples sell their product."
Self-assessment checklist :
Corrected version: "Yesterday I went to the market with my mother. We bought fruits and vegetables. It was very interesting because I saw many things and I learnt a lot about how people sell their products."
Rédigez par écrit un mini débat structuré sur le sujet suivant : "Should women have equal job opportunities as men?" Votre texte doit contenir : une introduction du sujet (par un chairperson), deux arguments pour (in favour), deux arguments contre (against), et une conclusion.
Chairperson: "Good morning everyone. Today's topic is: 'Should women have equal job opportunities as men?' I now give the floor to the first speaker."
Speaker A (in favour): "In my opinion, women should definitely have equal job opportunities. Firstly, women are just as qualified and hard-working as men, so competence, not gender, should determine who gets a job. Secondly, giving women equal opportunities helps reduce poverty in families, since many households depend on women's income as well."
Speaker B (against): "I see your point, but I'm afraid I have to disagree on some aspects. Firstly, in certain physically demanding jobs, such as construction or mining, the work may be more suitable for men. Secondly, in many societies, women still have to manage family responsibilities, which can make it harder for them to accept certain demanding positions."
Speaker A: "Sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to add that many countries now offer maternity leave and childcare support precisely to help women balance work and family life."
Chairperson: "Thank you both for your interesting arguments. To sum up, most speakers agree that competence should matter more than gender, even though some practical difficulties remain. Thank you all for your contributions."
On a form, what does "surname" mean?
Which word designates a person's job on a form?
Which expression is used to interrupt someone politely?
What does "turn-taking" mean in group work?
Who opens and closes an organised debate?
"Redrafting" means...
Which reference tool helps you find a chapter quickly at the beginning of a book?
A face-to-face conversation to collect information from someone is called...
Which word belongs to the "Employment" semantic field?
Which expression is used to give the floor to a classmate who hasn't spoken yet?
