Language Curriculum

1. GOALS, CONTENT,
AND
SEQUENCING

2. CONTENT AND
SEQUENCING
GUIDELINES
ENVIRONMENT
NEEDS
PRINCIPLES

3. ENVIRONMENT
Learners
Teachers
Situation

4. Learners
THE IDEAS IN THE COURSE:
Should help learning
in the classroom
Should suit the age of
the learners.

5. Learners
THE CONTENT:
Should take account of what learners
expect to see in an English course.

6. Learners
THE SEQUENCING OF THE CONTENT:
Should allow for some learners being
absent for some classes.

7. Teachers
THE LANGUAGE IN THE COURSE:
Should be able to be modelled and
comprehended by the teachers.

8. Situation
The number of lessons in the course
should suit the school term or year.

9. Situation
The ideas in the course should increase the acceptability
and usefulness of the course outside the classroom.

10. What are the NEEDS?

13. NECESSITIES

14. GOALS
AND
CONTENT

17. 1. In the area of Language,
the units maybe based
on vocabulary (as in
Advanced English
Vocabulary by Helen
Barnard),
2. Verb forms and verb
patterns
3. Sentence patterns or
4. Language Functions

18. Often a combination of
language units
is used.
control of verb

20. Making sensible, well-justified decisions
about the content is one of the most
important parts of curriculum design.
If poor content is chosen, then excellent teaching and
learning result in a poor return for learning effort.

21. Some curriculum designers break goals down into smaller
well-specified performance objectives (Brown, 1995)
The way these smaller goals
are detailed will depend
partly on the unit of
progression for the course.

22. UNIT OF
PROGRESSION
IN THE
COURSE

24. - If the starting point of a
course was language items,
and, in particular,
vocabulary, the units of
progressions would be
words, and at a broader
level, word frequency levels
which are similar to those
used in grading the levels of
simplified readers.

26. 1st Those that progress in a definite series, such
as vocabulary levels, and
2nd those that represent a field of knowledge that could
be covered in any order, such as topics.

28. To set targets and paths to those targets

29. To check the adequacy of selection and
ordering in a course.

30. To monitor and report on learners’
progress and achievement in the course.

31. UNITS OF PROGRESSION
Table 5.2

32. Starting Point Type Units of
Progression
Determinants of
Progression
Vocabulary Series Words Frequency levels
Occurrence in tasks
Grammar Series Grammatical
Constructions
Frequency
Acquisition stages
Complexity
Language use Ideas Field Functions
Order of Complexity
Ideas Field Topics
Themes
Discourse Field Topic types
Genre
Situations and roles Field Situations
Roles
Component skills Series Subskills
Strategies Field Strategies
Outcomes Field Real life outcomes
Task outcomes

33. V O C A B U L A
R Y

34. There is considerable
frequency-based
research that
provides clear
indication of what
vocabulary learners
would gain most
benefit
Vocabulary

35. This research shows
strikingly the value of
ensuring that learners
have good control of
the high-frequency
vocabulary of the
language. Typically,
Vocabulary

36. - The first 1,000 words
account for 75 percent
of the successive words
in a text.
- The first 1,000 words
account for 5 percent of
the successive words in
a text.
- 570 academic words
account for 10 percent
Vocabulary

37. - Nation (2001) argues
that the low-frequency
vocabulary of the
language does not
deserve teaching effort.
- Rather, strategies for
dealing with and
learning this vocabulary
should receive the
- teacher’s attention.
Vocabulary

38. - The sequencing of
vocabulary should not be
based on lexical sets or
the grouping together of
opposites or near
synonyms.
- There should also be the
opportunity for learners
to meet the same
vocabulary in a variety
Vocabulary

39. G R A M M A R

40. Many course use grammar
as
the major unit of
progression.
Unfortunately the
selection and sequencing
of the items as at the best
opportunistic and gives no
consideration of the value
Grammar

41. Infrequent items can
be usefully introduced
in courses where they
are needed to be
learned as memorized
phrases rather than as
structures to focus on.
Grammar

42. F U N C T I O
N S

43. There is no standard list
of language functions that
is accompanied by
frequency data.
The danger with
functionally based
courses is that curriculum
designers sometimes feel
the need to present
Functions

44. Learners usually feel little
motivation for learning
to say the same thing
in several ways.
This interference trap is
easily avoided by initially
presenting
only the most useful way
of expressing a function.
Functions

45. D I S C O U R S
E

46. Discourse as the basis for
units of progression is
more likely to be used in
pre-university courses
where learners
systematically cover a
range of relevant
genres such as recounts,
information reports,
and arguments.
Discourse

47. SKILLS,
SUBSKILLS,
AND
STRATEGIES

48. Some courses use skills
and subskills as their units
of progression. Ex:
Reading
Skills, Subskills,
and Strategies

49. I D E A S

50. The ideas content of a
course can take many
forms:
1. Imaginary
Happenings
2. An academic
subject.
Ex:agriculture
3. Learner survival
Ideas

51. TASK-BASED
SYLLABUSES

52. Six questions that can
help the teacher and the
curriculum designer
determine the extent
to which an activity is
task-like.
4. Is success judged in
terms
of outcome?
5. Is completion a
Task-based
Syllabuses

53. Six questions that can
help the teacher and the
curriculum designer
determine the extent
to which an activity is
task-like.
1. Does the activity
engage learners’
interest?
2. Is there a primary
Task-based
Syllabuses

54. SEQUENING
THE CONTENT
IN A COURSE

55. It’s two major division:
1. Linear development
2. Modular Arrangement
Sequencing the
Content in a
Course

56. Linear development
- Spiral
Curriculum
- Matrix Model
- Revision Units
- Field Approach
Modular Agreement
- Class Activities
and
Sequencing the
Content in a
Course