English Language Curriculum Foundations(EDUC 2200)

2nd Semester (2014-2015)

Instructor: Dr. Sadek Firwana

Curriculum is a focus of study, consisting of

various courses all designed to reach a

particular proficiency or qualification.

What is Curriculum?

Curriculum refers either to all of the courses offered by an

educational institution or to the courses offered in a specific

program. For example, you can refer to the “English Language

curriculum" when you are talking about the series of courses that

English Language Teachers must take as undergraduates in order to

become teachers.

What is Curriculum?

Curriculum can also be used to describe the courses that

a student at a given school or university MUST take in

order to complete a degree or qualification, whereas

other courses that he/she simply chooses to take may be

called "electives."

What is Curriculum?

A syllabus is an outline/plan/list of a specific course

prepared by the instructor. It includes the topics to be

covered, their order, often the required and suggested

reading material, and any other relevant information.

What is a Syllabus?

Thus, the syllabus is the content, the list of

topics/concepts to be taught, whereas the curriculum

is a consideration of the objectives, the content,

methods chosen to achieve those objectives. It

could/should contain a consideration of the kind of

assessment one will use to check progress.

Curriculum Vs. Syllabus?

There is a wide range of factors (= elements contributing to a particular result or situation) to consider when designing a curriculum. These include:

the learners’ present knowledge and lacks, the resources available including time, the skill of the teachers, the curriculum designer’s strengths and

limitations, andprinciples of teaching and learning.

If factors such as these are not considered,

then the course may be unsuited to the

situation and learners for which it is used,

and may be ineffective as a means of

encouraging learning.

In the curriculum design process these factors are considered in three sub-processes, environment analysis, needs analysis and the application of principles.

The result of environment analysis is a ranked list of factors

and a consideration of the effects of these factors on the design.

The result of needs analysis is a realistic list of

language, idea or skill items, as a result of

considering the present proficiency, future

needs and wants of the learners.

The application of principles involves first of all

deciding on the most important principles to

apply and monitoring their application through

the whole design process. The result of applying

principles is a course where learning is given

the greatest support.

PRINCIPLES UNDERLYING THE CURRICULUM

OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

The following principles are held to be true and self-evident:

1. LANGUAGE LEARNING IS LEARNING

TO COMMUNICATE.

Language is used by its speakers to express

themselves, to interact with others, to gain information

(academic and otherwise), and to learn about the

world around them.

2.   LANGUAGE VARIES.

Speakers of a language are aware of

the need to vary language use

according to the context of

communicative interaction, i.e.

language varies with variation in

topic, participants, setting, purpose,

and medium (verbal or written).

3. LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE IS BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH A NEW CULTURE.

Learners of a new language become aware of

new values, norms, thought patterns, and

beliefs. As a result of this cultural exposure

and of the ensuing analysis of similarities and

differences with native culture, learners

develop understanding of, respect for, and

appreciation of diversity of cultural

backgrounds.

4. LANGUAGE LEARNING IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN IT TAKES PLACE THROUGH MEANINGFUL, INTERACTIVE TASKS.

Language learners will thus learn most when

they are engaged in meaningful, purposeful

activities of social and cognitive nature in

the context of the classroom (content-based

instruction) and outside it (social settings).

5. LANGUAGE SKILLS ARE INTERDEPENDENT.

Listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills are not

thought of by language users as independent skills; they

are rather perceived as interdependent where one skill

often activates the other skills as well as the

paralinguistic* skills for the achievement of effective

communication.* Paralinguistics are the aspects of spoken communication that do not involve words. These may add emphasis or shades of meaning to what people say.

Examples Body language, gestures, facial expressions, tone and pitch of voice

Types of Curricula

Horizontal curriculum - Basic

curriculum taught within a year or a

semester.

Types of Curricula

Vertical curriculum - Curriculum taught

from year to year.

 

Types of Curricula

Spiral curriculum - Certain concepts

and skills are taught every year, but in an

upward spiral of difficulty.  

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Intended curriculum is the explicit and

approved curriculun and is usually

written in the form of curriculum guides

or lesson plans.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Hidden curriculum is not written anywhere

but is still pervasive.  It varies from teacher

to teacher, depending on individual values

and interests.  Teachers can teach the same

lesson plans but teach very different lessons

depending on their values, subject

knowledge and interests.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Null curriculum is whatever the teacher deletes or omits because of lack of time, interest or knowledge.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Delivered curriculum/Curriculum-in-use may differ greatly from the intended, planned curriculum.  Each teacher plans different lessons and delivers the intended curriculum in a unique way.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Experienced/Received curriculum is what the children receive and differs with each child due to differences in aptitude, interests, and preexisting knowledge.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Concomitant curriculum What is taught, or emphasized at

home, or those experiences that are part of a family's

experiences, or related experiences sanctioned by the

family. (This type of curriculum may be received at religious

institutions, in the context of religious expression, lessons on

values, ethics or morals, molded behaviors, or social

experiences based on the family's preferences.)

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Structural-lexical curriculum is one

where the principal objective is for the

learners to acquire the grammatical

structures and vocabulary of the language

they are learning.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Situational curriculum the principal

organizing characteristic is a list of situations

which reflects the way language and behavior

are used everyday outside the classroom. The

content of a situational syllabus is a collection

of real or imaginary situations in which

language occurs or is used.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Notional/Functional curriculum

The content of the notional/functional syllabus is a

collection of the functions that are performed when

language is used, or of the notions that language is used

to express. Examples of functions include: informing,

agreeing, apologizing, requesting; examples of notions

include size, age, color, comparison, time, and so on.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

A skill-based curriculum:

The primary purpose of skill-based instruction

is to learn the specific language skills. A

possible secondary purpose is to develop more

general competence in the language, learning

only incidentally any information that may be

available while applying the language skills.

 

Types of Curricula (Contd.)

Theme-based Curriculum

A theme-based curriculum provides students with

opportunities to develop deeper knowledge of a

few “big ideas = themes”. It also enables

teachers to link different disciplines meaningfully.

It reinforces concepts and vocabulary in an

ongoing manner. Example: Dining in a Chinese

Restaurant

 

Ralph Tyler (1949) Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, stressed four basic questions for teachers to use when developing curriculum that are still appropriate today:

What shall we teach?How shall we teach it?How can we organize it?How can we evaluate it?