ELT

Unit 2
(Curriculum and Syllabus Designing)

Curriculum:
Curriculum in education is used both in its narrow and in its wider senses. In its
wider sense, it refers to the teaching programme in an educational institution. So
we can talk of a school curriculum, a university curriculum, etc. We also talk of
mathematics curriculum, history curriculum, etc. In its wider sense, curriculum is
used to refer to not only the subject-matter or substance of teaching programme
“but also to the entire instructional process, including materials, equipments,
examination and training of teachers, in short, all pedagogical measures related
to schooling or the substance of a course of study.”

Curriculum is a decision-making activity that involves politicians,

administrators, teachers and students. There is a political agency—a Cabinet or a
Board of Education—which defines ‘curriculum as a part of its general education
policy. This is the most powerful agency that determines the national language-
policy according to socio-political pressures. Policy statements are often utopian
and it is the duty of curriculum specialists to tell the planners what is and what is
not attainable within particular situations. The professional educations thus
mediate between the political and the practical level. The least powerful agency
in the curriculum development—the teacher—is often the most influential and
significant agency as he/she can modify, or subvert, the curriculum decisions
according to his/her classroom situations.
 Curriculum, in short, is a composite configuration of the objectives and
the aims that the planners specify for the students in terms of learner skills,
knowledge and attitudes “so that the students survive and contribute to the
world of further scholarship and the world of work, family and interpersonal
relationship.

Curriculum theory in relation to foreign and/or second language has

developed recently. Theoretical considerations have been confined mainly to
three broad ideologies: (a) teaching language as structures; (b) teaching functions
and notions and (c) teaching language as communication. Clark borrowing
Silbeck’s framework, relates the developments in SL to the three mainstreams of
educational philosophies: Classical Humanism, Reconstructionism and
Progressivism.

Classical Humanism:
The broad aim of classical humanism is to foster a general knowledge of the
language by breaking it into various constituent parts. These parts are taught one
by one with the aim that, much later, the learner will himself/herself synthesize
them for a global understanding of the language. The constituent elements are
graded in terms of simpler and complex bits which are consciously controlled by
the teacher. In such a curriculum, decisions regarding aims, objectives, materials
and methods, etc., are taken much before they are taken to the classroom by the
teacher.

It is this view of Curriculum that gave rise to GT-method. Grammar-

Translation has had a strong influence on the teaching and learning of English
throughout the world. In such an approach the content of the course consists of
phonology, grammar and vocabulary, that are linearly sequenced in simpler and
complex constituents, which learners are expected to master through consciously
controlled classroom activities—pattern practice drills, structural tables,
vocabulary exercises, etc. The teaching materials, methods and techniques in the
classroom are governed by the underlying theory of language and language
learning:

1. The goal of foreign language study is to learn a language in order to read its
literature and benefit from its intellectual resources. Grammar Translation
Method approaches the language first through detailed analysis of its
grammar rules, followed by application of this knowledge to the task of
translating sentences and texts into and out of the target language. It views
language as mainly consisting of memorizing rules.
2. Reading and writing are the major focus. Speaking and listening are not
given their due importance.
3. Vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading texts used, and words are
taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study, and memorization.
4. The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice. Sentences
are translated into and out of the target language.
5. Accuracy is emphasized.
6. Grammar is taught deductively—that is, by presentation and study of
grammar rules, which are then practiced through translation exercises.
7. The student’s native language is the medium of instruction. It is used
comprehensively.

The prescriptive nature of such a curricula would therefore leave no scope

for innovation in the classroom techniques, and make the teacher and the
students slaves to, very often, an unknown planner. Towards the mid-
nineteenth century, the approach came under criticism because it aims to
teach the entire system of language regardless of the fact that not all parts of
the system will be equally useful for all learners. Memorizing all the rules of
the language is not only humanly impossible but also undesirable. Oral and
Listening skills were hardly paid any attention in G-T approach.
Reconstructionism:
The dissatisfaction with the content-oriented and rule-driven curriculum
resulted in a major shift of emphasis in teaching programmes—from strictly
grammatical knowledge to the knowledge of functions and notions. The
major focus of such learning is to encourage the students “to use language
effectively for communication with other speakers of that language, both in
transacting the business of everyday living and in building social and
personal relations.” Wilkins, Van Ek and Trim worked towards designing
syllabuses around notions and functions “which have no unique grammatical
realizations and no unique situational occurrence.” For this purpose, two
types of meanings were identified: notional categories such as time,
sequence, location, frequency, etc. and categories of communicative
function such as request, denial, permission, offer, etc. This became pivotal
in ushering a new era in language teaching.

Reconstructonists have influenced many foreign language curricula in

recent years. Most popular among them have been the audio lingual/visual,
notional functional, Graded Objectives in Modrn Languages(GOML)
schemes in Britian, etc.

The major criticism against this approach has been that, like the earlier
approach, it does not leave much scope for the teacher-learner involvement
in the planning process. The pre-selection of the content leaves hardly any
room for innovation. The materials are generally reduced to listing of items
or content to be consumed in the market. It has been observed that
dependence on samples of stereotypical communication activities do not
allow the learner evolve strategies to behave and to be a new person, in a
new language. Further, grammatical knowledge has been done away with
completely. The important thing about the grammatical categories is how
effectively they are used by the teachers in the classroom.
Progressivism (Learner-Centered Curriculum):
The major difference between the traditional curricula and a learner centered
or communicative curriculum is that the latter involves the learners and the
teachers in the decision making process regarding ‘what to teach’ and ‘how
to teach’. These decisions are not, however, binding. They can be modified
in accordance with the situation during the progress of the course
programme. Progressivists therefore attempt to promote the learner’s
development “as an individual with intellectual and emotional needs, and as
a social being.” The curriculum that emerges out of this principle is thus
based on the process of learning rather than the product. It brings about a
“classroom where enquiry, activity, discussion, reflection and open-ended
personal interpretations feature, rather than predetermined objectives and
content.”
The key element in this approach is to collect information about the
needs which are external to the leaner. Information about the learner’s
‘background, proficiency level, age, previous learning, learning goals, etc.,
is collected much before they are assigned to a class. In this approach
language acquisition is considered as subconscious, in the same way as
children acquire their first language. Proponents of this ideology have had a
great influence on some foreign language courses. Chief amongst them are
Natural Approach, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), etc.

(……Notes prepared from Mohammad Aslam’s book: Devoloping a

Learner-Centered ELT Curriculum in India: Trends and Issues. Students need
to read this book for more information about these topics.)