Difficulties in Curriculum Design Relating to Bilinguals in Second Language Syllabus Development - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Title: Problems and Difficulties Existing in Curriculum Design Relating to Bilinguals in Second Language Syllabus Development Name Date Course Title: Problems and Difficulties Existing in Curriculum Design Relating to Bilinguals in Second Language Syllabus Development Background of the Study The objective of learning another language is to enable the learner to communicate effectively with other people both in oral and written forms. To achieve this goal acquaintance with grammatical features is not enough as learners need to gain other characteristics of the language to facilitate efficient communication process. In Australia learning and teaching English language is mandatory at the elementary level of education. However, it is apparently obvious that even after acquiring knowledge in both the listening and speaking skills at the elementary level of schooling English major students in university continue to be deficient in communication ability of the language. Therefore due to the difficulty experienced there is need to explore on effective curriculum design that will identify problems facing schools in their quest of learning spoken communication while at the same time discover the factors that avert students from acquiring the listening the speaking skills in communication (Yip & Mattews 2007). Research Questions 1. In what methods does the use of textbooks influence the process of teaching and learning? 2. What mechanisms encompass curriculum Design of English Language courses in Australian schools? 3. Is there presentation of strategies of teaching listening and speaking course, and which procedures are applied in the classroom to teach this curriculum? 4. Are there any strong points and challenges involved in the teaching and learning strategies related to speaking and listening skills? Literature Review In the process of teaching the teachers may use the application of top-down approach through engaging in the process of brainstorming in relation to the topic that will be discussed. Bottom-up approach involves the process of decoding that exclusively depends upon the proficiency of the learners to interpret the received language information from sounds, words or grammatical associations (Myers-Scotton, 2006). Through the process of listening and experiences the learners are able to explore how each word is pronounced. Listening as a skill also explores the translation of each word into the learners own language while taking account of grammatical circumstances. Therefore students make application of the use of top-down approach on contextual schematic process in order to find meaning of an incoming information while apply bottom-up approach when using their linguistic understanding in the process of understanding a acknowledged message (Heller, 2007). Trends in needs analysis in curriculum design In order to design a curriculum that would be operative for students in the language learning process a need analysis is an essential strategy to be applied. This is due to the fact that bilingualism comes with its own challenges in regards to learners gaining proficiency in the two languages that are use. Effectiveness in this case implies the attainment of proficiency among the bilinguals. It is argued that communication needs analysis poses as an efficient need analysis model. Therefore the need of the learners in as far as learning is concerned need to be considered in the process of formulation of curriculum in the education system (Fields, 2012). Therefore the needs of the students should be able to offer a reflection in both the content of the language course as well as what can be achieved in the course of learning. It is essential to note that needs analysis is a complex process. This is due to that fact that it observes the actions of learners in the target situation. In addition it explores what the students need to engage in order to learn. Learners possess both the objective and subjective needs in the learning process. The needs analysis is an ongoing process that requires evaluation to achieve its effectiveness. The needs analysis serves to accomplish certain rationale; offering a means of attaining a wider input into the content, design and achievement of language learning; it can be used to develop objectives content in language learning and it provides necessary data for the purpose of reviewing and assessing an existing program in learning. The main purpose of the needs analysis in learning should be dependable on the main objectives of the learning process and the reason for the learner’s passion to learn the language (Grosjean, 2010). Methodology In the process of research there are two main methods that a given study can apply; qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore this research proposal will apply the use of qualitative method in order to investigate the problems and complexity that exist in curriculum design in relation to syllabus improvement in bilingual students and the various teaching methods applied in the process of listening and speaking skills in Australian schools. The main reason of using the qualitative method is due to the fact that it is non-numerical in that it does not involve the use of numbers but rather it uses data such as words and pictures in the process of giving explanations and discovery (Lazaraton, 2008). Thus qualitative type of research relies on studying a certain type of phenomena in an open ended approach without prior expectation and theoretical explanations made through interpretations of several observations. Generally the researcher will rely on the views of the participants and data collected largely comprises of words and texts from the participants. The researcher will operate in a natural type of setting through the use of qualitative method of research. Thus the study will engage the use of qualitative method in a variety of schools that specialize in teaching English language to future English majors. This will involve experimental inquiry into the real life situations also known as the use of a case study so as to investigate a certain phenomenon and come up with concrete conclusion that will be helpful (Schwartz et.al. 2008). The main advantage of using the qualitative and the case study approach is the fact that the participant’s point of view will be reflected since it involves the collection of data from the participants and also the use of various observations to explain a certain experience. It also enables the researcher to acquire a comprehensive view of a certain phenomenon involving a series of events. The approach also permits generality as that outcome of findings uses multiple cases can lead to some form of replication. Therefore the study will engage the use of numerous cases from a variety of schools in the process of collection of data in order to achieve a desired outcome (Lazaraton, 2008). The approach also has certain shortcomings in the process of conducting a research proposal. Therefore the major weakness of the qualitative and case study approach is that it is not viable to make generalizations statistically form one or various number of cases to make conclusive evidence of the whole population. Participants The main respondents of this research will comprise the English language teaching teachers of the sampled schools within Australia. In addition the bilingual students will also be engaged as part of the respondents. This will enable the researcher to collect more information regarding the shortcomings experienced in the process of teaching oral language through the use of both listening and speaking skills and be able to explore strategies to counteract the shortcomings for instance through transformation of the entire English language curriculum in Australia Data Collection The study will employ the use of questionnaires, interviews observations. Questionnaires: The study will involve the distribution of questionnaires to the desired respondents. The respondents will consist of bilingual students in the selected sample of various schools in Australia. The respondents will be required to complete questionnaires that will involve the use of open ended questions so as to collect as much qualitative data as possible in order to get more information from the respondents and make the study viable. The respondents will therefore be provided with a sheet consisting of various open ended questions that they will be required to fill within a stipulated period of time. The main use of the questionnaire is due to its practicability, reliability and validity in the collection of data. The questionnaire will be distributed to both the students and teachers in the selected schools who will form the basis of the main respondents in the study. The major advantage of an open ended type of questionnaire is that it will enable the researcher to collect more information as the respondents will be able to fill the questionnaire without any limitation. Interviews: the main reason for the study to engage the use of interviews is so as to gain in-depth perspectives of the respondent’s feelings, attitude, knowledge, reasoning and motivations of the circumstance under exploration. However the respondents may be reluctant to share out information freely and therefore the need for the interviewer to possess certain interviewing skills that will be necessary in gaining more information from the respondent. The respondents will comprise of mainly teachers who possess both listening and speaking communication skills of the sampled schools within Australia. Therefore the researcher will employ the use of a tape recorder in the process of the interview with the consent of the respondent in order to ensure accuracy of the interview. The researcher will also use an informal type of interview or unstructured interview in order to gain the respondents’ assurance and build a relationship with the respondent (Berg, 2007). Observation: The application of observation as a technique will play a very important role. Thus the researcher will be required to make observations in the process of teaching and learning the spoken communications abilities. Observation technique will enable the researcher to collect live form of data from the natural type of environmental setting. Observation will be made in a classroom setting whereby the bilingual students and the teachers will be observed in the process of language teaching. It is therefore important to note that people may give varying information as opposed to the real actions which they are involved in the process of learning. Through observation the researcher will be able to pinpoint certain aspects of behaviors and translate it into real data through the use of words. Observation as a technique will enable the researcher to collect data based on the natural environmental setting, human setting and interactional setting involving the interaction of aspects of behavior between different human beings that form the respondents in the study (Berg, 2007). Data Analysis Data collection and analysis plays an important role in any form of research proposal. Therefore the data collected has to be managed well in the data analysis stage. Due to the nature of the study that will involve a sample of various schools the data collected will be massive. The data collected will comprise of the information gathered from the use of questionnaires, interviews and observations. The information gathered through the use of questionnaires will be placed into codes, themes and categories for the purpose of classification of data. In regards to qualitative interview it is important to convert the auditory taped data into text data for simplicity in an analysis of the data collected. The researcher will also involve the use of computer software to analyze data depending on the factors such as the amount of database that requires to be organized and the need for inspection of every single word that was captured in the process of data collection. Limitations of the Study Due to the nature of the study that will involve observation within a classroom setting the respondents may exhibit some aspects of acted form of behavior that would not be present in a normal classroom setting. In addition the respondents may be reluctant to share out information freely leading to lack of validity and reliability in the data collected. Conclusion The study will play a significant role in the transformation of English language teaching through the use of listening and speaking skills among bilinguals. There are many shortcomings in teaching English language in schools and there in need to change the whole curriculum system in order to counteract these problems. Hence the study will assist in solving various difficulties faced by bilinguals in the process of teaching and learning. Furthermore the study will contribute to the generation of the body of knowledge in the area of English learning as a language. It is also important to note that the study will greatly contribute to the process of identifying the major shortcomings of the education curriculum among bilingual students in the process of teaching oral skills in language and come up with factors that can aid in improving fresh design for a better standard of learning and teaching English as a second language. References Yip, V., & Mattews, S. (2007). The bilingual Child. Early Development and Language Contact. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. Myers-Scotton, C. (2006). Multiple Voices. An introduction to Bilingualism. Blackwell, Malden, MA. Heller, M. (ed) (2007). Bilingualism. A Social Approach. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. Fields, H. (2012). Speaking your mind: Bilingual language, culture, and emotion. APS Observer, 25(5), 15-19 Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press Cantone, K. F. (2007). Code-switching in bilingual children. Dordrecht, NL: Springer. Schwartz, M., Share, D. L., Leikin, M., & Kozminsky, E. (2008). On the benefits of bi-literacy: Just a head start in reading or specific orthographic insights?. Reading And Writing, 21(9), 905-927. Berg L., (2007). Qualitative Research Methods for the Social Sciences. 6th Edition. San Francisco: Pearson Education, Inc. Lazaraton, A.(2008)Utilizing qualitative methods for assessment. in Shohamy, E. andHornbergerN.H.(eds.),Encyclopedia of language and education, Volume 7: Language testing and assessment (2nd ed.), New York: Springer, 197 ‐ 209 Read More