Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Language Curriculum
LET Competencies:
1. Define Curriculum and Syllabus.
2. Distinguish Curriculum from syllabus
3. Discuss the ideology of a curriculum
4. Identify key features of curriculum
Curriculum
A curriculum is more than a list of topics to be covered by an educational
programme, for which the more commonly accepted word is a ‘syllabus’. A
curriculum is first of all a policy statement about a piece of education, and
secondly an indication as to the ways in which that policy is to be realized
through a programme of action. It is the sum of all the activities, experiences and
learning opportunities for which an institution (such as the Society) or a teacher
(such as a faculty member) takes responsibility – either deliberately or by default
(Coles, 2003)
May be defined as an educational plan that spells out which goals and objectives
should be achieved, which topics should be covered and which methods are to
be used for learning, teaching and evaluation (Wojtczak, 2002)
Is the planned and guided learning experiences and intended learning outcomes,
formulated through the systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experiences,
under the auspices of the school, for the learners’ continuous and willful growth
in personal social competence (Tanner, 1980)
The term curriculum refers to the sum total of organized learning stated as
educational ends, activities, school subjects and/or topics decided upon and
provided within an educational institution for the attainment of the students
(Garcia, 1976, SEAMEO RELC)
'A curriculum is an attempt to communicate the essential principles and features
of an educational proposal in such a form that it is open to critical scrutiny and
capable of effective translation into practice'. A curriculum is rather like a recipe
in cookery (Stenhouse,1975)
Syllabus Design
One aspect of curriculum development but is not identical with it. A syllabus is a
specification of the content of a course of instruction and lists what will be taught
and tested. Syllabus design is the process of developing a syllabus (Richards,
2001)
Curriculum Development
Is a more comprehensive process than syllabus design. It includes the processes
that are used to determine the needs of a group of learners, to develop aims or
objectives for a program to address those needs, to determine an appropriate
syllabus, course structure, teaching methods, and materials, and to carry out an
LET Reviewer | Majorship: English
evaluation of the language program that results from these processes (Richards,
2001)
Syllabi, which prescribes the content to be covered by a given course, forms only
a small part of the total school program. Curriculum is a far broader concept. It is
all those activities in which students engage under the auspices of the school.
This includes not only what students learn, but how they learn it, how teachers
help them learn, using what supporting materials, styles and methods of
assessment, and in what kind of facilities (Rodgers, 1989).
In this approach the curriculum itself develops through the dynamic interaction of
action and reflection. 'That is, the curriculum is not simply a set of plans to be
implemented, but rather is constituted through an active process in which planning,
acting and evaluating are all reciprocally related and integrated into the process'
(Grundy 1987). At its centre is praxis: informed, committed action.
LET Reviewer | Majorship: English
Praxis
Content
Organization
Evaluation
Need
Aims Objectives
Plan
Strategies Tactics
Implementation
Methods Techniques
Review
Evaluation Consolidation
ends
methodologists
means
materials writers teaching materials
3. programme
implementation teacher-training
teacher trainers
programme
Aims
An aim refers to a statement of a general change that a program seeks to bring
about in learners. The purposes of aim statements are:
to provide a clear definition of the purposes of a program
to provide guidelines for teachers, learners, and materials writers
to help provide a focus for instruction
to describe important and realizable changes in learning
Aims statements reflect the ideology of the curriculum and show how the
curriculum will seek to realize it. (Renandya and Richards 2002)
The following are examples of aim statements from different kinds of language
programs (Renandya and Richards, 2002).
Aim statements are generally derived from information gathered during a needs
analysis. For example, the following areas of difficulty were some of those identified for
non-English background students studying in the English-medium universities:
understanding lectures
LET Reviewer | Majorship: English
participating in seminars
taking notes during lectures
reading at adequate speed to be able to complete reading assignments
presenting ideas and information in an organized way in a written assignment
For these to become aims, they need to focus on the changes that will result in
the learners. For example:
Students will learn how to write effective business letters for use in the hotel and
tourism industries.
Students will learn how to listen effectively in conversational interactions and how
to develop better listening strategies.
Students will learn how to communicate information and ideas creatively and
effectively through writing.
Objectives
In order to give a more precise focus to program goals, aims are often
accompanied by statements of more specific purposes. These statements are known as
objectives or also referred to as instructional objectives or teaching objectives.
An objective refers to a statement of specific changes a program seeks to bring
about and results from an analysis of the aim into its different components.
Objectives:
Students will be able to follow an argument, theme or thesis of a lecture.
Students will learn how to recognize the following aspects of a lecture:
- cause and effect relationship
- comparisons and contrasts
- premises used in persuasive arguments
- supporting details used in persuasive arguments
Aim: Students will learn how to write effective business letters for use in the hotel and
tourism industries.
Objective: The student can understand and respond to simple questions over the
telephone.
a viewpoint a viewpoint
on the on the
nature of nature of
language language
learning
A Model L2
Curriculum
an educational
cultural viewpoint
An important reason for differentiating between the two is to stress that a single
curriculum can be the basis for developing a variety of specific syllabuses which are
concerned with locally defined audiences, particular needs, and intermediate objectives.
(Dubin and Olshtain 1986)
Since the curriculum is concerned with a general rationale for formulating policy
decisions, it combines educational-cultural goals with language goals. For example, an
overall educational approach could focus on one of the following major goals:
a behavioristic orientation considers the human species to be a passive
organism, reacting to external, environmental stimuli;
a rational-cognitive orientation considers the human species to be the source and
initiator of all acts;
a humanistic orientation is concerned with each individual’s growth and
development, while emphasizing affective factors as well.
An
Audiolingual
Curriculum
educational view:
behaviorism
This approach has much in common with other contemporary views which
emphasize the importance of listening and comprehension at the onset of
learning – among them Silent way.
The humanistic orientation has been closely associated with the communicative
view of language
The course rationale answers these questions by describing the beliefs, values
and goals that underlie the course. It would be normally be a two- or three- paragraph
statement that has been developed by those planning and teaching a course and that
serves to provide the justification for the type of teaching and learning that will take
place in the course.
Developing a rationale also helps provide focus and direction to some of the
deliberations involved in course planning. The rationale thus serves the purposes of:
guiding the planning of the various components of the course
emphasizing the kinds of teaching and learning the course should exemplify
providing a check on the consistency of the various course components in terms
of the course values and goals (Posner and Rudnitsky 1986)
Product/outcome questions:
What knowledge is the learner expected to attain by the end of the course? What
understandings based on analyses of structures and lexis will learners have as
an outcome of the course?
What specific language skills do learners need in their immediate future, or in
their professional lives? How will these skills be presented in the syllabus?
What techniques of evaluation or examination in the target language will be used
to assess course outcomes?
LET Reviewer | Majorship: English
Theoretical and
philosophical views:
the nature of
the nature of language
language learning
L2
Curriculum
educational
cultural
philosophy
general goals
Syllabus objectives:
Product/
Language
Outcomes
Content
Process/
Means
and national identity through adequate knowledge of Philippine history and its politico-
economic system, local cultures, crafts, arts, music and games. It covers a wide range
of values system that stresses the development of social awareness, understanding and
commitment to the common good.
The subjects in the new curriculum respond to the individual needs of the
students, and are contextualized in their present conditions. Reciprocal interaction
between student-teacher, among students, students-instructional materials, students-
multi-media sources, students-teachers of different disciplines is also reinforced. The
approach to the subjects is “integrated,”. Thus, Filipino and English would, in addition to
reading, writing and grammar, include literature and current affairs. The school principal
is authorized to make adjustments, but not modification, to the content of the subjects.
(Guzman and Sevilleno 2003)
Features of the 2002 Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary and Secondary
Education:
restructuring of the learning areas, reducing them to five (Filipino, English,
science, mathematics and Makabayan);
stronger integration of competencies and values within and across learning
areas;
greater emphasis on the learning process and integrative modes of teaching; and
increased time for tasks to gain mastery of competencies of the basic tool
subjects.
The objectives are expressed in terms of competencies, which are knowledge,
skills and attitudes that the learner is expected to acquire at the end of the
programme.
A significant feature of the competencies is the inclusion of the use of ICTs,
articulated in terms of skills in accessing, processing, and applying information,
and using educational software in solving mathematical problems and conducting
experiments.
Content is delivered using a variety of media and resources.
The teaching-learning process considers the learner an active partner rather than
an object of pedagogy.
The learner takes on the role of constructor of meaning, while the teacher serves
as facilitator, enabler and manager of learning. (Department of Education, 2002)
Tessie Aquino Oreta, the main author of Republic Act No. 9155 or the
Governance of Basic Education Act, said the "outcome of learning" among students in
public schools nationwide will be sacrificed and eventually suffer because a number of
teachers in the country are not prepared to teach the new curriculum.
The research agency, IBON Foundation, also criticized the design of the BEC,
claiming it caters to the needs of multinational corporations for highly skilled and
technically proficient workers at the expense of nationalism.
Antonio Tinio, national coordinator of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT),
said the new curriculum will have a strategically adverse impact on the promotion of a
scientific and nationalist education program which are critical components in the holistic
development and progress of a nation. He said the BEC is a scheme crafted to produce
lowly paid labor force that will support the niche marketing schemes of the government
and corporations in the era of globalization. He added that the DepEd rushed the
implementation of the program to catch up with the full implementation of World Trade
Organization agreements in 2004. According to ACT, BEC will be producing cheap
skilled laborers for the world market instead of Filipinos with a strong sense of history,
culture, arts and life skills.
In spite of the negative impressions, the restructured curriculum allows teachers
to address important issues promoting social awareness to the students. It develops
wider views of each subject matter while reducing redundancy of content. It also helps
to keep pace with the changes in the global context of our educational system and to
attain functional literacy. It aims to provide more attention on the means of learning and
at the same time promote values development to all the students. It features greater
importance on helping every learner particularly in Grades 1-3 to become successful
reader. Mathematics on the other hand is the focus in the secondary level. It
emphasizes interactive teaching approaches and values formation in all subject areas.
(Guzman and Sevilleno 2003)