English Language curriculum design

1. Curriculum and Material Development
BOOK’S CHAPTER REVIEW
Language Curriculum Design by: I.S.P Nation and John Macalister
Chapter 1 – 10
Group 1
Class D
Rifyal Mukarram 15B01135
Juvrianto CJ 15B01130
Al Furqan 15B01121
Chaerul Farda 15B01122

2. CHAPTER 9 | APPROACHES TO CURRICULUM DESIGN
Models of Curriculum Design
This chapter is about approaches to curriculum design. This about a
starting point for curriculum design, and a way of covering the steps. This
book has taken the approach that curriculum design is best viewed as a
process like writing where the curriculum design could begin at any of
several places – needs analysis, materials writing, selection of principles,
goals, etc.

3. This book is based on a model of curriculum design which is represented by the
curriculum design diagram. This diagram is intended to be easy-to-remember, so
that teachers can use it whenever they face curriculum design issues or are
reading articles on curriculum design. How adequate is the model? One way to
answer this question is to compare it with other models to see where they overlap
and where they don’t.
The figure below is taken from Designing Language Courses by Kathleen Graves
(2000). This is a very readable, practical book on curriculum design which draws
strongly on the experience of teachers.

5. The Process of Curriculum Design
The main parts of the curriculum design process described in the
curriculum design model may be covered at various times, at various
degrees of thoroughness, in various orders, and by various people.
We will look at the ways of going through the process of
curriculum design as follow:
The waterfall model
The focused opportunistic approach
The layers of necessity approach.

6. A “waterfall” model
Curriculum design describe a progression from a study of the
environment and needs (often they are not distinguished), to a
consideration of important principles and the setting of goals, followed by
the drawing up of a list of content items, and then the writing of the
lessons. Macalister and Sou (2006) draw on a “waterfall” model in their
description of a course’s design.
The waterfall model is most likely to be applied in the design of the
commercial course book, or in a well-funded curriculum design project.
Both of these situations provide time and resources for systematic
curriculum design, so that designers can do needs analysis, consider the
environment and principles, and prepare a syllabus and lessons in advance
of the actual teaching.

8. A focused opportunistic approach
In a “focused opportunistic” approach, the format and presentation
part of the curriculum design process is typically done first. That is, material
is gathered or prepared to teach the course. Then, with each re-teaching
of the course, one part of the curriculum design process is done
thoroughly. Thus it might be that a proper needs analysis is not carried out
until the third or fourth re-teaching of the course. The attractiveness of this
model is that it allows a concentrated focus with possible high-quality
improvements to a course. For example if, during one presentation of a
course, assessment was focused on, or there was a careful needs analysis
done, then these improvements could be done well

9. A focused opportunistic approach
The course is taught using whatever material is available or can be
made. During the teaching, the teacher may do some kinds of needs
analysis to work out if the lessons need some adjustment. Assessment will
also need to be developed as the course is taught. After the first teaching
of the course, the teacher might consider content and sequencing on the
basis of experience and make some changes so that the second delivery of
the course is a bit more organised. It can be effective if teachers have the
opportunity to teach the same course several times, and if they know
something about curriculum design so that they can make sensible
decisions on where to focus the improvement of the course.

10. A “layers of necessity” model
In Tessmer and Wedman’s model, curriculum design is
seen initially as a choice between various layers. Each layer
is complete in itself and includes the major parts of the
curriculum design process – environment analysis,
determining needs and goals, deciding on the instructional
strategy (format and presentation), developing the
materials, and evaluating and revising

11. A “layers of necessity” model
This layer would involve all the following steps:
• Decide on the most severe environmental constraint on the course and
how it will affect the curriculum design.
• Decide on the most urgent necessity that learners have to meet at the
end of the course.
• Make a short list of items to cover.
• Decide on a simple lesson format that will make use of available material.
• Gather the material for the course.
• Decide on a simple form of assessment.

12. A “layers of necessity” model
Tessmer and Wedman (1990) suggest some guidelines for using a
“layers of necessity” model
• Firstly, once the level of necessity has been chosen it is best to
cover all the steps at that level with roughly the same degree of
thoroughness
• Secondly, at any level all the major parts of the curriculum design
process should be touched. That is, there must be some needs
analysis and environment analysis, rather than leaving them out

13. Deciding on an Approach
Choosing which path to take will depend on the starting point,
the time available for course preparation, the availability of needs
analysis information, the availability of a usable course book, and the skill
of the curriculum designer.
Whatever approach is chosen, the advantage of following a
systematic approach to curriculum design involving all the parts of a
model is that parts of the process are not missed out. Poor curriculum
design misses important parts and does not deal with parts in a
principled way.

14. The meeting of the theory of curriculum design and the
practical issues of putting curriculum design into practice.
The approaches described here represent different ways of
taking account of constraints upon curriculum design,
particularly those of time, skill and the need for flexibility in
using courses. With all of the compromises necessary, it is
important to make sure that the various parts of the
curriculum design process are given proper consideration at
some point in the curriculum design activity.

15. CHAPTER 10 | NEGOTIATED SYLLABUSES
• A negotiated syllabus involves the teacher and the learners working
together to make decisions at many of the parts of the curriculum design
process.
• It is a way of giving high priority to the recognition of learner needs
within a course and to the need to continually adjust courses while they
are running to suit changing needs and circumstances.

16. An Example of a Negotiated Syllabus
The class is a group of adult graduate students preparing for post-graduate
university study through the medium of English. They come from a wide
variety of countries and will do their post-graduate study in a wide range of
disciplines.
1 .For the first two weeks of class the teacher follows a set programme involving
a large variety of activities.
2 .At the end of the two-week period the teacher tells the class, “Now that you
have settled in and have experienced some typical classes, it is time for you to
take an active part in deciding what we will do for the next
two weeks.”
3. The teacher and the class members list the activities and parts of the course
on the board, and then working in small groups discuss what should be removed
from the list, and what should be added to it. The groups report back and the
list on the board is revised. If the learners wish they can discuss the list some
more.

17. An Example of a Negotiated Syllabus
4. The next step is to rank the items in the list and fit them into the class
timetable. This again is done in small groups and then with the class as a
whole. During this discussion the learners negotiate with each other and
with the teacher.
5 .The resulting timetable with its activities then becomes the timetable
for the next one or two weeks, when it is then renegotiated. The teacher
sometimes calls on some of the learners to help with preparation and
material for the class in order to cope with the short class preparation
time that such negotiation sometimes results in.

18. Requirements for a Negotiated Syllabus
1 Negotiation procedure. How will the negotiation be carried out? When
will it be done? How often will it be done? Who has the responsibility for
organising it? Who has the responsibility for checking that what is
negotiated is actually done?
2. Course planning: participation. Who will work with who? The range of
answers to this question includes individual work, pair work, groups
working with the teacher, and the teacher working with the whole class.

19. Requirements for a Negotiated Syllabus
3 Course planning: procedure. What kinds of activity will be worked on?
The range of answers is many and may include role play, information gap
tasks, guided writing, extensive reading, and oral drills.
4 Course planning: learning goals. What will be the focus of the work? The
range of possible answers includes increasing speaking fluency, learning
new vocabulary, learning how to organise written assignments, and
learning how to understand and give directions.

20. Requirements for a Negotiated Syllabus
5 Course evaluation. The fifth, critical step in the negotiated syllabus is
continual evaluation of the previous decisions and the learning resources.
6 Resources and materials. A requirement of a negotiated syllabus is that
there is a large amount of resource material available to draw on or which
the teacher and learners can readily produce.

21. Requirements for a Negotiated Syllabus
5 Course evaluation. The fifth, critical step in the negotiated syllabus is
continual evaluation of the previous decisions and the learning resources.
6 Resources and materials. A requirement of a negotiated syllabus is that
there is a large amount of resource material available to draw on or which
the teacher and learners can readily produce.

22. Syllabuses with Some Elements Negotiated
Breen’s description of a negotiated syllabus is at one end of the scale. It
is possible to have a syllabus within which some parts or some aspects are
negotiated while others are left under the control of the teacher or
curriculum designer (Clarke, 1989).

23. Syllabuses with Some Elements Negotiated
1 A fixed lesson or time of the day is set aside for negotiated activities. For
example, an hour each Friday afternoon is used for activities that the learners
and teacher have negotiated.
2 One or more of the four types of decisions described above (participation,
procedure, learning goals, evaluation) is open for negotiation. Clarke (1989)
suggests encouraging learners to take over some of the assessment activity.
3 The classes for one or more language skills, such as free-speaking activities,
are planned through negotiation. For example, the learners negotiate the types
of reading activities that they will do.
4 One or more parts of the inner circle of the curriculum design diagram are
open to negotiation. For example, the ideas content of the lessons can be
negotiated, while the teacher retains control of language focus, presentation
and assessment.

24. Disadvantages and Advantages of a Negotiated Syllabus
The disadvantages of a negotiated syllabus are of two major types. The first is
the result of a lack of knowledge or experience with such a syllabus. Learners
may be reluctant to negotiate or to let their classmates negotiate because they
feel it should be the teacher’s expertise guiding the course. Gradual introduction
of a negotiated syllabus can provide learner training to help overcome this
problem. Learners may also not know enough of the range of options they could
choose from and thus may make unimaginative choices. Teachers may feel that
using a negotiated syllabus removes too much of their power and status.
Learners may find it difficult to reach agreement about what they should be
doing. The second major disadvantage is that a fully negotiated syllabus requires
considerable teacher skill and time in accessing and producing resources. Where
there are several teachers with similar classes, this load can be partly shared.

25. THE END