Language Curriculum Design

I.S.P.  Nation is Professor in Applied Linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. In addition to books, his extensive list of publications on teaching and learning vocabulary, language teaching methodology, and curriculum design, includes journal articles, book chapters and book reviews. He has taught in Indonesia, Thailand, the United States, Finland and Japan. John Macalister is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He specialises in the fields of language teaching methodology and curriculum design and draws on experience in teacher education and curriculum design in Thailand, Cambodia, Kiribati, Vanuatu and Namibia.

"Nation and Macalister have prepared a comprehensive book on curriculum design with extensive coverage of a variety of issues involved. The important message of this book is that every stakeholder in language education is a curriculum designer. Language Curriculum Design can empower them to play this role." —Teachers College Record"This book offers a broad understanding of the process in a clear and comprehensive, yet concise package that—along with the model itself—can confidently guide users at the classroom and program level through the complex activity of language CD."—Leigh McDowll, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, JALT Journal

• PrefaceCHAPTER 1 LANGUAGE CURRICULUM DESIGN: AN OVERVIEW Parts of the curriculum design processConsidering the environmentDiscovering needsFollowing principlesGoalsContent and sequencingFinding a format and presenting materialMonitoring and assessingEvaluating a courseTasks1 Examining a published course2 Using the parts of the model to overview the planning of a courseCase studiesCHAPTER 2 ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS An example of environment analysisEnvironment constraintsUnderstanding the constraintsThe constraint of timeSteps in environment analysisTasks1 The range of constraints2 Examining your teaching environmentCase studiesCHAPTER 3 NEEDS ANALYSIS The various focuses of needs analysisDiscovering needsNeeds analysis toolsEvaluating needs analysisIssues in needs analysisTasks1 Needs analysis for a writing course2 Evaluating a needs analysis scheme3 Discovering needsCase studiesCHAPTER 4 PRINCIPLES Methods and principlesThe twenty principlesSelectionGradationPresentationUsing the list of principles Case studiesTasks1 Applying principles2 Teachability hypothesisCase studiesCHAPTER 5 GOALS, CONTENT AND SEQUENCING Guidelines for deciding or checking the content and sequencing of a courseGoals and contentThe units of progression in a courseWhat will the progression be used for?VocabularyGrammarFunctionsDiscourseSkills, subskills and strategiesIdeasTask based syllabusesSequencing the content in coursesLinear approaches to sequencingA modular approach to sequencingTasks1 Verb form coverage in beginners' course books2 The ideas content of a course3 Describing the goals of a courseCase studiesCHAPTER 6 FORMAT AND PRESENTATION Format and other parts of the curriculum design processGuidelines for deciding on a formatFollowing a set formatBlocks and threadsTechniques and activitiesTasks1 Examining the format of a lesson2 Examining teaching techniquesCase studiesCHAPTER 7 MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT Guidelines for monitoring and assessmentTypes of monitoring and assessmentPlacement assessmentObservation of learningShort term achievement assessmentDiagnostic assessmentAchievement assessmentProficiency assessmentGood assessment: reliability, validity and practicalityTasks1 Planning the assessment in a course2 Evaluating a testCase studiesCHAPTER 8 EVALUATION What is an evaluation?Steps in an evaluationPurpose and audience of evaluationThe type and focus of the evaluationGaining support for the evaluationGathering the informationFormative evaluation as a part of a courseThe results of an evaluationTasks1 Focus of evaluation2 An evaluation checklist3 An evaluation planCase studiesCHAPTER 9 APPROACHES TO CURRICULUM DESIGN Models of curriculum designDoing curriculum designStarting pointsThe process of curriculum designDeciding on an approachSummary of the stepsTasks1 Your curriculum design process2 Choosing an appropriate approachCase studiesCHAPTER 10 NEGOTIATED SYLLABUSES Negotiated syllabusesAn example of a negotiated syllabusRequirements for a negotiated syllabusSyllabuses with some elements negotiatedDisadvantages and advantages of a negotiated syllabusTasks1 Problems in implementing a negotiated syllabus2 Partly negotiated syllabuses3 Developing a negotiated approach to syllabus designCase studiesCHAPTER 11 ADOPTING AND ADAPTING AN EXISTING COURSE BOOK The course book, the learners and the teacherDividing the parts of the processStrong reliance on the course book with minimal adaptationAdapting a course bookUsing source books instead of course booksUsing computers and the internetEvaluating a course bookEssential features: reducing the list of possible booksChoosing and weighting the featuresEvaluating the evaluation formsPresenting the resultsTasks1 Designing a course book evaluation form2 Evaluating a course book3 Course book evaluation schedules4 Using a course bookCase studiesCHAPTER 12 INTRODUCING CHANGE Steps in introducing changeSeeing the need for changeDeciding on the size of the changeRealistic changeUsing a variety of change strategiesInnovation, management and long term supportTasks1 Change that failed2 Change in a school's programCase studiesCHAPTER 13 PLANNING AN IN-SERVICE COURSE Features of an effective workshopProcedures and activities for reaching the goalsUnderstanding and remembering ideasExperiencing and evaluatingMaking materialPlanning lessons and units of workProblem solvingSequencing the components of a workshopEvaluating workshopsTasks1 Principles for in-service courses2 Designing an in-service courseCase studiesCHAPTER 14 TEACHING AND CURRICULUM DESIGNEnvironment analysisNeeds analysisPrinciplesGoalsContent and sequencingFormat and presentationMonitoring and assessmentEvaluationCurriculum design and learner autonomy APPENDICES 1 A verb form frequency countREFERENCES INDEX