ΑΓΓ-60 MINI ASSIGNMENT 1

Hellenic Open University

Mini ASSIGNMENT 1

MODULE: ΑΓΓ 60

Course Design and Evaluation

Academic Year: 2000-2001

Tutor: Dr Julia Spinthourakis

Student: Damianos A. Damianopoulos.

Damianos Damianopoulos-HOU Academic Year 2000-2001- Mini Assignment 1: AΓΓ60 Course Design

of 19

Use the framework and concepts you have met in Units 0 and 1

and in your background reading to describe your current

teaching situation and discuss whether coherence is possible in

your syllabus.


of 19

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Educational Decision-making Structures in Primary and Secondary Education

4

2. Documentation of the Curriculum 4

3. Policy and the Position of the State in Relation to EFL 4

4. Educational and Language Orientations 5

5. Aims and Objectives of the Curriculum 5

6. Curriculum Implementation in the Classroom 6

7. Pragmatic Constraints and Coherence 8

7.1 The Teachers 8

7.2 The Learners 9

7.3 The Resources 9

8. Epilogue 10

BIBLIOGRAPHY 12

APPENDIX I 13

APPENDIX II 14

APPENDIX III 17

APPENDIX IV 18


of 19

1. Educational Decision-making Structures in Primary and Secondary Education

Primary and Secondary education in Greece are two distinct stages of compulsory education under the general supervision of the Ministry for Education, whereas matters of curriculum and policies are regulated by the Pedagogical Institute. The policy of the State as regards foreign language teaching is propagated by means of the School Advisers, who have to tour educational units and conduct seminars and various informative meetings. The next level of decision-making lies with the headmaster, whose role is usually limited to matters of administration, provision of resources, and finance, which nevertheless are related to the implementation of the curriculum, albeit indirectly. Last, but not least, are the teachers who are entrusted with the final implementation of the curriculum through a syllabus, which they will have to decide upon and adopt. On the way, they will have to bypass many obstacles, which are very frequently posed by conflicting directives of the administration.

2. Documentation of the Curriculum The Curriculum for the teaching of English as a foreign language in the Primary and Secondary schools in Greece is contained in the Comprehensive 6-year Curriculum for the Teaching of English (4th-9th form), by the Pedagogical Institute (Athens 1997), published in the Official Government Gazette of the Hellenic Republic,1 and hereafter to be referred to as “Curriculum”. In the case of our area (Western Greece), various educational issues may also be touched upon in the semester newsletter EFL ADVICE2 produced by our school adviser reflecting policies and methods, which are advocated by the Pedagogical Institute and supported by the Curriculum.

3. Policy and the Position of the State in Relation to EFL Learning foreign languages is considered vital for Greek pupils, as Greek is one of the least spoken languages worldwide. English in particular is given priority by the Curriculum over other foreign languages, as it is one of the most 1 APPENDIX Ι: Φ.Ε.Κ. Αρ. Φύλλου. 9/18-01-1996, Τεύχος A, Προεδρικό ∆ιάταγµα 15/1996: Τροποποίηση αναλυτικών προγραµµάτων σχολικών µονάδων Πρωτοβάθµιας και ∆ευτεροβάθµιας Εκπαίδευσης. 2 Cf. APPENDIX ΙΙ: EFL ADVICE, Issue 1, September 1999, which is relevant to the topic of this paper.


of 19

widespread means of communication facilitating access to information in various sectors of human activity. The Curriculum views the use of English in society from the three basic aspects described by Dubin and Olshtain (1997: 9-13), namely learning English for educational purposes, in relation to demands by the labour market and in connection with its use as a means of accessing information. It is clearly stated that knowledge of the English language will enable Greeks to contact people in other countries in their effort to fulfil social, economic, educational and cultural goals.3

4. Educational and Language Orientations It is explicitly stipulated in the Curriculum that the teaching of English should activate the cognitive, social and functional skills of the pupils. Namely, they should acquire knowledge of notions of existence, space, time etc., functions like indicating, contradicting, refusing and so on and they should engage in learning activities, the focus of which will be on language as a social act and not as a system of structures and meanings.4

Additionally, a pivotal point of the Curriculum is that knowledge is not an array of separate information modules arranged in a linear way, but learning experience, in which any new information is founded on previously consolidated knowledge and in relation to the pupils’ experience of the world.

Besides, the Curriculum is viewed not as a selection of topics based on a

language syllabus, but as a compilation of communicative goals to be gradually accomplished with the mastery of the various parameters of communication like vocabulary range, register, fluency, communication strategies, authentic interaction etc.5

5. Aims and Objectives of the Curriculum

As regards the goals, which are closely related to the acquisition of

language, the Curriculum stipulates three general aims: Acquisition of knowledge:

a. On the form of English 6 b. The development of the sociolinguistic skills for the four basic

communicative skills, namely reading, writing, listening and speaking and c. The use of English as a means of communication and as a social act.7

This means that a combination is required of the three views as regards the 3 Pedagogical Institute 1997:65. 4 Pedagogical Institute 1997:66-67. 5 Pedagogical Institute 1997:67. 6 Cf. APPENDIX II: Chrysochoos N. (1999) EFL ADVICE, Issue 1: p.4 “Rationale”. 7 Pedagogical Institute 1997:95.


of 19

theory of language, namely the Structural, Functional and Interactional, described by Richards and Rogers (1999:16-17), namely the teaching of the grammatical structure of language, the functions of language and the use of language in interpersonal relations.

More specifically, the Curriculum stipulates the gradual development of Receptive skills Productive skills Interactive skills Communicative strategies for the achievement of communicative goals and

Skills for the parallel use of L2 and the mother tongue, namely translation.8

It should be noted here that the Curriculum urges for the highlighting of

the international character of English and the exclusion of cultural elements, which pertain to specific countries.9

Finally, the learners are expected to be able to evaluate their progress and

assess qualitatively and quantitatively whether they have attained the goals established by the syllabus.

6. Curriculum Implementation in the Classroom

According to Krashen’s (1981)10 monitor theory and the conditions

necessary for foreign language acquisition, the material provided for learning should be easy to understand, somewhat higher than the learners’ competence level, engaging and relevant, in quantities large enough to cater for the learners’ needs and facilitating learning in low-anxiety situations. We believe that the series adopted in our teaching situation complies with all these requirements and uses pair- and group-work activities, which contribute to the relieving of classroom tensions. Besides, the syllabus provides objectives, which are clearly stated, and content to be mastered, which is unambiguously outlined in the accompanying teacher’s books.11

If we adopt White’s (1997: 44-47) proposition regarding types of

syllabuses, we can say that the one provided in our teaching situation is a combination of Type A and Type B functional-notional syllabus, namely one the topics and objectives of which have been defined beforehand. However, it is one, which gives precedence to function rather than to form, in a teaching

8 Pedagogical Institute 1997:70. 9 Pedagogical Institute 1997:66. 10 Cited in Richards J & T Rogers (1999): 18. 11 Cf. White R. (1997): 46.


of 19

situation where the teacher is not the authoritarian decision maker, but rather a facilitator and regulator, as regards the teaching process.

As stated above, the Curriculum stipulates three distinct approaches as

regards the teaching of English as a foreign language, namely the Structural, the Functional-Notional and the Interactional-Communicative. As Richards (1999:11) points out, it is not possible for one only method to guarantee satisfactory results in the teaching of a foreign language. Of the various course-books stipulated in the directives of the Ministry, the teachers in our school concluded that the Snapshot series (Abbs B. et al., 2000) shares the philosophical orientation of the Curriculum and incorporates the approaches and techniques stipulated therein. Let us consider, therefore, the three aforementioned approaches in relation to the syllabus of the Snapshot series.

The first characteristic of the syllabus in our teaching situation is its

structural facet. It follows the pattern: presentation>practice>application. This is in agreement with the Curriculum, as it is stipulated that a first priority is the mastery of the form of the language.12

The second characteristic, namely the notional-functional trend is also in

compliance with the Curriculum, as it contains lists of specific notions13 and functions14 to be dealt with.

Thirdly, and we trust most importantly, the syllabus employed in our

teaching situation is characterised by an Interactional-communicative orientation, too, which caters equally for the four skills of our learners, namely writing and reading as well as listening and speaking, in this way faithfully implementing the Communicative Objectives of the Curriculum.15

However, the coexistence of the structural and functional trends pose a

problem as regards gradation and combinability, as postulated by White (1997:78-79). The problem is dealt with by means of interweaving functional and structural components within teaching units in such a way that the learners receive sufficient revision and practice in both structural and functional modules. Besides, the syllabus employs what White terms “free elements”, which expose the learner to authentic input and activities providing opportunities for innovation, expansion of knowledge, unstructured interaction and rich opportunities for feedback and self-assessment (ibid: 81).

12 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:95. 13 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:98-103. 14 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:103-108. 15 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:96-97.


of 19

One last element stipulated in the Curriculum is the development of the learners’ ability to recognise, accept and learn from their mistakes. This presupposes their ability “to assess their progress and achievement level in terms of reaching their goals”.16 This requirement is implemented with the “Progress update” facility, whereby the pupils are requested to rate their progress in grammar, vocabulary and communication in a table containing relevant indicators in the Elementary and Pre-Intermediate stage, whereas in the Intermediate stage learners are provided with critical questions on their performance in different sections of the units.

However, there is a discrepancy between the Curriculum and the syllabus

used in our teaching situation. The Curriculum dictates that there should be parallel use of the target language and the mother tongue, as well as translation of messages to and from the target language.17 This requirement has the long-term goal to enable pupils “to function as an intermediary between monolinguistic (sic) individuals and groups”.18 Nevertheless, there is no implementation of this provision of the Curriculum partly because we believe that systematic parallel use of the mother tongue would have detrimental effects on the pupils’ fluency in the target language, and because the learners are not required to display such knowledge in any stage of their schooling in secondary education.

7. Pragmatic Constraints and Coherence

From what Dubin (1997:27) considers the basic elements for a description

of a language programme in operation, we have already referred to the agreement between the Curriculum and the syllabus used in our teaching situation as well as the materials used, namely the Snapshot series. We are now going to refer to the last three components, viz. the teachers, the learners and the resources.

7.1 The Teachers It seems that at times it is important whether the teachers are native or

near-native speakers of the language. In our teaching situation that is not the case, so we can assume that the syllabus may suffer at times due to lack of this quality.

Another focal point is the teachers’ training: on our part, effort is made

towards the improvement of our capacity. However, that is not the case among 16 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:71. 17 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:70. 18 Cf. Pedagogical Institute 1997:69.


of 19

other members of the staff, since there are no relevant teacher training programmes administered by the Ministry of Education. Besides, other members of the staff limit their performance to traditional and more conservative trends, being reluctant to adopt innovative techniques. These differences in attitude among teachers often result in lack of cooperation to the detriment of the teaching procedure.

The fact that at times different levels of scrupulousness and commitment

are observed among teachers is concomitant with varying levels of teacher efficacy and therefore fluctuating coherence between the Curriculum and its implementation in the classroom.

7.2 The Learners As regards the nature of our classes, one of the most important drawbacks

amongst them is the mixed abilities of pupils. However, the syllabus and the materials make such good provision for this phenomenon, it can be claimed that there are no serious discrepancies. Besides, the learners are familiar with innovative techniques like pair-/group-work, role-play etc. and if properly instructed, they can fruitfully participate in the learning process. Nevertheless, there are cases, which are unable not only to participate in the learning process, but might require expert help.

7.3 The Resources The existing recourses in our teaching situation seem to be the most

problematic component as regards the implementation of the Curriculum and a major area of discrepancy.

First of all, the number of hours per week, namely 3, 2 and 2 for forms A,

B and C respectively19 seem to be even more insufficient, if we consider the fact that the duration of each session cannot practically be longer than 40 minutes, while it is sometimes curtailed to 25΄ due to timetable restrictions.

As regards classroom setting, the teaching process seriously suffers due to

noise pollution, as busy roads surround the school. What is more, the nature of the classrooms causes such reverberation of sound, that listening exercises sometimes become highly problematic.

Concerning the number of students, it is at times unusually high, which

creates a serious problem in combination with the limited space in some 19 APPENDIX III: Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευµάτων: Αρ. Πρωτ. Γ2/3150/8-9-2000, ∆ιδασκαλία ξένων γλωσσών στο Γυµνάσιο σχ. Έτος 2000-2001.


of 19

classrooms. This situation prohibits innovative classroom management, the teacher being forced to use more old-fashioned arrangements, which might hinder the proper implementation of some parts of the syllabus like pair-/group-work, games etc.

Some administrative measures regarding the provision and use of course-

books constitute a serious hindrance to the unobstructed implementation of the syllabus. According to a circular,20 only the student book is supplied, whereas the pupils are instructed that they will have to return the book to the school in perfect condition. This has as a result that no accompanying activity books can be procured, thus limiting the effectiveness of the teaching procedure. Besides, the pupils cannot use certain exercises contained in the book, as they are discouraged from filling in tables or carrying out other tasks, like information transfer exercises, for fear of being penalized for marking the course-book. In consequence, the teachers have to instruct pupils to copy in their notebooks material, which could have been used directly on the book, thus wasting valuable time, especially in the case of weaker individuals, and depriving the materials of the beneficial effect they should have on the learners.

We finally come to the provision of equipment. Despite the fact that there

are sufficient cassette players, they are not always operable, thus causing numerous problems to the embarrassment of the teachers and the delight of their charges. No other equipment, like overhead projectors or videos, is available nor is there any possibility for the production by teachers of such material like transparencies due to lack of sufficient time.

8. Epilogue

We have attempted herewith to carry out a summary review of the

Curriculum and the syllabus used in our teaching situation in connection with the constraints observed therein, in an effort to locate any discrepancies as regards the coherence among these components of the teaching process. However, as the Curriculum underlines,21 the effectiveness of a syllabus is also based, apart from the multifarious factors enumerated above, on the evaluation, which is carried out not only of the syllabus itself, but of all the components of the teaching process outlined previously, namely the teachers, the learners and the resources. Such an evaluation should be conducted on a national basis by expert evaluators employed by the Ministry for Education.

20 Cf APPENDIX IV: Υπουργείο Παιδείας και Θρησκευµάτων: Αρ. Πρωτ. Γ2/4778/19-10-1999, «∆ιαδικασία Προµήθειας Ξενόγλωσσων Βιβλίων Γυµνασίου, στο πλαίσιο του έργου «Βιβλία Ξένων Γλωσσών για το Γυµνάσιο, σχολικό έτος 1999-2000», του ΕΠΕΑΕΚ. 21 Pedagogical Institute 1997: 112-113.


of 19

Unfortunately, such an evaluation has never been carried out despite the fact that a replacement of the textbooks used in Secondary education was attempted a few years ago. (Number of words: 2,401).


of 19

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbs B., I. Freebairn & C. Baker (2000)

Snapshot. Essex: Longman.

Chrysochoos N.E. & J. E. Chrysochoos (eds. 1999)

EFL ADVICE. Issue 1, September 1999.

Dubin F. & E. Olshtain (1997)

Course Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Krashen (1981) Cited in Richards et al. (1996)

Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning. Oxford: Pergamon.

Pedagogical Institute (1997)

Comprehensive 6-year Curriculum for the Teaching of English (4th-9th Form). Athens: Ministry of National Education and Culture.

Richards J. & T. S. Rodgers (1996)

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Παπανδρέου Γεώργιος (1996)

ΠΡΟΕ∆ΡΙΚΟ ∆ΙΑΤΑΓΜΑ ΥΠ’ ΑΡΙΘ. 15. Τροποποίηση αναλυτικών προγραµµάτων σχολικών µονάδων Πρωτοβάθµιας και ∆ευτεροβάθµιας Εκπαίδευσης. ΦΕΚ Αρ. Φύλλου 9/18-01-1999, Τ. Α΄ Αθήνα.

Υπουργείο Εθνικής Παιδείας & Θρησκευµάτων (1999)

∆ιαδικασία Προµήθειας Ξενόγλωσσων Βιβλίων Γυµνασίου, στο πλαίσιο του έργου «Βιβλία Ξένων Γλωσσών για το Γυµνάσιο, σχολικό έτος 1999-2000», του ΕΠΕΑΕΚ (Β΄ΚΠΣ). Αρ. Πρωτ. Γ2/4778/19-10-1999 Αθήνα.

Υπουργείο Εθνικής Παιδείας & Θρησκευµάτων (2000)

«∆ιδασκαλία ξένων γλωσσών στο Γυµνάσιο σχ. Έτος 2000-2001.» Αρ. Πρωτ. Γ2/3150/8-9-2000 Αθήνα.


of 19

APPENDIX I


of 19

APPENDIX II


of 19


of 19

APPENDIX III


of 19

APPENDIX IV


of 19

ΑΓΓ-60 MINI ASSIGNMENT 1

Documents

Transcript of ΑΓΓ-60 MINI ASSIGNMENT 1