Group Project: Curriculum Development Team

Katie Minerick and Chienyu Jade Yi

Wheaton College Graduate School

For
INTR 614 Curriculum and Materials Development for TESOL
Dr. Cheri Pierson
Feb 14, 2016

ADULT CHURCH-BASED ESL PROGRAM

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Adult Church-Based ESL Program

Program Philosophy. The population of the Hispanic and Southeast Asian communities
surrounded the Northwest Community Bible Church has been growing. One of the few
Mexican-American members of the church has brought up a concern related to the need of ESL
classes. The available ESL classes offered by the City Colleges require several bus changes and
are beyond walking distance for people who are living in this neighborhood. It is evident that an
ESL program is needed. This makes the church start thinking of offering an Adult Church-Based
ESL program. The outreach committee and the pastor have supported the idea and believed that
it is a great way to reach out immigrants and to live out the value of hospitality. Therefore, the
decision of launching an eight-week Adult ESL program to meet the needs of students has been
made.
The mission of the church has been always aligned with Great Commission in Matthew 28,
that is to go out and train everyone we meet, far and near, in this way of life. Thus, it is
important to align the philosophy of the Adult ESL program to the mission of this church. There
are three focal statements.
1. It will be learner-centered: It is important to meet the needs of students and help them
to reach those goals. The teacher will integrate rich teaching methodologies and
techniques to meet students learning styles and make sure that learning material and
sufficient support from the teacher and volunteers are offered. The contents of this
program will be relevant to their daily lives. Moreover, building their communicative
competence in using English is our main approach.

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2. It will be relational driven: The church will give a great attention to building an
authentic caring and meaningful community. It is our prayer that students will sense their
learning environment which is grounded with the values of Gods love and compassion
not only on the first day but also throughout the program. The volunteers will be
equipped and trained to be part of this ministry. As the Adult ESL Program Team
spending three times a week with them and their children, both parties will get to know
each other in personal and relational ways.
3. It will be holistic: it means that the program will build students competence in
cognitive, affective, and communicative areas. Communicative competence would be the
priority; however, affective and cognitive will be given some emphasis. Outreaching
immigrants can be a daunting task. It requires high tolerance of ambiguity when things
are not able to be communicated fully and well. The Spiritual Story session offered on
Saturdays will certainly enrich the relationship between the Adult ESL Program team and
students. It is a time set apart for them to pray for each other, to listen to each others
reflections and thoughts after listening the biblical stories, and to encourage each other
for each coming week.
Needs Analysis Instruments. The Curriculum Development Team was originally contacted
about ministering to Hispanic and Southeast Asian communities surrounding the church, many
planning to become naturalized citizens with minimal transportation to the city colleges. After
canvassing the local apartment complexes, we were able to chat with potential students, some
translating for family members as well as Needs Assessment 1 & 2 as seen below. Pictures were
used for lower-levels and a ranking scale was implemented to find the potential students most
interested topics. Potential students communicated a need for child-care and confirmed class

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dates/times. In conjunction with student responses and the Outreach Committee, we were able
develop a topical, task-based curriculum for life skills divided by level. With the aid of
volunteers, we are able to take a more individualized approach on spiritual topics, citizenship,
and written driving tests during our ESL Caf on Saturdays!
The Development team has also conducted a needs analysis for during the registration
prior to the program start. We have developed questionnaire forms for beginning level students,
as well as for students comfortable writing their own responses. The first questionnaire Tell
Me About Yourself has also been translated into Spanish if needed. Finally, it has been
modified for lower level students and for other Southeast Asian languages not anticipated. All
questionnaires are designed to be further explained to students as the teachers assess student
comprehension during the time of registration. The teacher is then also able to learn how to
prepare and plan his/her lesson (Please see the following six pages).

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ESL NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Directions: If necessary, assist the students to rank the topics needed in English, 1 being the
most important.

I want to speak better English here

_____ on the bus/train

______ with friends

_______ on the telephone

ADULT CHURCH-BASED ESL PROGRAM

_______ at the store

_______ at the doctors

_______ at my childs school

_______ driving test

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_______ United States citizenship test

_______ at work

I work
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Other places I speak English

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

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Tell Me About Yourself!

Full name: _______________________ Languages spoken: ______________________________
1. Highest education completed (partial high school, high school, bachelors degree, masters
degree etc.):

2. Years studying English and where/type of class:

3. How would you rate your English listening comprehension on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5
being the best?

4. How would you rate your English speaking on a scale from 1 to 5?

5. How would you rate your English speaking on a scale from 1 to 5?

6. How would you rate your English reading comprehension on a scale from 1 to 5?

7. How would you rate your English writing on a scale from 1 to 5?

8. What are your main goals or motivations for learning English (Ex: communicating with coworkers, practicing pronunciation, talking to childrens teachers or doctors etc.)?

9. Do you mind if the teacher calls on you in class or does it make you nervous?

10. Do you like working alone, with a partner, or in a group?

11. What do you like to do in class (listen to lectures, get out of your chair, read, write, play
games, watch videos etc.)?

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!Hbleme de Usted!
Nombre Completo: ____________________ Idioma que habla: _______________________
1. Que nivel acadmico termino (Preparatoria parcialmente, Preparatoria, Grado de
Bachillerato, maestra, etc.):

2. Cuanto tiempo estudio ingles y en donde/tipo de clase:

3. Que calificacin le dara al Ingles que comprende en la escala del 1 al 5, siendo 5 lo mas
alto?

4. Que calificacin le otorgara al Ingles que habla en escala del 1 al 5, siendo 5 lo mas alto?

5. Que calificacin le dara al Ingles que habla en escala del 1 al 5?

6. Que calificacin le dara la Ingles que comprende al leer en escala del 1 al 5?

7. Que calificacin le dara la Ingles que escribe en la escala del 1 al 5?

8. Cual es su motivacin mas grande o metas que lo impulsan aprender Ingles (Ej: comunicarse

con compaeros de trabajo, practicar pronunciacin, hablar con los maestros de los nios o
doctores, etc.)?

9. Le importara que la maestra lo llame en la clase o esto lo pone nervioso?

10. Le gusta trabajar solo, con un compaero o en equipo?

11. Que le gustara hacer en clase (escuchar lecturas, levantarse de su silla, leer, escribir, jugar

juegos, ver videos, etc.)?

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Tell Me About Yourself!

Name:
I speak (languages):
Years in school:
Years studying English:
Directions: Circle your skills in English.
English speaking
Poor

Good

English listening
Poor

Good

English reading
Poor

Good

English writing
Poor

Good

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General Program Goals. The Adult Church-Based ESL program will be held at Northwest
Community Bible Church. It is going to be an eight-week program; classes will be on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays. Since there will be five classrooms available, three rooms will be
used for ESL classes, one room for older children doing their homework, movies, games, etc.,
and another room for childcare. The Curriculum Development team has set five goals and
expected by the end of the eight-week Adult-Based Program, students are able:

To reach their levels of linguistic competence: students are able to use complete
sentences to communicate their thoughts by using some grammars that they have learned,
for example, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and imperatives.

To reach their levels of sociolinguistic competence: students are able to utilize some
language functions introduced and use them in their daily lives, at work, in the doctors
office, at school etc.

To reach their levels of discourse competence: the classroom setting provides students a
safe environment to practice what they have learned with support the church, the teacher,
and the teaching team.

To reach their levels of cultural competence: it is very important skill to master in order
to build new social networks at their workplace, in their own neighborhood and their faith
communities.

To reach their levels of spiritual competence: every believer needs to be aware of the
fact that no one will ever reach the destination of perfection faith. A faith community
that we belong to is a safe place for us to test and to grow our faith in Christ. The
Saturday session is designed for this purpose. With time for coffee, tea, and community,
our aim is to build relationships on a more individual basis.

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Structure of the Program: the scope and the sequence chart.

This shows how the scope of this eight-week program, the assigned classrooms and the times
when the classes are met.
An Eight Week Adult English Program
Classes

Tuesdays
6:30-8:30

Thursdays
6:30-8:30

Saturdays
10:00-12:00

Beginner

Beginner

Spiritual Topic
weekly
10:00-11:00

Class
Room #2

Lower Intermediate

Lower Intermediate

Driving Lessons
1st 4 weeks
11:00-12:00

Class
Room #3

Intermediate

Intermediate

Citizenship Lessons
2nd 4 weeks
11:00-12:00

Class
Room #4

Children Time for ages 6:

Homework
Activities
Movies

Children Time for ages 6:

Homework
Activities
Movies

Children Time for ages 6:

Homework
Activities
Movies

Class
Room #5

Nursery / Childcare for

ages under 6

Nursery / Childcare for

ages under 6

Nursery / Childcare for

ages under 6

Class
Room #1

The next three pages show the contents of this eight-week program. It was created in Excel. In
order to fit the whole spreadsheet into this Word document, we are aware of that some words are
separated under the Life Skills Topic.

ADULT CHURCH-BASED ESL PROGRAM

WEEK

LIFE
SKILLS
TOPIC

LEVEL
Beginner

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OBJECTIVES
Be able to introduce self to class

FUNCTIONS/VOCABULARY/GRAMMAR
asking questions with interrogatives: what, where
personal pronouns

1Welcom
Tuesday e Unit

Low
Intermediate

Be able to introduce self and partner to

class

Intermediate

Be able to introduce self and partner to

class

Beginner
Family,
1Belief,
Thursday
Tradition

Low
Intermediate

Be able to introduce family (picture)

Intermediate

Be able to introduce family (picture) and

partner's family

Beginner
Friends,
2Preferen
Tuesday
ce

Going to
2the
Thursday
Doctor

using adjectives
asking questions with interrogatives: who, what, where,
which
using adjectives
family vocab, personal pronouns, simple present tense
personal pronouns, Giving answers: yes I do or no I don't
family vocab, personal pronouns, simple present & simple
past tense
comparative adjectives, Giving answers: yes I do or no I don't
family vocab, personal pronouns, simple present & simple
past tense
comparative and superlative adjectives

Be able to describe likes and dislikes with hobbies vocab

friends
modals of possibility: can, could,

Low
Intermediate

Be able to describing likes and dislikes

with friends and daily activities

hobbies vocab

Intermediate

Be able to describing likes and dislikes

with friends and daily activities

hobbies vocab, ordinal numbers

Beginner

Be able to make an appointment on the

phone

Low
Intermediate

Be able to make an appointment on the

phone

Intermediate

Be able to make an appointment on the

phone

Beginner
Going to
3the
Tuesday
Doctor

Be able to introduce family (picture)

asking questions with interrogatives: who, what, where

Be able to understanding insurance

(content)

Low
Intermediate

Reading insurance policies

Intermediate

Reading insurance policies

modals of possibility: can, could, may

modals of possibility: can, could, may, might

symptoms vocab
modals of possibility and permission: can, could
Symptoms vocab
modals of possibility and permission: can, could, may
Symptoms vocab
modals of possibility and permission: can, could, may, might
insurance terms and vocab
asking questions with interrogatives: what, which, when, how
Insurance terms and vocab
asking questions with interrogatives: what, which, when, how
insurance terms and vocab
asking questions with interrogatives: what, which, when, how

Beginner

Be able to understanding prescription

prescription vocab, abbreviations (Dr, RN, Rx)

imperative: advice, recommendations

Going to
3the
Thursday
Doctor

Low
Intermediate

Be able to reading prescriptions

Intermediate

Be able to reading prescriptions

prescription vocab, abbreviations (Dr, RN, Rx)

imperative: advice, recommendations
prescription vocab, abbreviations (Dr, RN, Rx)
imperative: advice, recommendations, (with tags - will you,
would you?)

ADULT CHURCH-BASED ESL PROGRAM

Beginner

Be able to ask for & give directions

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directions vocab, prepositions of place

imperative: advice, recommendations

Urban,
4Suburban,
Tuesday
Rural

Low
Intermediate

Be able to ask for & give directions

Intermediate

Be able to ask for & give directions

directions vocab, prepositions of place

imperative: advice, recommendations, warnings
directions vocab, prepositions of place
imperative: advice, recommendations, warnings

4Directions
Thursday

Beginner

Be able to ask for & give directions

directions vocab, prepositions of place

frequency adverb: always, never, often, sometimes,
usually

Low
Intermediate

Be able to ask for & give directions

directions vocab, prepositions of place

frequency adverb: always, never, often, sometimes,
usually

Intermediate

Be able to ask for & give directions

directions vocab, prepositions of place

frequency adverb: always, never, often, sometimes,
usually

Beginner

Be able to describe length of time

ordinal numbers
time adverbs: already, earlier, later, now

5Time
Tuesday

Low
Intermediate

Be able to describe length of time

Intermediate

Be able to describe length of time

ordinal numbers, simple past tense

Be able to read a schedule

Low
Intermediate

Be able to read a schedule

degree adverbs: awfully, greatly, really

transportation vocab, posing questions: when &
where

Intermediate

Be able to read a schedule

degree adverbs: awfully, greatly, really, enormously

transportation vocab

Low
Intermediate

Be able to describe school system/structure

degree adverbs: awfully, greatly, really, enormously

homework vocab, expectations in simple present
tense
direct and indirect objects, abbreviations: Miss, Mrs,
Ms, Mr.
homework vocab, expectations in simple present
tense

Intermediate

Be able to describe school system/structure

direct and indirect objects

homework vocab, expectations/setting goals in future
tense

Beginner

6At School
Tuesday

time adverbs: already, earlier, later, now

time adverbs: already, earlier, later, now

transportation vocab, posing questions: when &
where

Beginner
5Transportati
Thursday on

ordinal numbers, simple past tense

Be able to understand school

system/structure

direct and indirect objects

Beginner

6At School
Thursday

Low
Intermediate

Intermediate

Be able to understand parent-teacher

conferences

School events vocab

Be able to describe school events

Be able to attend parent-teacher
conferences

direct and indirect objects

Be able to describe school events

Be able to attend parent-teacher
conferences

direct and indirect objects

Be able to describe school events

direct and indirect objects

School events vocab

School events vocab

ADULT CHURCH-BASED ESL PROGRAM

Beginner

7Work
Tuesday

Page 14
work related vocab - (learned from the survey the church
received)

Be able to negotiate and apologize

Passive sentences
work related vocab - (learned from the survey the church
received)

Low
Be able to negotiate and apologize
Intermediate

Intermediate Be able to negotiate, apologize, suggest

Passive sentences, simple past for past job duties

work related vocab - (learned from the survey the church
received)
Passive sentences, simple past for past job duties

Be able to buy, exchange, return products

Be able to ask location of items, read sales
ads

food, styles and size vocab; money and math terms

Be able to buy, exchange, return products

Low
Intermediate Be able to ask location of items, compare
prices

food, styles and size vocab; money and math terms

Be able to buy, exchange, return products

Intermediate Be able to ask location of items, compare
prices

food, styles and size vocab; money and math terms

Beginner

7Shopping
Thursday

Beginner
8Final
Tuesday Review

WEEK

Comparatives and superlatives

comparatives and superlatives

past and perfect tenses

Low
Be able to describe the strength of this
Intermediate program

past and perfect tenses

Intermediate Be able to clarify and make suggestions

past, perfect, and future tenses

Beginner
Presentati
8on and
Thursday
Evaluation

Be able to describe what they have learned

Comparatives and superlatives

Be able to present their learning in the past

7 weeks

Low
Be able to present the strength of this
Intermediate
program and what they hope for future
Be able to clarify what they have learned
Intermediate and what they would like to learn for the
next course

TOPICS

Saturdays

SPIRITUAL STORY
10:00-11:00

God's family

work with a partner and present together

work with a partner and present together

work with a partner and present together

CAF
11:00-12:00

Feeding the 5000

Driving Lessons

friends

Golden Rule

Driving Lessons

health & healing

Jesus Healing

Driving Lessons

Christ, the Way

Great Commandment Driving Lessons

Spirit, the engine

Great Commission

Citizenship

learning journey

Mary & Martha

Citizenship

6
7
8

break from work keep holy Sabbath Sabbath

Power of stories

End of John

Citizenship
Citizenship

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Recommended Resources: The list of teaching resources for faith-based ESL and EFL
programs for future reference. If the church is thinking to use the Bible as one of teaching
materials, the following three resources could be considered. The first one is by Eugene
Peterson (Peterson, 2006); however, this might suitable for those who are in their intermediate
level. Another one might be good for those who are in their beginning level; it is by Shari
Plueddemann Maxwell (Maxwell, 1999). The third one is written for youngsters by using the
New International Readers Version. Its format is easy to read (Tuinstra, 2008).
The following listed teaching material are provided for faith based ESL/EFL classroom.
The book, ESL: Creating a Quality English as a Second Language Program, is good for those
who are planning a pilot ESL program for their church (Burke, 1998). Adventures in English is
another resource that is able to offer a high quality course for a church (Adventures in English:
reading and conversation, 2006). English in Action is for English beginning learners (Cirafesi &
Summers, 1998); it is topic based and offers a list of vocabulary in each chapter. FriendSpeak
also offers several ESL/EFL teaching resources. For instance, Square One: Beginning
Conversations in English, is a very simple and easy to following teaching material to beginners
(Woodward, 2012) and the Core Series offers various high intermediate readings throughout the
New Testament, Old Testament, with our selection in their readings through Luke.
Dibbley has written a great ESL/EFL teaching material, Learning Teaching English
through the Bible, with a pictorial approach (Dibbley, 2012). If your church is considering to
have a long term investment, this material could offer a great quality ESL/EFL class. Dibbleys
book focuses on high frequency vocabulary, practical English phrases, includes classroom
activities/games, sections on pronunciation and grammar written at various levels (beginning
through advanced) so teachers are able to choose which pages are appropriate to the level they

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need. Sections of the book are broken up into the following: Grammar, Themes, Biblical Texts,
Pronunciation, Word Parts, Sentence Patterns, Multi-Word Units, Conversation, Vocabulary
Activities, Bible Verse Activities, Activities with Visuals, and Sample Lesson Plans, and
Appendix (flashcards, picture dictionary etc.) The material is both visually appealing for
students, with illustrations from all over the world and gives many great examples for classroom
activities. Although the textbook provides little for student checks or testing activities, the
Saturday ESL Caf is meant to focus more on lowering the students affective filter, teaching
content, and building individual relationships than a grammatical focus. The Curriculum
Development team wishes to model the Saturday Spiritual topics after this textbook,
supplementing our own selected Bible stories which tie in with the weekly life skills themes (Ex:
Life Skills Week 3 Topic: Going to the doctor, Spiritual Topics Week 3: Jesus Healing).
After conducting a needs analysis for the Life Skills classes, the team has compiled a list
of topics as seen on the Syllabus. Ventures produces a variety of books and workbooks for
various levels based on many of these topics, including audio CDs. We will be basing our
curriculum off this Ventures series organized by themes, supporting language function, listening,
speaking, reading, and writing skills, pronunciation, grammatical focus, and colorful
illustrations. The series is logically sequenced, provides in-class activities, periodic
tests/learning checks, answer keys, and is cost-effective. The curriculum team also plans to
supplement our own materials and realia to fit the needs of the students for a more individualized
approach.

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References
Adventures in English: reading and conversation. (2006). EFCA International Mission:
International Network.
Bitterlin, B., Johnson, D., Price, D., Ramirez, S., Savage, K. Lynn (2008). Ventures 2: Students
Book. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press.
Burke, S. E. (1998). ESL: creating a quality English as a second language program: a guide for
churches. Grand Rapids, Mich: CRC Publications.
Cirafesi, W. V., & Summers, T. (1998). English in action: a fast and fun way to learn English,
student workbook.
Dibbley, M. (2012). Learning and teaching English through the Bible: a pictorial approach.
Maxwell, S. P. (1999). The book of Mark: the story of Jesus: a study guide in simplified English.
Wheaton, Ill.: Harold Shaw Publishers.
Peterson, E. H. (2006). The message, remix: the Bible in contemporary language. Colorado
Springs, CO: NavPress Pub. Group, TH1NK Books.
Tuinstra, K. (Ed.). (2008). The story for kids: discover the Bible from beginning to end. Grand
Rapids, MI: Zonderkidz.
Woodward, M. (2009). Core Series: Luke. FriendSpeak.
Woodward, M. (2012). Square one: beginning conversations in English (2nd ed.). FriendSpeak.