Ahmad M. Altasan Introduction According to Richards 2005, language teaching has seen many changes in ideas about syllabus design and methodology. We may conveniently group trends in language teaching in the last 50 years into three phases: Phase 1: Traditional approaches (up to the late 1960s). Phase 2: Classic communicative language teaching (1970s to 1990s). This led to two important new directions in the 1970s and 1980s – proposals for a communicative syllabus, and the ESP movement. Phase 3: Current communicative language teaching (late 1990s to the present). In the first section of this paper, I aim to present a general outline of some approaches to language teaching . By the end of this section I shall highlight issues and factors to be considered in designing a TESOL curriculum.
Communicative Language Teaching (CLT): We can't talk about ' the communicative approach' cause there is a family of approaches, each member of which claims to be communicative. Also there is disagreements between them and no one will maintain that they do not belong to the family.(Nunan 1989).There are different current approaches which can be viewed as falling within the general framework of communicative language teaching: 1. Process-based CLT approaches ( content-based learning & task-based learning). 2. Content-based CLT approaches ( text-based learning & competency-based learning). (Richards, 2005).
However, the main principle of all communicative approaches is that the learner must not only know how to make a grammatically correct structures, but must also improve the ability to use language to carry out various real-world tasks (Nunan, 1988). Language is a dynamic resource for the creation of meaning rather than simply a system of rules. We need to distinguish between knowing various grammatical rules and being able to use the rules effectively and appropriately when communicating. (Nunan 1989). When students are engaged in meaning-centered communicative tasks, then the language will take care of it self and that abundant exposure to language in use and plenty of chances to practice it are useful for a student's enhancement of knowledge and skill. (Harmer 1988).
Ahmad M. Altasan David Nunan (1991:279) lists five basic characteristics of Communicative Language Teaching: (1)
An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target
language. (2) The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation. (3) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language but also on the learning process itself. (4) An enhancement of the learner's own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. (5) An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom. It is obvious that the progress of CLT has had a great effect on both methodology and syllabus design, and has improved the status of the learning task within the curriculum Breen 1984 stated that the goal of the curriculum and the means will be merged if communication was at the center of that curriculum, and both the ends and the means will be considered in the syllabus. (Nunan 1989). Learner-centered approach: Another change recently which has arisen from CLT has been the development of learner-centered approaches, in which information by and from the learners is used in planning, implementation and evaluating language programs.(Nunan, 1989). It refers to ways of language teaching which deal with learners as potentially selfdirected and responsible decision makers. Researches showed that students learn in different ways and have different needs and interests. Therefore, Language courses and teachers should provide learners with efficient learning strategies, to help them to identify their own preferred ways of learning, to develop skills needed to negotiate the curriculum, to set their own objectives, to adopt realistic goals and time frames, and to develop their skills in self-evaluation (Nunan, 1988).
However, the main difference between this approach and traditional ones is that, in learner-centered the curriculum is a combined effort between learners and teachers ,since participate in the process of choosing the content of the curriculum and how it is taught. This difference has significant implications, since a negotiated curriculum can not be presented and managed in the same way of one which is produced by teacher or teaching institutions. (Nunan, 1988)
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Integrated approach:(CLIL) This approach integrates language and content teaching in the second/foreign language classroom. Such approach is a departure from other methods where language skills are taught separately from content. One of the theory which justify this approach is that for young children, cognitive development and language development go hand in hand; language is a tool through which the child comes to understand the world. Another rational behind integrating language and content teaching is that in real life, people use language to talk about what they know and what they want to know more about, not to talk about language itself. The success of immersion as a model of foreign language education was one of the reason for the change from teaching language alone to content-based approaches. Series research has revealed that immersion students learn the academic content specified in the school curriculum and at the same time develop significant levels of foreign language proficiency (Genesee, 1987; Lambert & Tucker, 1972). For these reasons, the integrated approach is receiving an increasing attention in language teaching movements. The objectives of language-learning must be specified with intentional, systematic planning and coordination of the language and content curricula. (Snow, Met & Genesee, 1989).
Task-based Learning (TBL)approach: TBL approach makes tasks as the central unit in the learning process. The rational behind this approach is that by focusing on the completion of the task, students will learn language in the same way if they are focusing on language forms. Learners are given a task to perform or a problem to solve instead of learning language structure or function. Paul Seedhouse criticizing its overall applicability, he argues that it may be possible to base some learning on tasks, but it would be difficult to base the whole pedagogical methodology on them. (Harmer, 1988)
Ahmad M. Altasan Text-based learning (TBL) approach. Recent teaching approaches have focused on what learners do with extended stretches of language in authentic contexts of use. Text-based syllabus design is mainly concerned with what learners do with whole texts in context. It is concerned with units of discourse called texts. ( Feez, 1998). According to this view learners in different contexts have to master the use of the text types occurring most frequently in specific contexts. These contexts might include: studying in an English medium university, studying in an English medium primary or secondary school, working in a restaurant, working in an office, working in a store, socializing with neighbors in a housing complex.( Richards, 2005). -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Issues to be considered in designing a TESOL curriculum Richards, 2001 used " curriculum development" to refer to the processes of planning and implementation which include: needs analysis, situational analysis, planning learning outcomes, course organization, selecting and preparing teaching materials, providing for effective teaching, and evaluation. These elements are viewed as a network of systems in which the change in one part will affect the other parts. He has taken the approach that aims to place English language professionals at the center of the planning and decision-making process. The product of these decision-making processes are usually easy to identify, but the processes that lead to them are more difficult to identify because they involve a variety of people with different roles and goals. Johnson 1989, represents these decision-making processes in four stages: 1. Curriculum planning. -all of decisions taken before the development and implementation of the program. 2. Specification: ends/means. - aims/objectives and methods 3. Programme implementation. - teacher training and materials/resources development 4. Classroom implementation. - the acts of the teacher and the learner Then he added ' Evaluation' to make up the fifth section of his book. In evaluation, both the processes and the products of decision-making should be investigated. He pointed out two kinds of constraints on the decision makers : 1. Policy constraints: to operate successfully on each of the four stages
Ahmad M. Altasan 2. Pragmatics constraints (time, money, human, and resources): to be accommodated at each stage. Also there are decisions related to the processes of decision making (who should participate and what resources are available) and to the products of decision making (who is in charge of formalizing the outcomes, as syllabus document, teaching materials, teaching acts, ‌ etc.(Johnson, 1989). The procedures of TESOL curriculum development can be summarized in ten steps:1.developing policy. 2.analysing needs 3.determining aims and objectives. 4.selecting methods. 5.selecting resources and materials. 6.training teachers. 7.implementing the curriculum in the classroom.8.responding to the curriculum in the classroom.9.assessing learner progress and achievement.10.evaluating the curriculum. (TESOL Curriculum Development 100718, week 2, (2008).Coordinator: Susi Woolf ) Richards, 2001 points out the important of taking into consideration any situational effects toward curriculum design. This includes societal factors, project factors, institutional factors, teacher factors, learner factors and adoption factors.
Situation A very large company with a chain of travel agencies distributed around the major cities in Saudi Arabia have to hire Saudi staff , responding to the policy of the government that at least 50 % of companies' personnel must be Saudi citizens. Most of those new employees will work as a travel agency sales consultant when they first begin to work in this company . This is a demanding job, and one requiring a high level of English language skills to deal with foreign customers living in Saudi Arabia or to contact agents all over the world. Hence this company is looking for English language program for the new employees. The owner of the company called my institution ( New Generation institute), asking for help.
Needs analysis the target population the people about whom information will be collected are: 1. the senior employees of the main branches 2 .the new employees. administering the needs analysis
Ahmad M. Altasan Me , two teachers of New Generation Institute, and the general managers of the main travel agency's branches. Purposes of needs analysis - to identify the English communication skills most needed by the travel agency's employees at work. - to identify senior employees' perception of language difficulties they face on the job. - to identify managers' perception of language problems employees have on the job. - to determine the types and the language characteristics of tasks employees typically perform in English. (adopted from Richards, 2001, p:52 and modified to suit my situation) Procedures for conducting needs analysis Four tools will be used: 1. Questionnaire Two questionnaire one for senior employees and one for the new employees. See appendix A and appendix C 2. Interviews - to identify senior employees' perception of language difficulties they face on the job. See appendix B 3. Meetings There will be a meeting with the mangers. Managers might be asked if they perceive their employees experiencing difficulty in such common workplace tasks as following spoken instructions; explaining or giving instructions; reporting problems; communicating with co-workers; communicating on the telephone;
reading job-
related manuals; filling out forms; writing memos, letters, or reports; reading notices, newsletters, or short reports; 4. Task analysis Me and two of the teacher will go to the workplace to see the jobs performed and the language used on the job. At the same time, all of the written materials used in the workplace-for example, manuals, notices, safety instructions, and office forms-should be collected and analyzed for linguistic difficulty
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APPENDIX A Questionnaire This questionnaire is part of a needs analysis to develop a tourism English course. The information you provide is very important to identify tourism English tasks and to develop a tourism English course based on the results. Thank you very much for your participation. 1. Position: 2. Age: 3. How long have you been working in your company? 4. How often do you perform the following tasks in English at work? (Please write down the number on the right column) Frequency Never Rarely Sometimes Often Everyday Answer
Example: Writing a resume A. Correspondence a. Email b. Phone call c. Fax d. Writing a business letter e. Others: B. Writing a document a. Writing a memorandum b. Writing a report (e.g., sales, meeting, etc.) c. Writing a contract/ agreement d. Others: C. Order/ Customer satisfaction a. Placing an order/ Purchasing b. Receiving an order c. Dealing with claims e. Others: D. Business trip a. Business trip to foreign countries b. Making a reservation (e.g., hotel, flight, etc.) c. Visiting other companies d. Sightseeing e. Others: E. Attending to foreign guests F. Translation(e.g., document, booklet, etc.) H. Gathering information on the market or other companies J. Reading articles, magazines, and books related to your job K. Others (Specify):
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APPENDIX B Interview Senior employees will be interviewed in order to identify the kinds of tasks that the new employees will carry out in English and to determine English language difficulties that they may face at the workplace. QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEWS 1 Your name: 3. Position: 7. Age: 1. How long have you been working in your company? 2. Do you use English at work? 3. If yes, on what occasions do you use English? Think for a moment when you needed English after you had started working? 4. What are the most frequent tasks you perform at work in English? 5. How important is it for you to use English in your job? 6. What are the most important tasks that you should perform in English? 7. Which tasks are most difficult for you to perform in English? 8. Have you ever taken a tourism English course? 9. If “yes,� What were the most helpful work-related things that you learned in those courses? 10.What might be useful for you to improve your performance in English at work? 11. If you can give an advice to those who are preparing for a job, what would you recommend them to prepare in terms of English?
APPENDIX C
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a. Please indicate how much you feel you need to improve each of the following English language skills, by circling the appropriate number, listed to the right of each skills: (1)= very much (2)= somewhat (3)= a little (4)= not at all
1. Introducing yourself and your company. 2. Describing a product or service to a customer 3. Understanding spoken instructions. 4. Communicating with co-workers. 5. Communicating on the phone. 6. Communication in a group or team meetings. 7. Asking question if you don't understand something. 8. Restating information provided by customer. 9. Advising customer as to the best product or service. 10. Reporting a problem. 11. Reading job-related brochures. 12. Filling out forms. 13. Writing memos, letters or report. 14. Reading notices or newsletter. 15. Browsing and reading other companies' websites. 16. Responding to angry customer 15. Others:--------------------------------------------
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
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3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
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b. What language areas would you like to improve? (Tick appropriate) { } reading { } listening { } vocabulary { } pronunciation { } grammar { } writing { } speaking
c. How comfortable are you to work / learn (mark √ on the lines) -individually ____________________________________________ not OK very comfortable comfortable -in pairs ____________________________________________ not OK very comfortable comfortable -in groups / teams ____________________________________________ not OK very comfortable comfortable
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d. You best learn when you ... (underline) get logical explanations sing / hum find information yourself other ...
see information written repeat hear move / make gestures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bibliography Feez, S. (1998). Text-based Syllabus Design. Sydney: NSW AMES Harmer, J. (1988). The Practice of English Language Teaching. (4th ed.). UK: Pearson Longman. Nunan, D. (1989). Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press. Nunan, D. (1988). The Learner-Centered Curriculum: A Study in Second language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching . (8th ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. Richards, J. (2005). Communicative Language Teaching Today. Snow, M. , Met, M. , Genesee, F. (1989). A Conceptual Framework for the Integration of Language and Content in Second/ Foreign Language Instruction. TESOL QUARTERLY, Vol. 23, No. 2, 201-217. Johnson, R. K. (1989). Decision making framework for the coherent language curriculum. Second Language Curriculum, Chpt. 1. pp.1-23