PRACTICE ACTIVITIES:
CURRICULUM AND COURSE DESIGN
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Full name: Victor Julio Medina Silva
Group:02-2020
Date: April 30th – 2021
Curriculum and Course Design-Principles and Practice
Practice Activities
Task 1.
Define the following words so the differences between them are clear:
a) Curriculum and syllabus
b) Approach and method.
Task 2
Unit 2 argues that most curriculums are either knowledge-centered or personcentered. Find the book you learn English with, or a book you like using in your
class and argue whether it is a knowledge-centered curriculum or person-centered
curriculum. Illustrate your argument with captures from the book. Do not forget to
include the full reference, as well.
Task 3
Are some verb tenses more teachable than other items? List five different verb
tenses in English in order of “teachability” according to your criteria. Give them a
score from 1 (very easy to teach) to 5 (very difficult to teach) and justify the score.
You might want to consider the students’ L1, previous experiences, or activities you
have tried (either as a teacher or as a student) that worked well.
Task 4
4. The following is an advert for a two-week immersion course that combines English
and
sports:
http://www.ipcexeter.co.uk/courses/school-language-projects/theprojects/englishsports/
Considering a course like this, explain what peculiarities the syllabus design would
need to consider in terms of setting goals, choosing/designing materials, teaching
methodology and evaluation.
Task 1.
Define the following words so the differences between them are clear:
a) Curriculum and syllabus
The curriculum is an umbrella term incorporating all the decisions about objectives,
content, methods and evaluation of a teaching program, often with an associated
educational philosophy and often this follows national policies on education and learning.
The Syllabus is a detailed plan or guide to achieve the objectives and cover the content
decided upon in the curriculum. A curriculum holds the whole philosophy or belief of the
plan of education while a syllabus is just part of that curriculum or realization of such beliefs
step-by-step.
“A curriculum pertains to the entire period of study in a college or school. For example,
the curriculum of a certain course of study, say B. Sc chemistry, include all the subjects,
including the allied subjects to be studied as part of the entire course of study. Hence, it
can be said that syllabus is a subject of curriculum. In other words, it can be said that
syllabus is contained in the curriculum [...]”. (Difference Between Syllabus and
Curriculum | Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms)
b) Approach and method.
An approach is a way of designing principles to solve a problem. It is a group of
assumptions or beliefs regarding the nature of language learning while a method is a plan
for an organized presentation of language materials and is based on a given approach. A
method is a way in which these principles are applied in the classroom, taking into
consideration, the objectives, teachers and learners’ roles, and guidelines for activities in
the classroom. Therefore, a method is an execution of an approach in the classroom
context.
“When an instructional design is quite explicit at the level of theory of language and
learning, but can be applied in many different ways at the level of objectives, teacher and
learner roles and activities, it is usually referred to as an approach. […] When an
instructional design includes a specific level of application in terms of objectives, teacher
and learner roles and classroom activities, it is referred to as a method. With a method,
there are prescribed objectives, roles for teacher and learners and guidelines for activities,
and, consequently, little flexibility for teachers in how the method is used”. Richards, J. C.
(https://www.professorjackrichards.com/difference-between-an-approach-and-a-method/)
Task 2
Unit 2 argues that most curricula are either knowledge-centered or person- centered.
Find the book you learn English with, or a book you like using in your class and argue
whether it is a knowledge-centered curriculum or person- centered curriculum.
Illustrate your argument with captures from the book. Do not forget to include the full
reference, as well.
My school doesn't have a specific book that we use with our students. We do have
some books that have been sent to us by editors. Generally, I do not choose to use
these books because I find them limiting. Most students have a low level of English
when they arrive in the pre-apprenticeship program (age 15) and the materials in the
book are beyond the level of half the class. I have to review the basics and try to get
the others up to speed, while maintaining the stronger student’s level. The books also
seem to be made for classes that meet more often than mine do. With two hours every
two weeks, it is difficult to work coherently with the book. The only book on the market
for apprentices and pre-apprentices is “TIP TOP” from Foucher. It is oriented towards
the accomplishment of tasks (“projects”) found at the end of each chapter. There is
little to no explicit grammar explanation in the books. For low level students who find
language learning confusing, this is not reassuring. The book is a mix of a knowledge
and a person-centered curriculum. The initial activities have only one correct answer
and requires students respond in the “correct” way. Only the “project” allows for some
freedom of expression. There are not repetitive exercises either, which would signal a
behaviorist undertone.
The final exam required of the students is the oral presentation of an authentic text at
A2 level that has been previously prepared for in class during their two years of
training. These documents are provided by the teacher. They are graded on their ability
to present themselves, the text including the type of text, where it is from, the theme
and the main ideas. While the rubric for evaluation seems to be very person centered,
it is a tool being used in a very traditional, knowledge centered school system.
Task 3
Are some verb tenses more teachable than other items? List five different verb tense in
English in order of “teachability” according to your criteria. Give them a score from 1
(very easy to teach) to 5 (very difficult to teach) and justify the score. You might want to
consider the students’ L1, previous experiences, or activities you have tried (either as a
teacher or as a student) that worked well.
For this activity I have selected the following verb tenses in English: Present
continuous, Past continuous, Present simple, Past simple and Present perfect.
To rank these tenses by their “teachability,” it is necessary to first define the criteria that
will be used to sort and rank the verb tenses. Does a similar tense exist in the
students’ native language? Is it a simple tense or a compound tense? Are there a lot of
irregular forms in that tense? Can the verb tense easily be explained using a diagram
or some other visual aid?
Present continuous- 2 / Past continuous- 2
For me, present continuous and past continuous deserve a 2 since the structure of these
tenses is easier to teach but rules of spelling drive the students crazy. We play with some
cards to remember when to change for instance I by E like in dance - Dancing.
Present simple - 3
I gave a 3 to present simple since teaching the third person changes in this tense it carries
difficulty to students and sometimes as a student, I had to worked it systematically and as a
teacher I have, sometimes fallen into the same mistake. We practice this using interviews
and diaries talking about members of their family.
Past simple - 4
Past simple is one the hardest tenses to work with, since it is a must to learn which are the
regular and which the irregular verbs, sometime the students feel frustrated about the
irregular one’s long lists, because they definitely have to memorize them. Sometimes when
speaking, they totally forget the use of the past and use present for past events, on the
other hand they really struggle with the pronunciation of the regular ones, because they
don't want to sound using present. As a teacher I have practiced the pronunciation with
worksheets and taught concatenation so they do not feel that bad, in the case of irregular
verbs we practice hard some of the verbs, we use them for everything and then we
continue with the others. We play board games and spelling bee.
Present perfect - 5
Present perfect really deserves a 5 and the main reason is to show the students the
difference between past simple and present perfect, since in our L1 we use it just to talks
about unfinished actions and that is it. Besides the tense use, it comes again the use of the
verbs not just the irregular ones in past simple but in past participle. What I have done is
showing by examples and letting the students to use the list of verbs. Practicing with some
at the beginning and including more when I feel sure they know how to use the present
perfect.
Task 4
4. The following is an advert for a two-week immersion course that combines
English
and
sports:
http://www.ipcexeter.co.uk/courses/school-language-
projects/the-projects/englishsports/
Considering a course like this, explain what peculiarities would the syllabus design need
to consider in terms of setting goals, choosing/designing materials, teaching
methodology and evaluation.
In setting goals, choosing materials, the methodology and evaluation used with the
students in the program, there is a need to consider the following factors to design the
syllabus: Are all the students of a similar level? Will they be in the same class? How old
are the students? What are their other interests? How long will they stay? therefore,
before starting the course a questionnaire could be formed to measure the students’
proficiency level, their interests and the language they know in connection with the
physical activities- that’s to elicit the information about the students’ needs. Furthermore,
in this kind of a course, the language to be taught should be related to activities they will
be engaged in and the language they will find in their host families and other young
people. There will be a need for the emphasis of communication within the physical
activities and in the classroom contexts
Furthermore, in this kind of a course, the language to be taught should be related to
activities they will be engaged in and the language they will find in their host families and
other young people. There will be a need for the emphasis of communication within the
physical activities and in the classroom contexts.
Reference
Difference between Syllabus and Curriculum. Retrieved from: Difference Between Syllabus
and Curriculum | Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms
Richards, J. C., Difference between an approach and a method. Retrieved from:
https://www.professorjackrichards.com/difference-between-an-approach-and-a-method/
Practice Activities – FP015 CCD
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