English Language Curriculum Foundations (EDUC 2200) 2 nd Semester ( ) 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, and principles 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?