ENG519 FINALS SOLVED by Maha Malik
ENG519 FINALS SOLVED by Maha Malik
ENG519 FINALS SOLVED by Maha Malik
1. Which of the following model of the curriculum design does not includes principles,
monitoring, assessment and evaluation?
2. Which of the following revealed the importance of units beyond the level of
vocabulary
4. Which of the following models asserts that everything influences everything else and
that it is possible to start an analysis at any point.
6. Which of the following syllabuses focuses on how syllabus is made instead what
should be the content?
7. Material designers need to ensure that are presented in a manner that shows
coherent connection between various lessons.
10. The curriculum design in which begins with classroom process & methodology
(Central Design)
11. The model in which new learning has a relationship with old learning (Spiral
Model)
15. This approach places the learner at the center of the pedagogic process learner
centered design.
16. Placement assessment is used to decide what level of the course a learner should
enter, what class the learner should join,
18. Inservice courses involve teacher development after initial teacher training and after
the teachers have had some teaching experience.
21. (Technique) Analysis and detailed investigation of particular techniques are largely
neglected research areas.
22. As pointed in Osuna and Meskill's (1998) study, students feel more engaged when the
purpose of their tasks simulate real-world tasks.
Bruner hypothesized that human cognition occurred in three relatively discreet stages
Enactive
Iconic
Symbolic
The main focus is on curriculum development (not human development) with subject
specialists developing ―high standards‖ for student uniformity. The main goal and
purpose is to standardize students, to make them alike with a ― core curriculum.
Goals are represented in the small inner circle of the curriculum design diagram. This is
because the whole purpose of the language course is centered around what the learners
need to learn. Goals are central to any curriculum design.
The skill-centered approach to course design has widely been applied in a number of
countries, particularly in Latin America. Students in universities and colleges in Latin
America have the limited but important need to read subject texts in English, because
they are unavailable in their mother-tongue. As Richards (2001) puts it, in a "skill-
based syllabus", the content of the language teaching is a collection of specific abilities
that may play a part in using language. Skill-based syllabi group linguistic competencies
(pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse) together into generalized types of
behavior, such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed
paragraphs, giving effective oral presentations, and so on. The primary purpose of skill-
based instruction is to learn the specific language skill. A possible secondary purpose is
to develop more general competence in the language learning. Krahnke (1987) defines
a skill as a specific way of using language that combines structural and functional ability
but exists independently of specific settings or situations.
The classroom research is limited in terms of looking at teacher at grass root level. In
order to contextualize this discussion about the limitations of classroom research, Stern
believes that it can be seen in the perspective of some of the changes and emphasis on
language teaching analysis. For example, the method era paved the way for
audiolingualism and cognitivism. This shifted the focus from language teaching to
language learning.
The researcher believes that very few efforts have been made in the field of
implementing curriculum at classroom level, and it is the teacher who can be trusted
with responsibility to ensure this implementation. He believes that the findings of
classroom research can be related to:
Policy specifications
Theoretical approach
Clarity of goals: The objectives of learning programme are clear to both the
teacher and the learners, which facilitates the selection of learning materials and
activities.
Ease of evaluation: Where there are clearly specified objectives, the success of
the learners and of the programme can easily and accurately be evaluated to the
extent that the objectives have been fulfilled.
The advantages of a negotiated syllabus come largely from its responsiveness to the
“wants” and the involvement of the learners.
Breen (1987) argues strongly that all courses have to adjust in some way to the reality
of the teaching situation and the negotiated syllabus gives clear recognition to this.
Involving the learners in shaping the syllabus has a strong effect on motivation,
satisfaction and commitment to the course. It changes from being the teacher’s course
to the learners’ course. The actual negotiation process has its benefits. If the negotiation
is carried out in English, then this may be some of the most involving meaning-focused
activity in the program. The negotiation also develops learners’ awareness of the goals
of language learning activities and how these goals can be achieved. This understanding
may then make them better learners.
Q. Explain how can people accept and make changes to the curriculum 5 (MAY BE)
The people involved in the implementation of the change need to see that there will be
benefits from the change, that it can be achieved, and that eventually it will not make
them more over-worked than they are at present. If their involvement in curriculum
change can be shown to add to their professional development through publication,
official recognition, and gains in status for them or their institution, then this favors
change (Kennedy, 1987).
The people who will receive the ultimate benefit of the change, usually the learners, are
often not negotiators in the change process. At the very least, it must be clear to those
involved that the learners will benefit from the change and be more satisfied as a result
of it. Most curriculum change has the aim of producing better learning, and teachers will
usually get involved in innovation which results in considerable work for them if they
see that there are substantial benefits for the learners. Learners may also be directly
involved in curriculum change. The ideas behind the negotiated syllabus stress the
benefits of learner involvement in such change.
Q. Explain the difference between the limitations of the murdoach,s and graves model 5
1) Beginner.
2) Intermediate.
3) Advanced.
Q. Role Internet based learning in lessons OR Q. Chun and Plass (2000) mention general
capabilities of features of the WWW that have the potential to enhance language learning.
How can enhance the language learning ability through www.
The internet as a resource can enrich and expand language instruction. There are
numerous reasons in favor of integrating the Internet into a language curriculum.
Chun and Plass (2000) mention general capabilities of features of the WWW that have
the potential to enhance language learning. These are
The most compelling reason is definitely the convenience in accessing and obtaining an
endless supply of authentic materials in target languages. The WWW has brought the
world to the fingertips of each learner. Applying the WWW to foreign language teaching
also provides the opportunity to meet the standards in several ways (Walz, 1998):
"Competence in more than one language and culture enables people to gain access to
additional bodies of knowledge; … all students learn in a variety of ways and settings; …
language and culture education incorporate effective technologies; and using the web is
consistent with learning theories about learning to read authentic materials".
One of the disadvantages of written tests compared with oral ones is that students
complain about the results of written tests far more and often ask for another go. In
written tests, students tend to cheat a lot and have warped results because of the
pressure of the situation. It’s fairly rare that someone in the school can find time to
watch a student take the test so the student is likely to sneak a look at the dictionary or
ask a friend for help. Sometimes students don’t understand the instructions but this
only becomes evident later when the marker notices how badly they messed things up.
Tailoring the evaluation process is not an easy task. It requires certain principles that
an evaluator should know. A typical evaluation exercise is to take decision about tools
which can be used for the process like questionnaire, interview sample or textual
analysis. It is important to know about the evaluator (teacher, administrator or some
external agent).
Weir and Roberts (1994) distinguish between two major purposes for language
program evaluation; one is program accountability and other one is program
development. Accountability refers to the extent to which those involved in a program
are answerable for the quality of their work. Accountability-oriented evaluation usually
examines the effects of a program or project at significant end points of an educational
cycle and is usually conducted for the benefit of an external audience or decision maker.
On the other hand development-oriented evaluation is designed to improve the quality
of a program as it is being implemented. It may involve staffs who are involved in the
program as well as others who are not and may have a teacherdevelopment focus (Weir
and Roberts 1994). The different purposes for evaluation are referred to us: formative,
illuminative, and summative evaluation.
The disadvantages of a negotiated syllabus are of two major types. The first is the result
of a lack of knowledge or experience with such a syllabus. Learners may be reluctant to
negotiate or to let their classmates negotiate because they feel it should be the teacher’s
expertise guiding the course. Gradual introduction of a negotiated syllabus can provide
learner training to help overcome this problem. Learners may also not know enough of
the range of options they could choose from and thus may make unimaginative choices.
Teachers may feel that using a negotiated syllabus removes too much of their power
and status. Learners may find it difficult to reach agreement about what they should be
doing. The second major disadvantage is that a fully negotiated syllabus requires
considerable teacher skill and time in accessing and producing resources. Where there
are several teachers with similar classes, this load can be partly shared.
The second approach that is used to sequence the activities of a unit is a storyline
situation. If the students are unable to identify strongly with the characters or the
emotions, then it is important to use creative exploitation techniques or role-play
exercises
Limbo Situation: In this type, the information of the specific setting is of little
importance, for example, the topic of introducing someone at the setting of a
dialogue taking place at the stadium. It can be said that the setting is considered
irrelevant, i.e. unimportant, because the main important thing is the language
focus.
Concrete Situation: The information is about the specific and concrete setting
and the language associated with it, for example, the topic of ordering a meal at a
restaurant.
Mythical Situation: The information depends on fictional story line, frequently
with a fictional cast characters in a fictional place..
relevant data than a large amount of data that do not address the main concerns of the
evaluation.
One useful concept with which to examine role relations suggested by materials is
Bernstein's (2004) notion of a 'frame'. It refers to the actual relationship between
teachers and pupils and the range of choices which they have over what is done
between them. Thus a strong frame will 'reduce the power of the pupil over what, when
and how he receives his knowledge'.
Developing aims
Developing objectives
Developing a syllabus
Organizing the course into units
Developing a structure for units
Sequencing units
(1) What are actually revealed in the hidden curriculum “are all unintended, not part of
any teacher’s objectives” and
(2) “they all tend to be what one might call ‘social’ learning, about what people expect
of you, and how you can best cope with their demands
Principles, monitoring and assessment, and evaluation are not included in Murdoch’s
Model (2010). These are possible weaknesses of his model.
1) What sort of activities are likely to promote effective performance and learning in
language classroom?
2) How such activities might be constrained or elaborated, and organized in terms of a
plausible course?
Q. 3 phases of task.
Task as a work plan allows the teachers to make some ground work to know
some of the preconceptions and past learning experiences of the students. It
gives an opportunity to see what students want in the classroom.
Task in process creates the relationship between teacher and student during the
processing of task.
Task outcomes help to analyse what has already been learnt.
Q. 3 scales for describing the size of change in course design as suggested Stoller.
Stoller suggests six scales for describing the size of the change, the best size being in the
middle area of each scale. The scales are explicitness, visibility, originality, compatibility
with past practices, difficulty/complexity and flexibility.
Ellis (1986) distinguishes between experiential practices for teacher training and
awarenessraising practices for teacher training. Experiential practices involve actual
teaching, either real or simulated. Awareness-raising practices involve conscious
understanding of principles, techniques and issues. The goals of gaining teaching
Q. Diagnostic assessment
Diagnostic assessment is used to find the gaps and weaknesses in learners’ knowledge
so that something can be done about them. More positively, it is used to find what
learners know well so that time is not wasted on teaching that. Diagnostic assessment is
thus a very important part of needs analysis, both before a course begins and during the
course. The findings of diagnostic assessment are used to determine what goes into a
course. So good diagnostic assessment is accurate and easy to interpret in terms of
what should be done as a result. Diagnostic information can often be obtained from
assessment intended for other purposes, such as proficiency tests, achievement tests or
placement tests. However, there are tests designed especially for diagnosis.
Coherence is a systematic approach to aligning and sequencing specific ideas and the
depth to which those ideas are examined, in order to help the development integrated
understanding in learners.
Coherence among course units while designing material is very important. Designing a
balance between units is not straightforward; however, it is a blend of imagination,
insight, understanding and analytical reasoning. A material designer has to be very
critical and practical while designing material for a language course. Coherence among
course units ensures more involvement of the students. A coherent curriculum should
build ideas across time and disciplines by connecting ideas between relevant topics and
by aligning the development of instructional materials, instruction, and assessment.
Teachers themselves are very good sources of needs analysis information because they
typically know their learners well, have seen them perform various tasks and have seen
the results of those tasks. Teachers’ intuitions can be reliable, valid and practical. It is
always good in research and in needs analysis however to draw on more than one
source of information.
There are now many web-based tools that can be used in needs analysis. It is now
possible to run texts through a vocabulary-level checker to see what the vocabulary
load is going to be. A very good example of this can be found on Tom Cobb’s website
(www.lextutor.ca); on the same website there are various tests that can be used to
measure where learners are in their vocabulary knowledge.
It is important that teachers keep checking their own intuitions of learners’ language
knowledge against the results of tests and careful observation of the learners using
language.
Q. Placement Assessment.
Placement assessment is used to decide what level of the course a learner should enter,
what class the learner should join, and whether the learner should join the course at all.
Placement assessment usually occurs under environment constraints. It often has to be
done just before a course begins. The results have to be available quickly. The learners
are largely unknown and may be confused about the course they wish to do. The
learners may not perform their best on a placement test because they are unfamiliar
with some of the test formats, because their knowledge of the language is “rusty”
through lack of opportunity to use it, or because they are anxious about the test. The
assessment may be the learners’ first meeting with the teachers and course and could
affect their attitudes to the course. The time available for assessment may be limited.
The assessment needs to be reasonably accurate because it often proves difficult to
move learners to other groups once they have joined a group. This means that
placement assessment needs to be:
Ellis (2003) believes that content-based courses might not result in learners achieving
high levels of grammatical and sociolinguistic accuracy.
Brown (2007) argues that teachers can be easily deterred by the demands of content
knowledge and discouraged by the amount of preparation they must do. Furthermore,
they do not feel that they are qualified to teach content area.
Short (1993) mentions that the difficulty with assessment centres on isolating the
language features from the content objectives in order that one do not adversely
influence the other.
No matter what form of materials teachers make use of, whether they teach from
textbooks, institutional materials, or teacher-prepared materials, the materials
represent plans for teaching. They do not represent the process of teaching itself. As
teachers use materials, they adapt and transform them to suit the needs of particular
groups of learners and their own teaching styles. These processes of transformation are
at the heart of teaching and enable good teachers to create effective lessons out of the
resources they make use of. It is useful, therefore, to collect information on how
teachers use course books and other teaching materials in their teaching.
One of the factors that can contribute to teacher cognition is professional development,
and it is through professional development opportunities that change is often
introduced to teachers. As teacher cognition is not static, changing beliefs is possible.
Both pre-service and in-service training are intended to introduce change. It is
important, therefore, to recognize that participants arrive at both forms of training with
pre-existing beliefs. Trainee teachers who enter a preservice course already have well-
developed ideas about teaching based on their experiences as learners. Practicing
teachers who attend an in-service course arrive with well-developed ideas based on
their experiences as teachers and their understanding developed through their own
preservice training as well as beliefs based on experiences as learners.
Q. Define "Task"
The purpose of education from the point of view of the process model is to enable the
individual to progress towards self-fulfillment. It is concerned with the development of
understanding learning process, and not just the passive reception of knowledge or the
acquisition of specific skill. The goals of education are not defined in terms of particular
ends or products, but in terms of the process and procedures by which the individual
develops understanding and awareness and creates possibilities for future learning.
Content is based on principles derived from research into learning development, and
the overall purpose of the educational process is to formulate the objectives related to
the procedural principles.
Q. Tyler's model
The model is linear in nature, starting from objectives and ending with evaluation. In
this model, evaluation is terminal. It is important to note that:
Objectives form the basis for the selection and organisation of learning
experiences.
Objectives form the basis for assessing the curriculum.
Objectives are derived from the learner, contemporary life and subject specialist.
Evaluation is a process by which one matches the initial expectation with the
outcomes.
Q. Three types of changes when speaker maintain the interest during presentation?
The teacher uses different techniques than those used in the book. For example a 4/3/2
fluency activity is used to practise some of the dialogues. The activity involves the
students usually to be paired with one half as listeners and the other half as speakers. It
involves three rounds. In the first round the speaker is given four minutes to talk about
the given subject. Then after a short pause where the listeners are changed the speakers
talk again on the same subject for three minutes. In the third round the procedure is
repeated and the speaker is given two minutes to talk again about the same subject.
The central focus of the curriculum in this model is the content of what is to be learned
by, or transmitted to the learner. In the Classical Humanist tradition, the content is a
valued cultural heritage, the understanding of which contributes to the overall
intellectual development of the learner and from the point of view of epistemological
objectivism. The content is knowledge which has been identified and agreed to be
universal, unchanging and absolute. This model has been the dominant philosophy
underlying the history of the Western educational system for centuries, derived from
theories of knowledge going back to Aristotle and Plato.
The crucial factor is thus not only how learners interpret what is provided in the
materials, but also what actually happens in a particular classroom. Nevertheless, since
the construction of teaching materials is a deliberate attempt to bring about certain
kinds of interaction in the classroom, we believe it is important to consider materials in
terms of what they may suggest for the learning of classroom roles.
The idea of a ‗hidden curriculum‘ was originally introduced in contrast with the ‗formal
curriculum‘ by Jackson (1986) to draw attention to the fact that schools do more than
simply help transmission of knowledge between one generation and the next. Jackson
(1986) refers a hidden curriculum to learning outcomes apart from those intended in
the ‗manifest curriculum‘.
Q. Stages of change
Q. Validity of test
listening. The most practical ways for a teacher or curriculum designer to check the
validity of a test are to look at its face validity and content validity.
Standard 1
All students will search for, discover and understand a variety of text types through
tasks which require multiple reading and thinking strategies for comprehension,
fluency and enjoyment.
Benchmark II: Analyze, synthesize and evaluate events, issues, ideas and viewpoints,
applying reading comprehension and thinking strategies.
Benchmark III: Analyze and synthesize information from a visual cue or a graphic
organizer to summarize while highlighting the key areas and main trends.
Benchmark IV: Gather, analyze, evaluate and synthesize information to use for variety of
purposes including a research project using various aids and study skills.
Standard 2
All students will read and analyze literary text to seek information, ideas, enjoyment,
and to relate their own experiences to those of common humanity as depicted in
literature.
Benchmark I: Analyze and evaluate short stories, poems, essays and one-act plays;
relate how texts affect their lives and connect the texts to contemporary / historical
ideas and issues across cultures
Q. Illuminative Evaluation.
Example: A teacher is teaching a course on reading skills and has developed a course
which focuses on a wide variety of reading skills, such as skimming, scanning, reading
for details, surveying a text, critical reading and vocabulary development. All of the
skills receive regular focus throughout the course. The teacher is interested in finding
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ENG519 Finals (Solved) Spring2020
out what the students perceive to be the main point of the course. Students complete a
short questionnaire at different times during the course in order to describe their
perceptions of what the course is seeking to achieve. At times there is a different
perception on the part of students as to the purpose of different activities, or even of
whole lessons. After reflecting on this phenomenon, the teacher comes to understand
that learners' perceptions of a course may reflect what they are most interested in or
what they feel they need most help with at a particular point in time.
Q. Observation of learning
Monitoring learners’ progress in a course can occur at the level of the learning activity.
This monitoring does not assess the learners but is directed towards the tasks that they
do. The purpose of the monitoring is to see if it is necessary to make changes to the
learning activities in order to encourage learning. For example, in a spoken fluency
development activity, the following learning conditions need to occur. The learners are
focused on the meaning of the task. The task involves very limited language demands,
i.e. all the language needed to do the task is familiar to the learners. There is some kind
of pressure to perform at a higher than normal level of performance. The signs that the
teacher should look for when monitoring the activity are an involvement in
communicating with a partner, a reasonably high speed of speaking with a small
number of hesitations, and some signs of comprehension by the listener. The design
features include opportunity for preparation, a chance to repeat the task several times
to different listeners, a familiar topic and an involved listener, and time pressure.
Monitoring can occur in other ways. Learner diaries or logbooks written for the teacher
are a useful source of information (Savage and Whisenand, 1993). Learners’ talking, in
small groups to provide feedback for the teacher, is another way.
In a focused opportunistic approach, the format and presentation part of the curriculum
design process is typically done first. That is, material is gathered or prepared to teach
the course. Then, with each re-teaching of the course, one part of the curriculum design
process is done thoroughly Thus, it might be that a proper needs analysis is not carried
out until the third or fourth reteaching of the course. Tessmer and Richey (1997) warn
against this approach, mainly from the point of view of efficiency in that working
thoroughly on one aspect of curriculum design may result in wasted effort because the
findings may not be able to be used in the other lesselaborated parts of the curriculum
design process. The attractiveness of this model is that it allows a concentrated focus
with possible high-quality improvements in a course. For example, if during one
presentation of a course, assessment was focused on or there was a careful needs
analysis done, then the improvements could be done well.
Q. negotiating Assessment
The extent to which students are aware of the criteria being used.
The relative emphasis given to what they have achieved as compared with what
they have failed to achieve.
The coincidence between what the feedback focuses upon and what the
students themselves have recognized as particularly difficult for them.
Whether or not they believe they can act on the basis of the feedback in a way
that solves a recognized problem.
This is a very insightful list and the teacher needs to keep these factors in mind when
negotiating assessment. Smith (2000) describes a very effective way of negotiating
assessment. The assessment is seen as including not only the results of tests and
assigned tasks, but also participation in class, homework, and class projects. The idea of
a negotiated syllabus raises questions about the role of the teacher and the role of the
commercially produced text book (Richards, 1993).
Therefore, curriculum implementation is that stage of the curriculum process where the
learner, through the guidance of a teacher, interacts with a variety of learning
experiences so as to make learning process fruitful. Hence, both the learner and the
teacher bear a reasonable amount of responsibility during curriculum implementation
and program management. The learners are critical element in the entire process of
curriculum implementation, since learners hold the key to what is actually being
translated and adopted from the official designed curriculum that is meant for them.
Learners influence the teacher in the selection of learning experiences because the
school consists of many levels and class grades, calling upon the teacher to prepare for
the disparities among the learners, for instance, individual differences between the
slow learners and the quick learners. Therefore, a teacher selects the suitable learning
methods and teaching aids to suit each category of learners.
The learner plays the role of exhibiting desirable discipline, both in and outside the
classroom, through maximum obedience to the school rules and regulation and
attending the classwork and the entire school program. For example, doing all
assignments, tests and examinations yield into some level of desirable learning. For the
implementation of curriculum to be effectively done, the learner should be physically,
mentally and emotionally available to the teacher for instruction, so that the planned
program can be implemented.
Informal needs assessment deals with the informal negotiation that takes place
between class teachers and students in the form of chats with either individual
students, groups of students or the whole class in order to select a focus for the class. It
is a necessary component of information retrieval on students’ learning needs and
should be recorded. It can subsequently be used as input for aims and objective setting
and for devising course outlines (Shaw and Dowsett, 1986).
Corpus analysis has revealed the importance of units beyond the level of vocabulary
(e.g. phrases, multiword units and collocations) and provides information that can be
used to update or replace the earlier generations of lists that have been used in syllabus
design.
Backward design starts with a careful statement of the desired results or outcomes:
appropriate teaching activities and content are derived from the results of learning.
A third justification for the formal syllabus is that because the linguistic system
is analysable in certain ways, these analytical categories or schemas can be
incorporated in a plan for teaching the system, and further it may be that the
same analytical categories or schemas make it easier for the learner to uncover
how the new language works.
Face validity simply means that if the test is called a reading test, does it look like a
reading test? If it is called a vocabulary test, does it look like a vocabulary test? There is
nothing very scientific about deciding on face validity, but face validity is important
because it reflects how the learners and perhaps their parents, and other teachers will
react to the test. For example the Eurocentric Vocabulary test presents words in
isolation without a context. It does not ask for the learner to give a meaning, and it does
not require the learners to use the vocabulary. This could affect learners’ reaction to the
test and their acceptance of its results. Similarly a test of speaking which does not
require the learners to speak (Brown, 1983) has low face validity. A deeper
understanding of how these two tests work and how they have been validated shows
that these are valid tests, but their face validity, their appearance of being a certain kind
of test, is still low.
Q. What is the status of critical thinking in the context of Pakistani educational context?
Q. What is the point of focus of the Pakistani national English language curriculum? (Not
sure… Repeated question and I am not sure about the answer)
indicate social-moral habits, attitudes, informal school rules and beliefs. For example,
we often find that teachers teach obedience, conscientiousness, regularity, punctuality,
gender identity, and even political awareness.
Lamb found the following range of effects on the participants a year after the workshop:
Q. central design
Central design begins with classroom processes and methodology. Issues of syllabus
and learning outcomes are not specified in detail in advance and are addressed as the
curriculum is implemented. Many of the innovative methods of the 1980s and 90s
reflect central design. Central design approaches do not require teachers to plan
detailed learning outcomes to conduct needs analysis or to follow a prescribed syllabus;
hence they often give teachers a considerable degree of autonomy and control over the
teacher learning process.
Q. classroom implementation
Before 1970, language teaching was method driven, and therefore it was also known as
method era. But with the arrival of audiolingualism and cognitivism, it moved towards
communicative language teaching and the shift occurred from language teaching to
language learning. In this regard, there are three categories of classroom
implementation:
Forward design is based on the assumption that input, process, and output are related
in a linear fashion. In other words, before decisions about methodology and output are
determined, issues related to the content of instruction need to be resolved. Curriculum
design is seen to constitute a sequence of stages that occur in a fixed order – an
approach that has been referred to as a ‘waterfall’ model (Tessmer and Wedman, 1990)
where the output from one stage serves as the input to the stage that follows.
Proficiency test: proficiency tests are not dependent on particular class content, course
materials, or language software programs. Instead, a proficiency test is intended to
measure your command of a language regardless of your background in that language.
Placement test: A placement test is a test given by a school to determine the academic or
skill level of a student, especially a new student, in order to place them in the correct
class. Students are required to take placement tests before registering.
Attempts to introduce change are not always successful, of course. One reason for this is
that the change may be viewed as culturally inappropriate, perhaps imposed by an
outsider. Adamson and Davison (2008) describe how a curriculum introduced in Hong
Kong was seen as a Western import and was reinterpreted by teachers to accommodate
to the local culture. Another reason why attempts to introduce change may not succeed
is that the process of introducing the change to teachers is flawed
Hidden agendas help teachers to bridge the gap between planning, teaching and
learning objectives. It is important to explicitly state to students the goals and objective
of the language course. Also, teachers need to be aware of the fact that what sort of
perceptions and preconceptions learners are bringing in the classroom. It is a teacher’s
duty to strike a balance between what students already know and new learning
methods. The curriculum should not be followed slavishly; rather, if there is need to
redefine LCD then language teachers should take charge and bring that change. When
teachers become aware of the hidden agendas, the curriculum does not become the
only set agenda, but there is some room for creativity. One thing to remember is that
there is no direct equation between planning and implementation of hidden curriculum.
It is not always taught what is planned, but sometimes we need to adjust our teaching
according to the needs, situations and hidden agendas as well.
The old-fashioned notion that a teacher’s role is to transmit knowledge from the
curriculum to the learners has been replaced by recognition that teachers have complex
mental lives that determine what and how teachers teach (Freeman, 2002). These
complex mental lives – often called teacher cognition – are “the hidden side of teaching”
(Freeman 2002) and multiple factors, which could loosely be described as teachers’
knowledge, beliefs and personal histories, contribute to them.
Q. Difference b/w productive and receptive generative use of the target items for the
learners.
If the questions require the learners to think about the information in the text in
relation to other information, then this could encourage productive generative use of
the language items in the answers to the questions. If the questions contain the target
items and the questions are not an exact copy of the wording in the text, then this
provides receptive generative use of the target items for the learners.
Decide on the most severe environmental constraint on the course and how it
will affect the curriculum design.
Decide on the most urgent necessity that learners have to meet at the end of the
course.
Make a short list of items to cover.
Decide on a simple lesson format that will make use of available material.
Gather the material for the course.
Decide on a simple form of assessment