Abstract
In order for a curriculum to achieve its goals, it is imperative that the curriculum is coherent at all levels. In order to determine the coherency of a curriculum, the alignment of its theoretical underpinning and the label of a curriculum is one of the aspects that can be examined. The purpose of the current study was to examine if the theoretical grounding of the Yemeni EST senior secondary curriculum is in alignment with its communicative-based curriculum label. In line with its label, the reading curriculum embedded in the EST curriculum should be developed and designed based on the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), which should be reflected in the EST reading instructional practice. In analysing the alignment of the communicative language teaching approach in the EST senior secondary school reading curriculum, the primary focus of the analysis was on the major SLA theories and L2 reading theories and the related instructional approaches. The data for this study were collected via an ESP textbook review as well as from the observation of the EST reading classroom instruction. The findings show that the EST senior secondary reading curriculum was not developed based on the socio-cognitive and socio-cultural theories which are the grounding principles of the communicative approach. Instead, the findings show that the EST senior secondary reading curriculum was primarily developed based on the cognitive information processing theory, in which teaching instruction reflects the student as an individual information processor and the focus on teaching vocabulary and grammatical rules using reading texts in non-communicative manner. Keywords: Communicative Approach, SLA Theories, L2 Reading Theories
Highlights
Curriculum coherence has attracted the issue of interest among researchers for many decades (e.g., Mcmahon & Thakore, 2006; Biggs, 2003; Obanya, 2002; Anderson, 2002)
This paper aims at examining the alignment of the theoretical underpinning and the overarching approaches to Second Language (L2) reading instruction reflected in the Yemeni English for Science and Technology (EST) 3rd grade secondary school reading curriculum
The purpose of the present study was to examine the alignment of the theoretical underpinning and the overarching instructional approaches to second language reading instruction reflected in the Yemeni EST 3rd grade secondary school reading curriculum
Summary
Curriculum coherence has attracted the issue of interest among researchers for many decades (e.g., Mcmahon & Thakore, 2006; Biggs, 2003; Obanya, 2002; Anderson, 2002). In an outcomes-based curriculum, courses, modules, and programmes are planned based on the end objective, the skills and knowledge that are required to be achieved by the students at the end of the teaching programme, the term ‘outcomes’ is used to describe the competencies and knowledge the students have at the end of the learning program (Surgenor, 2010). Biggs (2003) in his Basic Model of an Aligned Curriculum indicates that any outcome based-curriculum is based on a consistency and coherence between many elements such as assessment, teaching strategies and intended learning outcomes in an educational programme, where the intended learning outcomes are designed first and the teaching strategies second followed by the assessment. All elements in the teaching program, the curriculum and its planned outcomes, the learning activities, the teaching methods and the assessment tasks must be associated and aligned. When the curriculum alignments have been formed, the learners achieve the maximum learning and success (Biggs, 1999)
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