This slides is basically the summary of Chapter 10 titled Refreshing a writing course the role of evaluation written by John Macalister in 2010. This chapter is in written in the book edited by John Macalister and I.S.P Nation titled 'Case Studies in Language Curriculum Design' in 2011. This presented is arranged by Selvi Herianti and En Liu, and presented as part of assignment of Second Language Curriculum Development course convened by Dr. Minglin Li

1. Refreshing a Writing Course: The
Role of Evaluation
Presented by:
Selvi Herianti
En Liu

2. A risk of Courses that offered year in and year out
Teacher’s
reluctance to
change
Risks: Lose
their
dynamism
Irrelevance
courses for
learner
Ineffective
use of
class time
Failing in
delivering the
best outcomes
for the learners

3. WRIT
University Writing Course in New Zealand which was built since 1990s and offered a 100-level first year
Kinds of
Participants
University
Students
Employer
Motives of
Learning
Some of them were
required to take
course
Some of them chose it
voluntarily
To improve their
written English Skills
Citizenship
status
Temporarily citizen
came from East Asia,
South East Asia, Latin
Amerika, and Europe
New Zealand
Permanent Resident
Refugee background
Requirement
IELTS
None
courses to help non-native speakers of English to meet their writing needs

4. The Case for Change
• Institutional
Evaluation
1st
measurement
2nd
Measurement • Staff Observation
• Student Comments
in a non-assessed
reflection writing
exercise
• Course Structure
• Managing Cognitive
Demand
3rd
Measurement
Satisfactory
Result ???

5. • English Proficiency vs. Academic Writing Ability Meeting Student
needs
• 12 lectures/weeks x @ 1 hour = 12 hours
• 11 weeks of workshops x @ 3 hours = 33 hours Course Structure
• Students were required to produce 2 essays on half
academic
• Students were provided reading materials based on a
book pre-selecting reading
Managing
Cognitive Demand
Model of academic writing
which did not accommodate
different disciplines
Declining of lectures
attendance which indicates
the ineffectiveness of
instruction form
Problems:
Reading material is too
difficult for student to
understand

6. A Response
Re-design course:
• Remove the
“academic” tag
• Enhancing
language
proficiency
development
• Reduce cognition
load
Introduce 200-level or
second year academic
writing English
• Facilitate student
needs in
developing their
writing skills
• Facilitate students
to work in
discipline-specific
genre

7. The Teaching-Learning Environment
Teaching Staff
Instructions Learners
• Heterogeneous
• Some of them are non
experienced teacher of ESL
/EFL
• Graduate students with little
or no language teaching
experience
Diversity background =
diversity needs
12 Weeks course in
English Speaking
Country which
placing relatively
few limitation on
the course

8. The Teaching-Learning Environment
Identified Factor General Effect Specific Effect Examples
Learners enrolling in the course may not
be well motivated
Tasks and texts that are chosen are likely
to motivate the learners
Pre-reading activities to arouse interest
in text
Learners are studying in a university and
need to write effectively in that
environment
Task need to have face validity within
that environment
1. Emphasis on analysis over
description
2. Use compare and contrast writing
task
Learners may have little or no knowledge
of NZ
Texts chosen provide opportunities to
learn about aspects of NZ culture and
society
Some use of texts by NZ authors, e.g.
Witi Ihimaera
Learners come from a range of discipline
and have a wide range of English
Language proficiency
Individual differences need to be
accommodated
1. Goal of course focuses on awareness
2. Requirement for revision of writing
allows individual needs to be
addressed
Learners learn to write by writing Many opportunities for writing need to
be provided
“Write before you read” activities in class
Effect of outer circle factors on the course design

9. Needs Analysis
Lacks
Need
Analysis
Necessities Wants
Student do not have
sufficient language skills
for success in the
university courses
Students want to write
like native speakers
(but 12-week course
means this is unlikely to
be achieved)
All of students
need to write
effectively

10. Application and Principles
Nation and Macalister, 2010, pp. 38-39

11. The Goal of the New Course

12. Content and Sequencing
Theme-based
Two ways of viewing the content
activity Topic Read Discuss
Understanding
the sociocultural
context
Skill, sub skills,
and strategies
focus
Gathering
the idea
Drafting Editing Feedback
Time on task and fluency principles should be considered, that is why these
practice should be done regularly.
(Spack, 1985)