Listen to this report of Australian Broadcasting Corporation “Education minister calls for national curriculum” and answer the questions.

What country is going to introduce a national curriculum? Why?

Who are the participants to the discussion. What points do they make in the report?

Then fill in the gaps.

The Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop says it's time for states to have __________

__________________________________________________________________________________

She says her ____________________________________will benefit students and parents across the nation.

LYNN BELL: In a provocative speech to be delivered today, the Education Minister Julie Bishop says state and territory bureaucracies should be __________________

She says ideologues within state education authorities, have __________________

_______________________________________________________________________and some of the themes emerging are straight from Chairman Mao.

 Answer the questions:

What made the minister come to a conclusion that “something desperately wrong in our curriculum and what is being taught in Australian schools”?

What kind of curriculum does she want?

How does her colleague from Education Union of Victoria comment on Minister’s position?

What stages of Australian education should be provided with the new curriculum?

What organization is to devise the document? What is its supposed composition?

How many authorities are involved in the curriculum designing now? What’s bad about it according to Ms.Bishop?

How does Victoria's Education Minister Lynne Kosky explain why these authorities are cooperating?

What are the benefits of having one national approach?

Discuss and Write 2.1.

 

Study information about these approaches to syllabus design. Which approach appeals to you more?

Which syllabus: The traditional and the holistic syllabus Vanessa Steele

Traditional and holistic syllabuses reflect different views of language and language learning and teaching. Both viewpoints are quite valid, and most courses nowadays will reflect elements of both. It is the relative emphasis given to language as a body of knowledge to be mastered, or language as a communicative process to be developed, which will determine which of the labels 'traditional' or 'holistic' I would apply to a given syllabus.

A comparison of traditional and holistic approaches*

Traditional	Holistic
Focus on language as a sequence of grammatical patterns.	Focus is on communication.
Selects language items on basis of complexity of linguistic criteria.	Selects on the basis of what language items the learner needs to know
Language used tends to be more formal and bookish	Genuine everyday language is emphasised.
Aim is to have students produce formally correct sentences.	Aim is to have students communicate effectively in order to complete the task.
Reading and writing are emphasised.	Speaking is given at least as much time as reading and writing.
Tends to be teacher-centred.	Tends to be student-centred.
Focus is on the form of expression rather than the content.	Resembles the natural language learning process by concentrating on the content / meaning of the expression rather than the form.

Imagine you being a teacher for an evening English class for managers of car-making company? Which approach you would take? Write an introduction to your syllabus and list reasons for your choice.

Find and present information 2.1.

Find and present information about:

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

The ALTE (Association of Language Testers in Europe)

Levels of Proficiency in CEFR

Levels of Profieciency in ALTE

Educational standards for EFL in different countries

Unit 2.2. How to Design a Syllabus?

Terminology to Study 2.2.

Choose 2- 3 terms and work out Word Map in Visual Thesaurus Style. For reference you might resort to A Handbook of English-Russian Terminology for Language Teaching

Needs analysis

Aims

Objectives

Performance objectives/behavioral objectives/Instructional objectives

Graded objectives