Rustaq College of Applied Sciences

Department of English Language & Literature (Dell)

ELT School Curriculum Analysis

(An Assignment on Grade-8\B Skills Book Analysis )

Prepared By:

Abdulrahman Al-Jahadhmi

Reviewed by: Mrs. Alison

2014-2015 (Fall Semester)

Introduction:

The textbook is a part of the fourth element of the curriculum which is the material, and it’s the most important component. The Ministry of Education in Oman has changed the old curriculum that called “General Education” and they came up with the idea of “ Basic Education” in this curriculum the ministry developed a new syllabus for grades (1-12), which is called English for Me, this textbook is designed according to the students’ needs in grades. In this report we are going to look at Grade 8th –B textbook (Skills Book). First, we are going to look at the overview in the book. Then, we are going to discuss about the Linguistic and the thematic content. Next, we are going to look at the exercise. Finally we are going to give our suggestions and recommendations to develop this textbook. To make our analysis easy and organize we wrote a check list includes 4 areas (an overview, the linguistic content, the thematic content, exercises) we are going to look at in the textbook (See appendix i)

Overview:

An overview is like a summary of a book. The person who wants to write an overview should read every single page in the book according to Byrd (2001). Also what an overview includes? And he can't write information aren't there. An overview has three parts and they are presentation, practice and evaluation. Presentation is involved the whole information and material if the book. Practice is including all activity that refers to the book. Evaluation is what the teacher does to know if the students have achieved the goals. In overview there are many questions we can ask such as, what kind of lessons does the book has? Are the lessons organized? Are the lessons connected? What does the lesson give for students? Which type of lessons does the book has? Are the exercises enough for students? Does the book include useful exercises for students? Can the teacher use the units to test the students? How long will each activity take? Does the book have good instructions? Are instructions clear for students? In our report we looked at the following three questions: Are illustrations printed close enough to the text and directly related to the content to help the learner understand the printed text? Aare the illustrations clear, simple and free of unnecessary details that may confuse the learner? Are the instructions for the activities clear enough?

1- First, are illustrations printed close enough to the text and directly related to the content to help the learner understand the printed text?On page 6 in Skills Book (See Appendix 4) there is a picture of a shark, the whole activities are taking about the shark’s picture, and on page 14 the topic is about dialogues. So, we can see that the illustrations are related to the topics.

2- Second, are the illustrations clear, simple and free of unnecessary details that may confuse the learners?On pages 18 and 34 in the Skills Book (See Appendix 11, 15) The illustrations are quite clear for the learners and simple. However, the learners may face some difficulties to understand the illustrations on page 17 (See Appendix 7) because the pictures are not colored and they look very similar with other illustrations or pictures in the Skills Book.

3- Are the instructions for the activities clear enough?

On pages 9 and 10 in the Skills Book (See Appendix 9, 10) the instructions are clear because they include easy vocabulary or simple language and the learners will not face many difficulties in learning those vocabularies On Page 19 (See Appendix 12) also, the instructions are graded from easy to difficult so this will help learners to the have an idea about what they are going to do and helps them to understand it better.

Linguistic content:

According to (Byrd, 2001: 420), the linguistic content consists of grammar, vocabulary and the skills areas: Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking. Brown includes the following aspect as part of his definition of linguistic content, tends to be taken from needs viewpoint and meant in linguistic terms which they be phonemes, functions, morphemes, grammatical structures, notions and discourse markers according to (Brown, 1995:41). In addition, questions that we can ask about the linguistic content include the following how (Byrd, 2001: 420), "What language that is being taught? for example, is it complex or simple?, In what chunks and what order (sequence)?, What adjustments must be made to fit the program`s curriculum?, Are there any adjustments that I would like to make in content and sequencing to better fit my course and my students?" In our report we looked at the following 3 questions: Are grammars points sequenced? or arranged from easy to difficult? "Does the vocabulary fit to the Omani culture? Do the sentences and paragraphs follow one other in a logical sequence?

1- Are grammars points sequenced or arranged from easy to difficult?The Grammar on page 6 (see appendix 4) is appropriate for this grade and sequenced from easy to difficult because students will identify rules one by one easily, also after each rule the students can find definitions and structures for each rule for example in the language focus modals in unit 1.

2- Does the vocabulary fit to the Omani culture?The vocabulary on page 29 (see appendix 14) is appropriate to this level of students because it is simple and easy and common in Omani culture. Students know different words that they can use like Sohar vocabulary relate to Omani culture.

3- Do the sentences and paragraphs follow one other logical sequence?On page 29 (see appendix 14) in 8B Skills Book the sentences and paragraphs follow one other logical sequence which is well-organized and suitable because the skills book show different kinds of sentences and paragraphs in order to ensure students will have more details and information.

Thematic content:

According to (Byrd 2001) the thematic content refers to topics that are used to practice and present the linguistic content. Furthermore, it’s the topics that are used in each unit, and the connection that the teacher can make between all the topics in the book and the students background and interest. The areas we can look at when discussing the thematic content are: the variety of topics, the repeated topics in the whole book, and how we can use these topics appropriately in teaching English Language. In our report we considered only the following three areas according to (Byrd 2001): “Does the subject matter cover a variety of topics appropriate to the interests of the learners for whom the text book is intended?”, “Is the material accurate and up to date?” and, “Is the content graded according to the needs of the students?”

1-Does the subject matter cover a variety of topics appropriate to the interests of the learners for whom the text book is intended?On page 17 (See Appendix 7) the topic is about Ramadan month which is much related to the Muslim students. However on page i, ii in the Skills Book we can see that the book doesn’t covers a lot of topic just only four topics in the whole book (see appendix 2, 3).

2-Is the material accurate and up to date?On page 21 in the Skills Book (See appendix 13) we found that the information given there is out of date, the study mentioned in activity 3 had been conducted 14 years ago. However, there is a new study has been conducted in 2013 about the same topic. In addition, on page 4, activity 2. Most of the information provided are not accurate.

3- Is the content graded according to the needs of the students?

On page 39 in the Skills Book (See appendix 1) the students are asked to complete the police report. In this early stage of learning English the students do not need to know about crimes and police reports. On the other hand, on page 19 (See appendix 12.) the topic is very interesting and related to the students which is about being polite on the table. The students need to know such dialogues because they face this situation every day in their daily lives.

Exercises:

According to (Brown 1995), the exercises are the way of practicing what the teacher has taught or explained, furthermore it can be types of activities that could be used to check students understanding after finishing the lesson. The areas we can look at when discussing exercises are: the activities in the textbook which we can use in the classroom and as homework. Also we can look at the activities which are suitable in assessing our students. In addition we can look at the activities which require a lot of time to finish; also we can look at the activities which we don’t want to do (Byrd, 2001). In our report we considered only the following three areas; Do the exercises develop comprehension and test knowledge? , Do the exercises involve vocabulary and structure which help the learner’s knowledge? and do the exercises provide practice in different types of written work (sentence, completion, spelling, dictation, guided composition)?(Byrd,2001:425)

1. Do the exercises develop comprehension and test knowledge?As we can see in the skills book the exercises given on page 11(see appendix 5) are appropriate for the students to develop their comprehension and knowledge because in these question students have to do a brainstorm about what they have studied and did well in. Then they have to think about areas in which they want to improve.

2. Do the exercises involve vocabulary and structure which help the learner’s knowledge?On page 21(see appendix 13) the students have to write correct sentences that have missing words. This will help students to learn new vocabulary and it will

increase their knowledge. In addition some exercises help students to write the correct forms of the words in the sentences. As a result it will improve their background knowledge of using rules and grammar in English.

3. Do the exercises provide practice in different types of written work (sentence, completion, spelling, dictation, guided composition)?Yes, we can see this on page 18 (see appendix 11.) in skills book activity 1. Students should complete sentences that have one missing word in each sentence. Moreover on page 13 (see appendix 8) we find exercises that help students to write full sentences with correct spelling and dictation that will help them to write paragraphs without any mistakes, therefore guiding them to write full compositions

Conclusion:

To sum up that, in our own report we have talked about an overview, linguistic content, Thematic content, Exercise that include in Skills Book of grade 8. We tried to explain 3 questions in each element. In an overview, we found some installations are not appropriate, not Verity for student`s needs, the color can effects on student`s eyes in this certain grade, also there were some instructions are not clear, so we suggest that person who prepared this book should do needs analysis. In linguistic content, we found some grammars, vocabularies, sentences and paragraphs were difficult, not appropriate for this grade, also it might confuse students understand, so we suggest that person who prepared this book should consider students level and culture students. In exercise, we can say that exercises at the end of the book can help students in order to get extra information, practice what they have learnt rather than some exercise simple and face student's interest. In thematic content, majority of subjects easy and appropriate to this grade, but we suggest to add more topics that related to students interest as well as to keep the date up to date.

Checklist for Textbook Evaluation Yes No

Overview:1- Are the illustrations printed close enough to the text and directly

related to the content to help the learner understand the printed text?

2- Are the illustrations clear, simple, and free of unnecessary details that may confuse the learner?

3- Are the instructions for the activities clear enough? Linguistics Content:

1- Grammar points are (sequenced) arranged from easy to difficult.

2- The vocabulary fits to the Omani culture.

3- Do the sentences and paragraphs follow one another in a logical sequence?

Thematic content:1- Does the subject matter cover a variety of topics appropriate

to the interests of the learners for whom the text book is intended?

2- Is the material accurate and up to date?

3- Is the content graded according to the needs of the students? Exercises:

1- Do the exercises develop comprehension and test knowledge?

2- Do the exercises involve vocabulary and structure which help the learner’s knowledge?

3- Do the exercises provide practice in different types of written work (sentence, completion, spelling, dictation, guided composition)? Appendix i

Appendix 1

Appendix 3

Appendix 4