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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