Language Curriculum Development

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LANGUAGE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Norma Triana

There are various conceptions of the curriculum, ranging from a narrow understanding (such as the content or program of a course) to a broader view (including the entire teaching-learning process). Here's a brief overview of its historical development.

The 80´s time for ESP

By the 1980s, in many parts of the world a “needs-based philosophy” emerged in language teaching, particularly in relation to ESP( English for Specific Purposes) and vocationally oriented program design. The purposes of needs analysis could be to perform a particular role, to train in a particular language skill and many more. By this time, technology, such as language labs and multimedia resources, began to be integrated into teaching .

Modern curriculum

From thew 80´s to the 21st century other skills were included in the curriculum like the soft skills, socio-emotional learning and the intercultural learning. To create a curriculum we have to prepare before hand a needs analysis: In the case of K–12 ESL programs Linse (1993) identifies the following purposes for needs analysis: To whom? What kind of English? At what level of proficiency? And for what purposes?Needs analysis seeks to provide answers to these questions and situation analysis seeks to identify the role of contextual factors in implementing curriculum Language Teaching.

The origins of traditional curriculum

Richards traces the origins of the traditional curriculum development approaches, based on the selection of linguistic contents, and points out their limitations, paving the way for understanding the subsequent advances in this field. The basic units of language are vocabulary and grammar and by this time learners were considered had the same needs everywhere. At this period we can call the pre-method we can see the total physical response method and the audiolingual.

• Chomsky's concept of an innate "universal grammar" paved the way for the development of the Cognitive Approach, which focused on understanding the cognitive processes underlying language learning.Parallel to these developments, the field of sociolinguistics also made its mark on language teaching. Theorists like Lev Vygotsky, with his sociocultural theory, viewed learning as an active, meaning-making process where learners construct their own understanding. This perspective contributed to the rise of the Communicative Approach, which emphasized the social and functional aspects of language use, authentic communication, and learner-centered activities. As a learner and a product of these evolving theories, I have experienced the benefits of these advancements in language teaching.But we didn´t stop there as, the recognition of diverse learning styles, stated by Howard Gardner's

Language teaching and other sciences

Personal insight

It is very fascinating how language teaching approaches have been shaped and transformed by advancements in various scientific fields, particularly psychology, over the years. in the 1950s through the 1970s, the dominance of behaviorism in psychology significantly influenced language teaching methods. The Audio-Lingual Method, for instance, was heavily inspired by the behaviorist principles of habit formation, emphasizing repetition, drill-based activities, and the stimulus-response-reinforcement. However, the landscape shifted as the cognitive revolution took hold in the 1960s and 1970s. Linguists like Noam Chomsky challenged the behavioral view and introduced a more mentalistic approach to language acquisition.

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II World War

After the II World war other approaches to language teaching were also available, such as travel and commercial English books that were organized around topics, situations, and phrases as well as some that focused on technical English or the English used in specific occupations. By the 19´s some popular methods were the suggestopedia and the audiolingual where more exercises in conversatioins and compositions were incorporated.

1960: curriculum and learners´needs

The educational programs emerged in the 1960s as part of the systems approach to curriculum development and was part of the prevalent philosophy of educational accountability. The educational program should be based on an analysis of learners’ needs. More learner´s centered approaches were developed, such as the communicative method, the task-based approach and the project-based approach.. More attention was paid to listening and speaking skills..

“Curriculum development is not an isolated process. It is developed at different levels and requires a great deal of knowledge regarding the variety of aspects that intervene in its process. Furthermore, curriculum cannot be developed by one single person. It is a cooperative group work. Consequently, in order to develop a curriculum, it is necessary the participation of many people starting from the students, the community, subject specialists, school staff, and society in general as sources for curriculum development.” (Soto, 2015)

Up to 1950

The early curriculum development approaches were mainly based on the selection and gradation of grammatical and lexical elements, guided by principles such as simplicity, frequency, and sequencing. Lists of grammatical structures and vocabulary, ordered progressively, provided an accessible introduction to the language. We can name here the direct method and the technique of grammar translation.