Transcript Chapter 13: Competency-Based Language Teaching Pages 141 …

Chapter 13: Competency-Based
Language Teaching
Pages 141-148
Maridalys López Feliciano
EDPE 4245 M-06
August 30,2007
Prof. Crespo
Background
CBE (Competency-Based Education)
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Is an educational movement that focuses
on the outcomes or outputs of learning in
the development of language programs.
CBE 1970s
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Refers to an educational movement that
advocates defining educational goals in
terms of precise measurable descriptions
of the knowledge, skills, and behaviors
students should possess at the end of a
course of study.
Cont.
CBE Described by Schenk 1978
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Competencies differ from other student goals and
objectives in that they describe the students ability to
apply basic and other skills in situations that are
commonly encountered in everyday life.
Competency-Based Language Teaching(CBLT)

Is an application of the principles of Competency-Based
Education to language teaching.
By the end of 1970s…
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Was the approach of the basis design of work-related
and survival-oriented language teaching programs for
adults.
Cont.
1990s
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The CBLT had come to be accepted as “the
state-of-the-art approach to adult ESL by
national policymakers and leaders in curriculum
development as well”.
1986, program based in…
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Any refugee in the United States who whished
to receive federal assistance had to be enrolled
in a competency-based program.
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They had to master the language and demonstrate
proper behavior.
Cont.
CBLT agent of change…

Is an opportunity for teachers to update their training
programs and education.
The most recent realization of a competency
perspective in the U.S. is found in the standard
movement, which dominated educational discussion
since the 1990s.
Glaser and Linn
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This century was identified by the national educational
standard. This was evidenced by the effort of federal and
state legislators, the government and presidential
candidates, teachers, and subject-matters, specialist, and
others.
Cont.
ESL in the United States…
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1991
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1997
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The ESL project director, noted that the majority of
students they serve were not being included in the
standard.
Washington D.C.-based center for Applied Linguistics
under control to the TESOL organization, developed the
K-12 school standard for ESL.
They divided the grade levels into clusters:

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Pre-K to 3rd grade
4th to 8th grade
9th to 12th grade
Cont.
CBLT in the 1980
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Shared objective movement proposed as a
framework for organizing foreign language
teaching in Britain.

Graded objectives- Short terms goals, building
one learner upon the other to advance the
knowledge and skills.
Approach: Theory of Language and
Learning
CBLT (Competency Based Language
Teaching)

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Is Base on the nature of language.
Teach language in relation with society, how they
use it.
Its shared with behaviorist (depends on the
learners situation.)
Language can be analyzed into parts and subpart
and they can be tested incrementally.
Develops functional communication skills in
learners, known of specific real-world task.
Design:Objectives, Syllabus, Learning
activities, Role of Learners, Teachers,
and Material
Docking(1994)
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Syllabus
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They point out to plan the syllabus according to the
material its going to be teach, contribution of
knowledge field, objectives, assessment based on
norms, and a scale of scores of their expectation.
CBT

It focus on what students know about language
to what they can do with it.
Cont.
Competencies consist of activities related with the
real life situations for surviving social environment.

ESL curriculum for immigrant and refugees included:
 Task
performance
 Safety
 General word-related
 Work schedules, times sheets, paychecks
 Social language
 Job application
 Job interview
Competencies for retaining a job:
Follow instructions to carry out a simple task.
 Respond appropriately to supervisor’s comments
about quality of work on the job, including
mistakes, working too slowly, and complete
work.
 Request supervisor to check work.
 Report completion of task to supervisor.
 Request supplies.

Ask where object is located: Follow oral
directions to locate an object.
 Follow simple oral directions to locate a
place.
 Read charts, labels, forms. Or written
instructions to perform a task.
 State problem and ask for help if
necessary.
 Respond to inquiry as to nature or
progress of current task; state amount and
type of work already competed.
 Respond appropriately to work interruption
or modification.
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Cont.
Tollefson 1986
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Observed that the analysis of jobs don’t develop
teaching objectives, they go back to the
nineteenth century.
Docking 1994
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Establish the relationship of competencies and
job performance, he defines competency as an
attribute for success in a job, function or activity
academically or in a work setting.
Cont.
Spencer 1860 and Bobbitt 1926
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Both believe in developing the curricular
objectives according to the adults in America, this
approach is the development of the CBLT since
1960s.
Northrup 1977
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Reported that adults in American society
performed tasks and behaviors that were
classified into five knowledge areas and four
basic skills areas, 65 competencies were
identified.
Cont.
Auerbach 1986
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Identifies eight key of the implementation of CBE
programs in ESL, this factors are:
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A focus on life skills.
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Students are taught just those language forms/skills required by
the situations in which they will function.
Task-or performance-centered orientation.
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A focus on successful functioning in society. Enable students to
become autonomous individuals capable of coping with the
demands of the world.
Behavior rather than on knowledge or the ability to talk about
language skills.
Modularized instruction.
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Objectives are broken into narrowly focused subobjectives so
that both teachers and students can get a clear sense of
progress.
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Outcomes that are made explicit a priori.
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Continuous and ongoing assessment.
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Program evaluation is based on test results and, as
such, is considered objectively quantifiable.
Demonstrated mastery of performance
objectives.
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Outcomes are public knowledge, known and agreed
upon by both learner and teacher.
Base on the ability to demonstrate prespecified
behaviors.
Individualized, student-centered instruction.
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Prior learning and achievement are taken into
account in developing curricula.
Conclusion
“It can confidently be said, as we enter
a new millennium, that the business of
improving learning competencies and
skills will remain one of the world’s
fastest growing industries and
priorities”.
Activity for ESL students
Students will work in groups of two, one
of the student will have to prepare an
interview and the other will have to
prepare the responses. Once they finish
each group will role play the interview.