From curriculum to syllabus design: The different stages to design a program
Irma Dolores Nuñez y Bodegas Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas Escuela de lenguas - Tapachula
Curriculum, course, syllabus and approaches to course design
Course
Syllabuses
Curriculum
List of subjects for a course
to the perception of the ultimate
goal of education as a whole
can be defined
The content teaching procedures and learning experience
Some means for assessing whether or not educational ends have been achieved
Educational purpose of the program
involves factors
philosophical
social
administrative
integrated series of teaching - learning experiences
statement of what should be taught
ultimate aim is to lead the learners to a particular state of knowledge
areas of concern in curriculum development:
testing for placement purposes
Societal need analysis
contain ponts about the method of teaching
more details and operational statement of teaching and learning
defined objectives at each level
Possible approaches to course design
Grammar - translation approach
direct approach
Classical approach
audiol - lingual
Communicative approach
Humanisn: Students need to read the classics
Students need to learn with economy of time and effort
Students need operant conditioning and behavioral modification to learn language
Students must be able to express their intentions
Emphazied perfect pronunciation and repetition
Articulation you beliefs
The view of what language affects what teach and how teach it
beliefs play a role at each stage of course design
view of learning and learners
view of the social context of language
view of teaching
View of language
Defining the context
doing viewed as part or pre - course needs
possible factors to consider
information about students
curriculum is clearly
Nature of course and institutions
teaching resources
Physical setting
Time
People
What stages are followed in designing a course?
Aims (UK) Goals (US) and needs analysis
Aims
Are rather imprecise, general statements
have 4 purposes
To provide guidelines for teachers and learners
to provide a focus for learning
To provide a reason for the program
to describe important and realizable changes in learning
objectives
are more specific
break down aims into smaller units of learning
help planning the course
enable evaluator to judge the success
precise
feasible
consistent with the curriculum aim
Need analysis
should start with some kind of analysis:
present situation
language
target needs
with the data obtained
will be possible to formulate general aims and more specific objectives
there are three time frame for gathering information:
initial
ongoing
pre - couse
can be collected in a variety of ways
observation
data collection
interviews
informal consultations
Questionnaries
Quesitos suggested
What will be the content areas?
Who will the learners use the language with?
How will the language be used?
Where will the language be used?
Why are the learners taking a course?
When will the language be used?
functional
notional
Topical
skills
Situational
task
Structural
grammatical and phonological structure
situations
topics or themes
functions such as identifying, reporting, correcting
conceptual categories
skills such as listening for gist, listening for main ideas, listening por inferences
task or activity based categories
Organizing the course
include
your past experience
students' needs
your goals and objectives
beliefs and understandings
the course content
The method or text
context
selecting the shape of the syllabus
language is infinite
but a syllabus must be finite
Cyclical format
Matrix format
Modular format
Story - line format
Linear format
adopted for discrete
integrated thematic or situational contents
teacher and learners to work with the same topic
maximum flexibility to select topics
basically a narrative
Particular grammar
Particular structures
Element content
teacher cannot
or skip some
change the order of unit
but each time it is at more complex
suited to situational content
Evaluation
Language testing
Materials
can be used to drive a program
two types of tests:
Norn - referenced:
criterion - referenced:
intended to compare the relative performance of students
intended to measure the amount of course material
not prescribe a particular type of material
that decision regarding approaches, syllabuses, techniques and exercises
purpose of evaluation
summative
Formative
as a matter of improving ongoing programmes
as determining the effects of a programme
to justify futures couses of action
to identify what effect a programme has had
to identify areas for improvement in a ongoing programme
To decide whether a programme has had the intended effect
then applying tests
end of the programme
at beginning