ELT Planning Formulating Goals and Objectives Goals and Objectives How can you design a course if you don’t know where you want your students to come out? Goals Provide guidelines and should be flexible enough to change, if they are not Two bigger obstacle when formulating Goals Lack of time Teachers don’t know how to formulate them Key assumptions about GOALS characterizing the curriculum approach to educational planning  People are generally motivated to pursue specific goals  The use of goals in teaching improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning  A program will be effective to the extent that it goals are sound and clearly described Some thoughts about goals and objectives  The nature of aims and objectives, however, is not necessarily straightforward because they refer to knowledge, skills, and values that educational planners believe learners need to develop (Richards 2001:112)  In developing goals for educational programs, curriculum planners draw on their understanding both of the present and long-term needs of learners and of society as well as planners’ beliefs and ideologies about schools, learners, and teachers (Richards 2001:113) In curriculum discussion:  Goal and Aim used interchangeably, referring to a description of the general purposes of a curriculum  Objective refers to a more specific and concrete description of purposes Goals  …are a way of putting into words the main purposes and intended outcomes of your course The Journey analogy The destination  The Goal the journey  the course Objectives are the different points you pass through on the journey to the destination Goals Goal Objective Objective Objective Goals…  Can help you stay on course, both as you design the course and as you teach it  Help to bring into focus your visions and priorities for the course  State an aim that the course will explicitly address in some way (ESP)  Are future oriented  Are what the students should be able to when they leave the program  Are the benchmarks of success for a course The purpose of Goal/Aim statements are:  To provide a clear definition of the purposes of a program  To provide guidelines for teachers, learners, and materials writers  To help provide a focus for instructions  To describe important and realizable changes in learning Some faulty aim statements:  Students will learn about business-letter writing in English  Students will study listening skills  Students will practice composition skills in English  Students will learn English for Tourism Objectives  Are statements about how the goals will be achieved  Through objectives, a goal is broken down into learnable and teachable units Cause Effect Relationship between goals and objectives Objectives Obj Obj Obj Obj Goal Obj If these objectives are achieved This goal Will be reached Cause/Effect relationship between goals and objectives Objectives Goals are more long term Objectives more short term Goal 1 Objectives Goal 2 Objectives Goal 3 Objectives Objectives can serve more than one goal Goal 1 Goal Objectives Some characteristics:  They describe what the aim seeks to achieve in terms of smaller unites or learning  They provide a basis for the organization of teaching activities  They describe learning in terms of observable behavior or performance Some advantages:  They facilitate planning: once set up, course planning, materials preparation, textbook selection, and related processes can begin  They provide measurable outcomes and thus provide accountability: given a set of objectives, the success or failure of a program to teach the objectives can be measured  They are prescriptive: they describe how planning should proceed and away with subjective interpretations and personal opinions Let’s see a working example: Aim: Students will learn how to understand lectures given in English Objectives:   Students will be able to follow an argument, theme, or thesis of a lecture Students will learn how to recognize the following aspects of a lecture: cause-effect relationships comparisons and contrasts premises used in persuasive arguments supporting details used in persuasive arguments Objectives have the following characteristics:  Objectives describe a learning outcome will have, will learn about, will be able to will study, will learn, will prepare students are avoided  Objectives should be consistent with the curriculum aim * Aim: Students will learn how to write effective business letters for use in the hotel and tourism industries Objective: The student can understand and respond to simple questions over the telephone Objectives should be precise * Students will know how to use useful conversation expressions A more precise objective would be: • Students will use conversation expressions for greeting people, opening and closing conversations Objectives should be feasible * Students should be able to follow conversations spoken by native speakers A more feasible objective: • Students will be able to get the gist of short conversations in simple English on topics related to daily life and leisure English for Travel and Tourism Aim: To prepare students to communicate in English at a basic level for purposes of travel and tourism Objectives: Students will have a reading vocabulary of 300 common words and abbreviations The students will have a listening vocabulary of 300 common words plus numbers up to 100 The students will be able to understand simple written notices, signs, and menus The students will be able to understand simple questions, statements, greetings, and directions The students will be able to get the gist of simple conversations in spoken English The students can pick out unfamiliar phrases from conversations and repeat hem for clarifications The students can use in speech 200 common words plus numbers up to 100 for time, quantity, and price The students can use about 50 useful survival phrases, questions, requests, greetings, statements, and responses The students can hold a bilingual conversation, speaking English slowly and clearly in simple words 10 The students can use and understand appropriate gestures Questions? [...]... how the goals will be achieved  Through objectives, a goal is broken down into learnable and teachable units Cause Effect Relationship between goals and objectives Objectives Obj Obj Obj Obj Goal Obj If these objectives are achieved This goal Will be reached Cause/Effect relationship between goals and objectives Objectives Goals are more long term Objectives more short term Goal 1 1 2 3 Objectives. .. about goals Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal Goal What is achievable? What is appropriate? Goal 1 Goal 2 Goal 3 The KASA framework  Skills goals => what Ss can do with the language  Attitude goals => those that address affective and valuesbased dimension of learning: Ss ´ feelings toward themselves, others and the language Formulating Goals The KASA framework  Knowledge goals  what Ss will know and. .. for purposes of travel and tourism Objectives: 1 2 3 4 Students will have a reading vocabulary of 300 common words and abbreviations The students will have a listening vocabulary of 300 common words plus numbers up to 100 The students will be able to understand simple written notices, signs, and menus The students will be able to understand simple questions, statements, greetings, and directions 5 The... conversations and repeat hem for clarifications 7 The students can use in speech 200 common words plus numbers up to 100 for time, quantity, and price 8 The students can use about 50 useful survival phrases, questions, requests, greetings, statements, and responses 9 The students can hold a bilingual conversation, speaking English slowly and clearly in simple words 10 The students can use and understand appropriate... materials preparation, textbook selection, and related processes can begin  They provide measurable outcomes and thus provide accountability: given a set of objectives, the success or failure of a program to teach the objectives can be measured  They are prescriptive: they describe how planning should proceed and do away with subjective interpretations and personal opinions Let’s see a working example:... will be able to will study, will learn, will prepare students are avoided  Objectives should be consistent with the curriculum aim * Aim: Students will learn how to write effective business letters for use in the hotel and tourism industries Objective: The student can understand and respond to simple questions over the telephone Objectives should be precise * Students will know how to use useful conversation... complete reading assignments  Presenting ideas and information in an organized way in a written assignment More examples of Program Goals An ESP program for Diplomacy This program is intended to enable students of diplomacy to develop their communicative competence in their professional filed More examples of Program Goals An ESP program for Hotel and Tourist Management To train students to use... understand  Awareness goals  what Ss need to be aware of when learning a language Formulating Goals Awareness  By the end of the course, students will have become more aware of their reading comprehension in general and be able to identify the specific reading techniques in which improvement is needed Formulating Goals Knowledge  By the end of the course students will be able to understand the... to understand lectures given in English Objectives:   Students will be able to follow an argument, theme, or thesis of a lecture Students will learn how to recognize the following aspects of a lecture: cause-effect relationships comparisons and contrasts premises used in persuasive arguments supporting details used in persuasive arguments Objectives have the following characteristics:  Objectives. .. Cause/Effect relationship between goals and objectives Objectives Goals are more long term Objectives more short term Goal 1 1 2 3 Objectives Goal 2 1 2 Objectives Goal 3 3 1 2 3 Objectives Objectives can serve more than one goal Goal 1 1 2 Goal 2 3 4 5 6 Objectives Some characteristics:  They describe what the aim seeks to achieve in terms of smaller unites or learning  They provide a basis for the ... objectives Objectives Obj Obj Obj Obj Goal Obj If these objectives are achieved This goal Will be reached Cause/Effect relationship between goals and objectives Objectives Goals are more long term Objectives. .. Objectives  Are statements about how the goals will be achieved  Through objectives, a goal is broken down into learnable and teachable units Cause Effect Relationship between goals and objectives. .. described Some thoughts about goals and objectives  The nature of aims and objectives, however, is not necessarily straightforward because they refer to knowledge, skills, and values that educational