Curriculum Resource Evaluation

 The relevance of and the teaching principles used in the Gibbons' (2015) curriculum resource, will be viewed. According to Nation & Macalister (2009), when designing a language teaching curriculum, principles that are based on research and theory should be addressed. The principles should allow for flexibility according to the learning conditions. Nation (2007) proposes that four strands for learning language should be included in a language learning course and given equal time, with every activity including one of the four strands. Gibbons' (2015) book supports the inclusion of activities that give equal time to the first two strands. The third strand of language-focused learning and fourth strand of fluency proposed by Nation (2007), are incorporated in the activities of the first two strands in Gibbons' (2015) book. The first strand Nation (2007) proposes is meaning-focused input, or listening and reading. This includes activities using a large quantity of familiar ...

  The resource that I have chosen Gibbons' (2015) book ,  is based on the Systematic Functional Approach to language learning and embraces the Communicative Language Approach.  Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) arose in Europe and the USA in the 1970s and spread around the world. It moves away from learning language structures, to the importance of language functions and communication. The focus in this approach is on the learners and their individual needs.   Gibbons (2015, p. 229) states “language is best learned through meaningful use in a variety of contexts, and the whole curriculum can be viewed as a resource for language development.” Furthermore, Gibbons (2015, p. 231) notes the important role of teachers and that “individual teachers can and do make a difference to children’s lives.” Gibbons' (2015) book is divided into eight chapters which includes chapters on the four areas of language learning: speaking, writing, reading and listening. She suggests ac...

The curriculum resource that I analysed is the book Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, Teaching English Language Learners in the mainstream classroom (Gibbons, 2015), which is the second edition of this book. The main stakeholders in keeping up the book are classroom teachers, EAL/D teachers, and the students themselves.  The author Gibbons (2015), taught TESOL courses at the University of Technology, Sydney and is now an Adjunct Professor at the University of NSW. Gibbons (2015) has also worked as an EL consultant for teachers and has worked in several countries overseas. She has published five books on ESL teaching. Gibbons' books have influenced the way EAL/D is taught in NSW public schools and her ideas are cited in the NSW Department of Education EAL/D advice for schools (2020) document. In the second edition of this book, Gibbons (2015) updates the practical ideas which can be used in the rmainstream classroom, by the regular class teacher. The book shows how scaffo...

I began my teaching journey in 1988, when I began a Bachelor of Arts degree at The University of Sydney. I completed this degree in 1990 with a double major in English and Psychology.  Whilst completing my studies, I was given the opportunity to conduct weekly English tutoring lessons to a local Japanese family. I also recorded myself reading passages from a text in English provided by the family, so that they could hear the local Australian accent, rather than the American accent used in their English teaching course. I enjoyed this work immensely. In 1991 I did voluntary work at a local primary school in Sydney, as I decided that teaching may be a possible career option. On a weekly basis, I assisted Year 2 students who were experiencing reading difficulties, with reading and writing tasks. From this experience, I remember the feeling of satisfaction that I felt from helping these students to improve in their literacy skills and the realisation that teaching was the career that I...