CONCEPTUALIZING CONTENT
- 2. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CONCEPTUALIZE CONTENT? The process involves: Thinking about what you want your students to learn in the course, given who they are, their needs and the purpose of the course; Making decisions about what to include and emphasize and what to drop; Organizing the content in a way that help you to see the relationship among various elements so that you can make decisions about objectives, materials, sequence and evaluation.
- 3. QUESTIONS THAT GUIDE CONCEPTUALIZING CONTENT 1- What do I want my students to learn in this course, given who they are, their needs, and purpose of the course? 2- What are my options as to what they can learn? 3- What are the resources and constraints of my course that can help me narrow my options?
- 4. QUESTIONS …. (cont.) 4- What are the relationship among the options I have selected? 5- How can I organize the options into a working plan or syllabus? 6- What is the organizing principle that will pull my syllabus together? (there may be more than one organizing principle)
- 5. WHAT MAKES UP THE CONTENT OF LANGUAGE LEARNING? Graves’ framework using Stern’s concepts (1992) Focus on Language Focus on Learning and Learners Focus on Social Context
- 6. Graves’ Framework (cont.) Focus on Language - Linguistic skills - Topics/Themes - Competencies - Content - Situation - Communicative functions - Tasks - Speaking - Reading - Listening - Writing - Genre
- 7. Graves’ Framework (cont.) Focus on Learning and Learners - Affective goals - Interpersonal skills - Learning strategies
- 8. Graves’ Framework (cont.) Focus on Social Context -Sociolinguistic skills -Socio-cultural skills -Sociopolitical skills
- 9. Graves’ Framework (cont.) Remember: 1- Many of these areas overlap or connect to each others, which means that when deciding what to include in the syllabus one component will include other components. For example: you can not focus on topics without including vocabulary and probably some kind of situation or communicative function. You can not focus on speaking without including listening… 2- The category “LANGUAGE” includes both “WHAT’ = knowledge and “HOW” = skills or activities.
- 10. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Linguistic skills - Linguistic skills focus on the systems that underlie the way language is structured = grammar + pronunciation + lexicon (vocabulary) - A syllabus organized around these elements of language is called “Structural Syllabus” or a “Formal Syllabus”
- 11. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Situation - Situation is the context one uses language - A syllabus built around situations is called “Situational Syllabus” - Situation overlaps with communicative functions because a situation syllabus includes the type of transaction or interaction that will occur in that situation. - Situation also overlaps with topics.
- 12. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Topics/Themes - The term “topics” or “ Themes” are usually used interchangeably. However “theme” may be a group of topics together. - A syllabus built around topics is called “Topical Syllabus”
- 13. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Communicative Functions - Communicative functions = the purposes for which one uses language E.g. persuading, explaining, requesting, apologizing… - CF could also be expanded to mean any kind of transaction or interaction such as “buying something” or “making small talks” - Functions are sometimes paired with “notions” (quantity, distance, measurement…) - A syllabus built around functions/notions is called “Functional/ Notional Syllabus”.
- 14. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Competencies - Competencies unite situations, linguistic skills, and functions - Competency attempts to specify and to teach the language & behavior needed to perform in a given situation. Competency-based syllabus are particularly popular in contexts where the sponsor or funder wants to see measurable results.
- 15. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Tasks - Tasks can be defined in a number of ways. It could be understood as “interactions whose purpose is to get something done” or “a way to promote classroom learning that focuses on PROCESSES of using language rather than PRODUCT and on MEANING as opposed to FORM. - A syllabus built around tasks is called “Task-based syllabus”
- 16. FOCUS ON LANGUAGE (More details) Content - Content is subject matter other than language itself. For example a course in which students learn Business through English is called a “Content-based Syllabus”. Four skills: S - L – R – W - A syllabus organized around one or more of the four skills is called a “Skill-based Syllabus” Genre: - Language at the discourse level can be viewed in term of genre, communicative events or whole texts which accomplish certain purposes within a social context.
- 17. FOCUS ON LEARNING AND THE LEARNERS Affective goals - Concerned with the learners’ attitudes toward themselves, learning, the target language and culture. - Course designer should encourage learners to develop a positive and confident attitude toward oneself as a learner, learning to take risks and to learn from one’s mistakes, and develop positive attitude toward the target language and culture.
- 18. FOCUS ON LEARNING AND THE LEARNERS (cont.) Interpersonal skills - skills the learners develop to interact with other learners and with the teacher in the classroom to promote learning. These skills are the basis for effective group work and cooperative learning. Learning strategies - They are the cognitive and metal cognitive strategies we use to learn effectively and efficiently such as self- monitoring or memorizing strategy
- 19. FOCUS ON SOCIAL CONTEXT Sociolinguistic Skills - Skills of choosing and using appropriate language and extra-linguistic behavior for the setting, the purpose, the role and the relationship. - E.g.: knowing the level of politeness to use, exhibiting appropriate extra-linguistic behavior such as how close to be, using appropriate spoken or written formulaic phrases for certain situation. - Sociolinguistic skills are context-dependent and generally are learned through and alongside situations, four skills or specific content.
- 20. FOCUS ON SOCIAL CONTEXT (cont.) Socio-cultural Skills - Skills involve understanding cultural aspects of identity, values, norms and customs. - These skills enable us to interpret explicit and implicit messages and behave and speak in a culturally appropriate way. Sociopolitical Skills - Skills involve learning to think critically and take action for effective change in order to participate effectively in one’s community. - These skills include learning how to navigate systems such as medical, school, and employment systems, to know one’s rights and responsibilities within them.