Language Program Design and Justification - Assignment Example

Language Program Design and Justification Student’s Name Institution Affiliation Target Description The following is a Second Language (ESL) curriculum program that has been designed to offer English language learning opportunities for college freshmen who have been identified as limited in English proficiency. The curriculum program has been designed to help meet the needs of these students despite the level of English proficiency they demonstrated when enrolling in college. The average age for these students is 17 to 19 years old and their language is mostly of Asian native. Significant persons of these English learning lessons are from a middle class social background and their level of English language proficiency is at a very low level below E based on the WIDA model. The type of class in which the ESL curriculum will be conducted is a general class which will allow students to feel free in expressing themselves. The students’ general motivation in English is the ability to speak, read, and understand written and spoken English. Each lesson will be 45 minutes and there will be four lessons taught per week. As a result, the English lessons will take 3 hours per week resulting to 30 hours for the entire 10-week curriculum program. Curriculum Design Project 10-Week ESL/EFL Program Topics The following are the topics that will be focused on in the 10-week ESL curriculum program: Words and vocabularies, reading, spelling, nouns, verbs, writing, grammar, alphabets, adjectives, feelings, numbers, shapes, and sizes. Language Focus The language focus for this class will be English. The focus will narrow down to grammar, vocabularies, functions, pronunciations, presentation, and practice. Skills Focus The skills that will be focused in this ESL class will include receptivity of the students which involve reading and listening. Other skills are productivity that will be reflected in the writing and speaking of the learners. In receptivity, factors put into consideration include the students’ gist, capacity to comprehend specific information, and their detailed understanding. In productivity on the other hand, that factors that will be put into consideration include the students’ fluency, coherence, as well as discourse. Goals Focus The following are the goals that should be achieved by the ESL/EFL curriculum program. Using grammar to introduce to the learners the verb elements like ‘be’ in their simple present tense as well as ways to integrate articles, nouns, and adjectives in to. Introduce learners to simple present tense statements, short answers, questions, negatives, adverbs of frequency, imperatives, and simple models which will be done at the introductory level. Introduce learners to basic English vocabularies that include greetings, numbers, family members, names of cities, places in a home, together with daily activities, clothes, foods, transportation, body parts, colours, and holidays. Develop learners’ comprehension of primary spoken English words using focused listening as well as understanding general and particular details in simple communications. Get learners to concentrate on particular sounds like /ch/, /sh/, /r/, and /-s/ together with the intonation of primary vocabulary, word stress, and asking yes or no questions in a polite manner as well as provide rational responses. Get learners to understand primary sentence structure as well as content during the introduction phase reading passages, formulating simple sentences while describing nouns such as places, people, jobs, clothes and other primary themes. introducing learners to new tenses such as simple past, present continuous, future going to as well as will and present perfect. Learners will also be introduced to possession, linking verbs, direct and indirect objects, quantifiers, superlatives, comparatives, as well as more advanced conditionals and modals at the introductory-pow level. Introducing learners to more primary English vocabularies that include nationalities, weather, technology, sports and leisure, diet and health, and occupation. Enhance learners’ comprehension of spoken English words at a basic level. Get leaners to pronounce particular sounds and discuss their basic personal details. Get learners to comprehend sentence structure as well as content at the beginning which will include reading passages at low levels, writing few sentences combined to form a paragraph, describing nouns such as places, people, clothes, and jobs. Introduce learners to concepts like passive voice at the introductory mid-level. Ensure that students get to engage their focused as well as overall listening skills to comprehend basic small talks as well as short and clear messages in their environment. Oversee the development of more fluid speech in students’ conversations using contractions and linking words to link ideologies. Disintegrate the spelling system of English language Offer learners tasks that result to group interaction and discussions revolving around relevant as well as controversial topics and create a group environment whereby every individual feels the need to speak up and contribute. Increase the learners’ fluency of speech through equipping them with vocabularies learnt in a topic, offering them background information regarding the topic, and providing them with a chance to think rationally and put down their thoughts about the topic in writing. Enhance the learners’ precision of speech through aiding them in leaning the kinds of errors they make and providing them with materials and time to attempt self-correction as well providing them with basic grammar that is used in conversations. Help the learners understand that there exists differences between what is common in their culture and another which includes physical cues like physical contact, eye contact, proximity, manners, timing, and expectations. Help learners understand how to academically listen to passages using critical thinking, prediction of content, identification of major ideas, intonations, details, conclusions, and particular expressions. Give students a chance to present themselves in small groups using arranged mental or physical notes, postures, visuals speed, and speaking volumes hat will help them to speak comfortably and naturally with correct pronunciations, minimized function words, stressing on key words, and linking sounds. Introduce students to writing rules that include capitalization, apostrophes, commas, and end punctuations. Outcomes In the outcomes, learners are expected to: Be able to identify verb ‘be’ in its simple present tense as well as recognize other elements such as articles, nouns, adjectives that surround the verb. Be able to match simple definitions with basic vocabularies obtained from familiar themes such as places, families, colours, and clothes. Recognize major ideas as well as details from the introductory level of listening to passages. Citing primary vocabulary words together with sounds and their rightful intonation, be able to construct simple yes or no questions as well as state the appropriate oral answers to these questions. The learners should be able to identify grammar as well as context obtained from the reading passages at the introductory level and form sentences using the simple vocabularies learnt and the introductory level grammar. Be able to identify new tenses including simple past, present continuous, future going and will, direct and indirect objects, possession, and present perfect tense. Capacity to apply passive voice in their basic past and present tense, reported speech, advanced modals, tag questions, and passive voice present in other tenses particularly in high beginning level. Be able to identify words that have different sounds but same letters as well as letters that represent no sound. Identify syllables as well as produce sounds using the right rhythm and melody. Be able to recognize all the tenses, clauses, question formation, articles, and capitalization as well as singular/plurals, at the intermediary high level. State their opinions as well as recount their basic details to group members. Summarize short passage readings in writing as well as telling short stories by word of mouth. Recall individual high-frequency information as well as state questions using correct grammar as well as identify grammatical errors in their conversational statements that are used less frequently. Identify the cultural differences between their culture and the other. Analyse as well as interpret various listening texts, details, specific expression, major ideas, and speakers’ attitude, stress, and tones among others. Preparing short presentations to group members using tools such as mental notes, visuals, speed, speaking volume and posture linking the presentation to sounds while using correct pronunciation. Be able to apply writing rules such as correct punctuations and capitalization in sentences. Resource Some of the resources that will be used in this program include: selected textbooks, articles, and worksheets. Tasks/Activities Tasks and activities will include use of audio-visuals such as musical activities, video resources, presentation to groups, and interaction among the students in English language. Assessing Learning To assess the learning, learning outcomes from the program will be used to inform the assessment procedures. These will include listening and speaking to the students at low introductory level using a listening comprehension test. Other assessment methods will include assessing the students’ writing and reading capacities, the ability to link grammar elements in a correct manner, think logically, and understanding contexts in small talks within an English speaking setting. Curriculum Design Justification Needs Analysis i. Learners’ entry and exit levels The student’s entry as well as exit levels determine the requirements that a student should fulfil before being enrolled for an ESL/EFL curriculum program. Therefore learners undertaking the ESL/EFL program should take an English proficiency test and students scoring grades lower than E are considered to be limited in English language proficiency. Another entry criteria is that the student does not score a composite of 5.0 in oral proficiency level as outlined in the WIDA model and thus is not proficient in English language. The student should also score a writing and reading proficiency level of 4.2 and if not, they are considered limited in English language proficiency. On the other hand, for learners to exit the ESL/EFL program, they should have attained an average composite proficiency level of 5.0 together with 4.2 in writing as well as 4.2 in reading. Those who meet or go beyond these levels are ready to be exited from the ESL/EFL program. ii. Scope The scope of ESL/EFL students’ needs range from vocational to academic English apart from that which is offered in language instruction. There is the need for instructors to understand that their learners may want to pay more attention to grammar, speaking, translations, as well as understanding the English language more than the instructors deem necessary (Sárdi, 1997). With the above needs identified, the scope of the curriculum program is to develop the capacity of students to engage in skilled ways during their interaction with other people within the English speaking community. Therefore, the scope will focus more on the students’ ability to apply their command of English in the domains of academic, vocational, and daily life (Sárdi, 1997). Other scope of needs include the objective versus subjective needs. Factors such as language proficiency or difficulties and the ability of student to use the language in real life is categorized under objective needs (Hajana & Adam, 2015). On the other hand, effective and cognitive needs of students in learning the English language are categorized as subjective needs. Therefore, it is important for instructors to consider both the objective and subjective needs when delivering their instructions. Moreover, another scope of needs that is evident in ESL/EFL program I that of target versus learning needs (Hajana & Adam, 2015). Target needs are those that the student is required to enforce when in a particular situation because they are necessities of wants and lacks. Learning needs on the other end are what the students need to do for them to learn. It is important for instructors to understand the different scope of needs to help students learn effectively. iii. Sequence When collecting and analysing the program’s information, the needs analysis are analysed in a sequence. The first step is to analyse what the students know and what they don’t. Therefore, the sequence involves identifying student’s learning objectives, their language attitude, and what they expect from undertaking the course (Kayi, 2008). Through the collection of this information and in that sequence, the needs analysis offers a guarantee that the ESL/EFL program is packed with the useful and relevant items that learners require for effective learning. Situation Analysis i) Contextual factors In educational framework, contextual factors in general have the potential of having varying interpretations as well as implications. Contextual factors may include the classroom and all components within its setting such as physical resources (books, markers, and boards), materials, and facilities (Cuayahuitl & Carranza, 2015). On a different perspective, contextual factors could also include institutional contexts that comprises of the institution’s philosophy, regulations, and other elements that exist in the school beyond classroom setting. In this curriculum however, the contextual factors that have been put into consideration include replacing textbooks with anthology, occasional use of textbooks, use of worksheets as replacement for textbooks, and alone use of textbook. One of the reasons for considering these factors is due to time constraints. Due to the limited lesson, there is a potential hindrance for instructors from utilizing the proper resource materials and thus the need for replacement with worksheets (Cuayahuitl & Carranza, 2015). Another reason is the course content provided by the official language training material. The ability to cover all content in provided textbook materials within a period of 10 weeks has been put into consideration and largely will be influenced by the instructor’s perception as well as experience regarding language teaching. For example, the perception that it is important to cover every single exercise in the text materials has the potential to use up a lot of teaching time thus resulting to the incompletion of the program’s syllabus. Another reason is the features of students whereby some of the learners may be in different types of learning levels. The features of the student population such as size and their attitude towards learning English have a significant influence in instructors’ decisions to incorporate other materials in teaching or entirely replacing the textbook. Other contextual factors include textbook selection which is commonly the most delicat issue in ESL/EFL curriculum design. When designing the program, involvement of instructors who will carry out the training of the program is important because it allows them to select the best training books that they are comfortable with. Incorporating instructors in book selection eliminates feelings of discontentment that as a result may influence the methodology adopted by an instructor in teaching the target language. Additionally, textbook features also play a significant role in contextual factors in that some of the official textbooks are pointed out to be inappropriate or not in alignment with the instructors’ beliefs regarding English language texts. This is particularly mainly due to the instructor’s feelings about the book’s capacity to meet the requirement of ESL students. Lastly, the instructors’ freedom to utilize materials is also an important contextual factor that was put into consideration during the design of the program. The ability to integrate more materials besides the recommended textbooks indicates that the instructor is experienced and thus has the capacity to tailor course materials to fit the needs of the learners. ii) Learner factors The following are learner factors that have been put into consideration during the design of the ESL/EFL curriculum program. One of the factors is student motivation. According to Lin-Fang (2013), motivation is a significant factor that influences learners’ achievement in language learning. Integrativeness is a reflection of open interest in learning English as the second language therefore, a significantly small amount of integrativeness reflects the absence of interest in acquiring a second language. Moreover, other elements that have a direct correlation with students motivation is their attitudes towards their instructors, the course materials, tasks, and activities that are expected of them in the language class (Gardener, 2001). Furthermore, instrumental motivation also plays a significant role in the students’ interests to learn a second language which mainly comprise of pragmatic reasons (Dornyei, 2001). Therefore, for the curriculum program to be successful, the instructors should first be able to understand the motivations fuelling the learners’ need to learn English as a second language. The other learner factor is a student’s background, their siblings’ size as well as achievement (Lin-Fang, 2013). The family’s economic status, number of children within the family, and birth order of the student in the family largely influences a learner’s proficiency in learning a second language. Learning resources become diluted in large sized families which also include parental attention and interaction (Blake, 1989). Moreover, the educational aspirations among learners have a direct link to their socioeconomic background. High socioeconomic background of a student will contribute to their intellectual excellence in school while low socioeconomic background pose hindrances to the excellence of students in learning a foreign language (Blake, 1989). Thus, before the implementation of the ESL/EFL program, instructors will ensure that they have the family background of the students to help understand them and meet their educational needs. Vocabulary learning and learning strategies are other learner factors that have been considered when designing the ESL/EFL curriculum program (Lin-Fang, 2013). In learning vocabularies, students will be expected to remember words and store them in their memories. They will also be expected to learn words in English through associating them with similar meanings or sounds in their native language. In learning, students will be expected to utilize the basic instruments such as self-direction that allow the development of communicative capacities (Oxford, 1990). Therefore, instructors should be able to understand the different vocabulary learning strategies and learning strategies that the students for this program are comfortable with to facilitate an effective learning. iii) Teacher factors Some of the teacher factors that have been put into consideration during the design of this program include teacher-learner relationship. This factor is important because instructors have the capacity to make a significant contribution to forging friendly relations with their learners. Therefore, to ensure that during the program the instructors will develop positive associations with the students, the instructors will be expected to remember that their daily classroom conduct s important. The language students perceive their instructors as their role model and hence, to motivate them to lean English, the instructor will be required to be enthusiastic, sincere, and cheerful (Brophy, 2004).According to Ebata (2008), students tend to forge friendship with instructors who are friendly, have caring elements, and are trustworthy. Moreover, the instructor should also be able to communicate his or her expectances for excellence for all learners (Ebata, 2008). Therefore, the instructor should be able to encourage active participation of all their learners. Providing to all learners ample time to get their answers across despite their performance is also an important aspect (Tsiplakides & Keramida, 2010). This approach can be achieved through providing scaffolding instead of seeking out another learner to answer the question. The second teacher factor is the instructor’s ability to reinforce a positive psychological learning environment. It is of paramount importance for an instructor to be able to establish a type of a “classroom community” whereby students have the freedom to communicate using the target language (Dornyei, 2001). In this curriculum program, this has been achieved through the creation of small unit groups where students can present. Therefore, the instructor should ensure that their classroom environment is such that language errors are perceived as a natural part of the learning process (Dornyei, 2001). The instructor should ensure that errors committed are not ridiculed to avoid demoralizing the students. To achieve such an environment, the instructors can avoid on spot correction during speaking activities because it has the potential to demoralize students from experimenting or speaking using the target language. When conducting writing tasks, the instructor should adopt a rectification code through prompting learners concerning the location as well as nature of the errors committed instead of correcting each error (Tsiplakides & Keramida, 2010). Furthermore, the instructor should be able to incorporate collective work in their English classrooms using short and long-term projects. Lastly, the other factor is the ability of the instructor to supplement their teaching materials with other authentic texts as well as tasks. According to Tsiplakides and Keramida (2010), leaners often form negative attitudes towards the learning of target second language due to the absence of authentic training materials and tasks that are stimulating. Authentic materials are important to learners because they engage them individually and challenge their cognitive capacities. Moreover, authentic materials also enhance intrinsic motivation and interest. Therefore, during text selection, the instructors ensured that the materials are in alignment with the interests of the students, their knowledge as well as daily experiences (Tsiplakides & Keramida, 2010). Regarding authentic tasks on the other hand, the instructor should ensure that that they are in a capacity to develop learner autonomy through provision of activities that require the learners to apply English language for communication purposes. iv) Cultural considerations During the formulation of the ESL/EFL program, the following cultural factors were put into consideration. One of these factors is the students’ cultural way of knowing. This refers to ways through which students use to acquire information. According to Pratt-Johnson (2006), some cultures collect information through conducting exhaustive studies in libraries as well as on the internet. For example, in the western world, the culture gives more attention to evidence that is measurable and has the capacity to be documented using such media. Some cultures on the other hand place emphasis on non-academic approaches to gather information such as the use of elders, symbols, nature, and spirits (Pratt-Johnson, 2006). Others lack the same quality or quantity experience with written materials or such kinds of research and hence place greater emphasis on knowledge and information that is obtained using oral tradition. Therefore, when teaching the English language, it will be important for instructors to consider the main ways through which the Asian students acquire knowledge to avoid misunderstanding and inconveniences. Another cultural consideration that has been included in designing the program is the approaches used by the students’ native culture to solve conflicts and problems. Different cultures have different ways of handling conflicts which indicates that given same set of circumstances, different cultures would arrive at different types of solutions. This is based on their unique values, beliefs, and philosophies. For example, in the western world, people of different age groups can confront each other in case of a problem or conflict. However, in the Asian world, the young people cannot confront the elder because of respect. Elders are the decision makers and are used to find solutions during conflicts (Dresser, 1996). This example is a good reflection on how different cultures deal with conflicts. Lastly, the other cultural factor that have been put into consideration is the different ways cultures communicate using non-verbal cues. Different cultures communicate differently non-verbally and it is of paramount importance for instructors to be familiar with these differences (Dresser, 1996). Some of the behaviours that reflect these cultural differences in non-verbal cues include presence or lack of eye contact with the instructor, smiling due to embarrassment or fear of asking questions, while other students do not smile. For example, in the Asian culture and in particular Korea, smiling is perceived as a sign of thoughtlessness and shallowness (Dresser, 1996). In other Asian cultures, keeping eye contact especially for students younger than the instructor is perceived as a rude behaviour and hence are expected to avert their eyes as a sign of respect. However, this same behaviour in the western world is perceived as a lack of self-confidence or lying. Nonetheless, when instructors are able to recognize these differences in ways through which culture communicate non-verbally, then they will be able to relate with the ESL/EFL students in a proper manner without being offended or misinterpreting the cues as attitudinal, cognitive, or emotional states. Theories underlying the design of this ESL/EFL program Theories that have helped in designing this ESL/EFL program include grammar-translation theory, direct method theory, audio-lingual theory, audio-visual theory, and cognitive approach theory (Wang, 2009). The grammar-translation theory will be important in this program in that it will require students to translate texts as well as memorize various grammar rules together with vocabularies. At one point, some classes will be conducted native language where then bilingual vocabulary lists will be given to students. Grammar points on the other hand will come directly from texts and will be presented contextually in resources used and explained explicitly by the instructor (Wang, 2009). The grammar will then be used as a platform for providing rules that will be used to combine words to form sentences. Direct method model which is also known as the natural method on the other hand has been used to design this curricula because it will restrict the learners from using their native language and instead focus on the target language (Wang, 2009). Pantomiming as well as other visuals will be used to teach vocabulary to students. Inductive approaches will be used to teach grammar while teacher-centeredness and focusing on question-answer designs are some of the aspects that will be reflected in the program. Another theory that will be applied in the design of the ESL/EFL program is the audio-lingual method whose bases is founded on behaviourist theory. A significant part of the English language learning will be taught through the system of reinforcement whereby the correct use of language, vocabularies, and formulation of sentences will receive positive feedback while incorrect use will receive a negative but encouraging feedback (Molina, Cañado, & Agulló, 2013). Using the audio-lingual model, trainers will present the right formats of sentences and learners will be expected to repeat them. The instructors will then carry on with the process through presenting vocabularies for learners to sample in structures. The aim of using this theory will be to train learners to practice given constructs until they are able to apply them spontaneously. Audio-visuals theory on the other hand will be applicable in that it will allow instructors to work with both visual and sound components (Molina, Cañado, & Agulló, 2013). Use of taped dialogues and film strips will be helpful in that they will act as visual cues that will be important in eliciting responses from the learners in English language. Lastly, the Cognitive Approach theory will be important because it will emphasize on learning the English language based on understanding (Demirezen, 2014). The theory will be used to make learners understand that learning the English language is a creative process and thus the learners can perform well only after they have comprehended the system of the English language. Therefore, in this program, meaningful learning as well as meaningful practice will be emphasized throughout the whole learning process. In this approach, all speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills will be utilized from the initial start of the ESL/EFL program. Consequently, this will enhance the learners’ natural form of communication when using the English language. As a result, the learners will be able to resort to all the possible English resources making their learning more effective. References Blake, J. (1989). Family Size and achievement. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. Brophy, J. (2004). Motivating Students to Learn. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Cuayahuitl, R. E., & Carranza, P. C. (2015). Influence of contextual factors on EFL Mexican teachers’ beliefs and the use of textbooks. How, 22(2), 75-90. Demirezen, M. (2014). Cognitive-Code Learning Theory and Foreign Language Learning Relations. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching/ISSN: 2148-225X, 1(5). Dornyei, Z. (2001). Motivational Strategies in the Language Classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dresser, N. (1996). Multicultural matters. New Yor: John Wiley & Sons. Ebata, M. (2008). Motivation Factors in Language Learning. The Internet TESL Journal, 14(4). Gardener, R. C. (2001). Language Learning Motivation: The student, the Teacher, and the researcher. ERIC Digest . Hajana, O. H., & Adam, A. M. (2015). The role of needs analysis for the quality of Englsih for particular purposes and English for academic purposes course design. International Journal of Recent Scientific Research, 6(5), 3868-3871. Kayi, H. (2008). Developing an ESL Curriculum Based on Needs and Situation Analysis: A Case Study. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 4 (1), 29-49. Lin-Fang, W. (2013). A Study of Factors Affecting College Students’ Use of ESL Vocabulary Learning Strategies . International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(19), 202-206. Molina, G. T., Cañado, M. L., & Agulló, G. L. (2013). Current approaches and teaching methods. Bilingual programmes. Chapter 4 Handbookdefinitiv. Oxford, R. (1990). Language Learning Strategies. What Every Teacher Should Know. Boston, MA: Heinle & Publishers. . Pratt-Johnson, Y. (2006). Communicating cross-culturally: What teachers should know. New York, The Internet TESL Journal, 12(2). Sárdi, C. (1997). Needs-based syllabus design for students of English in Hungarian technical universities. ASp. la revue du GERAS, (15-18), 285-304. Tsiplakides, I., & Keramida, A. (2010). Promoting Positive Attitudes in ESL/EFL Classes. The Internet TESL Journal, 16(1). Wang, X. (2009). Second Language Theories and Their influences on EFL in China. English Language Teaching, 2(4), 149-153. Read More