LANGUAGE CURRICULUM DESIGN 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

Defining Curriculum

In the Covid -19 heat wave, education is at the forefront of the world’s future competitiveness

battle. In the mixed teaching mode, with the help of good courses; there will be productive

education. The concept of the curriculum is to a large extent connected with the organization

of school education and higher education.

It can be defined as prescriptive, descriptive, or both.

Prescriptive [curriculum] definitions provide us with what “ought” to happen, and they more

often than not take the form of a plan, an intended program, or some kind of expert opinion

about what needs to take place in the course of study. (Ellis, 2004, p. 4)

John Dewey (1902) expresses his views in the following lines:

“Curriculum is a continuous reconstruction, moving from the child’s present experience out

into that represented by the organized bodies of truth that we call studies . . . the various

studies . . . are themselves experiences— they are that of the race.” (pp. 11–12)

Whereas Ellis defines that:

“Descriptive definitions of curriculum go beyond the prescriptive terms as they force thought

about the curriculum “not merely in terms of how things ought to be . . . but how things are in

real classrooms”. (Ellis, 2004, p. 5)

So, summing up the defining concepts we can agree on the following:

“[Curriculum] refers to a written plan outlining what students will be taught (a course of

study). Curriculum may refer to all the courses offered at a given school, or all the courses

offered at a school in a particular area of study.” J. L. McBrien & R. Brandt (1997)

Curriculum Design

Hilda Taba’s definition of curriculum design is considered the most widely accepted;
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“Curriculum design is a statement which identifies the elements of the curriculum, states

what their relationships are to each other and indicates the principles of organization and the

requirements of that organization for; he administrative conditions under which it is to

operate... A design, of course, needs to be supported with and to make explicit a curriculum

theory which establishes the sources to consider and the principles to apply”.

The curriculum design can be divided into three ways. These include subject-centered design,

student-centered design, and problem-centered design. Subject-centered design focuses on

specific topics, while student-centered design focuses on students' own interests and goals.

Problem-centered design focuses on specific problems and how to find solutions.

Language Curriculum Design

From curriculum to language curriculum design; curriculum design involves the integration

of knowledge in many fields of applied linguistics, such as language acquisition research,

teaching methods, assessment, language description and material production.

“There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to

manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would

profit by the preservation of the old system and merely lukewarm defenders in those who

would gain from the new one.” (Machiavelli (1513) The Prince)

In many ways, curriculum design research is the core of applied linguistics research.

Combining sound research / theory with the most advanced practice, language course design

is widely applicable to ESL / EFL language education courses around the world.

Components of curriculum design

There are also the components of curriculum design, which include: scope, integration,

sequence, continuity, cohesion, and balance. The range gives the length and breadth of topics
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to be included in any given level of instruction. Integration describes the relationship between

the topics students encounter at each level of instruction. Ornstein & Francis link it up with a

focused behaviour and explain;

“Learning experiences usually begin with gathering information on the learners’ entry

behaviours then progressing to the unknown. It should be noted that an educational objective

may be attained using many learning experiences (Ornstein & Francis, 1988)

So as Oliva, who incorporates its’ chain link with the basic foundations and states;

“A coverage of the social, psychological, philosophical as well as historical foundations

which incorporate the current research findings provides a basis for curriculum design and

development”. (Oliva, 1988).

Whereas Kameenui and Carnine discuss the strategies related to key principles as following;

“...instructional strategy deals with the focus on the essentials. This strategy deals with the

key principles, concepts and ideas from the curriculum that cuts across main themes in the

subject matter. This implies that the instruction revolves around the key themes in a given

subject area. This ensures that learners make connections between the new concepts and thus

develop problem solving skills. When using this type of strategy, important ideas should be

laid out to assist learners to identify the connections among them.” (Kameenui & Carnine,

1998).)
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References:

1. Dewey, J. (1902). The child and the curriculum. Chicago: University of Chicago

Press.

2. Ellis, A. K. (2004). Exemplars of curriculum theory. Larchmont, NY: Eye on

Education.

3. Hilda Taba 196 (1962, p. 421) Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice.

4. McBrien, J. L., & Brandt, R. (Eds.). (1997). The language of learning: A guide to

educational terms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

5. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 - 1527) [ The Prince, Ch.6 p.15

Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 1947]

6. Oliva, P.F (1988) Developing Curriculum, 2nd Edition. Scott: Foreman and Co

7. Ornstein, A. C and Francis, P.H (1988) Curriculum: Foundations, Principles and

Issues. Boston: Prentice-Hall.

8. Kameenui, E.J. and Carnine, D.W. (1998). Effective Teaching Strategies that

Accommodate Diverse Learners. Columbus, OH: Merrill-Prentice Hall