Curriculum Approaches in Language teaching

Curriculum Approaches in Language teaching

1. 3 Curriculum Approaches

   • Forward Design
     • Process
       • Syllabus Planning
         • INPUT
           • Linguistic content of a course. It has to be organized into teacheable and learneable units arranged in a rational sequence
       • Methodology
         • PROCESS
           • How teaching is carried out (METHODOLOGY)
       • Assesment of Learning Outcomes
         • OUTPUT
           • Learning Outcomes ( What learners should beable to do as a result of a period of instruction
     • Curriculum design is seen to constitute a sequence of stages that occur in a fixed order – an approach that has been referred to as a ‘waterfall’ model (Tessmer and Wedman, 1990)
     • Preferred in circumstances where a mandated curriculum is in place, where teachers have little choice over what and how to teach.
   • Central Design
     • PROCESS
       • CONTENT
       • OUTCOMES
     • Process
     • The curriculum is not designed on a pre-specification of behavioural objectives. anticipated in detail.
     • The processes of planning, enacting and evaluating are interrelated and dynamic, not sequential.
     • The aim of evaluation is to improve teaching and learning, not just to measure it.
     • In curriculum enactment, what happens in classrooms is the core of curriculum. What happens in classrooms is the evolving relationship between teacher, learners, and subject matter (Graves, 2008:152-53).
     • CONCLUSIONS
       • There is no best approach to curriculum design, and that forward design, central design and backward design might each work well but in different circumstances.
       • Each approach makes different assumptions about the context for the curriculum
       • Curriculum approaches differ in how they visualize the relationship between elements of content, process, and output, how they are prioritized and arrived at, and the role that syllabuses, materials, teachers and learners play in the process of curriculum development and enactment.
   • Backward Design
     • Process
       • OUTCOMES
         • CONTENT
         • PROGRESS
     • Backward design starts with a careful statement of the desired results or out-comes: appropriate teaching activities and content are derived from the results of learn-ing. This is a well-established tradition in curriculum design in general education and in
     • Educational objectives become the criteria by which materials are selected, content is outlined, instructional procedures are developed, and tests and examinations are prepared.
     • Teaching is generally based on helping learners acquire the communicative skills needed for specific situations, tasks and activities