INTRODUCTION
I.1
Background
Curriculum
is seen as integral and unseparatable parts on learning course. It is largely
recognize that curriculum is “how –to-do-it” activity which means that it gives
you guidance on what steps should be taken during the process of the course. It
also includes elaboration and justification of those steps.
Altrough curriculum design is a “how to do it” activity, the description of these step need to be done at a general level in order that they can be applied on wide range of circumstances. A course’s goal for example, need to be set off by considering many factors that affects it, curriculum designers should aware of the environment where the learner’s come from, what is his necessities and so on. The data then could be used by combining it to the principle of learning to decide the content, delivery, untill how the couseshould be assesed and evaluated.
In
language curriculum design, it also includes the integration of knowledge from
many of the areas in the field of applied linguistics, such as language
acquisition research,teaching methodology, language desription and material
production,etc. Studying the way to combine both practical and theoritical data
is significantly usefull to produce a good curriculum that is essential for the
process of learning course.
The
purpose of this paper is to give the reader an overview about parts that needed
to be considered on designing language curriculum,it also includes a brief
explanation about the steps of designing curriculum and how those steps is
supposed to be integrated in order to create a comprehensive language
curriculum design . This paper also includes a deeper explanation about the
first step on seeting up the goals which is environment analysis, including the
example and models on defining constraint that affects on curriculum
implementation.
I.2 Problems
Based
on the purpose in the background, the following questions were proposed:
1.
What is the
considerations on designing curriculum?
2.
What is the elements of
the curriculum design?
3.
What is environment
analysis?
4.
What are steps in
environment analysis?
I.3 Objectives
The
objectives of this paper are:
1) To
know and understand what need to be considered on designing curriculum.
2) To
know and understand about the elements of curriculum design and how they are
integrated..
3) To
know and understand about environment analysis and its steps.
Chapter 1
Language Curriculum Design
An Overview
Parts of the Curriculum Design
Process
Curriculum design can be seen as a kind of writing activity and as such it
can usefully be studied as a process. The typical sub-processes of the writing
process (gathering ideas, ordering ideas, ideas to text, reviewing, editing)
can be applied to curriculum design, but it makes it easier to draw on current
curriculum design theory and practice if a different set of parts is used. The
curriculum design model in Figure 1.1 consists of three outside circles and a
subdivided inner circle. The outer circles (principles, environment, needs)
involve practical and theoretical considerations that will have a major effect
in guiding the actual process of course production.
There is a wide range of factors to consider when designing a course. These
include the learners’ present knowledge and lacks, the resources available
including time, the skill of the teachers, the curriculum designer’s strengths
and limitations, and principles of teaching and learning. If factors such as
these are not considered then the course may be unsuited to the situation and
learners for which it is used, and may be ineffective and inefficient as a
means of encouraging learning. In the curriculum design process these factors
are considered in three sub-processes, environment
analysis, needs analysis and the application of principles. The result of
environment analysis is a ranked list of factors and a consideration of the
effects of these factors on the design.
The result of needs analysis is a realistic list of language, ideas or
skill items, as a result of considering the present proficiency, future needs
and wants of the learners. The application of principles involves first of all
deciding on the most important principles to apply and monitoring their
application through the whole design process. The result of applying principles
is a course where learning is given the greatest support.
Some curriculum designers distinguish curriculum from syllabus. In the
model, both the outer circles and the inner circle make up the curriculum. The
inner circle represents the syllabus.
The inner circle has goals as its centre. This is meant to reflect the
importance of having clear general goals for a course. The content and
sequencing part of the inner circle represents the items to learn in a course,
and the order in which they occur, plus the ideas content if this is used as a
vehicle for the items and not as a goal in itself. Language courses must give
consideration to the language content of a course even if this is not presented
in the course as a discrete item. Consideration of content makes sure that
there is something useful for the learners to learn to advance their control of
the language, that they are getting the best return for learning effort in
terms of the usefulness of what they will meet in the course, and that they are
covering all the things they need to cover for a balanced knowledge of the
language.
The format and presentation part of the inner circle represents the format
of the lessons or units of the course, including the techniques and types of
activities that will be used to help learning. This is the part of the course
that the learners are most aware of. It is important that it is guided by the
best available principles of teaching and learning.
The monitoring and assessment part of the inner circle represents the need
to give attention to observing learning, testing the results of learning, and
providing feedback to the learners about their progress. It is often not a part
of commercially designed courses. It provides information that can lead to
changes at most of the other parts of the curriculum design process.
It is possible to imagine a large circle drawn completely around the whole
model. This large outer circle represents evaluation. Evaluation can involve
looking at every aspect of a course to judge if the course is adequate and
where it needs improvement. It is generally a neglected aspect of curriculum
design.
The shape of the model in Figure 1.1
(see at appendices) is designed to make it easy to remember. The three-part
shape that occurs in each of the outer circles (the “Mercedes” symbol) also
occurs in the large inner circle, and also occurs in the way the three outer
circles connect to the inner circle.
Considering the Environment
Environment analysis involves considering the factors of the situation in
which the course will be used and determining how the course should take
account of them. Here are some of the top factors decided on by several
teachers designing different courses for different learners.
•
The small amount of time available for the course
•
The large size of the
classes
•
The learners’ lack of interest
•
The wide range of proficiency in the class
•
The immediate survival needs of the learners
•
The lack of appropriate reading materials
•
The teachers’ lack of experience and training
•
The learners’ use of the first language in the classroom
•
The need for the learners to be more autonomous
Discovering Needs
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) make a useful division of learners’ needs into
necessities (what the learner has to know to function effectively), lacks (what
the learner knows and does not know already) and wants (what the learners think
they need). These are discovered by a variety of means: by testing, by
questioning and interviewing, by recalling previous performance, by consulting
employers, teachers and others involved, by collecting data such as
textbooks and manuals that the learners will have to read and analysing them,
and by investigating the situations where the learners will need to use the
language.
Following Principles
Research on language teaching and learning should be used to guide
decisions on curriculum design. There is considerable research on the nature of
language and language acquisition which can guide the choice of what to teach
and how to sequence it. It is very important that curriculum design makes the
connection between the research and theory of language learning and the
practice of designing lessons and courses.
Goals
The curriculum design model in Figure 1.1 (see at appendices) has goals as
its centre. This is because it is essential to decide why a course is being
taught and what the learners need to get from it. Goals can be expressed in
general terms and be given more detail when considering the content of the
course. Having a clear statement of goals is important for determining the
content of the course, for deciding on the focus in presentation, and in
guiding assessment.
Content and Sequencing
The content of language courses consists of the language items, ideas,
skills and strategies that meet the goals of the course. It is important for
the curriculum designer to keep some check on vocabulary, grammar and discourse
to make sure that important items are being covered and repeated.
One way to provide a systematic and well-researched basis for a course is
to make use of frequency lists and other lists of language items or skills. A
list may be used as a way of checking or determining the content of a course.
Working from lists makes sure that what should be covered is covered and is not
left to chance. Typical lists include:
1-
Frequency-based vocabulary lists.
2-
Frequency lists of verb forms and verb groups.
3-
Lists of functions and topics.
4-
Lists of sub skills and strategies.
5- There are lists of tasks, topics
and themes that curriculum designers can refer (Munby, 1978; Van Ek and Alexander, 1980; Prabhu, 1987), but it
is better for curriculum designers to develop their own lists taking account of
the background factors of their learners and their needs.
Needs analysis can play a major role in determining the content of courses,
particularly for language items. As well as using needs analysis to set
language goals, it is useful to decide the basis for the ideas content of the
course.
Finding a Format and
Presenting Material
The material in a course needs to be presented to learners in a form that
will help learning. This presentation will involve the use of suitable teaching
techniques and procedures, and these need to be put together in lessons. Some
lessons might consist of an unpredictable series of activities, while others
might be based on a set format, where the same sequence of activities occurs in
all or most of the lessons.
There are several advantages to having a set format for lessons. Firstly,
the lessons are easier to make because each one does not have to be planned
separately. It also makes the course easier to monitor, to check if all that
should be included is there and that accepted principles are being followed.
Finally, it makes the lessons easier to learn from because the learners can
predict what will occur and are soon familiar with the learning procedures
required by different parts of the lesson.
The sources of the material used as a basis for the lessons will have
decisive effects on the ease of making the lessons and of the possibility of
future distribution or publication of the course. A shortcut here is simply to
take suitable material from other courses, adapting it as required.
Monitoring and Assessing
The aims of curriculum design are to make a course that has useful goals,
that achieves its goals, that satisfies its users, and that does all this in an
efficient way. An important recurring part of the design process is to assess
how well these aims are achieved. Assessing generally involves the use of
tests. The information gained from such tests can be useful in evaluating the
course.
But testing is only one way of
gaining information about the progress of learners and the effectiveness of the
course. Other ways include observing and monitoring using checklists and report
forms, getting learners to keep diaries and learning logs, getting learners to
collect samples of their work in folders, and getting learners to talk about
their learning. Curriculum design can include planned opportunity for this kind
of data gathering.
Evaluating a Course
An
evaluation of course is the whole of design course. It can has many purposes,
the main ones being to continue or discontinue the course, or to bring about
improvement on the course. The course can be “good” if could be one that :
1. Attracts a lot of
students
2. Makes a lot of money
3. Satisfies the learners
4. Satisfies the teachers
5. Satisfies the sponsors
6. Helps learners gain high
scores in an external test
7. Results in a lot of
learning
8. Applies state-of-the art
knowledge about language teaching and learning
9. Is held in high regard by
the local or international community
10. Follows accepted
principles of curriculum design
Chapter 2
Environment Analysis
Environment
analysis consists of three elements that should be analysis such as nature of
learners, nature of teachers and situation. Tesmer (1990) states that
environment Analysis is involves looking at the factors that will have strong
effect on decious about the goals o f the course, what include in the course
and how to teach and asses it. These factors can arise from the learners, the
teachers and the teaching and learning situation.
Environment
analysis has a challenge when we as designer make a curriculum design in
course. By the three elements itself, we can get a constraint that will be
started analysis of environment in three elements. Therefore, constraints will
have effects on curriculum design for solving the problem of the learners in
course. So, environment analysis is also called “situation analysis” (Richard,
2001) or “Constraints analysis”.
Environment
analysis is an important part of curriculum design because it most basic level
it ensure that the course will be usable. For example, the level of training of
the teachers is very low and is not taken into account in the course.
Similarly, if the course is too expensive or requires technology and copying
facilities that are not available, the course may be unusable. These are many
factors that could be affect curriculum design, so as a part of procedure of
environment analysis. The Curriculum designer should decide which factors are
the most important. The importance factor depends on:
Whether the course will
still be useful if the factor is not taken into account
How large and pervasive
the effect of the factor is on the course
An
Example of Environment Analysis
Here
is an example of environment analysis on a course for young Japanese learners
aged six to nine years old who had lived in English speaking countries while their
parents were posted there. During their time overseas they learned quite a lot
of English in much the same way as native speaking learners do. On their return
Japan, once week for one and a half hours they attended a special class to help
maintain their English. They all could speak Japanese and were attending
Japanese medium schools in Japan.
The
important constraints on the special second language maintenance class were as
follows:
There was very limited class time and contact time
with English
There would be a drop learners’
interest in learning English as they identified more strongly with Japan and
being Japanese
The learners knew that
they could communicate more easily each other in Japanese than in English
There was a range of
levels of English proficiency with some learners appearing to be very
proficient for their age
The learners had been
learning in English in much the same way as native speakers acquire their first
Language
These
constraints could have the following effects on curriculum design:
Parents should be
guided in giving their children some extract contact with English
The activities should
be fun so that the children look forward
to doing them for their own sake
Some of the activities
should carry over to the next class so that the children look forward to
containing them
The activities should
be largely teacher-centered rather than group or pair work
Most of the activities
should be meaning-focused, language focused activities should mainly involve
correction be “
This would mean using
activities like the following:
Listening to a serial
story
Reading comics and
other high-interest material
Listening and speaking
games
Writing to “published ”
or read aloud
Learners giving talks
to the group, show and tell
Reading at home and reporting
to the class
Diary writing to the
teacher or a secret friend
High-success quizzes
and activities with awards
Production of newsletter
where everyone gets a mention
Pen pals
Watching English movies
and TV program
Playing videos games
that use english
Production of a play
Environment Constraints
You
can see lists a range environment constraint in table 2.1 (See at Appendices)
Environment
constraints will start analysis of three elements such as nature of learners,
nature of teachers, and situation. In environment analysis, we have a big work
in course because we make a goal what is the course need based on the three
elements in environment analysis. Therefore, we need to set of goals in course
like a table below.
|
General Constraints
|
Particular Constraints
|
Effects on curriculum design
|
|
The Learners
How old are they?
The Teachers
Are they confident in their use english?
Situation
Is there enough time?
|
Are the learner interested in all kinds of topics?
Can the learners do all kinds of learning activities?
Can they provide good models?
Can they produce their own material?
Can they correct spoken or written work?
Can their learners reach the goals in the available
time?
Is the course intensive?
Can the learners give all their time to the source
|
Take account of learners interests
Use appropriate activities
Provide taped materials
Provide a complete sector of course materials
Use activities that do not require feedback
Set stated goals
Provide plenty of material
Set limited goals
|
More detail see at appendices
Understanding
the constraints
As a course designer, we must
understand a constraint fully. It is useful for examine the nature of the
constraint in your working environment and examine previous research on the
constraint. For example, at the constraint of class size. If this is important
for the particular course, it is useful to know how large the classes are. Do
they contain 40 0r 140 pupils? It it possible to change class sizes?
There are many considerable research
of teaching large classes. This research has looked at the relative merits of
group work and teacher-centred activities, the effect of class size on
learning, and individualization. Good curriculum design must take account of
research and theory.
There are mayor constraints
investigated by research and analysis, they include: the time available,
cultural background, the effect of the first language on language learning and
special purposes.
The
constraint of Time
As we know, the constraint of time is
very important. It may be verily limited or the goal that we must reach might
not fit into the time available. The steps followed include:
(1) Examining
the local environment
Useful
to know how much class time is available, how much time out of class could be
given to learning, and what the goals of the course are.
(2) Looking
at previous research
It
is Useful to decide directive in designing of course and be consideration a
good course. For example, based on the previous research, Indonesian can easy
understand English language than Japan. Indonesian take approximately 240 hours
and Japan take approximately 360 hours.
(3) Considering
the effect of the constraint on the design of the course
An
environmental constraint can be approached in two ways, they are:
a. Working
within the constraint
The
curriculum designer could limit the goals of the course to fit the available
time
b. Working
overcoming the constraint
The
curriculum designer might try to provide self-study options for work to be done
outside of class time or if possible the time available for the course could be
increased.
Steps
in Environment Analysis
ü Brainstorm
and then systematically consider the range of environment factors that will
affect the course.
ü Choose
the most important factors and rank the most important.
ü Decide
what information you need to fully take account of the factor.
ü Consider
the effects of each factor on the design of the course.
ü Go
through steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 again.
DISCUSSION
Curriculum design can be depicted as
circles within a circle that consist of the outer circle (evaluations) then
second outside circle (principles, environment, needs), inner circles (content
and sequencing, principles, environment) and the very center circle (goal) see
appendic 1.1.
The
goal is essential because from the goal we can decide why a course can is being
taught and what the learners need to get from it. That is why the goal is in center. To know
the goal, the designer can ask the stakeholder, or boss to fulfill the
necessities.
Then
after we know the goal, we must find some consider the newest findings in order
to make our curriculum that we want to design can be more effective. For an
example is principle or finding from Tinkham (1993) and Higa (1986) that tell
us if teaching using opposites will make the learning will be more difficult.
From this fact we know if the learning using opposites will make ineffective in
learning, and we need to avoid this. Imagine if we know these such finding, our
curriculum that we design will be more effective based by the findings.
After
that we need to analysis learners, teacher, and situation (situation of the
class) because these three is the nature of analysis. From that analysis we can
find constrains and what effects on the curriculum design itself.
Then
we must know the content that consists of the language items, ideas, skills and
strategies. We can make some list of item that will show up in curriculum and
items that should not show up.
Formatting and
Presenting have relation because they are the form of implementation in a
design that created. In Formatting we learn how to format the materials are
organized, while in Presenting material
is about how to present material well so it will not out of the context.
Monitoring and
assessment is implementation of course design. And must remember evaluating and
assessing is difference, while assessing focus in material, while evaluating is
to evaluate the whole of the course. From the evaluation we can know the course
that we have designed is effective or not, so that we can decide it can be
continued or not.
There are fourth model
of sources of information for language program policy from Dubin and Olstain’s
(1986) (See appendices 2.2) can be described as below:
·
The language setting is
about is the language is used for the English for Second Language (ESL) or
English for Foreign Language (EFL)? Of course the lesson that will design will
be different. For example, the curriculum design for Malaysia people who used English
as their second language will be different with Indonesian people who use
English as foreign language.
·
Patterns how the
language used in society, is used to know to what the language is used for. For
example for academic, medical, practical work, etc.
·
Political and national
context is related with curriculum that nation is used, for example in
Indonesia, if the government sentenced to use Kurikulum 2013 as guide plan to make curriculum, of course we are
prohibited to use KTSP or other curriculum.
·
Group and Individual
Attitudes, are about the group in general toward the language (what their
presumption in English) or about individual (does the individual is interested in)
CONCLUSION
From the explanation on the previous
chapter we may conclude several things:
q we
can conclude if it is necessary to consider the some elements from the
learners’ present knowledge and lacks resources available . it is including
time, skill of the teachers, curriculum designers strength and limitation, etc) principles of teaching and learning and , so
on
q the
elements of curriculum design consist
of 3 mayors step which is setting up the
goals (that is gathered by environment,
need analysis, and principles). second steps dealing with how is the
implementation of the curriculum (content and sequencing, format and
presentation , assessment) and the third is dealing with evaluation.
q necessities
(what the learner has to know to function effectively),
q lacks
(what the learner knows and does not know already)
q and
wants (what the learners think they need).
q It
is very important that curriculum design makes the connection between the
research and theory of language learning and the practice of designing lessons
and courses.
environment
analysis consist of three elements should be
included on analysis:
- Learners
- Teacher
- Situation
q Environment analysis is also called situation analysis or
Constraint
analysis. And also Environment analysis is an important part of curriculum
design
q The curriculum design should decide which factors are the
most important . The important of a factor depends on ;
wheter the course will still be useful if the factor is
not taken into account and how large and persasive the effect of the factor is on
the course
q Understanding
the constrain Necessary to:
- Examine the nature of the constraint in the environment you are working in.
- Examine previous research on the constraint.
Major constraints
investigated by research and analysis include:
- The time available
- Cultural background
- The effect of the first language on language learning and special purpose.
Steps in environment
Analysis
q Brainstorm and then systematically consider the range of
environment factors that will affect the course, choose the most important
factors, decide what information you need and consider the effects
REFERENCES
S.P.
Nation & John Macalister, 2010: Language
Curriculum Design, New York, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Brigss, L. (1977). Instructional
design: Principles and applications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational
Technology Publications.
https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/
cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub.../course-design/
https://www.coursedesigner.com/
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