ENG519 Midterm Short Notes by Mudassar Ahmad

Lecture: 01

Curriculum development focuses on determining what knowledge, skills, and values students learn in schools; what experiences should be provided to bring about intended learning outcomes; and how teaching and learning in educational systems can be planned, measured, and evaluated.

Curriculum development process is seen as a combination of:

Goal setting

Principles Syllabus design Methodology Approaches to curriculum Professional development of teachers Testing and evaluation

Language curriculum development - familiarizes us with an interrelated set of processes that focuses on designing, revising, implementing, and evaluating language programs.

Syllabus design - is one aspect of curriculum development but is not identical with it. A syllabus is seen as a specification of the content of a course of instruction and lists all possible teaching content.

Curriculum development - is a more comprehensive process than syllabus design. It includes the processes that are used to determine:

Goal setting Principles Syllabus design Methodology Testing and evaluation

Historical Perspective of Language Teaching Methods

Grammar Translation Method (1800-1900) Direct Method (1890-1930) Structural Method (1930-1960) Reading Method (1920-1950) Audiolingual Method (1950-1970) Situational Method (1950-1970) Communicative Approach (1970-present)

Lecture: 02

Criteria for determining the word lists

Teach-ability: In a course that is taught by following the Direct Method or Total Physical Response Method, concrete vocabulary is taught early because it can easily be illustrated through pictures or by demonstration. Similarity: Some items may be selected because they are similar to words in the native language. Availability: Some words may not be frequent but are readily available in the sense that they come quickly to mind when certain topics are thought of. For example, classroom calls to mind desk, chair, teacher, and pupil Coverage: Words that cover or include the meanings of other words may also be useful. For example, seat might be taught because it includes the meanings of stool, bench, and chair. Defining power: Some words could be selected because they are useful in defining other words. For example, container might be useful because it can help define bucket, jar, and carton.

One of the most important lexical syllabuses in language teaching:

Writer: Michael West Title: A General Service List of English Words (1953) Vocabulary bank: 2,000 words.

Principles of Selection and Gradation of Grammatical Syllabi

Simplicity and centrality: This recommends choosing structures that are simple and more central to the basic structure of the language than those that are complex and peripheral.

Approaches to Gradation

Linguistic distance: This approach emphasizes first on those teaching structures that are similar to the native language. This is because the elements that are similar the learners’ native language will be simple for them Intrinsic difficulty: This principle argues that simple structures should be taught before the complex ones Communicative need: Some structures will be needed early and cannot be postponed despite their difficulty (such as the simple past in English) Frequency: The frequency of occurrence of structures and grammatical items in the target language may also affect the order in which they appear in a syllabus

Assumptions Underlying Early Approaches to Syllabus Design

The basic units of language are vocabulary and grammar Learners everywhere have the same needs Learners’ needs are identified exclusively in terms of language needs The process of learning a language is largely determined by the textbook The context of teaching is English as a foreign language

Lecture: 03

In Britain, applied linguists developed a methodology

Characteristics

A structural syllabus with graded vocabulary levels Meaningful presentation of structures in contexts through the use of situations A sequence of classroom activities that went from Presentation, to controlled Practice, to freer Production (the PPP method).

English for ESP - the ESP student is usually studying English in order to carry out a particular role such as that of a foreign student in an English-medium university, a flight attendant, a mechanic, or a doctor.

Register analysis - studies the language of such fields as journalism, medicine, or law for distinctive patterns of occurrence of vocabulary, verb forms, noun phrases, and tense usage.

The research process - The vocabulary is primarily verbs and nouns and is presented in a context which discusses the five steps of research:

1. Formulating
2. Investigating
3. Analyzing
4. Drawing conclusions
5. Reporting results

The vocabulary of analysis - It includes high-frequency and two-word verbs needed in order to present information in an organized sequence, for example, consist of, result from, base on, be noted for, etc.

Discourse analysis - examines the communicative contexts that affect language use, for example, in social transactions, the relationship between the discourse and the speakers and listeners.

For example, it looks at how the choice of verb tenses or other grammatical features affect the structure of the discourse.

Lecture: 04

The Munby Model

It describes a systematic approach to needs analysis in ESP course design and focuses on two dimensions of needs analysis:

1. The procedures used to specify the target-level communicative competence of the student
2. Procedures for turning the infor-mation into a syllabus

Lecture: 05

Situation analysis - an analysis of factors in the context of a planned or present curriculum project that is made in order to assess their political, social, economic, or institutional situation. It complements the information gathered during

Project Factors that need to be considered in situation analysis

Who constitutes the project group and how are they selected?

What are the management and other responsibilities of the team?

How are goals and procedures determined?

Who reviews the progress of the project and performance of its members?

What experience do members of the team have?

How do members of the team regard each other?

Institutional factors that need to be considered in situation analysis

What leadership is available within the school to support change and to help teachers cope with change? What is the role of textbooks and other instructional materials? What is staff morale? What problems do teachers face and what is being done about them? How committed is the institution to attaining excellence?

Teacher Factors

Teacher is a key factor in the successful implementation of curriculum changes. But inadequately trained teachers may not be able to make effective use of teaching materials, no matter how well they are designed. In any institution, teachers may vary according to the following dimensions:

Language proficiency Skill and expertise