ENS Constantine

Soulef Boulmerka

TEFL

1 st Year LMD

Lecture 1 Learning Objectives

I Definitions Aims- Goals- Objectives (A.G.O)

In everyday English we incline toward the use of the terms

aims, goals, or objectives interchangeably. Within the

educational lexicon, curriculum scholars, have aimed to

standardize terms so that they refer to very specific

curricular components. The following definitions are broadly

accepted.

I.1Aims

General statements that give direction or intent to

educational action. Aims are usually written in shapeless terms

using words like: learn, know, understand, appreciate, and

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these are not straight measurable. Aims may serve as

organizing principles of educational direction. Indeed these

organizing principles may include the scale of educational

direction for entire programs, or subject areas.

Example:

Students will understand and become proficient at identifying

the different types of spoken English.

I.2 Goals

Statements of educational intention which are more specific

than aims. Goals too may encompass a whole program, or

subject area. They may be in either amorphous language or in

more specific behavioural terms.

Example:

Students will be able to identify and use American slang terms

and phrases.

(This example is a subset of the aim above, but the area

becomes more specific. This goal moves from generic

spoken English to the more detailed area of American

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 slang. ( slang is informal language) . One verb used is still

identify, although this goal does not specify how students

are to identify, and the verb use has been added. The

objectives related to this goal should specify how the

students will identify and use new knowledge.)

I.3 Objectives

Objectives are usually specified statements of educational

intention which outline either general or specific outcomes.

Objectives can be written in a number of ways. At present

most objectives are written in behavioural terms. Behavioural

objectives usually employ observable words and can be divided

into specific domains - cognitive, affective, and physical.

Samples:

Cognitive: Students will identify and list 7 slang terms they

have heard from their classmates.

Affective: Student will choose 5 of the most offensive

slang terms from a list developed by the entire class.

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Physical: Students will make expressive gestures to go with

their best slang terms.

2- The significance of Learning Objectives

Learning objectives help in:

1-Providing a mechanism in selecting content

2-Developing an instructional strategy.

3 – Developing and selecting instructional materials

4-Conducting assessments and evaluating learners.

4- Writing Learning Objectives

In writing learning objectives, emphasis is placed on:

1- Learner performance not teacher performance

2- Intended result, not the instructional process.

3- Terminal behaviour ,not subject matter

4- Each objective incorporates only one general learning

outcome.

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A learning objective is a statement which typifies competency

or performance capability to be learned and developed by the

student.

Learning objectives are clearly stated if they :

1- Describe the competency to be learned in performance

terms. The verb used in stating an objective identifies an

observable learner behaviour.

2-Make clear how well the learner must perform to be

considered adequate. This is usually done through a statement

indicating the degree of accuracy, a quantity, or a proportion

of correct answers , etc

3- Describe conditions under which the student will be

expected to perform in the evaluation situation. I t is

essential to make clear what tools or references will be

supplied or refused.

I t is sometimes necessary to specify in detail each element

of the objective, though, sometimes one or two the

characteristics stated above are implied in one statement.

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5 Checklists for Writing a Specific Instructional Objective

1 – Each statement a specific learning outcome begins with a

verb that describes definite observable behaviour.

2-Each statement meets the criteria of good learning

objective stated above.

( section 4 Writing learning objectives)

3- Each statement includes complex objectives( problem

solving- appreciation, etc)

6 – Guides to Writing Learning Objectives

Many psychologists ,interested in the learning theory,

produced considerable research on the different types of

learning in schools. Undoubtedly, Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy

is the most known description of educational objectives.

Bloom’s taxonomy gives a coherent means of developing the

most powerful tool in instruction and the assessment of the

learner learning outcomes. The taxonomy differentiates

between three important groups of objectives called The

Cognitive Domain, the Psychomotor Domain, and the

Affective Domain.

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The following list of process –oriented behaviours related to

the six categories of the taxonomy serve as a useful guide to

preparing objectives.

Basic Knowledge To recall and memorise- Assess by direct

questions. The object is to test the students’ ability to recall

facts , and to identify and to repeat the information provided.

Recall- identify- acquire- distinguish

Comprehension Ton translate from one form to another.

Assess by having learners 1- restate material in their own

words, 2-Reorder or extrapolate ideas, predict or estimate.

Assessments must prove that learners have some

comprehension of what they are saying.

Translate- extrapolate-convert- transform –interpret-

abstract.

Application To apply or use information in a new situation-

Assess by presenting the learners with a unique situation

(different to the one used during the instruction) and have

them apply their knowledge to solve the problem or use the

same procedure .

Apply- operate- sequence –generalise- carry out –plan-

solve –repair-prepare- explain

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Analysis To examine a concept and to break it down into its

parts. Assess by presenting a unique situation of the same

type but not identical to the one used during the instruction,

and have them analyse the situation and describe the

appropriate procedure or solution to the problem.

Analyse- classify-distinguish- recognise-estimate-

discover- catalog- determine- compare- discriminate-

investigate-outside-observe-identify- breakdown-detect-

explore-order.

Synthesis To put information together in a unique or new way

to solve a problem. Assess by presenting learners with a

unique situation not of the same type used during instruction

and have them solve a problem by selecting and using

appropriate information.

Write- specify- build-plan-produce –systematise-

integrate-organise- formulate-theorise-propose- design.

Evaluation To make quantitative and qualitative judgments

using standards of appraisal. Assess the learners by

presenting a situation which includes a problem and a solution

to the problem and have them justify or critique the solution.

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Evaluate- rank- verify-measure-assess- appraise-test-

select-judge- check.

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Lecture 2: Content Selection and Organisation

1- Definition

Historically, the word content has changed its meaning in

language teaching. Content used to refer to the methods of

grammar-translation, audio-lingual methodology, and

vocabulary or sound patterns in dialog form. Recently, content

is interpreted as the use of subject matter as a vehicle for

second or foreign language teaching/learning.

Three major features make up content:

-Linguistic competence: phonetic knowledge, phonological

knowledge, morphological knowledge, syntactic knowledge,

semantic knowledge and pragmatic knowlege

- Cultural knowledge about the foreign language culture

- The objectives to be attained by the learner at the end of

the course.

2- Finding Content

The following tips help teachers decide about the time –

consuming task of finding the content to be taught.

- Check in your department for past syllabi if you are

offering a pre-existing course. Be sure to check your

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 institution’s course calendar and read the course

description to ensure that your course meets that stated

description.

- Locate similar courses at other institutions if your

course is new ( or would like some new ideas). Talk to your

colleagues in your discipline area

- Review textbooks in your discipline area . This can be a

very easy way to locate not only possible content to cover

but also ready-made organisational structures. Keep your

students in mind when choosing texts-not only their

abilities and past experience with the topic areas but also

their time limitations.

- If texts are not available or not appropriate, you may

need to create a reading package or course notes. It

will take more time to compile this type of resource, so

set aside a few months for this activity .

3- Selecting Content

Course design literature suggest the following criteria to help

select appropriate content for your course. Course content

should :

-Fit with your course learning goals.

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 -Have importance in the discipline

-Be based on or related to research

- Appeal to students interests

-Not overlap excessively with student past experience or

knowledge

-Be multi –functional( help teach more than one concept, skill,

or problem)

- Stimulate search for meaning

-Encourage further investigation

- Show interrelationships between concepts

4-Organising Content

Many variations on concept mapping techniques exist to help

decide on the organisational structure of the content. The key

idea is to name, in a word or two, the major topics or concepts

of the course, then try to visually place them on the page. You

can use a hierarchical approach or put the concept in the

centre of the page and workout from there. Put the words

into boxes or bubbles and connect them with lines or arrows

to show how the material connects. You may also want to put

the verbs on the connectors to clarify the relationships

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between ideas. For more linear thinkers, creating lists of

headings and subheadings is equally effective.

The following suggestions help the teacher to order the topics

or concepts:

Topic by topic There are no set relationships among the

topics, so the ordering is not critical. This works well for

courses that revolve around current issues, for example.

Chronological Moving from past to present is a very common

and easy to implement organisational pattern.

Causal The course presents a number of events or issues that

culminates in some final effect or solution.

Cumulative Each concept builds on the previous one (s)

Problem- centred problems, questions, or cases represent

the principal organising features of the course.

Spiral Key topics or concepts are revisited through the

course, with new information or insight developing each time.

Within each class, consider how to organise you material so

that learners can both learn and retain it. Different

philosophies of learning are represented. Some ideas to

consider are:

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- Start with what students already know and then move to

the abstract model or theory.

- Start with concrete examples, such as cases, new items,

or other real- world situations, then generate the abstract

concepts.

- Start with a solution, conclusion, or model and work

backwards to the question.

- Give learners time to reflect, individually or through

discussion, on what and they are learning.

- Build in practice time, with feedback, either in class or

assignments so that students learn to work with the

concepts and can receive assistance with problem areas.

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