Improving the English language curriculum at the university level using a

human rights approach

Olivier Gérard Angel Méric

Universidad Estatal Amazónica

americ@uea.edu.ec

Abstract

The curriculum model developed for English language instruction at the

Universidad Estatal Amazonica is based on a human rights approach. This

curriculum model aims to set contents and strategies so that the learners will

develop the linguistic competences that satisfy their needs and objectives, and is an

adaptation of the curriculum methods developed by the language educator Jack C.

Richards. The success of the curriculum method was analyzed taking into account

three criteria: the acquired level, the linguistic competences reached and the didactic

resources used in order to evaluate its impacts on the learning process. The research

was conducted with the entire learner population of the UEA during a semester

using a descriptive statistic to analyze the results. The difference between the two

semesters in terms of the number of student who had completed their level is of

17,6% which confirms an improvement of the learning process, but the results of

the linguistic competence criterion did not fulfill the expectations at an acceptable

rate. An investigation that examines more deeply the issues involved is necessary

to determine if the English curriculum model based on a human rights approach will

facilitate the development of the UEA students’ linguistic competences which are

necessary for language proficiency.

Key words: competence, learner, linguistic, language

Resumen

El modelo curricular elaborado para la enseñanza del idioma inglés en la

Universidad Estatal Amazónica se basa en un enfoque de derechos humanos. Este

modelo curricular tiene por objeto establecer el contenido y las estrategias para que

los alumnos desarrollen las competencias lingüísticas que satisfacen sus

necesidades y objetivos, y es una adaptación de los métodos curriculares

desarrollados por el educador lingüístico Jack C. Richards. El éxito del método

curricular se analizó teniendo en cuenta tres criterios: el nivel adquirido, las

competencias lingüísticas alcanzadas y los recursos didácticos utilizados con el fin

de evaluar su impacto en el proceso de aprendizaje. La investigación se realizó con

la población total estudiantil de la UEA durante un semestre con una estadística

descriptiva para analizar los resultados. La diferencia entre los dos semestres en

términos del número de estudiantes que habían completado su nivel es de 17,6%, lo

que confirma una mejora del proceso de aprendizaje, pero los resultados del criterio

de competencia lingüística no cumplieron las expectativas a un nivel aceptable. Una

investigación que examina más a fondo las cuestiones planteadas es necesario para

determinar si el modelo de curricular de inglés basado en un enfoque de derechos

humanos, facilitará el desarrollo de las competencias lingüísticas de los estudiantes

de la Universidad Estatal Amazónica a los niveles requeridos.

Palabras claves: competencias, estudiante, lingüística, idioma

Introduction

A university-level curriculum

for teaching English as a second

language should establish and schedule

contents and strategies so that the

learners will develop the linguistic

communication competences regarding

their professional needs and objectives.

The main English teaching method

tendencies have evolved in recent

decades from the traditional methods

like grammar translation to the

communicative like social

constructivism approach (Windschilt,

2002; Richardson, 2003) and other

cutting-edge methods, in line with the

new linguistic, semantic,

sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic

orientations. During the last decade, the

science of language instruction has

been oriented toward discourse analysis

and its cognitive process applications,

in order to develop new learning

methods focusing on constructivism,

collaborative and cooperative learning

considered eclectic and strengthened by

the contemporary theories like

Vygotsky’s “Historical and Cultural

Education” (Roth and Lee, 2007).

The curricular model for

English as a second language at the

Universidad Estatal Amazónica (UEA)

aims to strengthen the teaching process

redesigning and applying general

purposes, realizing evaluation,

selecting and sequencing program

contents, methodological strategies and

pertinent resources, to be included in

the operative, educational and

investigative projects, in order to

enhance and optimize the teachers’

work so that the learners reach the

expected linguistic competences. In

order to assess objectively the different

59 ¿Cuántas especies hay en Ecuador?

impacts of the English language

curriculum within the learning process,

the investigation described herein was

developed

Development and evaluation of the

curriculum model for English as a

second language

As a consequence of the role

that language exerts in the construction

of knowledge, language is closely

linked to the processes of thought

(Gardner, 1983) and to the command

over skills not strictly linguistic but

also including cognitive skills, motor

skills and skills relative to the planning

and control of the learning activity

itself. The language curriculum

involves mainly a process of social

construction developed in a frame of

frequently diverse traditions and

pedagogical thoughts. Language

acquisition, through helping learners to

acquire an understanding of the culture

where they live, is achieved through

social interaction. Language is a tool

people use for cultural transmission,

communication, and reflection on their

own thinking (Vygotsky, 1962). The

role of the language curriculum is to

guide the learners from their needs to

their general, specific and linguistic

objectives in order to contribute to an

enhance the ability of the individual`s

participation in an increasingly

demanding and complex society that

promotes integration from diversity.

In accordance with the

framework of the key competences

proposed in the Common European

Framework of Reference for Language

(CEFRL): the competences that must

be developed in language education,

belong to two groups: the general and

the specific, which are defined in

relation to the prior competences of

“proficiency of linguistic skills”

(Council of Europe, 2009). The

CEFRL gears the pedagogical process

to an action-oriented approach where

“tasks” are perform in a meaningful

social context in order to develop

communicative language competences

within basic human competences

(Council of Europe, 2009). An

adaptation focused on each specific

social context with selected contents

provides meaningful tasks for the

learners, taking into account the rights

and the respect of their identities within

a globalized society. Besides defining

the features of the pedagogical

approach and being a guideline, the

curriculum must help provide answers

to the student regarding the whole

learning process including contents,

objectives, aims, evaluations, etc.

The “Competence Curricular

Model with a Human Rights

Approach” has been designed to help

Méric 60

attain an integral educational

development of the person through the

learning the new language and its

associated culture, so that he may

interrelate with different human groups

and can evolve and thrive in a

globalized world in order to update his

personal and professional knowledge.

The students are considered as a central

position constituting the main referent

for the professor, and the following

considerations are taken into account in

the planning and scheduling of the

classroom lessons:

a) Improving the learning process

through five lexical, phonological,

orthographical, sociolinguistical and

pragmatical competencies of the

English language, based on strategies

developed to enhance and interact with

the linguistic skills: oral and written

comprehension, oral and written

expression, and oral interaction

(Council of Europe, 2009), to train the

students in their specific context and

reality.

b) The focus on human rights makes

people aware of their responsibilities

and rights, dealing with different

themes in each unit such as: health,

human relationships, ethics and values,

environment, biodiversity, identity,

pluriculturality and an education for a

peaceful culture.

c) The human being’s four scopes --

conceptual, axiological, pragmatic and

volitional (Table 1) --sets the

fundamental abilities to develop:

creative mind, reflecting, researching

and taking decisions respecting values,

pointing to an integral and holistic

formation, and improving the student’s

development in his four scopes:

Conceptual contents directly in

relation with the knowledge people

have regarding things, information,

facts, concepts, principles, rules and

theories.

Pragmatic contents related with

how people execute actions,

intellectual and creative abilities

including skills, strategies and

processes which imply a well-ordered

sequence of acts or operations to reach

an aim.

Axiological contents directly linked

with values, norms, emotions, beliefs

and behavior geared to maintain a

social and personal balance.

Volitional contents linked with

leadership, entrepreneurship,

inventiveness, pro-activity,

creativeness, etc.

The curriculum design method

developed in recent decades by

language educator Jack Richards

(Richards, 2001) was taken into

account to develop a scaffolded

61 Improving the English language

learning process so that from needs

analysis, the course aims, goals and

objectives were determined before

setting the general syllabus

orientations. The design process

followed the sequence recommend by

Richards (2001): Course rationale,

entry and exit, scope and sequence,

planning the course structure and

redaction.

When setting the meso and

micro levels, the following

considerations were taken into account:

- Purposes: Learning to develop

communicative skills in English and

foster students competences in a

holistic way.

- Evaluation: How the learning process

has been, is and will be fulfilled.

- Contents and strategies: They are in

relation with the aims, goals and

objectives taking into account

individual differences, learning styles,

multiple intelligences, affective filters,

and interesting topics adapted to the

learners' world.

- Sequences: Order and continuity

between modules, units, chapters and

levels were defined in a spiral progress

where the new knowledge was

included in the previous one once it

was acquired, in order to be used as

bases to built more competences.

- Didactic resources: They are the

available resources used and well-

adapted to the learning process

regarding the students' necessities.

The pragmatic competence evaluation

gathered proficiency evidences like

interactive dialogs, text productions,

speeches. The cognitive evidences

were collected through learning process

and the axiological evaluation through

rating scales and rubrics. The volitional

competences were evaluated through

advance reports of specific projects.

Many theories and methods

have been promulgated about

developing tests for language

assessment; following are some

examples used in the process:

- Applicative tests: demand that

learners apply previously acquired

knowledge, competences, skills,

attitude and values.

- Creative tests: make evident the

learner competences to invent and

provide solutions according to given

problems.

- Restitution tests: demand that learners

remember and produce previously

learnt information evaluating the

memorization competence using

grammatical, lexical, or phonetical

exercises.

- Recognition tests: Demand that

learners identify previous learnt

information through visual and/or

phonetic stimuli.

Méric 62

Table 1. The human being’s four scopes.

Intellectual

Pragmatical

Axiological

Linguistic competences:

lexical, phonological,

syntactical, ...,

knowledge or skill and

other language

dimensions as a complex

system linked with the

knowledge extent or

quality and also with the

cognitive organization

and the way they are

stored,

Pragmatic competences:

They refer to the

functional use of

linguistic resources and

merge, on one hand,

speech competences, on

an other hand, functional

competences regarding

the knowledge of

linguistic forms and

their functions and also

the way they interact

ones with others.

Sociolinguistic

competences:

Sociocultural conditions

of the language in use

like the courtesy and

civility norms, the

imposed communication

rules between

generations, genders,

classes and social

groups; and the cultural

dimensions inherent in

the language.

Volitional

Acting in the different pedagogical classroom projects and workshops taking

into account the thematic axis: environment, identity, inter-cultural, labor

insertion and professionalism

Besides the evaluation process,

the instructor promoted a holistic

approach integrating learners in their

context considering that the most

efficient methodologies allow to reach

the agreed objectives regarding the

learner's needs and necessities within a

social context and its effectiveness

depends on the actors' motivation, on

the quality of the resources both human

and material that can be included in the

process (Council of Europe, 2009). As

responsible and independent users, the

learners must actively involve

themselves in the learning process to

reach an autonomous learning and be

independent in a social group. The use

of technology with an Internet

connection helped the process

development by enhancing the level of

interactivity and motivating and

improving the immersion level inside

the target language environment.

Once the curriculum was

designed and redacted, the data

compiled before the curriculum

application were stored to be compared

with the results of the research and

presented as a diagnostic to evaluate its

impacts of the curriculum on the

learning process.

This study’s hypotheses, and

the process to test them, were as

follows:

General hypothesis: The creation and

application of the curriculum to teach

and evaluate the English language will

permit the development of the student

competences which are necessary and

indispensable for language proficiency

and required for graduation by the

Universidad Estatal Amazónica.

Specific hypotheses:

a). The syllabus framework and the

didactic materials fulfill the legal

requirements of the UEA for its

students’ English language proficiency

b). The selected approach will enable

the students at the UEA to acquire the

necessary and indispensable

competences in language proficiency.

c). The available resources will help to

improve the students’ acquisition of the

necessary and indispensable

competences to the language

proficiency.

In this study the English

language curriculum at the UEA

represented the independent variable

and the learning process the dependent

variable divided in three categories:

“level”, “linguistic competences”, and

“didactic resources”. The learners' level

was considered regarding the

diagnostic, formative and summative

evaluation according to the following

percentages:

a). Formative (30%): The level of

accomplishment of the specific

objectives of the learning process

through the assessment of the student's

work regarding his or her self-

preparation, oral and written

production, attitude, involvement and

engagement in group projects, etc.

b). Summative (30%): The level of

accomplishment of the specific

performance objective of each didactic

unit through a mid-course evaluation

and the student's participation in the

Virtual Classroom.

c). Final exam (40%): The level of

accomplishment of aims and objectives

of the curriculum through oral and

written productions such as tests,

expositions or works in real

professional context.

The learners' competences were

considered regarding their response to

stimuli that asked them to use their

linguistic competences, the didactic

resources were considered regarding

the students' opinion expressed through

a “rubric” as established in Table 2

based on standard criteria and markers

(Hamers, 2004).

Méric 64

Table 2. Variable characterization.

Variables

Concept

Categories

Markers

Techniques

Curriculum

Learning program

and courses offered

to the students

Pedagogic

lineaments of the

learning process

Learning process

Testing the

dependent

variables

Learning

process

Acquisition process

of the knowledge

defined as

competences, skills

and needed learning

Levels

Linguistic

Competences

Didactic

Resources

- A2.1

- A2.2

- B1.a.1

- B1.a.2

- B1.b.1

- B1.b.2

Excellent proficiency,

good proficiency, has to

be deepened, to develop

Relevance, Reflective

thinking, Interactivity,

Tutor support, Peer

support, Interpretation

Tests

Rubrics

Survey

Implications of the English

curriculum model with a human

rights approach

In order to test the general

hypothesis, the null hypothesis (Ho)

and the alternative hypothesis (Ha)

were defined as follows:

Ho, the null hypothesis is true if the

design and application of the

curriculum to teach and evaluate the

English language does not facilitate the

development of the UEA student's

necessary and indispensable

competences attain English language

proficiency.

Ha, the alternative hypothesis is true if

the design and application of the

curriculum to teach and evaluate the

English language does facilitate the

development of the UEA student's

necessary and indispensable

competences attain English language

proficiency.

To establish the null or the

alternative hypothesis, a Boolean vector

was defined:

a.) Considering the vector θ = (θ1, θ2,

θ3) with θi defined as the categories of

the specific hypothesis, θ1 = “level”, θ2

= “Linguistic Competences”, θ3 =

“Didactic Resources”;

65 Improving the English language

b). Considering the Boolean function B

[θi = x]; x Є {0;1}with Ho true if B [θi

= 0] and Ha true if B [θi = 1];

d). If the result does not verify one of

these equations, there is not sufficient

evidence to reject or accept either Ho or

Ha.

The analysis was carried out

over the total population of the UEA

students who studied English. Since

the analysis involved the total

population and not a sample, the results

followed a descriptive statistical model

where all the levels were represented in

an equal distribution within the

population. During the application of

the curriculum an improvement of

17,6% the students who completed the

program was observed. They could

control their own learning process and

clearly refer to their objectives which

rose their motivation and made them

more self-confident.

The results of each tested

category were considered to measure

the impact on the learning process: the

acquired level, the acquired linguistic

competences, and the didactic resources

(Figure 1).

Figure 1. The levels of competence in the English language obtained by UEA students. A

score of 7 points out of 10 is the minimum required level to pass the English competence

exam.

In the case of the first semester

students, 31,6% of the learners reached

the required level. A deeper analysis

based on previous knowledge reveals

that 58% of the learners came from

rural high schools where they had very

limited contact with English language

instruction and with multimedia tools,

therefore their adaptation time took

longer than was observed with the

other levels. In all the other five

semesters, more than 70% of the

learners have acquired the required

level and, and overall, 70.6% of the

entire student population have acquired

the required level; therefore the first

category of the vector θ can be

considered as true.

At total of 68,3% of the

linguistic competences were reached

Méric 66

68,3% stages the category “false”. The

learner population did not obtain the

linguistic competences at an acceptable

rate.

Figure 2. Detail of the 6 linguistic competence percentage reached by the UEA students.

Figure 3. Percentage of excellent and good proficiency reached by the UEA students.

The learners expressed their

opinion of the curriculum through two

surveys, one at the midterm and the

other at the end of the semester (Table

3). The midterm survey had a 60,2%

favorable learners' opinion. The

students suggested improvements

through strategies such as a specific

course on the didactic resources used in

order to make the multi-media contents

more attractive and accessible for the

students. The second survey results

show a 71,8% favorable learners'

opinion. The improvement in students’

opinions was a result of the strategies

that were applied, and with this result,

the last category of the vector θ is true.

67 Improving the English language

with a better score for sociolinguistic,

pragmatic and lexical competences

(Figures 2 and 3). Regarding the

necessary 70% set to consider the

category “true”, the obtained result

Table 3. Survey comparison.

%

Relevance

Reflective

Interactivity

Tutor

support

Peer

support

Interpretation

Average

First

survey

78

63

44

72

42

62

60,2

Second

survey

86

75

63

85

49

73

71,8

The Boolean vector θ = (θ1, θ2,

θ3) presented the following value θ =

(1,0,1) so neither Ho nor Ha could be

considered as true or false and it was

necessary to conclude that it did not

exist sufficient evidence to reject or

accept either Ho or Ha.

Conclusions

Although the difference

between the two semesters in term of

numbers of student who had completed

their level is of 17,6% which confirms

an improvement in the learning

process, the results imply a deeper

investigation over a longer period (six

semesters). A redesign of part of the

curriculum program is being carried

out in order to determine if the creation

and application of the English

curriculum model based on human

right approach will facilitate the

development of the UEA student

competences which are necessary and

indispensable for the language

proficiency.

It is important to ensure the

students have the necessary previous

knowledge to succeed in the

curriculum program as they do not

have the time to fill the gaps in their

knowledge while they are obtaining

new knowledge and competence in

English. Therefore it is necessary to

apply a placement test in order to

diagnose the learner’s previous

knowledge and, if necessary, have the

learner take a preliminary levelling

course before entering the curriculum

program. In cases where the students

must obtain competence in the use of

computers while they are gaining

linguistic competence, the program

could result in failure. The students

must be well acquainted with the

didactic resources through a levelling

course before joining the curriculum of

the English language program.

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Méric 68

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69 ¿Cuántas especies hay en Ecuador?