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Course syllabus evaluation

Courses are curricular organizational units that convey content throughout time. Courses in
language education are frequently multidisciplinary and have a range of lengths in order to
satisfy learner needs (communication, grammar, vocabulary). The principles of course
design will be covered in this essay, with a focus on the idea of how this course allow
students to develop strategies and skills needed to be successful in all academic areas. In
their book Language curriculum designer, John Macalister and I.S.P Nation identify 20
principles that teachers and other educators might use. These guidelines are founded on a
pedagogical viewpoint. The syllabus evaluated is designed for the students grade in 1. They
study in an international school. The name of syllabus is English Language Arts Grade 1
(ELA).
It is vital to approach the task of reviewing a syllabus by thinking about potential definitions
of the term to give a fundamental framework for evaluation. A syllabus can be described as
"a description of the contents of a course of instruction and the order in which they are to be
taught" in the Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics
(Richards et al. 1992, 368). This definition is consistent with that provided by Thornbury
(1999, 8), Brown (1994, 51), and Stern (1992, 19). Stern even suggests that "defining
objectives, determining content, and indicating some sort of sequence or progression" is "the
essential minimum of what is meant by curriculum" (here, curriculum is used to refer to
syllabus in British terminology), even though he only sees the language syllabus as one of
four syllabuses that together make up a "general language education syllabi" (Stern 1992,
266). Such curricula, whether they be structural, functional, or skills-based, are included in
what White (1988, 44ff.) refers to as type A syllabuses since they are "centered on
objectives to be reached and content to be taught." He compares this style of syllabus to a
distinct group, type B, which places more emphasis on methods.
It is easy to recognize that course designers had used the principle of frequency (or it can be
called by the other name is cost benefit principle) when designing this course. The given
course syllabus gives most attention to the high frequency items of the language. Using high
frequency in studying language is really important. We can’t learn or use a language without
them. In every unit of this course, students would use approximately 300 - 400 words that
used frequently (we can check them in COCA lists). Some of words are highly use in this
course are animal, trees, plant, fruits, and food. Apart from vocabulary, verb form frequency
can be seen in almost unit. The second principle that is being applied in this course syllabus
is a language system or we can call them is the generalizable aspect of the language must be
the course's language focus. In theory, language is not only a separate thing or phenomenon,
they are class, types of things and phenomena that share the same essential properties.
Therefore, it is an effective means of intellectual activities (perception, imagination,
memory, idea). When learners learn any new word, they will use the generalization function
of the language to recognize and learn more word families. For example, in unit three of this
course, when students learn about the word "enable" for the first time, they may know it is a
verb and so students would have a chance to learn more word family. So finally, they are
already know that the word "ability" is noun or while ably is an adverb and unable is an
adjective. Another example of how the principle of spaced repeated retrieval is being applied
in this course is that the teacher should try to include the underlying concepts of the world
when introducing the meaning of an unknown word rather than just concentrating on the
meaning of the word in a specific context. The learners will be more adept at deciphering the
word when it appears in a different context if they have some understanding of the word's
fundamental meaning. For instance, in unit 4 of the course, teachers made the questions on
the topic of "city" which emphasizes on language aspects like coherent devices and
prediction hints (guessing terms from context). This makes it simple for kids to guess words
like "metropolis," "traffic jam," and "hustle and bustle."
Using previous knowledge to apply it to language learning has been shown to be effective
both in helping students remember the lesson and making the learning more meaningful.
Apply the principle of learning burden, the course has helped the students in making the
most of their prior knowledge. From the first lessons, in the course, each lesson is designed
with exercises to help students review and use the knowledge they have learned from the
previous lesson. This is a course for first graders, so each lesson introduces learners to a few
sounds. For example, in week 3 they will learn to pronounce some rhymes like B, H, F, M,
S, T and then in the following weeks there are other sounds until the alphabet learning is
finished.
Motivation: Another principle that I find it is being applied in a greatest extent and spread
throughout all the weeks of the course is a principle of motivation. Using this principle
would allow students motivating their study as much as possible, the learners should be
interested and excited about learning the language and they should come to value this
learning. This principle emphasizes the significance of students' attitudes toward their course
material. A key factor in determining how much time, attention, and effort a student will
devote to their studies is motivation. Syllabus has been focused on creating excitement for
learners by keeping the lesson interesting as much as possible. Playing various types of
games which had been integrated in each lesson such as guessing words, kahoot game,
flashcards, watching videos, telling stories is useful. Giving the small rewards is also applied
by teachers. For example, kids often like to receive some stars as rewards or timely
compliments from their teachers. Boon (2007) considered that teachers can encourage
students to develop attainable and realistic personal objectives in order to increase
motivation for language acquisition. To apply this principle, teachers had set the small goal
of every week which is allow students can review the basic sounds of the alphabet and be
able to recognize the letters and spell words.
The following principle that the course syllabus will emphasize is time on task. This notion
is based on research showing that how much time students spend engaging in effective
learning activities is one of the best predictors of how much they will learn. The more time
students devote to learning a language, the more they learn. The relationship between
amount of time spent residing in a place where the foreign language is spoken and language
ability lends some credence to this theory. How can check to see that syllabus is giving
sufficient time on task for their students. There are some evidences that can be shown that
students in this course had spent a lot of time on task as following. First, this course allows
teacher uses a range of techniques and lesson formats so that students are confident in their
actions. One of a typical technique that teachers use the most in nearly lesson is the the
pictorial method (usually in the form of flashcards or on electronic lectures) into a tool for
learning games to help students learn vocabulary better. Moreover, to maximize the useful
time on task principle, teacher have to ensure that their task must be easy for students to
carry out. So in this syllabus, teacher uses some kinds of games to holds the interesting of
students. One of famous game is Kahoot. Sersoz (2000) argues that playing game Kahoot is
valued for its attractiveness and enjoyment. In order to win the game, students must share
their knowledge or opinions. In the relaxed atmosphere, the acquisition of new vocabulary is
fast and efficient and learners use the languages they had learned and practiced before. It can
be said that the inclusion of games in the syllabus has helped students learn effectively.
According to Capp (2012), playing educational game would support learning and get
knowledge and Kahoot is one of the tools on the platform that is really popular and tcan be
used in language classroom.
Finally, the principle of feedback has been relatively applied when designing this course of
syllabus. The feedback principle used in the design of this course is reflected in the "wrap-
up" section at the end of each lesson. When teachers teach this part, they will give students
feedbacks that may be a positive or a negative so that learners can recognize their strengths
and weaknesses. Sometimes, in the process of teaching, if students make serious mistakes
such as basic grammar or incorrect pronunciation, teachers also give appropriate feedback
In conclusion, I would argue that that there were some principles had been applied when
designing this course of syllabus. But the extent of applying for each principle is variable.
For example, the principle of motivation and the principle of feedback had applied in most
of the unit and lesson while some other principles are applied in some lessons. I also say that
course designers had good reasons for choosing and ranking these principles that were
appropriate for learners who were the 1* graders. So, with all the analysis mentioned above,
I believe this is a successful course design.