MEL – 520 Curriculum development Project Prospect graduate: Skarlett Salgado

Step 1 Environment Analysis

Version A

Nashville School is a private bilingual school located in Valle de Ángeles as an extent of

the main headquarter in Tegucigalpa. It was created in 2010 and nowadays 510 students are

enrolled from preschool to high school. The school provides opportunities to all kind of

students and with this effort, two programs were created for those students who do not

have the required level of English for their grade level. These programs are ESL (English as a

Second Language) for students with language difficulties and LEP (Learning English Program)

for students who come from non-bilingual institutions and need to level from scratch. Both

programs are developed during the school schedule only for elementary students. The

school has a staff of 46 teachers with a bachelor degree in the areas they are assigned and

the academic authorities that includes the Principal, Academic Coordinators, orientators and

a psychologist. In the LEP/ESL program there´s only one teacher in charge that develops and

teaches in the program with the academic coordinator´s help. The ESL/LEP teacher has an

English degree and about 6 years of teaching experience. Students who were enrolled in

these programs have different schedules and attend classes according to their needs. ESL

students attend classes twice a week and LEP students attend classes 2 hours every day.

The main constraints identified in the programs are as follows.

1. The level of English proficiency of the students enrolled is not the same.

2. The time available for each class is not enough.

 3. The learners’ interest on the topics is low.

4. The program is not intensive, classes are not given if teacher is sent to substitute another

teacher.

5. There are not enough resources to teach lessons and there´s no textbook.

The constraints enlisted above may have the following effects in the curriculum design.

1. Activities should be prepared according to the student's needs and English level, which

generates a delay in the objectives to be achieved as a class.

2. Short activities should be prepared with extra work and reinforcement material to be

done at home.

3. Dynamic activities should be designed to stimulate interest and motivate the student to

learn.

4. Content and activities are delayed because the teacher does not teach the class and

learners are out of sequence.

5. The teacher must invest time in searching for the topics and contents to teach, and many

times these contents are not in accordance with the language needs of the students.