Conceptualizing Content

Conceptualizing Content

1. It involves making choices.

   • A recursive process because..
     • it can take many drafts to get the final writing and, the editing process can continue even when you teach the course.
   • There are multiple ways to cover the territory of language learning and for a given course the teacher have to choose from among them.

2. The process is multifaceted because involves..

   • What you want your students to learn
     • Decide what to include
       • Organize the content

3. Product: syllabus

   • mind map, flow chart or a list
   • organize explicitly what you will teach and choose the organizing principle that helps you to carry on the course and teach the content like grammar or vocab.

4. What the teacher chooses depends on the context where you he/she teaches, the students’ needs, their expectations of the course, and thte teacher's expectations and beliefs of the course.

5. Categories for conceptualizing content

   • Focus on language
     • Linguistic skills
       • The sound system
       • Grammar
         • Structured syllabus
       • Vocabulary
         • Structural syllabus
     • Situations
       • contexts
       • interactions that will occur
         • situational syllabus
     • Topics/Themes
       • Topics: what the language is used to talk about
         • Topical syllabus
       • Thematic syllabus
     • Communicative functions
       • purposes (persuading, expressing, preference, apologizing)
     • Competencies
       • Language and behaviour to accomplish tasks. Situations, linguistic skills and functions
         • Competency-based syllabus: helps the students to perform in situations of the L2 culture
           • Referencia
             • Graves, K. (2000). Chapter 4: Conceptualizing Content. In Designing language courses: A guide for teachers (pp. 37–72). essay, Heinle & Heinle.
     • Task: content is negotiated depending on the students' needs
     • Macro skills: Speaking, Listening, Reading and writing
     • Genre: spoken and written texts that accomplish a purpose within agiving context
   • Focus on learning and the learner
     • Affective goals: attitudes towards learning the language and the culture of the target language
     • Interpersonal skills: how a students interact with others
     • Learning strategies
   • Focus on social context
     • Sociolinguistic skills: using and choosing in an appropriate way the language
     • Sociocultural skills: understand the culture of the target language
     • Sociopolitical skills: learning how to take action for a positive change

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