Curriculum Development in language Teaching Lecturer: Dr. Bunlay NITH By: Chann Veasna p. 112-144 Unlock Access to An
Summary Chapter 5: Planning goals and learning outcomes
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To make curriculum planning for teaching English, it is necessary to find answers t o questions: What kind of English? At what level of proficiency? And for what purpose? Several key assumptions about goal characterize the curriculum approach to educational Summary of 5 Planning Goals and planning: Learning Outcomes People are generally motivated to pursue specific goals The use of goals in teaching improves the effectiveness of teaching and learning A program will be effective to the extent Access t hat itsNow that goals are sound and clearly described. Most language programs describe their goals in terms of aims and object ives. They refer to knowledge, skills, and values thatNoeducational believe learners need to develop. thanks, I don'tplanners want my exclusive trial Goals in the design of educational programs have aroused considerable controversy. The ideology of the curriculum In developing goals for educational programs, progr ams, curriculum planners draw on o n their understanding both of the present and long-term needs of learners and of society as we ll as the planners’ beliefs and ideologies about schools, schools, learners, and teachers. 5 curriculum ideologies: this justification for the arms of curriculum stresses the intrinsic Academic rationalism — this value of the subject matter and its role in developing the learner’s intellect, humanistic values, and rationality. Social and economic efficiency — emphasizes emphasizes the practical needs of lear ners and society and the role of an educat ional program in producing learners who are economically productive. stress the t he individual needs of learners, the role of individual Learner-centeredness — stress experience, and the need to develop awareness, self-re flection, critical thinking, learner strategies, and other qualities and skills that are believed to be important for learners to develop. emphasizes the roles schools and learners can ca n and should play Social deconstructionism — emphasizes in addressing social injustices and inequality. Cultural pluralism — argues argues that schools should prepare students to participate in severa l different cultures and not merely the culture of the dominant social and economic group. Stating curriculum outcomes Aims: refer to a description of the general purpose of a curr iculum. iculum. It refers r efers to a statement state ment of a general change that a program seeks to bring about in learners. Aims statement reflect the ideology of the curriculum and show how the curriculum will seek to realize it. In relation to the activity ac tivity of “understanding lectures,” aim can be described as: Ex: Students will learn how to understand lectures given in English. Objectives: refer to a more specific and concrete description of purpose. It refers to a statement of specific changes a program pro gram seeks to bring about and results from an analysis of the aim into its different components. In relation to the activity above, objectives can ca n be described as: Ex: -Students will be able to follow an argument, argument, theme, or thesis of a lecture. -Students will learn how to recognize the following aspect of a lecture:
Cause – and-effect relations Comparisons and contrasts Premises used in persuasive arguments Unlock Access to An Supporting details used in persuasive arguments.
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Criticisms of the use of objectives Although in many institutions the use of objectives in course planning is seen as a way o f bringing extremely strict obedience of rule rigor and structure to the process of course planning, objectives has also attracted someofcriticism: Summary 5 Planning Goals and — aOutcomes rgued that objectives are linked to an Objectives turn teaching into a technology Learning efficiency view of education, that is, one based on the assumption that the most efficient means to an end is justified. Access Now — assume that every purpose in Objectives trivialize teaching and are product-oriented teaching can be expressed as an object ive; the suggestion is that the only worthwhile goal in teaching is to bring about changes student behavior. Noin thanks, I don't want my exclusive trial Objectives are unsuited to many aspects of language use — describe the mastery of skills, but less suited to such things a critical thinking, literary appreciation, or negotiating of meaning. Competency-based program outcomes An alternative to use of objective in program planning is to describe learning outcomes in terms of competencies associated with Competency-Based Language Teaching (CBLT). CBLT seeks to make a focus on the outcomes of learning a centra l planning stage in the development of language programs. It seeks to improve accountability in teaching through linking instruction to measurable outcomes and performance standards. The nature of competencies Competencies refer to observable behaviors that are necessary for t he successful completion of real-world activities. These act ivities related to the field of work and to social survival in a new environment. Criticisms of the use of competencies The use of competencies in program planning is not without its critics. These criticisms focus on: Definition of competencies — Tollefson(1986) argues that no valid procedures are available to develop competency specifications. Hidden values underlying competency specifications — CBLT is based on a social and economic efficiency model of curriculum design that seeks to enable learners to participate effectively in society. As a result, the competencies selected as a basis for instruction typically represent value judgments about what such participation involves. Nonlanguage outcomes and process objectives A language curriculum typically includes other kinds of outcomes apart from language-re lated objectives; it seeks to reflect values related to learner centeredness, social reconstructionism, or cultural pluralism. Because such outcomes go beyond the content of a linguistically oriented syllabus, they are sometimes referred to as nonlanguage outcomes. Those that describe learning experiences rather than learning outcomes are also known as process objectives.
