Curriculum Language Design
Environment analysis is a strategic process that identifies external and internal factors that can impact an organization's performance. It aims to determine situational constraints that will strongly influence course goals, content, teaching methods, and assessments. For example, an analysis of a Japanese English course for 6-9 year olds found key constraints included limited class time, the learners' interest in English, their preference for Japanese, varied English proficiency levels, and prior learning as native speakers. This led to effects on curriculum design like emphasizing parent guidance, fun activities, continuity between lessons, teacher-centered and meaning-focused instruction, and language-focused exercises. Environment analysis involves systematically considering all relevant factors and their effects to fully account for them in course
Curriculum Language Design
- 2. - is a strategic tool, it is a process to identify all the external and internal elements, which can affect the organization’s performance
- 3. Aim - to find the situational factors that will strongly affect the course
- 4. •Environment analysis (Tessmer, 1990) involves looking at the factors that will have a strong affect on decisions about the goals of the course, what to include in the course, and how to teach and assess it. •“situation analysis” or “constraints analysis”
- 6. Example : •Japanese learners aged six to nine years old who had lived in English- speaking countries while their parents were posted there.
- 7. Important Constraints • Limited class time and contact time. • Learner’s interest in learning English. • Easy communication using Japanese than in English. • Range of levels of English proficiency to be proficient for the age. • Learners had been learning English in much the same ways as native speakers.
- 8. Effects on Curriculum Design • Parent’s guidance to their children. • Activities should be fun. • Activities should carry over to the next class. • Activities should be largely teacher-centered. • Activities should be meaning- focused. • Language-focused activities
- 9. Environment Constraints - Are any limitations on strategy options due to political, external, competition, social requirements and expectations, cultural or economic factors, technological or legal requirements.
- 10. The language curriculum in a situation where: • the target language is recognized as one of a country’s official languages (political and national context) • there are relatively few native speakers (the language setting) • there are relatively few opportunities to use the language outside the classroom (patterns of language use in society) • majority-language speakers doubt the target language has contemporary relevance (group and individual attitudes)
- 11. Understanding the Constraints • to examine the nature of the constraints in the environment • to examine previous research on the constraints
- 12. Some of major constraints • time available • cultural background • the effect of the first language on language learning and special purposes
- 13. The Constraints of Time • examining the local environment • looking at previous research • considering the effect of the constraint on the design of the course
- 14. two ways: • working within the constraint • overcoming the constraint
- 15. Steps in Environment Analysis • Brainstorm and then systematically consider the range of environment factors that will affect the course. • Choose the most important factors (no more than five) and rank them, putting the most important first. • Decide what information you need to fully take account of the factor. The information can come from investigation of the environment and from research and theory. • Consider the effects of each factor on the design of the course. • Go through steps,1,2,3, and 4 again.