ELT CURRICULUM: A Flexible Model for a Changing World

DENISE FINNEY

Elt Language Curriculum

Curriculum? What for? Planning (why) Program Implementation (how)

Evaluation (how well)

Curriculum Design
The question - what knowledge, skills and attributes as a

learner should a student be able to show on successful completion of the learning experience? - frames the key design questions:

How should students' progress towards the intended

learning outcomes be assessed?

What learning and teaching interactions should be provided

to guide students' learning?

What content (knowledge, skills, values and applications in

context) should be incorporated to contribute to the students' learning experience?

Elt Language Curriculum

The key concepts which frame curriculum design in

languages education are: language, culture, and understanding the relationship between the two.
This relationship shapes language learning as an

intercultural process, focused on interpreting and creating meaning.

Elt Language Curriculum

The curriculum design for an ELT Curriculum:

Languages draws upon the key concepts and understanding.

It is based on a set of aims, interrelated strands and

knowledge, skills and understanding that underpin the learning of languages.

Learning another language allows students to gain a

knowledge and an understanding of the cultures that use that language.

Models of Curriculum Planning

Content Model *Classical Humanism Objectives Model

* Reconstructionism
Process Model * Progressivism

The Content Model

The central focus of the curriculum in this model is the

content of what is to be learned by the learner.

The content is Knowledge. It is universal, unchanging and

absolute.This model underpins the grammar-based curriculum. The syllabus is concerned with Grammar and vocabulary : * Drilling of grammatically correct sentences * Explanation of theory * Memorization of lists of vocabulary

The Content Model

The purposes are to transmit knowledge of the language

system and to make sure tha students master grammar rules and vocabulary.
The assessment is based on the learners ability to produce

grammatically accurate language.

This model does not take into account the abilities or

problems of the individual learner or the complexities of the learning process itself.

The Objectives Model: Reconstructionism

The starting point for this modelof curriculum planning is

no longer the content, but the Objectives of the teaching learning program. The main purpose of education is to bring about some kind of social change. The influential curriculum designer E.W Tyler promoted the use of behavioral objectives (1930s). Mager (1962) gave the clearest definition of behavioral objectives: They have three elements: behavior, conditions, criterion.

The Objectives Model: Reconstructionism

This model provides: 1) Clarity of goals

Objectives are clear to the teacher and the learners 2)Ease of Evaluation Specified objectives can be easily evaluated 3) Accountability Clear methods for needs clarification

The Process Model: Progressivism

The purpose of education is to enable the individual to

progress towards self-fulfillment.

It is concerned with the development of understanding not

just the passive reception of knowledge r the acquisition of specific skills. Objectives are set in terms of the process and procedures by which the individual develops understanding and awareness and creates possibilities for future learning.

A Mixed-Focus Curriculum
The framework most applicable ELT today is an

integrated approach, an attempted synthesis of the product-oriented ends-mean model and the processed-oriented approach.(Nunan, 1988)

A Mixed-Focus Curriculum
Curriculum policy Needs analysis According to Brindley, 1989:

Product-oriented view of needs which focuses on the language and carried out by experts (Narrow, language content) Process-oriented view of needs which takes into account learner motivation and interests, and learning styles (Broad, learners)
Syllabus design Merhodology Evaluation