Faculty of Art, Design and Humanities Centre for English Language Learning
TEFL5014
English for Specific Purposes and Course Design
Module Handbook
Contents Page
1 Welcome and Module Description......................................................................... 2
2 Learning Outcomes.................................................................................................. 2
3 Teaching and Learning. .......................................................................................... 2
4 Teaching Programme............................................................................................... 3
5 Assessment................................................................................................................ 4
5.1 Criteria for Assessment............................................................................ 5
5.2 Penalties, Reassessments, Extensions and Deferrals...................... 6
6 Reading 6
6.1 Preparatory Reading................................................................................ 6
6.2 Further Reading........................................................................................ 7
1 Welcome andModule Description
Welcome to TEFL 5014 and an area that is likely to be quite new to you. This module will bring together all the elements of the MA to enable you to develop as course designers. Even if you will not be in the position to design new courses, these skills will help you to reflect on your teaching and adapt materials, always taking the needs of the students into account, and will also give you the confidence to teach within whatever circumstances you find yourselves in.
This module is designed to place English Language Teaching in the broader context of education and to provide an in-depth discussion of the concepts of syllabus and curriculum. You will develop the ability to plan short and longer courses, taking into account the particular learning and teaching situation for a specific group of learners. In addition you will consider how to put into operation a negotiated syllabus and the consequences of doing this. Alongside these considerations, we will also look at the specific needs of certain groups of learners: Business people, university students, or pilots, for example. Finally you will be able to produce your own materials by adapting existing ones or devising new ones, thus diminishing your reliance on published course books and learning materials.
2 Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students will be able to:
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1. demonstrate a critical awareness of the components of the language curriculum.
2. apply acquired knowledge to perform an appropriate needs analysis for a specific learner group.
3. systematically assess the syllabus design process and the selection of materials as appropriate to different contexts.
4. demonstrate an ability to develop and/or select supplementary materials for particular student needs.
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3 Teaching and Learning
This module is taught through a series of lectures and workshops. The lectures will introduce the background to historical approaches to English language teaching and the considerations undertaken when going through the process of syllabus and course design within various ESP groups. The workshops will incorporate student-led discussions and presentations of case studies (non-assessed) to see application of the process in authentic situations. You will also go through the process of designing a course by doing needs analysis, defining aims, determining methods and selecting materials as well as creating your own authentic materials. This could be for a short course of 1 month or a longer course of 1 year. You will look at adapting supplementary materials for use with a specific ESP class in addition to devising your own materials e.g. worksheets and role cards and other tasks. Teaching and learning are also supported by the Blackboard VLE.
4 The Teaching Programme
This module will be taught on Thursday mornings. The tutors on the programme will be drawn from several staff with experience of designing ELT courses and there are also likely to be specialist staff for certain topics (e.g. Aviation English). The following seminar programme will be flexible and subject to change.
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Week
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Topics
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Week 18
(Jie Liu)
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What is ESP?
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Week 19
(Phil Rule)
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Needs Analysis and English for Academic Purposes (1)
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Week 20
(Phil Rule)
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Needs Analysis and English for Academic Purposes (2)
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Week 21
(Phil Rule)
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Assessment Design for ESP Courses
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Week 22
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Teaching Practice Week (No Class)
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Week 23
(Phil Rule)
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Selecting and Adapting Teaching Materials
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Week 24
(Jie Liu)
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Approaches to Language Curriculum Design
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Week 25
(Janet Slack)
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Teaching Aviation English
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Week 26
(Jie Liu)
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Case Study 1: Teaching Asylum Seekers (1)
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Week 27
(Jie Liu)
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Case Study 1: Teaching Asylum Seekers
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Week 31
(Jie Liu)
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Case Study 2: Teaching Business English
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Week 32
(Jie Liu)
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Case Study 3: Teaching Science/Engineering English
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5 Assessment
5.1 Syllabus and Course Design Task
For this assessment you can choose one among the following three tasks.
- Design/adapt a course and syllabus for a group of students you are teaching or have access to, giving the rationale for your choices. If you are currently teaching the course, you must evaluate and suggest modifications to it.
- Take a course that you have either taught or were yourself a student on in the past and suggest modifications to the design to meet the needs of the students. Suggest a syllabus.
- Design a totally new course and syllabus in an area that interests you and in which you have experience. This would probably be within your own country or another country if you have sufficient knowledge
- Design a syllabus for teaching asylum seekers in the Square Mile project at DMU.
Your choice will be discussed in class. You need to analyse the process throughout both with reference to the literature/theory in the field and your particular scenario. In other words, your course design should be based on relevant theories/literature. You will lose marks if they are not linked.
Examples of some of the factors you will need to consider:
- Needs analysis (the theory of needs analysis linked to a suggestion of how you would conduct it for your scenario)
- Learning theories
- Teaching methodology
- Materials choice/adaptation
- Institutional Resources (teachers, finance, etc.)
- Assessment of the students
- Evaluation of the design process itself
This is a practical assessment with theoretical justification. Small samples of appropriate materials, clearly labelled as either published or adapted (source referenced), or personally designed, must be included in the appendix and you must refer to them in your paper. You must include at least one activity that has been personally designed and one that has been adapted. A suitable syllabus must also be suggested. It is acceptable to adapt a syllabus from published materials, if justified (clearly referenced as adapted).
Tip Clearly outline the scenario at the outset – Who are the students? What is the context? What type of course is it? Why do they need this course? How many hours will they be taught per day/week?This will then help you to answer HOW?
5.2 Criteria for Assessment
- Ability to demonstrate a critical awareness of the components of the language curriculum
- Systematically assess and analyse the course/syllabus design process and the selections of materials as appropriate to different contexts linking theory to practice
- Ability to apply acquired knowledge to perform/suggest an appropriate needs analysis
- Ability to design or adapt courses, select/adapt materials and suggest a suitable syllabus
- Ability to construct and communicate ideas clearly and coherently
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