COURSE DESIGNING FACTORS

Factors when designing an English language course

Table of Contents

Introduction2

Things to consider when designing a course2

Effective factors that teachers need to take into account when designing a course2

Factor 1: Practical Implementation2

Factor 2: Motivation and drive2

Factor 3: Interest2

Aims and objectives of a good curriculum2

Important points of a good English language course2

Impact of factors on learning and use of English2

Implications of factors on classroom2

Conclusion2

References2

Factors when designing an English language course

Introduction

English is the third most common language of the world, following Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. It is spoken in every continent of the globe. English is a West Germanic form of language with origins from the dialects of Old Saxons and Anglo-Frisians. Today, it is the first language of many nations, including the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

People coming to the United States from other countries usually take classes to improve their English language. These classes focus on the vocabulary and grammar of such students. There are many institutes in the US that offer such services. Most of these institutes tailor the classes according to the traits of the students. Curriculum design is the most important step for such institutes because they need to make sure that the course they design is a perfect fit with the mindset and comprehensive capabilities of the students. The course should be designed such that the students can understand it easily, learn the concepts and successfully apply them in their practical lives.

Designing a course can have many starting points, depending on the characteristics of the class that has to be taught. The design could be an extension of a previously designed course with slight variations from the original version. It could be the combination of a set of different resources such as novels, text books and course books. It could also be material from newspapers and magazines. In other cases, the teacher could design the material as the class progresses, using improvisation and student involvement as the key elements.

Things to consider when designing a course

When designing a course, a teacher has to consider a few things (Breen, 1987, pp. 83-90).

The time available for the course

The size of the class

Grasping power of the students

The level of need of the students to learn the language

The reading material being used

The first language of the students

Effective factors that teachers need to take into account when designing a course

Factor 1: Practical Implementation

The style of teaching has changed over the last few decades. Previously, teachers used to focus on the material given in textbooks and use grammar knowledge books such as the Wren and Martin to educate students and improve their vocabulary (Brown, 1993, pp. 3-10). Now, the trend has changed. The focus has now shifted to practicality and the implementation of learning in the real world. Teachers prefer to let the students learn by implementing what they have learnt in real-life scenarios and then observing the outcome and the success of their implementation. The same is the case when it comes to teaching English language to ...