From syllabus design to curriculum development

From Syllabus Design

to Curriculum Development

The quest for new methods

Changing needs for foreign languages in Europe

English for specific purposes

Needs analysis in ESP

Communicative language teaching

Emergence of a curriculum approach in language

teaching

Contents:

Immigrants, refugees, and foreign students in UK, US,

Canada, and Australia

Greater mobility of peoples in air travel, international

trade, and commerce

The Quest for New Methods

Whites (1988,9) comments:

“English has become the language of the world

thanks to the linguistic legacy of the British Empire, the

emergence of the USA as an English-speaking

superpower, and the fortuitous association of English

with the industrial and technological developments”

Huge demand for EFL learning

Explore new teaching methods

Linguistics - organization & structure of language -

applied in the cause of new “scientifically based”

teaching methods.

Oral approach: linked to graded grammatical & lexical

syllabus situational approach / situational language

teaching

Situational Language Teaching in Britain:

A structural syllabus with graded vocabulary levels

Meaningful presentation of structures in contexts

PPP method

Audiolingual method (1960s) United States

Rivers (1964) stated audiolingualism as: Habits are strengthened by reinforcement. Foreign language habits are formed most effectively

by giving the right response, not by making mistakes. Language is behavior.

Audiovisual method (1978) Europe

The upsurge in English language teaching (mid-1950s –

1960s) A Language Teaching Revolution:

Introducing new methods and materials

WHY / HOW people learn a second language

(Jupp and Hodlin, 1975)

Changing Needs for Foreign Languages in Europe

Reevaluation of language teaching policy in Europe

In 1969, the Council of Europe decided that:

Language barriers must be removed.

Linguistic diversity, through the study of modern languages,

should provide a source of intellectual enrichment.

If the study of modern Europe languages becomes general,

mutual understanding and cooperation will be possible.

Issues to face by Van Els, T. Bongaerts, G. Extra, C.

Van Os, and A. Janssen-van Dieten (1984, 159):

1. Does the community consider it important that all its

members know a foreign language, or is this considered

necessary only for certain professional domains?

2. How many languages, and which languages, are felt to be

necessary?

3. How great is the demand for each individual language? Does

everyone need the same skills, or the same level of

command per skill?

4. Is there a stable needs pattern?

Unit-credit system used as a framework for

developing language teaching programs for adults

during period of Communicative Language Teaching

(CLT).

Societal and learner needs are starting point in

reevaluation of language teaching.

The concern to make language courses more relevant to learners’ needs also led during this period to the emergence of the Languages for Specific Purposes (LSP) movement, known in English-language teaching circles as ESP (English for Specific Purposes).

English for Specific Purposes - ESP

The ESP approach concerns

the need for Non-English background students. the need for employment the need for business purpose the need for immigrants

My Own experience from an English class at PECC 2

1. What was the PECC Director’s need about this

English course?

He needed his staff should be taught English for

Electrical Engineering so that they can deal with the

electrical terms

2. What did the native English teacher teach?• Talk about yourself• Talk about your daily routine• What did you do last week / holiday?• Retell a holiday trip you have ever taken.• What should you do to have a good health?• Health Problem• Describing people• Internet-positive and negative points• What are your hobbies and interest?• Environment concerns ………

My Own experience from an English class at PECC 2

University of Michigan language patterns and vocabulary (Darian,

1972)

“for learners in situations such as these, whatwas needed was not more and more lessons in“advanced English” or “colloquial English” buttraining in the kinds of English learners woulduse or encounter in their specific occupationsand situations”.

Difference between ESP and EGP

ESP learners are usually adults, who are familiar with the English language.

The age of EGP learners varies from children to adults and learning the English language is the subject of the courses.

English for Specific Purposes

English for General Purposes


They are learning the language in order to communicate professional information and to perform some particular, job-related functions.



EGP courses are mostly focused on grammar, language structure and general vocabulary.


The learners are highly motivated as they are aware of their specific purposes for learning English. (cf. Chris Wright, 1992)



EGP helps students to cope with any subject-matter course. It gives them the ability to generate more language. EGP learners, if well-taught, can use English to cope with the language in any undefined tasks.


In ESP course, it is needs analysis that determines which language skills are useful for the learners to be able to accomplish certain professional tasks. ESP courses are centered on the context. The English language is usable immediately in the employment context.



EGP courses deal with many different topics and each of the four skills is equally treated. Due to the general nature of these courses no needs analysis is conducted. EGP courses are responsible to the general language acquisition and, for the vast majority of learners

Hutchinson et al. (1987, p53)

“in theory nothing, in practice a great deal”



1. Why do you want to study higher?

2. Why did you choose Diploma in TESOL?

3. Is DipTESOL useful for your current

employment?

4. What do you want to do after this course

(Diploma in TESOL)?

……………

The content of [ESP] courses are thereby

determined, in some or all of the following ways:

(a) Restriction—Basic Skills of Understanding

Speech, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

(b) Selection—Vocabulary, Patterns of Grammar,

and Function of Language.

(c) Themes and Topics—Themes, Topics,

Situations, and Universes of Discourse.

(d) Communicative Needs—For Communication

Needs Analysis in ESP

A number of approaches were suggested to determine the

learner’s needs.

1. Who can determine learner’s needs?

Richterich and Chanceril (1978), working within the Council

Europe framework proposed that learners, teachers, and

employers could all determine.

2. How could they collect the information (learner’s needs)?

It could be collected from the resources of the teaching

institution, objectives, the methods of assessment used.


3. When should the needs analysis be performed in a

course?

It should be an ongoing process throughout the

course.

4. Which procedures should be used for conducting needs

analysis?

Questionnaires, surveys, and interviews should be

used.


Munby (1978) described a Systematic Approach to

Needs Analysis in ESP Course Design.

And Schutz and Derwing summarized it

Profile of Communicative Needs (Curriculum

Development in Language Teaching, P.34)


1. Personal: their age, their education background, their nationality…

2. Purpose: needs to develop their communicative skills.

3. Setting: restaurant , customers who use the restaurant.

4. Interactional variables: all the relationships.

5. Medium, mode, channel: spoken/written, face to face

6. Dialects: formal or casual styles.

7. Target level: basic, intermediate, or advanced level.

8. Anticipated communicative events: greetings, taking requests,

clarifying information, describing menu

9. Key: unhurriedly, quietly, and politely.

Profile of Communicative Needs:Ex: waiter/waitress

Communicative language teaching (CLT)

What is CLT?CLT is a approach to teaching that focuses on communication rather than on mastery of the grammatical system of language.

CLT was a response to changes in the field of linguistics in 1970s, as well as a response to the need for new approaches to language teaching in Europe as a result of initiative, by groups such as the Council of Europe.

4 dimensions of Communicative Competence (Canale & Swain, 1980)

Grammatica

l Competence

Sociolinguistic Competence

Discourse Competence Strateg

ic Competence

Communicative Competence

Grammatical Competence: the domain of grammatical and lexical capacity

Sociolinguistic Competence: an understanding of the social context in which communication takes place: role relationships, shared information of participants, purpose of interaction

Discourse Competence: interpretation of individual message in relation to the entire discourse or text

Strategic Competence: strategy to initiate, terminate, maintain, repair, and redirect communication.

Grammatical Competence Communicative Competence

Ability to produce sentences in a language

Knowledge of building blocks of sentences (e.g., parts of speech, tenses, phrases, clauses, sentence patterns) and how sentences are formed

Focus of many grammar practice books, which typically present a rule of grammar and provide exercises to practice using the rule

Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and functions

Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants (e.g., when to use formal and informal speech or when to use language appropriately for written or spoken communication)

Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts (e.g. narratives, reports, interviews, conversations)

Proposals for a Communicative Syllabus

Skills-based syllabus: This focuses on the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking

For example:

Listening skills

Key words in conversation

The topic of a conversation

Speakers’ attitude toward a topic

Time reference of an utterance

Functional syllabus

• This is organized according to the functions the learner should be able to carry out in English, such as expressing likes and dislikes, offering and accepting apologies, introducing someone, and giving explanations.

• Vocabulary and grammar are then chosen according to the functions being taught.

PPP Triangle

Presentation

Practice

Production

-Pronounciation-Meaning-Form

-Controlled practice

-Free practice

Notional syllabus: based around the content and notions a learner would need to express.

The components of meaning:Semantico-grammatical meaning: time (point

of time, duration, frequency, sequence…)Modal meaning: modality, scale of certainty,

scale of commitmentCommunicative function: requests,

complaints, suggestions, apologies…

Notional-functional syllabus is a way of organizing a language-learning curriculum, rather than a method or an approach to teaching. In a notional-functional syllabus, instruction is not organized in terms of grammatical structure, but instead in terms of "notions" and "functions“

A "notion" is a particular context in which people communicate

A "function" is a specific purpose for a speaker in a given context

• For example: The "notion" of shopping requires numerous

language "functions", such as asking about prices or features of a product and bargaining

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Context_(language_use)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication



Components of syllabus1. Consideration of purposes2. Setting3. Socially defined role4. Communicative events5. Language functions6. Notions7. Discourse and rhetorical skills8. Variety9. Grammatical content10. Lexical content (Yalden 1987, 86-87)

Emergence of a curriculum approach in language teaching

Tyler’s Linear model1. What educational purposes should the school seek to

attain?2. What educational experiences can be provided that are

likely to attain these purposes?3. How can these educational experiences be effectively

organization?4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being

attained? (Tyler, 1950)

Aims and Objectives Content Organization Evaluation

Nicholls and Nicholls's description in 1972s:Cyclical Model

a) The Careful Examination

b) The Development and Trial Use

c) The Assessment of the Extent

d) The Final Element – Feedback of all the experience

gained.

Linear Model Cyclical Model

Rigid The elements are linear, where one leads to another It’s not clear whether changes could happen or not.

Flexible

View curriculum elements as interrelated and interdependent Present the curriculum process as a continuing activity, which is constantly in a state of change as new information, and practices become available. Cyclical models accommodate change over the years

System-design model

• Is “an integrated plan of operation of all components (sub-systems) of a system, designed to solve a problem or meet a need”

(Briggs 1977, 5)

• The system model belongs to an approach to educational planning that sees curriculam development as a rational and somewhat technical process.

System-design model

a. Formulation of objectivesb. Selection of contentc. Task analysisd. Design of learning activitiese. Definition of behavioral outcomesf. Evaluative measures for determining the

achievements

Curriculum development refer to the range of planning and implementation processes involved in developing or renewing a curriculum. (Jack, 2001)

The Focuses on the Curriculum Development:1. Needs Analysis2. Situational Analysis3. Learning Outcome4. Course Organization5. Selecting Teaching Material6. Preparing Teaching Material7. Providing for Effective Teaching8. Evaluation

DISCUSSION

1. Have you ever taken an ESP lesson before?

Did it meet your needs?

2. In your point of view, do you think the ESP course

is more motivated than General English course?

3. What do you think about CLT in Vietnam?

4. What approach do you apply in your CLT?

Which of the statements below do you think characterizes communicative language teaching?

1. People learn a language best when using it to do things

rather than through studying how language works and practicing rules

2. Grammar is no longer important in language teaching.

3. People learn a language through communicating in it.

4. Errors are not important in speaking a language.

5. CLT is only concerned with teaching speaking.

6. Classroom activities should be meaningful and involve real communication

7. Dialogs are not used in CLT.

8. Both accuracy and fluency are goals in CLT.

9. CLT is usually described as a method of teaching.

From syllabus design to curriculum development

Education

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