This document outlines principles for curriculum design and language teaching based on research and theory. It discusses ten key principles for determining content and sequencing, including focusing on high frequency language, training learners in self-directed study, spaced repetition of content, and accounting for factors like learners' existing knowledge and potential interference. It also covers two principles for monitoring and assessment: using ongoing analysis of learner needs and environment to guide material selection and presentation, and providing helpful feedback to allow learners to improve their language skills. The overall aim is to establish a sensible framework for teaching based on these principles that can be flexibly applied to different instructional contexts.

1. Chapter 4
Principles
The aim of this part of the curriculum design
process is to decide how learning can be
encouraged.
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2. The purpose of this chapter is to show that
a sensible basis to guide teaching and to
help in the design of courses rests on
following principles.
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3. Basis
These principles must be based on research and
theory, and must be general enough to allow
variety and flexibility in their application to suit the
wide range of conditions in which language is
taught.
Pedagogical
Perspective
Focused on
Curriculum
Design
Teacher Training
Nature of
Language
Nature of
Learning
Role of Culture
BasedonResearchandTheory
PhilosophicalStance
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4. The Subdivisions of Principles
8 10
2
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1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10
10 Principles of Language Teaching
Content and Sequencing
Monitoring and Assessment

6. Content and Sequencing
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7. Content and Sequencing
1. Frequency: A language course should
provide the best possible coverage of
language in use through the inclusion of
items that occur frequently in the language,
so that learners get the best return for their
learning effort.
General Rules Ways to apply these rules
for selection of material
3 Things a teacher may do
in the absence of best available RLE
Principles
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8. Content and Sequencing
2. Strategies and autonomy: A language
course should train learners in how to learn
a language, so that they can become
effective and independent language
learners.
Learning and Coping
Strategies
Principles for promoting
learner autonomy that
teachers and curriculum
designers should consider.
1. Learner goals
2. The language learning
process
3. Tasks
4. Learner strategies
5. Reflection on learning
Principles Fidel Villalobos

9. Content and Sequencing
3. Spaced retrieval: Learners should have
increasingly spaced, repeated opportunity to
give attention to wanted items in a variety of
contexts.
Principles
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-Wanted items
-(not more than 20) Group of very
useful but neglected items
-Effects of repetition on learning

10. Content and Sequencing
4. Language system: The language focus
of a course needs to be on generalizable
features of the language system.
Principles
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Language features
-Cohesive devices
-Prediction clues
-Text coping strategies
Areas of focus
-Vocabulary
-Structure
-Discourse
The teacher should try to include underlying concepts of the word instead of meaning

11. Content and Sequencing
5. Keep moving forward:
A language course should
progressively cover useful
language items, skills and
strategies.
Principles
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The course should have explicit language teaching goals

12. Content and Sequencing
6. Teachability: The teaching of language
items should take account of the most
favorable sequencing of these items and
should take account of when the learners
are most ready to learn them.
Principles
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13. Content and Sequencing
7. Learning burden: The course should
help learners make the most effective use of
previous knowledge.
Principles
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14. Content and Sequencing
8. Interference: The items in a language
course should be sequenced so that items
which are learned together have a positive
effect on each other for learning and so that
interference effects are avoided.
Principles
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15. Monitoring and Assessment
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16. Monitoring and Assessment
1. Ongoing needs and environment
analysis: The selection, ordering,
presentation, and assessment of the
material in a language course should be
based on a continuing careful consideration
of the learners and their needs, the teaching
conditions, and the time and resources
available.
Principles
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17. Monitoring and Assessment
2. Feedback: Learners should receive
helpful feedback which will allow them to
improve the quality of their language use.
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Principles
1 2 3

18. Thank you.
©Universidad Latina of Panama, Republic of Panama, May 2015.
Nation, I.S.P., Macalister, J. – Language Curriculum Design – First published 2010 by
Routledge .
ESL & Applied Linguistics Professional Series - Eli Hinkel, Series Editor
• Any part of this presentation may be cited, copied, translated into other languages or
adapted to meet local needs with prior permission from the author, provided that the
source is clearly stated. Requests for commercial reproduction should be directed to
fidel.villalobos35@gmail.com .
• This presentation was written and developed by (Fidel Villalobos) and produced in
(May 2015).
• This presentation and relevant resources are available on:
Fidel Villalobos