Prototype for the Design of a Language Course

In this section we have included a tool to assist the design of language courses. It is a prototype that takes into consideration the recommendations of the Guide of Recommedations of Promacolt project in a systematic way to help adapting the course to the needs of the different stakeholders. A list of existing resources have been compiled as an output.

This prototype has been tested in the 6 participant countries via workshops. We should be grateful to count on your cooperation and try it further. Please select your preferences an contribute with your opinions. It will take just a few seconds.

very useful useful no opinion of little use useless
Finding out what cultural environment the learners come from.
Defining cultural elements that the learners may find interesting in the course.
Assessing the likelihood of a cultural clash within the group.
Investigating into national stereotypes present in the target group.
Identifying teacher’s cultural competence.
Including cultural elements one can refer to in everyday life.

This section relates to the Cultural Aspects that you may deem useful to the design of a language course.

 

very useful useful no opinion of little use useless
Getting to know why the learner learns this language.
Identifying the level of knowledge of their mother tongue.
Planning the course schedule with details for participant parties
Designing the structure of the course (either in class / e-learning / blended learning)
Arranging for modern classrooms, teaching aids and technical equipment.
Discussing the course contents with the learners at the design stage.

This section relates to the Needs Analysis that you may deem useful to the design of a language course.

 

very useful useful no opinion of little use useless
Identifying complementary abilities the learners might have.
Deciding on the way of facilitating complementary abilities in the course design.
Identifying special knowledge (apart from linguistic one) the teacher / trainer is required in order to provide the desired input.
Specifying all needed complementary abilities of the learner / trainer at the course design phase.
Deciding on whether some methods (*) might be more helpful in the course design than others.
In case of teaching language for specific purposes (**), consultation with an expert in the SP field.

This section relates to the Complementary Abilities that you may deem useful to the design of a language course.

(*) For example CLIL = Content and Language Integrated Learning. Learning about geography in English rather than your mother tongue.

(**) Language for specific purposes: for example English for business, for Civil Engineering, for Academic Purposes, and for health service purposes.

 

very useful useful no opinion of little use useless
Building new relationships within a group of learners in a language course.
Taking into account the current structure of the group (existing relationships).
Identifying motivational factors (both extrinsic and intrinsic) in great detail.
Establishing methods of enhancing learners’ motivation.
Issuing an approved certificate.
Establishing ways of measuring outcome in order to enhance learners’ self-evaluation.

This section relates to the Psychological Aspects that you may deem useful to the design of a language course.

 

very useful useful no opinion of little use useless
Taking into consideration learners’ learning styles at the course design stage.
Learners’ learning styles should be taken into account.
Adaptation of the course contents to fit the major learning styles.
Considering facilities and resources available for the course provider to take care of different learning styles.

This section relates to the Learning Styles that you may deem useful to the design of a language course.

 

very useful useful no opinion of little use useless
Consulting the teaching methods by all stakeholders: learners, teachers, client.
Assessing learners’ previous knowledge of the target language by the means of a test.
Describing the course output in a form of “can do” statements.
Asking the learners about their expectations concerning the course (not only in linguistic terms).
Splitting the group into subgroups because of different needs / individual characteristics (age, position in the company etc..)
Adapting working environment of the course to the learners’ needs.

This section relates to the Pedagogical and Methodological Aspects that you may deem useful to the design of a language course.