Ch 2 Environment Analysis.ppt
- 1. Chapter 2: Environment Analysis Lecturer: MR. VATH VARY Phone: 017 471 117 Email: varyvath@gmail.com
- 2. A model of the parts of the curriculum design process. The aim of this part of the curriculum design process is to find the situational factors that will strongly affect the course.
- 3. Contents Preliminary discussion Environment Constraints Understanding the Constraints The Constraint of Time Steps in Environment Analysis MR. VATH VARY
- 4. Syllabus (what is be taught or sequenced in a course) Course goals Assessment plan Environment Analysis Involves looking at factors that will have a strong effect on decisions about Teachers The situation (teaching and learning) learners MR. VATH VARY
- 5. Environment analysis (also known as “means, context, situation, constraints analysis”) involves identifying factors in the environment, both the resources and constraints, that will have an impact on the curriculum. The context can be the resources and constraints: people, time, physical setting, teaching resources, and nature of the course and institution (Graves, 2000). Environment analysis MR. VATH VARY
- 6. When you design a course, you design it for a specific group of people, in a specific setting, for a specific amount of time; in short, for a specific context. The curriculum designer should decide which factors are the most important depending on: whether the course will still be useful if the factor is not taken into account how large and pervasive the effect of the factor is on the course. Environment analysis MR. VATH VARY
- 7. If the level of training of the teachers is very low and is not taken into account, it might happen that the teachers are unable to handle the activities in the course. If the course material is too expensive or requires technology and copying facilities that are not available, the course may be unusable. Environment analysis: EXAMPLES MR. VATH VARY
- 8. Table 2.1 Environment constraints and effects General constraint s Particular constraints Effects on curriculum design The Learners How old are they? Are the learners interested in all kinds of topics? Can the learners do all kinds of learning activities? Take account of learners’ interests Use appropriate activities What do they know? Do they share a (first) language? Can their first language be used to help learning? What previous learning have they done? Use teacher-centred activities Use some translation Use first language pre- reading Activities Use reading input MR. VATH VARY
- 9. General constraints Particular constraints Effects on curriculum design The Learners Do they need English for a special purpose? Will they use English for a wide range of purposes? Do they expect to learn certain things from the course? Do they have expectations about what the course will be like? Set general purpose goals Include expected material Allow learners to negotiate the nature of the course Do they have preferred ways of learning? Are they interested in learning English? Do they have to learn English? Can they attend class regularly? Use highly motivating activities Include relevant topics Recycle activities Use a spiral curriculum MR. VATH VARY Table 2.1 Environment constraints and effects
- 10. General constraints Particular constraints Effects on curriculum design The Teachers Are they trained? Can they prepare some of their own material? Can they handle group work, individualised learning . . .? Provide ready-made activities Use group work activities . . . Are they confident in their use of English? Can they provide good models? Can they produce their own spoken or written material? Can they correct spoken or written work? Provide taped materials Provide a complete set of course material Use activities that do not require feedback Do they have time for preparation and marking? Can the course include homework? Can the course include work which has to be marked? Provide homework activities Provide answer keys MR. VATH VARY Table 2.1 Environment constraints and effects
- 11. Table 2.1 Environment constraints and effects General constraints Particular constraints Effects on curriculum design The situation Is there a suitable classroom? Can the arrangement of the desks be changed for group work? Is the blackboard big enough and easily seen? Use group work activities Use material that does not require the students to have a course book Is there enough time? Can the learners reach the goals in the available time? Is the course intensive? Can the learners give all their time to the course? Provide taped Set staged goals Provide plenty of material Set limited goals MR. VATH VARY
- 12. Table 2.1 Environment constraints and effects General constraints Particular constraints Effects on curriculum design The situation Are there enough resources? Can material be photocopied? Can each learner have a copy of the course book? Is there plenty of supplementary material? Are tape recorders etc available? Provide individualized material Use teacher-focused material Match the content to available supplementary material Develop audio and video taped material Is it worth developing the course? Do learners meet English outside class? Will the course be run several times? Provide contact with a large amount of English in class Put time into preparing the course MR. VATH VARY
- 13. Summary of Environment analysis General constraints Particular constraints Effects on curriculum design Learners age, gender, ability Goals, Motivation, Expectation, learning style gender, culture, education background, job Proficiency Interests Heterogenous 1st language Teachers Training or qualification, proficiency, experience, Commitment culture, teaching style and philosophy Make materials Make courses Use methods Know/do assessment Good models The Situation Course purpose/type (need) Prescribed curriculum: (freedom?) Resources, Stakeholders (parents, funders, school administrators) Meeting place (classroom size, furniture, movable chairs, etc) Course intensity, Time (course/class period/ how often), complete-able Tools, technology, audios/ CDs, videos, photocopying, etc. MR. VATH VARY
- 14. How does a environment analysis contributes to … specifying goals? developing a syllabus? choosing materials? creating assessments? and evaluating a course? MR. VATH VARY
- 15. Environmen t analysis Institutional or government policies requiring the use of the target language in schools or learner attitudes towards the target language Wider aspects of the situation might be necessary when carrying out an environment analysis. MR. VATH VARY
- 16. The Political and National Context the target language is recognised as one of a country’s official languages The Language Setting there are relatively few native speakers Patterns of Language Use in Society there are relatively few opportunities to use the language outside the classroom Group and Individual Attitudes majority-language speakers doubt the target language has contemporary relevance The Political and National Context the target language is recognised as one of a country’s official languages The Language Setting there are relatively few native speakers Patterns of Language Use in Society there are many opportunities to use the target language outside the classroom Group and Individual Attitudes the target language provides employment and educational opportunities. MR. VATH VARY The language curriculum in a situation where: The language curriculum will differ greatly from that in a situation where:
- 17. Government Policies and the Curriculum This can take the form of language policy, language-in-education policy, or education policy. Such policies can determine the status of languages within a country, the language that will be used as a medium of instruction, or the methodological approach to be determined. Examples: An introduction of communicative language teaching to the teaching of English in Vietnam. Despite the rhetoric and the suggestions contained in new course books, TEACHERS AND LEARNERS DID NOT ADAPT to the new methodology. Here there was a mismatch between what was intended by policy-makers and what was experienced in the classroom. One of the challenges for curriculum design is how to bring what is intended and what is experienced closer together. MR. VATH VARY
- 18. MR. VATH VARY Understanding the Constraints Local Information from the Environment Research Information The Effect of the Constraint on the Design of the Course
- 19. The Constraint of Time Local information from the environment how much class time is available, how much time out of class could be given to learning, and what the goals of the course are. Research information Useful research information would reveal what could be achieved within certain time periods. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:Language_Learning_Diffi culty_for_English_Speakers MR. VATH VARY Languages Levels Hours of study French or Indonesian elementary 240 Hebrew or Japanese 360 Pimsleur (1980), for example, presents estimates of the time taken to reach various levels of proficiency for learners of particular languages.
- 20. The Constraint of Time The effect of the time constraint on the design of the course To work within the constraint: limit the goals of the course to fit the available time or cover most of the language items and skills superficially To overcome the constraint: self-study options for work to be done outside of class time or increasing time for the course MR. VATH VARY
- 21. The Constraint of Learner Motivation Local Information from the Environment gather information about causes for the lack of motivation: learners themselves or attitudes to the language being taught, or to the course materials, or to prior learning experiences. Research Information The teacher was always the audience for her learners’ writing was behind the low motivation to write Change the audience so that other students were responsible for evaluating and assessing the writing she found that her learners became more motivated and better writers. The Effect of the Learner Motivation Constraint on the Design of the Course monitoring and assessing. MR. VATH VARY
- 22. The Constraint of Teacher Availability Local Information from the Environment Teachers are poorly paid and may hold more than one teaching position in order to increase their income; employer can offer financial incentives to make teachers available for activities beyond the classroom. Research Information This constraint played a role in the design of an English for Science and Technology course at a Cambodian university. Teachers attended the initial workshops because they were paid extra to do so, although this was not known by the workshop organiser until after the fact. A clear desire for a textbook as the basis for any new course emerged from the design exercise. This desire was closely linked to the lack of time available for materials development. MR. VATH VARY
- 23. The Constraint of Teacher Availability The Effect of the Teacher Availability Constraint on the Design of the Course If teachers have limited availability, this will have a negative impact on the time they have available for activities such as lesson planning, materials development, and assessment. As a result, careful thought must be given to selecting a course book or course materials so that it can be used easily. MR. VATH VARY
- 24. • Brainstorm the range of environment factors that will affect the course (Table 2.1 as a starting point) • Choose and put the most important factors first (no more than five) and and rank them, putting the most important first. • Decide what information you need to fully take account of the factor. (information from investigation of the environment and research and theory) • Consider the effects of each factor on the design of the course. • Go through steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 again. Steps in Environment analysis MR. VATH VARY
- 25. MR. VATH VARY Environment analysis involves looking at the local and wider situation (class size, motivation, learners of mixed proficiency and special purpose goals) to make sure that the course will fit and will meet local requirement Good environment analysis draws on both analysis of the environment and application of previous research and theory. In some models of curriculum design, environment analysis is included in needs analysis. Conclusion
- 26. MR. VATH VARY