A Balanced Approach to ESL Curriculum

This short lecture by Dr. Hetty Roessingh of the University of Calgary explores a balanced approach to designing ESL curricula that borrows from the areas of critical theory, cognitivism, and behaviourism. At one of the spectrum, the curriculum approach focuses on the journey, while the other focuses on the destination. A balanced approach favours both, tilting one way or the other depending on the situated context of the learners. Knowing the purposes for which students are learning a language will shape the approach. The lecture closes by rising above any of the three approaches to promote the idea of principled eclecticism, which takes from all approaches in order to meet the needs of the learners.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• TESL
• TEAL
• ESL
• Curriculum
• Principled
• Eclectic
• Critical
• Theory
• Behaviourism
• Cognitivism
• Constructivism
• Hetty
• Roessingh