Adaptation of Step Forward Canada (2008)

Shreya Khosla

February 5th, 2020

LING 518 Curriculum & Program Development

Word Count: 4893

 Table of Contents

I. Introduction & Background

A. Introduction ...............................................................................4

B. Setting.......................................................................................4

II. Course Design

A. Philosophy of Language Education (POLE) ......................................... 5

B. Student & Course Aims .........................................................9

C. Textbook Choice & Course Shape ....................................................12

D. Scope and Sequence .....................................................................16

E. Assessment ...............................................................................17

III. Caveats & Conclusions ...........................................................................17

IV. References .........................................................................................19

V. Appendices

Appendix A: Analysis Chart ……………….............................................19

Appendix B: Adapted Scope and Sequence ..............................................19

Appendix C: Original Scope and Sequence .............................................. 19
[Uploaded as two separate documents]
 Abstract

Nowadays, many immigrants are migrating to Canada for various reasons. The federal
government, through Citizenship and Immigration Canada offers LINC (Language Instruction
for Newcomers to Canada) programs for adult learners. While making a curriculum and adapting
a textbook to teach with, the curriculum developers and teachers need to keep a number of things
in mind. Adaptation is a long process in which many details must be considered and revisited
before a curriculum is appropriately adapted. Such details include, the setting, situational
variables, different Philosophies of Language Education (POLE), learners’ needs, and course
aims and objectives. This paper will demonstrate, through the adaptation of Step Forward
Canada: Language for everyday life (2008) by Sharon Rajabi, how consideration of these
aspects can lead to a successful curriculum adaptation.
 I. Introduction and setting

A. Introduction

Textbook use has become one of the fundamental aspects for English language teaching. In

this paper, the author will adapt the textbook, Step Forward Canada: Language for everyday life

(2008) by Sharon Rajabi and modify it according to her learners’ needs, aims & objectives and

POLE. The educational context addressed in this paper is an ESL setting in Langley, British

Columbia (Canada). Adapting and modifying a textbook according to the needs of the learners is

an important process in order to design a curriculum. The learners are at CLB 4-5, in a

government funded language institute and in a 4-5-month LINC program.

The modifications made by the author in the adapted textbook is necessary in order to fulfil

and give students opportunity to gain a collaborative learning experience through her Process

and somewhat Praxis POLE. The adapted textbook portrays a Product POLE which in author’s

opinion doesn’t provide a hand-on learning experience to the learners. The author will make

some changes in the activities provided and will modify the scope and sequence of the textbook

along with adding a summative assessment in each unit. The students will get familiar with the

technology, multimedia and digital tools which will be added in the activities as well as the

assessment.

B. Setting

The classes are in an ESL setting in Langley, British Columbia (Canada). It is a government

funded LINC (Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada) Program for adult immigrants

from different countries such as India, Syria, China etc., 25 years of age and up, both male and

female. This is a 4-5-month course conducted at a non-profit, ESL program designed for adult
immigrants. Generally, the classes meet four times a week, from Monday to Thursday, 9 am to

12 pm with 15 to 20 students who were at CLB 3 before this course. The majority of teachers

have a TESL certificate and have minimum of 2 years of experience in teaching adult

immigrants. The students are CLB (Canadian Language Benchmark) 4-5 and are emerging

towards CLB 6. Most of the students are going to apply for a job and Canadian Citizenship after

this course.

The majority of students function at a CLB 4 proficiency level and want to develop

communicative competence in all the four skills to better communicate with English speakers

around them, apply for jobs, perform daily transactions, getting familiar with the Canadian

culture and people around them. Also, getting ready for the Canadian Citizenship test and getting

familiar with the process of applying for the citizenship. All the learners are living in Canada for

a minimum of 2 years and are anxious to prepare for the Citizenship exam and/or interview. The

students have access to mobile technology outside the classroom. All are familiar with email,

Google and some messaging apps. Learning the dominant language (English) along with the use

of their mother tongue is encouraged in the classroom.

II. Course Design

A. Philosophy of Language Education (POLE)

When adapting curriculum, it is crucial to know one’s philosophy of language education

(POLE) as well as those of the program and setting because there are particular variables or

factors “that come into play in a specific situation that are often the key determinants of the

success of a program,” (Richards, 2017) such as societal, project, institutional, teacher, learner

and adoption variables (Richards, 2017). To gain a better perspective of the institute and the
POLEs held by it and its teachers, some factors must be considered in depth, though all factors

intertwine. The language institute is funded by the Immigrations, Refugees and Citizenship

Canada. The staff and the director work together as a team to enhance and improve their

language center. The physical setting of the institution in Langley, British Columbia (Canada) is

building with 10-12 classes conducted by the well-trained teachers. Several of the classrooms

have computers with internet access, but no projectors. Freedom is given to teachers regarding

course books and materials they wish to use.

In terms of reputation, the institute seeks excellence in so far as it is feasible in order to

enroll in the language institute, the students need to take a Canadian Language Benchmark

Placement Test (CLBPT) to determine what level the students should begin their LINC program.

Excellence of standards is sought in that the institute follows the CLB (Canada, 2012) and insists

that all their teachers have English-teacher training and must meet the highest standards of

certification and security clearance. Experience levels may vary, but all hold the TESL certificate

as mentioned in the previous section. Teacher assumptions and beliefs differ, but in general, their

POLEs reflect Product, or a mixture of Product and Process.

In this setting, collaborative learning experience is encouraged but it still bends towards

the Product POLE. According to my personal experience, in the classroom there is no use of

technology in the learning process. Technology is, therefore, not viewed as an aid in helping

students attain knowledge through collaborating in new or different ways (Harasim, 2012). In

fact, technology is minimally used within the institute, though there are computers in the

classroom but no projectors. No online learning tools are used in the classroom. The students are

encouraged to use their personal devices for their own google search for example, looking for a
word which they translate from their mother tongue to the target language.

The institute’s POLE is similar to the majority of the teachers’ and to the universities’ in

that it is a Product POLE; however, there is a slight influence of a Process POLE (Gutek, 2004).

Learning is viewed as the mastery of pre-determined content (Richards, 2017, p.17) which

occurs in “places of order, discipline, and efficient and effective instruction” (Gutek, 2004, p.

277). Teaching involves “delivery of standardized language content” resulting in measurable

learning development (Richards, 2017, p.228). Students are assessed via standardized testing to

ensure the mastery of basic skills and subjects to a set of high common standards (Gutek, 2004,

p. 277).

As curriculum developer, my POLE leans much towards Process and a little Praxis. In a

Process POLE, the learners’ knowledge is gradually constructed to satisfy their needs and

interests through their own experiences and interactions with the environment (Richards, 2017,

p.9; Gutek, 2004, p.297). On the other hand, a Praxis POLE is a highly critical approach that has

the aim of empowering students to acquire and use their skills needed to “negotiate change in the

world” (Degener, 2001, p. 50).

I believe that language is not just a means of communication, (Degener, 2001, p.38) but

also a tool for building knowledge, making transaction and overcoming challenges they could

face in their daily life. Learning is considered as the process of constructing rather than acquiring

knowledge (Harasim, 2017, p. 62). through cooperation, interactions with others and freedom to

actively and creatively express themselves (Gutek, 2004, p. 297). Social context is certainly an

important factor in students’ learning process; therefore, we would cultivate their critical

thinking awareness, (Prevedel, 2003, p.11) leading them to learn. to think about their own values,

to challenge inherent beliefs and take social actions wherever necessary. According to my POLE,
the role of teaching is to facilitate students to recognize and understand problems through

teaching methods in which students are able to connect the classroom to the real world (Harasim,

2017, p.71; Bates, 2015, p.60).

My beliefs are also intertwined with my worldview, which is affected by my POLE. It is

acknowledged that current society is a competitive entity where those who are more equipped

and show higher performance are able to thrive academically, financially and professionally

(Purpel, 2017, p.124). It is for this reason that our vision for society is to promote and nourish

values and respect that will lead the learns on the path of justice and equality for all people

despite their abilities and background.

My POLE also affects how I view technology. Technology is changing society in the way

people interact and learn. In order for teachers to meet students in their world, technology needs

to be brought into the learning experience. I believe that technology is a teaching and learning

aid through which teachers could provide learners with more interesting practices on their

language skills instead of just only the paper-based or oral practices. Moreover, allowing the use

of social platforms or online resources could help learners access the contextual support to gain

active and autonomous experiences in what really happens outside the classroom (Harasim,

2017, p.75-76). The basic language skills as well as critical thinking skills can be developed

through technology use in the classroom. Technology in this way fits my Process and Praxis

pole.

My Process and Praxis POLE could create conflict with the institute’s POLE if Process

was the central focus of the curriculum. However, instead of memorization, if critical thinking

skills and how a social action should be taken were introduced slowly and in small quantities

then the institute’s POLE should support the curriculum.

 B. Students’ Needs & Course Aims

In this program, the students enroll in the program for variety of reasons based on their

needs. Students believe that English can be a source of empowerment on their workplace as well

as their own lives. Some come to learn English so that they could pass the Canadian Citizenship

exam and interview. Every student has different reasons but at the end it comes to the final

ground of what are they here to learn. These reasons are also affected by their interests and

hobbies, which include traveling, family, music, politics etc. It is, therefore, important to

consider all of the needs of students and their reasons for studying.

In terms of linguistic needs, they all are at CLB 4-5 with intermediate language ability

that allows them to fully participate in a wide variety of contexts. They can function

independently in “most familiar situations of daily social, educational and work-related life

experience, and in some less predictable contexts” (Canada, 2012)

Due to the fact that all the students are in the course for the enhancement of their

communication skills and settling down in the Canadian culture and people around them.

“Education for life” addresses the issues in the context of the particular community which the

learner aspires to get into (Ananyeva, 2014, p.22). The learners are engaged into learning for life

and this course will provide them with the perspectives of citizens in the target culture for their

“private and social well-being” (Ananyeva, 2014, p.25). Along with this, the learners will need

to gain competence in a wide variety of English and literacy skills comprising speaking,

listening, reading and writing for career purpose. There is a need to provide adult learners with

work, and life skills; in addition to effective citizenship education to enter wider communities

and have stronger potentials for economic and social well-being in the target language

(Ananyeva, 2014, p.22).

 For some students, this course will provide a survival kit. Immigrants view their goals to

be related to communication needs that in order to independently survive, which requires them to

reach the language proficiency needed to access services, support, work and whatever they need

to settle in a new country. (Richards, 2017, p.80; Senior, 2017, p.72). Immigrants need to learn

the language skills required to integrate into the domain culture (Richards, 2017, p. 80; Auerbach

& Burgess, 1985, p.486). Students’ psychological needs are kept in mind by helping them fully

engaging them in creative processes which focuses on the mind and the body so that it lessens

stress and strengthens focus (Wilbur, 2016, p. 10). Some students might feel no use of the needs

mentioned above, they are only in the course so that they could pass the Canadian citizenship

exam and the interview.

It was noted earlier that students come from various backgrounds; this includes their

technology background and how multimodalities have been used in their learning experiences.

Some students may not be familiar with technology use inside the classroom. As the students are

25 years and up, some of them are less adept at using technology in social networking and in the

creation of videos. Multimodalities would need to be introduced incrementally and with

sufficient help from the teacher. Those students who are more technologically advanced could

perhaps help those who are less so.

In the light of the students need mentioned above, the following are the course aims and

objectives for the students. These aims include Proficiency, Cognitive, Affective and Transfer

and are formulated according to Bloom’s taxonomy, with attention to high-order cognitive skills,

which engage the adult learner (Shabatura, 2018).

Proficiency Aim: Students will be able to efficiently use English for common everyday
activities.
 Objectives:
 Students will identify specific factual details and meanings in a dialogue of casual
small talk.
o Students will listen to and read texts and perform tasks demonstrating their
understanding (e.g. following instructions to make a recipe, playing a game,
finding a location, etc.)
 Students will seek different point of views and evaluate them based on facts.
 Students will predict speech acts conventions of use when shopping for food.

Cognitive Aim: Students will acquire relevant knowledge about language use in a variety of
situational and cultural contexts.
Objectives:
 Students will participate in role plays and demonstrate how language use changes
in a variety of situations and cultural contexts.
 Students will analyze a range of everyday texts such as public announcements,
advertisements and identify their purpose and register.
 Students will interpret information presented in a variety of forms (e.g. Words,
diagrams).
Transfer Aim: Students will gain the confidence to apply their linguistic and technology
skills to build connections in the global community.
Objectives:
 Students will create and present multimodal texts which express their identity,
culture and viewpoints and share them with their classmates and teachers.
 Students will create texts to share with the global community via social media.
 Students will locate gather and organize information using appropriate technology
tools.
Cognitive Aim: Students will gain relevant knowledge needed to interpret important
documents and common customs.
Objectives:
 Students will interpret government official forms and identify their purpose and
register.
  Students will differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate excuses.
 Students will

Affective Aim: Students will develop appreciation toward the target language and culture.
Objectives:
 Students will choose topics about the culture that they want to explore.
o Ss will interview 2-3 Canadians about their chosen topic and present
their findings to the class.
 Students will discuss their virtual visit to the entertainment cultural event in
the target language.
o Ss will recall and present a narrative speech about their experience to
their peers through Thinglink.
 Students will evaluate the role of volunteers in the community.

After determining students’ needs and course aims, they along with the program’s POLE and

setting, will be examined in light of the textbook.

C. Textbook Choice and Course Shape

The textbook adapted in this paper is Step Forward Canada: Language for everyday life

(2008) by Sharon Rajabi. The focus of this textbook is on general, everyday English, which

makes it ideal for many ESL context. To analyze the textbook, Graves (2000, p. 202) provides

five categories to consider. These consist of the people, topics, language and skills, visual

material, tasks and activities, and text.

In analyzing the people in the textbook and the visual material, it is seen that both
females and males are represented. Various socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds as well as

ethnicities are represented to an extent (Rajabi, 2008, p. 57, 58, 112, 113). The majority of

people displayed in the pictures are of middle socioeconomic position as the text portrays people

in a middle socioeconomic job such as office assistant (p. 59), ticket collector (p. 63).

The topics addressed in the textbook, include a wide assortment of everyday topics such

as introductions, on the job, citizenship (Rajabi, 2008, p. 52, 112). These topics function as a

means to introduce vocabulary before every activity through a listening task, grammar and

pronunciation (Rajabi, 2008, p. 57, 58, 112, 113). However, few opportunities are given to

students to discuss their own experiences (Rajabi, 2008, p. 60). The listening topics are followed

by gap fills demonstrating a Product POLE.

Language and skills presented in the textbook help students meet their needs and

requirements for CLB 4-5. For example, the language used in unit 5 enables learners to convey

feelings, making requests in the workplace, rules of politeness, find solutions to difficulties at a

new job (Canada, 2012; Rajabi, 2008, p. 60- 62). In unit 10, the students are asked to make three

new rules for their community which encourages their decision-making power (Canada, 2012;

Rajabi, 2008, p. 117). Students are also given written and oral practice with grammar tenses as

well as oral communication opportunities (Rajabi, 2008, p. 56-57).

The task and activities in the textbook provide opportunities for problem solving (Rajabi,

2008, p. 63), self-assessment (Rajabi, 2008, p. 115). For example, In the ‘Review and Expand’

section of the unit, the students are given a short paragraph of Jamal’s problem. He has difficulty

in understanding what his manager says to him. The students are asked to come up with 2-3

solutions to his problem (Rajabi, 2008, p. 63).

 Majority of the texts in the textbook are pedagogically prepared for the students. Most of

readings are followed by a listening activity and then ask students to fill in the gaps according to

what they read and listened (Rajabi, 2008, p. 52, 54, 60) which demonstrates a Product POLE.

After analyzing Step Forward Canada: Language for everyday life (2008), one can see a

Product POLE with some influence of Process POLE represented. This mixture suits the

program’s POLE with respect to the needs of the students. If Process and a little bit of Praxis

become more dominant in the curriculum, it could potentially enhance the student’s learning

experience inside as well as outside the classroom. The textbook meets the students’ needs to

some extent in that it fulfills the CLB 4-5 description (Canada, 2012) as well as giving the

students opportunity for self-assessment throughout in every unit. Also, the textbook doesn’t

address the technological needs of the students. There are only few mentions of technology use

in the textbook. In unit 10, the students are asked to find answers to their developed questions

through internet or library (Rajabi, 2008, p. 121). This is the only activity encouraging the

students to use technology.

The hidden curriculum as stated by Graves (2000), “choice of topics, functions, and

activities treated the learners as recipients of language and learners of behaviors that supported

the status quo, rather than as adults capable of analyzing their situations and proposing solutions”

(p. 201). One example of hidden curriculum is seen as class biased in the unit 8, where jobs

portrayed are all for middle socioeconomic background for example, sandwich maker, office

assistant (Rajabi, 2008, p. 54). The textbook may be implying that the audience of it are from

middle-lower socioeconomic background and those are the only suitable jobs for them. In terms

of the null curriculum, one example is the use of technology, which is never addressed in the

textbook.
 The hidden/null curriculum found in the textbook could be addressed in various ways.

My POLE would suggest implementation of some technology into the units. The stakeholders of

the language institute would have to make some adjustments in their budget in order to

implement technology use inside the classroom. For example, putting projectors inside the

classroom with a smart board, giving students access to technological devices and network. The

technology used as a teaching and learning aid through which the learners could be provided

with active and autonomous learning experience fits with my POLE. By implementing

technology in the classroom, the issues of institute’s Product POLE would be addressed.

The textbook’s course shape is of Competency-based (Richards, 2017, p. 169). Since it is

primarily a Product POLE with some Process, which corresponds relatively well with the setting,

and because it fits most of the student needs mentioned earlier. As it focuses on job-related and

survival-oriented language teaching topics, the students are prepared for the basic skills they

would need in order to get them ready for situations they would commonly encounter in daily

life (Richards, 2017, p. 169). A holistic approach is engaged, which corresponds with the Process

side of my POLE and the institute’s (Prevedel, 2003). Even though the approach is more

process-centered, there is still a product emphasis through memorization of vocabulary and

functional expressions, which correspond with demands of the aims of the course. With the

reposition of several units in the textbook, more scaffolding is created, connecting topics

consecutively. For example, Unit 9 becomes Unit 7 so that the topic of money can come after

getting a job and polite modal verbs can addressed earlier in the textbook. Several activities are

modified and omitted. For example, the writing activity in unit 4 “Write a short text about

personal or familiar situation” is omitted and the reading activity in Unit 5 is modified from

getting a gist of a paragraph to skimming and scanning for specific information. Scaffolding
helps the student build on their knowledge and skills to meet the course aims.

Technology is introduced in the units and reused in multiple unites in order to give the

students the required practice to become comfortable with it. For example, using email, Prezi for

presentation etc. the goal of introducing the technology is to enhance student’s learning

experience and engage them in full participation and collaborative learning. Overall, the course

shape fits with the needs, aims, objectives and the POLEs involved.

D. Scope & Sequence

The changed mentioned in the above section are developed in the adapted Scope and

Sequence of the textbook (Appendix B). The adapted scope and sequence are arranged by topics

and according to the four skills along with Vocabulary, Grammar and Pronunciation. Speaking is

placed first in the scope and sequence since it is of high importance according to the students

needs and aims of taking this course. Polite requests, modal verbs are added in the earlier units

because of the topics ‘Looking for work’. Assessment is added in the scope and sequence chart

to assess what is taught to the learners. Some of the topics have changed and given a clearer

understanding of the content of the unit. Technology is added for the students inside and outside

the classroom. Various types of multimedia in the skills and multimodal assessments are added

keeping in mind the students’ age. The students who know how to use the required technology

can help other students in learning and using it. All of the units naturally progress, leading the

students to the next level, CLB 6 (Canada, 2012).

E. Assessment
Assessment constantly occurs throughout the course in order to help students with feedbacks

and what’s working well for them. Formative evaluation/assessment “is carried out as a part of

… what is working well” and focuses on “ongoing development and improvement” of the
students as well as the program (Richards, 2017, p. 283). Formative assessment complements the

Process POLE and helps students with feedback and improvement they have done throughout the

course. The assessment added in textbook in each unit (Appendix B) is assessing the students

throughout the course using technology and digital tools and is promoting collaborative learning

experience. For example, Unit 4, students will do a group presentation in class using Prezi. They

will then upload it to twitter and their peers will comment on their presentation on what they

liked and what they found most interesting about the presentation. This way, the students will be

doing a reflection and their listening and writing skills are being assessed as they can listen and

watch the presentation again and write a comment about it. These assessments meet the

requirements of the institute the students, setting and CLB and complement the POLEs as a

whole.

III. Caveats & Conclusion

There might be no single textbook which can suit the learners’ need of all the students.

Choosing a textbook, a teacher needs to keep in mind his/her learners’ needs, interests, POLE,

course aims and objectives. The adaptation of the textbook Step Forward Canada: Language for

everyday life (2008) by Sharon Rajabi combines the pedagogical practices useful in modernized

learning. This could be noticed by the use of technology in teaching and learning. For example,

the activities and assessments of roleplays, presentations, voice recording (Appendix B). In this

way, even elder students can interact with technology that is used in daily life. There are also

aspects of collaborative learning, problem posing, problem solving, decision making explored in

the curriculum. Learning challenges the learners logically as well as creatively.

 These adaptations are important to me in that they align with my Process and somewhat

Praxis POLE. The adaptations are suitable for the setting and students involved however; it

comes with some limitations which exist in the technology use as a learning aid for students. The

technology must be accessible to all as they will need digital tools, network as well as skills to be

taught. Moreover, some difficulties can also occur in using technology as a learning tool in the

classroom which could result in interruption in assessment and activities. These are some of the

limitations and caveats of the curriculum adaptation.

In conclusion, the adaptation and modification of the course book was difficult but fruitful. I

understand more clearly about the importance of keeping in mind the students’ needs, the POLEs

and reaching the aims and objectives. It has become clear for me that the course books, activities

could be modified for the good. Personally, coming from a Product POLE educational

background, I can anticipate of what I have lost and what would I have gained if I would have

learned from a Process and Praxis POLE.

 References

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workplace English programs. TESOL Journal, 5(1), 8-31.

Auerbach, Elsa & Burgess, Denise (1985). The Hidden Curriculum of Survival ESL.

TESOL Quarterly, 19(3), 475-495. 

Bates, William A. (2015). The nature of knowledge and the implications for teaching. In

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 IV. Appendices

Appendix A: Analysis Chart of 2 Units

Appendix B: Adapted Scope and Sequence

Appendix C: Original Scope and Sequence

Note:
The Appendices are uploaded as two separate documents. 1. Appendix A and 2. Appendix B and
C