Curriculum Development

Gan, Z. (2012). Understanding L2 speaking problems: Implications for ESL curriculum development in a teacher training institution in Hong Kong. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 37(1), 43.

Zhengdong Gan is an Associate Professor and Programme Coordinator of Bachelor of Education Programme (English Curriculum) at the Hong Kong Institute of Education with Curriculum and Instruction as primary area of teaching. Using a semi-structured interview method of data collection the study tries to identify the problems of students studying oral English Skills of English as a Second Language at a tertiary teacher training institution in Hong Kong. The major problems this research identified are insufficient opportunities to practice spoken English in lectures and tutorials, lack of focus on language improvement in curriculum, and the input-poor environment for spoken communication in English outside the class. These curricular shortcomings are found to be associated with sociocultural, institutional, and interpersonal contexts that the learners face.

This study is significant in the sense that it draws focus of the curriculum developers and researchers towards the incorporation of intensive language improvement component into the teachers’ training program.

Paribakht, T. S., & Wesche, M. B. (1993). Reading comprehension and second language development in a comprehension-based ESL program. TESL Canada journal, 11(1), 09-29.

Paribakht, Associate Professor, Second Language Institute, University of Ottawa and Wesche, Director Second Language Institute, University of Ottawa with their rich experience in teaching and manage of the second language curriculum came up with an exploratory study of attainment of specific content vocabulary, discourse connectives and grammatical knowledge over time by 37 intermediate level ESL adult L2 learners for one semester. Major purpose of the study was to develop a sound methodology and tool for classroom research on the above questions. The study analyzed methodologies and instruments developed and tested for adaption and the attainment of associated learning outcomes. The study found that achievements on grammatical knowledge measures were better for the four-skill class and comprehension-based showed greater achievements of learning outcomes in vocabulary knowledge. The study is an important contribution towards curriculum development.