MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

Week 2
Lecture 1
Lecturer Ms. Hina M. Ali Curriculum Development in
Department of
Humanities Language Teaching
(HS-502)
 WHAT WE WILL COVER?

Upon completion of week 2 you will be able to:

1. Analyse the difference between Syllabus design and

Curriculum development
2. Understand the Historical Background of language curriculum
development

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Fall 2020

 Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

LCD deals with the following questions which also serves in providing the
framework for our course:
Q1. What procedures can be used to determine the content of a language
program?

Q2. What are learners needs?

Q3. How can learners need be determined?

Q4. What contextual factors need to be considered in planning a language

program?

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

Q5. What is the nature of aims and objectives in teaching and how can these
be developed?

Q6. What factors are involved in planning the syllabus and the units of
organization in a course?

Q7. How can good teaching be provided in a program?

Q8. What issues are involved in selecting, adapting and designing instructional
materials?

Q9. How can one measure the effectiveness of a language program?

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020
 Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

A curriculum can be called a plan for learning

which contains assumptions about the purpose of education in our society.

It also has a definite structure through which the vision of the planners can be
translated into learning experiences for the learner.

Curriculum is a systematic and intended packaging of competencies (i.e.

knowledge, skills and attitudes that are underpinned by values) that learners
should acquire through organised learning experiences both in formal and
non-formal settings

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

Good curriculum plays an important role in forging life-long learning competencies,

as well as social attitudes and skills, such as tolerance and respect, constructive
management of diversity, peaceful conflict management, promotion and respect of
Human Rights, gender equality, justice and inclusiveness.

At the same time, curriculum contributes to the development of thinking skills and
the acquisition of relevant knowledge that learners need to apply in the context of
their studies, daily life and career

Curriculum is also increasingly called upon to support the learner’s personal

development by contributing to enhancing their self-respect and confidence,
motivation and aspirations.

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development in Language Teaching

Through the guiding function for education agents and stakeholders, clear,
inspired and motivational curriculum documents and materials play an
important role in ensuring education quality.

Curriculum is implemented by teachers, and depends moreover on the quality

of teaching and learning strategies, learning materials and assessment.

The paramount question is whether or not the curriculum we have in place

enables us to impart on our learners the kinds of competencies (i.e.
knowledge, skills and attitudes that are underpinned by values) we require
for the type of society we envision to build and the challenges people have
to face now and in the future.
Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020
 A Good Curriculum

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 A Good Curriculum

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Definitions and Conceptualizations of Curriculum

Curriculum is defined as “a course; specifically, a regular course of study or

training, as at a school or university” (OED Online, 2016).

The word comes from the Latin currere, to run, or to run a course (Wiles &
Bondi, 2011), and originally meant the knowledge passed from one generation
to the next (Wiles, 2005).

A common understanding of curriculum is a program of studies with specified

courses leading to an academic certificate, diploma, or degree.

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Definitions and Conceptualizations of Curriculum

A more specific and expansive view is:

The curriculum is a set of plans made for guiding learning . . . usually

represented in retrievable documents of several levels of generality, and the
actualization of those plans in the classroom, as experienced by the learners
and as recorded by an observer; those experiences take place in a learning
environment that also influences what is learned. (Glatthorn, Boschee,
Whitehead, & Boschee, 2016, p. 4)

This definition emphasizes accessible written plans, witnessed and

documented classroom experiences, and the milieu in which the experiences
occur.
Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020
 Definitions and Conceptualizations of Curriculum

Parkay, Anctil, and Hass (2014) give attention to the ideas of theoretical and
research bases for curricula and a societal context in their definition:

The curriculum is all of the educational experiences learners have in an

educational program, the purpose of which is to achieve broad goals and
related specific objectives that have been developed within a framework of
theory and research, past and present professional practice, and the changing
needs of society. (p. 3)

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Definitions and Conceptualizations of Curriculum

Following an analysis of curricula, and the meanings of curriculum and

educational program in North America and Europe, Jonnaert, Ettayebi, and
Defise (as cited in Jonnaert & Therriault, 2013) created the following
definition:

A curriculum is a system made up of a series of educational components.

Articulated among themselves, these components permit the orientation and
operationalization of an education system through pedagogical and
administrative action plans. It is anchored in the historical, social, linguistic,
political, religious, geographical and cultural characteristics of a country,
region or locality. (p. 405)

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Definitions and Conceptualizations of Curriculum

Despite differing definitions and conceptions, a curriculum is implemented

with the intention that learning will occur and student potential will be
unlocked.

In professional programs, there is a written plan that usually contains

philosophical statements and goals or outcomes; indicates some selection,
organization, and sequencing of subject matter and learning experiences; and
integrates evaluation of learning.

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Definitions and Conceptualizations of Language Curriculum

Language curriculum is defined as the totality of the philosophical approaches,

curriculum goals or outcomes, overall design, courses, strategies to ignite
learning, delivery methods, interactions, learning climate, evaluation methods,
curriculum policies, and resources.

The curriculum includes all matters that affect students’ learning and
progression and that are within the authority of the institution or the
program.

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Syllabus Design

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development vs Syllabus Design

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Curriculum Development vs Syllabus Design

Curriculum
A comprehensive educational package involving the conceptualization,
planning, designing, and detailing of a comprehensive learning program for
the benefit of deploying it in the schools.

Syllabus
A concise statement of the contents or topics of a curse/subject. A layout out
of key topics and related learning in an individual course/subject in a learning
program. It is a sub-set of the curriculum.

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Language Curriculum Development

Week 1 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• Curriculum development in language teaching as we know it today

really began in the 1960s,
• though issues of syllabus design emerged as a major factor in
language teaching much earlier
• Today we will look at the approaches to syllabus design that
emerged in the first part of the twentieth century and that laid the
foundations for more broadly based curriculum approaches that
are used in language teaching today.

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• If we look back at the history of language teaching throughout the twentieth

century, much of the impetus for changes in approaches to language
teaching came about from changes in teaching methods
• The method concept in teaching which means the notion of a systematic set
of teaching practices based on a particular theory of language and language
learning
• The quest for better methods has been a preoccupation of many teachers
and applied linguists since the beginning of the twentieth century.
• Many methods have come and gone in the last 100 years in pursuit of the
"best method"

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

The following chronology illustrates, with dates suggesting periods

of greatest dominance:
• Grammar Translation Method (1800-1900)
• Direct Method (1890-1930)
• Structural Method (1930-1960)
• Reading Method (1920-1950)
• Audiolingual Method (1950-1970)
• Situational Method (1950-1970)
• Communicative Approach (1970-present)

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• That although there has been a preference for particular methods

at different times, methods often continue in some form long after
they have fallen out of favor;
• This observation is still true today, with grammar translation still
alive and well in some parts of the world
• Common to each method is the belief that the teaching practices it
supports provide a more effective and theoretically sound basis for
teaching than the method that preceded it

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• It is important to recognize that although methods are

specifications for the processes of instruction in language teaching
• They deal with the question of how
• They also make assumptions about what needs to be taught –
content of instruction
• Each method hence assumes a particular type of syllabus

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

Harold Palmer, British applied linguist who laid the foundations for the Structural Method in
the 1920s, summarized the principles of language teaching methodology at that time as
follows:
Initial preparation - orienting the students towards language learning
Habit-forming - establishing correct habits
Accuracy — avoiding inaccurate language . .
Gradation - each stage prepares the student for the next
Proportion-each aspect of language given emphasis -
Concreteness - movement from the concrete to the abstract
Interest - arousing the student's interest at all times
Order of progression - hearing before speaking, and both before writing
Multiple line of approach - many different ways used to teach the language

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• Applied linguists then turned their attention to issues of the

content and syllabus design
• Initial steps in this direction centered on approaches to
determining the vocabulary and grammatical content of a language
course.
• This led to procedures that were known as selection and gradation.

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• In any language program a limited amount of time is available for

teaching.
• One of the first problems to be solved is deciding what should be
selected from the total corpus of the language and incorporated in
textbooks and teaching materials
• This came to be known as the problem of selection
• Selection is an inherent characteristic of all methods.
• Since it is impossible to teach the whole of a language, all methods
must in some way or other, whether intentionally or not, select the
part of it they intend to teach
Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020
 Historical Background

• The field of selection in language teaching deals with the choice of

appropriate units of the language for teaching purposes and with
the development of techniques and procedures by which the
language can be reduced to that which is most useful to the
learners
• All teaching, of course, demands a choice of what will be taught
from the total field of the subject, and the teaching of a language
at any level and under any circumstances requires the selection of
certain features of the language and the intentional or
unintentional exclusion of others

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020

 Historical Background

• Two aspects of selection received primary attention in the first few

decades of the twentieth century
• Vocabulary selection and
• Grammar selection.
• Approaches to these two aspects of selection laid the foundations
for syllabus design in language teaching.

Week 2 Lecture 1 MS Applied Linguistics (Humanities) – Spring 2020