Syllabus design and instrumental

materials

Nazilla.Kassaei

The ELT curriculum,

by Dennis Finney

Assessing learner’s need Developing objectives Planning the syllabus Selecting teaching approach Deciding on assessment procedures

Syllabus design

A.V.Kelly any definition must

include:

Planner’s intention

Procedures

Pupil’s actual experience

Hidden learning

CurriculumRichards and PlattCurriculum states:• educational purpose of the program

• Content, teaching procedure, learning experience

• Means to assess educational ends

Stern, Richards, Johnson, NunanChanges in thought on language & language learning

Educational policy language pedagogy

Curriculum change

The content model classical humanism The objective model reconstructionism The Process model progressivism The product of learningMixed-focus curriculum The process of learning

Models of curriculum planning

Origin: Plato and Aristotle Focus: content Classical humanism Underpins grammar-based curriculum Purpose: to transmit the knowledge of language to

learners Content: selection of individual grammar points and

lexis Drilling of grammatically correct sentences,

memorization of list of vocabularies Assessment: the ability to produce grammatically

accurate language

Content model

Short comings

It doesn’t take into account the problems of learners

It can’t justify the transmission of culture

It can’t cope with wider purposes of education

Origin : scientific management of education And

Behavioral psychology

Focus: objectives of teaching-learning program Purpose: to bring about a social change(reconstructionism) Learning is an observable change in behavior that can be

measured.

Objective curriculum

1. To describe unambiguously the behavior to be performed

2. To describe the condition under which performance is to occur

3. To state of acceptable performance

This model provides

1. Clarity of goals

2. Ease of evaluation

3. Accountability

Kelly

Tumposky

this model can be appropriate in the area of vocational training and subjects which require transmition of specific skills

Emphasizes on limits that such objectives place on creativity and cognitive and affective aspects of learning in their

reduction of education to an instrument for behavioral change.

Purpose: to enable the individuals to progress toward self-fulfilment

Goals of education are defined in terms of process by which learner develops his understanding

It moves toward learner-centered curriculum It rests on the concepts of learners’ need and

interest

Process model

Need analysis Focus on learning and learner

Evaluation of every stage Emphasizing on the process

Need for interaction between different aspect of design

What previous models contributed to current approach

Mixed-focus curriculumThe framework proposed by Johnson has three

dimensions:1. Policy, aims of curriculum2. Pragmatics, what is possible to achieve3. Participant in decision-making process, which has four

stages:

curriculum planning end specification

program implementation implementation in classroom

The needs of learners

The needs of planning committee

The needs of society

The needs of teachers

Curriculum policy

To Brindley(1989) a product-oriented veiw of needs

a process-oriented view of needs

Needs analysis

Language necessary for particular future purpose

Learner motivation, learning styles,learner-defined language

behavior

Gathering information for the purpose of setting broad goals related to language

content.

Gathering information about learners guides learning process

Course content : goals and objectives

Different kinds of objectives:1. Performance objective2. Process-related objective3. Instructional objective

Syllabus Design

Variable focus syllabus

1.how language is learned

structure-based

2.how language is acquired process-

based

3.how language is used

function-based

It would allow the designer, the most freedom to respond to changing needs of learners

It provides a framework for teacher who may not be able to go fully communicative

It provides the experienced teacher with a framework that allows in how the syllabus can create space for learner-teacher negotiation in real-life communication.

Advantages of mixed-focus model

Purpose

Brown formative Two types of evaluation summative

Evaluation

The systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the

improvement of a curriculum and assess its effectiveness, as well as participant’s attitudes

in the particular context.

To determine whether the curriculum goals have been met or not

To determine the effectiveness of curriculum and evaluate the language programme itself

The role of Materials in the language classroom: finding the

balance

Jane crawford

Negative point of view “textbooks reduce the role of teachers to the one of

managing preplanned events” “textbooks are for poor teachers, those without

imagination” “some materials fail to present appropriate language

models” “some materials fail to contextualize language activities” “some materials foster inadequate cultural

understanding” “some materials lack equity in gender representation”

Teaching Materials

Deficiency viewTextbooks compensate for teachers’ deficiencies

Allwright

Difference view Materials are carriers of decisions best made by someone other than the teacher because of some differences

• To assist inexperienced teachers1

• Agent for change2

• Structuring tool3

Positive point of veiws

negotiationTo provide sth. To negotiate about

accountabiliyTo show what is being

done

orientationTo know what is

happening

Hutchinson and Torres

Effective materials

Language is functional and must be contextualized

Language development requires learner engagement in purposeful use of language

The language used should be realistic and authentic

Classroom materials will usually seek to include audio visual component

Effective teaching materials foster learner autonomy

Materials need to be flexible enough to cater to individual and contextual differences

Learning needs to engage learners both affectively and cognitively

Technologically complex world, second language learners need to develop the ability to deal with written as well as

spoken genre

1. They must work with examples of genre but with the focus on meaning

2. They must analyze examples of the genre to determine its social purpose

3. They must build up their knowledge of the topic through discussion ,reading and so on,

4. They must engage a joint construction as a whole group or in smaller groups.

Learners need to have some activities before their writing occurs