THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2024/2025

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Moray House School of Education and Sport : Education

Postgraduate Course: Second Language Teaching Curriculum (EDUA11257)

Course Outline
SchoolMoray House School of Education and Sport CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryOverview of a Foreign/Second Language curriculum
Ideology and values in curriculum development for Foreign/Second Language Education
Definitions, values and teaching approaches in TESOL Education
Teachers as curriculum makers and designers of learning innovation.
Course description This course covers key concepts, theories and trends in the field of Foreign/Second Language Education in general, and in TESOL in particular. We examine these fields within the context of the curriculum. Teaching methods are often seen as the most important factor in ensuring the success of a programme, yet it is also essential to look at how the various factors in the teaching-learning process interact with each other. However, in the 21st century, it is also crucial to address the dynamic interplay between the elements of any given curriculum (needs analysis, syllabus, aims and objectives, methodology, assessment, evaluation) and the teacher¿s place as agent of change. In doing so, we develop our critical understanding of the complexity of ideologies behind curricula. We also address issues related to curriculum innovation, such as sustainability, decolonisation and (global) citizenship in Foreign/Second Language Education.
Through reflective practice, collaborative dialogue and group presentations, we will explore key issues and practices within language curriculum development in order to provide the basis for more effective planning and also decision making in our classrooms, as in language programme development, implementation, and review. We will focus on the importance of understanding the contexts in which Foreign/Second Language curricula are designed and implemented. We will examine, for instance, Scotland¿s Curriculum for Excellence as a model to critique other Foreign/Second Language Teaching Curricula.
The aim of the course is to equip you with the ability to make a number of decisions regarding your curriculum before, during and after teaching. We will be addressing the various changes in the field of Foreign/Second Language Education over the years, such as the matter of decolonizing curricula, or sustainability. We will be discussing the pedagogical implications of, on the one hand, the use of English as a global language, and on the other hand, the multilingual turn, as both shifts have increased the complexity of curricula. We will explore curriculum innovation in light of these developments and how language educators/TESOL practitioners have attempted to accommodate new insights into language and into language learning.

The purpose of this course is not to provide you with a curriculum model but to introduce critical tools and different case studies to illustrate how curriculum design is approached in different contexts. Ultimately, our aim is to help you develop your role of teachers as agent of change in your specific settings.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 1
Course Start Date 16/09/2024
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 8, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 16, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Group Presentation (30%): A 15-minute group presentation discussing a core element of language curriculum development followed by a 10' Q&A where students can ask questions to the group.

Written assigment (70%): A 3,000-word essay which examines a dimension and form of a curriculum from a specific context.
Feedback Formative assessment task:
Based on a class discussion, a blog entry (300 words) which critically analyses one sociocultural/political aspect of curriculum change. Feedback from peers using a semi-structured rubric. LOs: (2, 5)
Summative assessment consists of a group presentation (30%) and an individual essay (70%) of about 3,000 words.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Analyse and evaluate the components of second language curricula and articulate the dynamic relationship between them
  2. Understand, analyse and evaluate a curriculum from a social justice perspective
  3. Demonstrate a critical understanding of (de)colonisation in the context of second language teaching curricula
  4. Provide a detailed and critical evaluation of the role of the teacher as agent of change in a particular curricular context
  5. Present and lead during class discussions to critique relevant literature related to second language curricula and pedagogy
Reading List
Apple, M. (2018). Ideology and Curriculum (4th ed.) London: Routledge. (ebook: ISBN 9780429400384)

Davies, I., Sant. E., Shultz, L. & Pashby, K. (2018). Global Citizenship Education: A Critical Introduction to Key Concepts and Debates. London: Bloomsbury.

Farrell, S. C. (2021). TESOL Teacher Education. A Reflective Approach. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press (ISBN: 978-1-4744-7443-6)

Goulash, J. & Katunich, J. (2020). TESOL and Sustainability: English Language Teaching in the Anthropocene Era. London: Bloomsbury.

Macedo, D. (Ed.) (2019). Decolonizing Foreign Language Education. The Misteaching of English and Other Colonial Languages. Routledge.

Nation, I.S.P. and Macalister, J. (2020). Language Curriculum Design (2nd ed.). Oxford: Routledge. (ebook: ISBN 978042920376-3)

Richards, J. (2017). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (ISBN: 9781316625545)

Spiro, J. (2013). Changing Methodologies in TESOL. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press

Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Additional Class Delivery Information Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 8, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 16, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 172 )
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Dario Banegas
Tel: (0131 6)51 6514
Email: Dario.Banegas@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr David Gilbert
Tel: (0131 6)51 6265
Email: david.gilbert@ed.ac.uk
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