Ch 9 Approaches to Language Curriculum Design.ppt

Lecturer: MR. VATH VARY
Phone: 017 471 11 7
Email: varyvath@gmail.com
Chapter 9:
Approaches to Language
Curriculum Design

Content  Models of curriculum design
 Doing curriculum design
 The process of curriculum design
 Deciding on an approach
 Summary of the steps
Mr. VATH VARY
• you should be able to
decide on a starting
point for curriculum
design,
• and a way of covering
the steps.
After working
through this
chapter,

Models of Curriculum Design
Mr. VATH VARY
How adequate is the
model?
One way to answer this question is
compare it with other models to see
where they overlap and where they

Mr. VATH
VARY

Mr. VATH VARY

Models of
Curriculum
Design
 Each of the models has eight parts and
there is considerable overlap between the
two models. There are two major
differences.
 Content and sequencing in the Language
Curriculum Design model matches two parts of
the Graves (2000) model - organising the
course and conceptualising content.
 Monitoring and assessment and evaluation in the
Language Curriculum Design model are included
in one part of the Graves (2000) model -
designing an assessment plan.
In her book Graves distinguishes evaluation from
assessment, but deals with both in the same
chapter.
Mr. VATH VARY

Doing
Curriculum
Design
 Curriculum design could
 begin at any of several places : needs analysis,
selection of principles, goals, etc. as in Nation &
Graves’ Cycled Model
occur as a series of steps in a fixed order, “waterfall”
model
 Most curriculum designs occurs under constraints
(impossible to implement waterfall model)
 Have very limited time to prepare the course,
 Have to prepare a course for a largely unknown
environment (learners, etc)
 have to design a course which can be marketed and used in
a very wide range of environments,
 and have to prepare courses that will be taught by other
teachers.
Mr. VATH VARY

Two main factors to consider
when applying a model of
curriculum design
(1)
What is the starting
point for the
design process?
(what is already
available?)
(2)
How will we move
through the process of
curriculum design as
shown in the
design model?
Mr. VATH VARY

Starting
Points
Curriculum design
begins
either with no existing
resources or some
resources.
Much curriculum
begins with the results
someone else’s
design.
That is, a teacher chooses a
course book for a course
Mr. VATH VARY

Starting Points of Curriculum Design
Teachers
 select published
useful course
book
 uses as the only material or the
material for the course.
Curriculum
designers and
teachers
 draw on a bank
of existing
materials;
 select and
sequence content
and existing
materials to set
goals for a
curriculum
Such a bank could include:
 copies of activities prepared by
themselves or other teachers for
courses or for previous deliveries of
course,
 published supplementary materials
as graded readers, grammar activity
books, and conversation texts, speed
reading courses and so on,
 clippings from newspapers or
recordings from the radio or TV, or
photocopied material from texts or
books.
Mr. VATH
VARY

Starting Points of Curriculum Design
Curriculum
designers
and
teachers
 start from
nothing
 gather and
write the
material
 This most often happens because of
copyright issues & no existing
course material available.
 Curriculum designers and teachers
responsible for all parts of the
design process.
Teachers
and
curriculum
documents
 prepare
exercises for the
reading texts
and use them
and the
dictations
 determine how
the course will
be assessed.
 Curriculum statements usually provide
the content and sequencing, goals, and
assessment parts of the course, and
leave it to the teacher to decide on the
materials to use to deal with format and
presentation.
 The requirements of the approach are
well-trained teachers with the resources
and time.
Mr. VATH
VARY

Benefits of
Course
book as
Starting
Points
 The course is simply taught from the
course book, without getting involved in an
elaborate, poorly informed curriculum design
process.
 It allows for careful work to be done on
aspects of the course that really
deserve attention.
 This work can be done without the worry of
neglecting the other, adequate parts of the
course.
 It allows the teacher/curriculum
designer to develop curriculum design
skills in a safe, gradual way.
 Instead of controlling the whole curriculum
design process, but skilled at developing,
applying and supplementing.
Mr. VATH
VARY

The Process
of Curriculum
Design
the waterfall
model
the sequenced
improvement
approach (focused
opportunistic
approach)
the layers of
necessity
approach.
Mr. VATH VARY

A
“Waterfall”
Model
Occurs as a series of steps in a
fixed order.
The output of one stage becomes
the input of the next.
Is most likely to be applied in the
design of the commercial course book,
or in a well-funded curriculum design
project.
Mr. VATH VARY

Mr. VATH
VARY
A progression from a
study of the
environment and needs
to a consideration of
important principles
and the setting of goals
followed by the drawing
up of a list of content
items, and then the
writing of the lessons
A “Waterfall” Model

Curriculum Models
A focused
improvement
approach
 Start with the format and presentation:
 Material is gathered and prepared to teach the course;
 Improve/reteach the course while teaching, usually focusing
on 1 part of the curriculum design process;
 Assessment is developed as the course is taught.
 Reason for taking is approach is time pressure
 It is a do-what-you-can-when-you-can approach,
typically carried out by teachers.
A “layers of
necessity”
model
 All components should be designed prior to its use;
 It allows for a ‘good enough for now’ level of quality;
 Each layer is complete in itself and includes the major
parts of curriculum design process: environment
analysis, determining needs and goals, deciding on the
instructional strategy (format and presentation),
developing the materials, and evaluating and revising.
Mr. VATH VARY

A “layers of
necessity”
model
 If time and resources are limited,
curriculum designer might choose
the least detailed layer with following
steps:
 Decide on the most severe environmental
constraint on the course and how it will affect
the curriculum design.
 Decide on the most urgent necessity that
learners have to meet at the end of the
course.
 Make a short list of items to cover.
 Decide on a simple lesson format that will
make use of available material.
 Gather the material for the course.
 Decide on a simple form of assessment.
Mr. VATH
VARY

Mr. VATH
VARY
Curriculum
Design Model
Adapted from Murray, D. E.,
& Christison, M. A. (2020).
What English Language
Teachers Need to Know
Volume
II: Facilitating Learning,
(2nd ed., p. 13). Routledge.

Deciding
on an
Approach
Choosing which path to take will
depend on:
the starting point,
the time available for course
preparation,
the availability of needs analysis
information,
the availability of a usable course book,
and the skill of the curriculum designer.
Mr. VATH VARY

Mr. VATH VARY
Summary of
the Steps
•Decide on your
starting point.
•Decide what kind
of path to follow
through the
process of
curriculum design.

Ch 9 Approaches to Language Curriculum Design.ppt

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Ch 9 Approaches to Language Curriculum Design.ppt