LED 82

Approaches
to Course
Design
Bucag, Gaid, Patac, Penales, Sioc
 ACTIVITY
TIME!

Language Detective
Challenge
 "Could you clarify that?"
"Let’s discuss the next point"
"I propose that we..."
"I agree with your suggestion."
 "I’ll have the pasta, please",
"Could I get the check?",
"What do you recommend?",
"Is this dish vegetarian?"
 "I have a reservation under
the name..."
"What time is my flight?",
"Could I get a window seat?",
"Where is gate 5?"
 "I have a headache"
"I need a prescription"
"How long will it take to
recover?"
"Are there any side effects?"
 "Do you have this in a
medium?"
"How much is this?"
"Can I try this on?",
"Do you have any sales?"
LED 82

Approaches
to Course
Design
Bucag, Gaid, Patac, Penales, Sioc
 What is Course
Course Design
Design
According to Hutchinson and Waters
A process by which the raw data about a learning need is
interpreted in order to produce an integrated series of teaching-
learning experiences.
KEY COMPONENTS
use of the theoretical and empirical information to produce a
syllabus
to select materials in accordance with the syllabus
develop a methodology for teaching
establish evaluation procedures to assess learner progress toward
the defined goals.
Language-centered
course design

Skills-centered
course design

Learning-centered
approach
Language-Centered Course Design
IDENTIFY SELECT
Simplest kind of course LEARNER’S TARGET
SITUATION
THEORETICAL VIEWS
OF LANGUAGE
design
IDENTIFY LINGUISTIC FEATURES
Aims to draw as direct a OF TARGET SITUATIOS

connection as possible
between analysis of the CREATE SYLLABUS
target situation and the
content of the ESP DESIGN MATERIALS TO
course. EXEMPLIFY SYLLABUS ITEMS

ESTABLISH EVALUATION PROCEDURES TO

TEST ACQUISITION OF SYLLABUS ITEMS
 WEAKNESSES:
A. Restricting the content taught rather than truly
centering on the learner's needs

B. It is a static and inflexible procedure

C. It critiques the idea that a systematic approach to

course design automatically leads to systematic
learning.
 WEAKNESSES:
D. Overly focused on language analysis and
neglecting other crucial factors that influence
learning

E. The language-centered analysis of target

situation data is only at the surface level. It reveals
very little about the competence that underlines
the performance.
 “This is the nature of the
target situation
performance and that will
determine the ESP course”
 Skills
Skills -- Centered
Centered
Course
Course Design
Design

the learner as a user of language

 Skills-Centered Course
Design

Widely applied in a number of

countries, particularly in Latin
America.
 The basic theoretical
hypothesis is that underlying
any language behaviour are
Theoretical Principle certain skills and strategies,
which the learner uses in order
to produce or comprehend
discourse
 General Objective Specific Objectives
(Performance Level) (Competence Level)

Observable use of language in Observable use of language in

real-world tasks. real-world tasks.

Example: The student will be able

Example: The student will be
to:
able to catalogue books written
extract the gist of a text by
in English
skimming through it.
extract relevant information
from the main parts of a book.
 It derives from a distinction
made by Widdowson (1981)
Pragmatic Principle between GOAL-ORIENTED
courses and PROCESS-
ORIENTED courses.
Holmes (1982) points out that:
‘In ESP the main problem is usually one of time available and
student experience. First, the aims may be defined in terms of
what is desirable, - to be able to read in the literature of the
students’ specialism, but there may not be enough time to reach
this aim during the period of the course.

Secondly, the students may be in their first year of studies with

little experience of the literature of their specialism...
Accordingly, both these factors... may be constraints to which say
right from the start, “The aims cannot be achieved during the
course.”
Time and Experience Constraints (According to Holmes) in ESP
Learning:

Limited Time: the desired learning outcome may not be

achievable within the duration of the course.
Limited Experience: Many students, especially first-year
students, may have little exposure to the specialize literature
of their field.

These constraints present a fundamental problem: If an ESP

course is strictly goal-oriented, a large portion of students will
inevitably fail.
The emphasis in the ESP course, then, is not on achieving a
particular set of goals, but on enabling the learners to achieve
what they can within the given constraints:

'The process-oriented approach... is at least realistic in

concentrating on strategies and processes of making students
aware of their own abilities and potential, and motivating them
to tackle target texts on their own after the end of the course, so
that they can continue to improve.' (ibid.)
Skills - Centered
Course Design
Focus on Process and
Learning Strategies
The skills-centred approach
emphasizes learning strategies over
language content.
It helps learners become better
processors of information, enabling
continued skill development after
the course.
 Key Features
Needs Analysis – Identifies learner
competence and target situation
requirements.
Strength-Based Learning – Builds
on learners’ existing abilities rather
than focusing on deficiencies.
Open-Ended Objectives – Allows
flexibility in what learners achieve.
Advantages Limitations
Encourages lifelong Treats learners as users
learning. of language rather than
Develops cognitive and active learners.
processing skills. Focuses on language use
Allows flexibility based rather than deep
on learner needs. language learning.
Helps learners become Lacks emphasis on
independent in learning. linguistic knowledge
(grammar, vocabulary).
 Learning-centered
approach

the learner as a user of language

Learner-Centered Learning-Centered
based on the principle that Learning is not just a mental
learning is totally determined process, it is a process of
by the learner negotiation between
learning is an internal process individuals and society
 IMPLICATIONS
COURSE DESIGN IS A
NEGOTIATED PROCESS.
No Single
Determining Factor:
The content of the
course is influenced
by multiple factors.
 IMPLICATIONS

COURSE DESIGN IS A
DYNAMIC PROCESS.
It does not move in a
linear fashion from
initial analysis to
completed course.
 IMPLICATIONS

COURSE DESIGN IS A
DYNAMIC PROCESS.
It does not move in a
linear fashion from
initial analysis to
completed course.
What's the best way to teach
these students English so they
can read in their field?
A needs analysis reveals that the ESP learners need English in
order to be able to read texts in their subject specialism. They
have no need to write, speak or listen to English. Their sole need
is to read English texts. If we followed a language-centred or
skills-centred approach to course design, we might conclude that
ESP lessons would concern themselves only with the activity of
reading texts. There would be no listening work; all discussion
What about some other language features? We should
would be in the native
be slowly language
building our tool kits soand writing
we can identify tasks
more would be
minimal. This wouldlanguage
advanced be a features
logicalwithin
application
texts. Lets of the models for
do this!
course design above (figures 18 and 19). But if we took a learning-
centred approach, we would need to ask further questions and
consider other factors, before determining the content and
methodology of the course.
 The Situation: 2 sisters are given a task to
bake a cake for their younger sister's birthday.

SISTER 1 SISTER 2
Plain Vanilla Cake: Asking "Cake Guest" Questions: This is
like asking questions about your "cake
baked a plain vanilla
guests".
cake because that's
the simplest, most What flavors do she enjoy?
Would a chocolate frosting help her
direct solution.
appreciate the vanilla cake more?
Would a layer of berry filling would
help her appreciate the overall taste?
 What flavors do
Based on the answers, she
she enjoy?
might add a layer of berry
filling to the cake and a
Would a chocolate chocolate frosting. Even
frosting help her though the basic cake is
appreciate the vanilla
still vanilla, the added
cake more?
layers enhance the overall
experience and make it
Would a layer of berry
filling would help her
more enjoyable and
appreciate the overall effective.
taste?
2 Sisters- Teachers
Younger sister- Students
Situation- English course
Cake- Course design
A needs analysis reveals that the ESP learners need English in
order to be able to read texts in their subject specialism. They
have no need to write, speak or listen to English. Their sole need
is to read English texts. If we followed a language-centred or
skills-centred approach to course design, we might conclude that
ESP lessons would concern themselves only with the activity of
reading texts. There would be no listening work; all discussion
What about some other language features? We should
would be in the native
be slowly language
building our tool kits soand writing
we can identify tasks
more would be
minimal. This wouldlanguage
advanced be a features
logicalwithin
application
texts. Lets of the models for
do this!
course design above (figures 18 and 19). But if we took a learning-
centred approach, we would need to ask further questions and
consider other factors, before determining the content and
methodology of the course.
The questions are the steps that being take to
put that belief into action and gather
information.

The answers guide the decisions about the

specific content and methodology of the
course.
a) Can we only learn to read effectively by
reading or can the other skills help the
learners to become better readers?

b) What are the implications for methodology of

having a mono-skill focus? Will it lead to a lack
of variety in lessons or a limited range of
exercise types, which will soon induce boredom
in the learners? Could other skills be used to
increase variety?
 c) How will the students react to doing tasks
involvinga)other skills?
Can we only learn toWill they appreciate
read effectively by the
greater variety and interest of the
reading or can the other skills help the
learners to become better readers?
activities or
will they say 'I don't need to understand spoken
English, so why are you asking me to listen to
something in English? I need to read.'

d) Do the resources in the classroom allow the

use of other skills? Is it quiet enough to do
listening or speaking work? Can the teacher
handle an integrated skills approach?
 e) How will the learners react to
discussing things in the mother tongue?
Will it help them to feel more secure?
Will it enable them to express their views
more easily and freely. Or will they feel
that it isn't really helping them to learn
English?
 f) How will the learners' attitudes vary
through the course? At first they may
prefer a reading only approach, because it
is novel and may give them a good sense
of achievement. Will this motivation carry
on through the whole course, however?
Will the learners get bored with the same
kinds of activities and start to want a more
varied methodology?
 g) How do the learners feel about
reading as an activity? Is it something
they like doing, or is it an activity that
they avoid where possible, even in the
mother tongue? If the latter is the case,
will a reading only approach help to
remove some of their aversion to reading
or will it reinforce existing antipathies?
 The learning-centered approach
doesn't give you the answers; it gives
you the motivation and the tools to
find them yourself. It's a process of
investigation and adaptation, not a
pre-determined solution.
Conclusion
Conclusion