Effective Foreign Language Lesson Planning and Curriculum Design

1. Programming in the Area of Foreign Language: Teaching Units

1.1. Why Is Planning Important?

1.2. What Should Go Into an English Language Lesson?

1.3. Principles of Planning

1.4. Teaching Units

2. Criteria for Sequencing and Timing Objectives

3. Selecting Methodology for Learning and Evaluation

4. Conclusions

5. Bibliography

1. Programming in the Area of Foreign Language: Teaching Units

Our current legislation highlights three different levels, which allow schools and teachers to attend to the real needs of student groups, regardless of their specific features. These levels are:

• The National Curriculum
• The particular curriculum at every school
• The curriculum for every group of students

1.1. Why Is Planning Important?

If you imagine the lesson as a journey, the lesson plan is your map. Teachers must define what they hope to achieve and what students should be able to do by the end of the lesson. Planning is essential because it:

• States and divulges our intentions.
• Guides our teaching practice.
• Eliminates chance and improvisation.
• Makes further evaluation and reflection possible.
• Avoids wasting time.

Programming is the hypothesis of work (Elliot) that must be verified or refuted during practice, particularly when elaborating the third level of curricular standardization.

1.2. What Should Go Into an English Language Lesson?

When designing an English lesson, it is useful to keep the E.S.A. model in mind:

• Engage
• Study
• Activate

These three elements should be present in every teaching sequence, regardless of the specific teaching point.

1.3. Principles of Planning

Aims

Establishing a clear, realistic aim is a primary principle of planning. Consider the following:

• What do the students already know?
• What do the students need to know?
• What was covered in the previous class?
• How well does the class work together?
• How motivated are the students?

Variety

Keeping students engaged and interested is vital. Providing variety within a lesson and across a series of lessons is the best way to achieve this.

Flexibility

Regardless of how well we plan, we must remain flexible, as we can never predict exactly what will happen in the classroom.