Teaching Language Curriculum: SITUATION ANALYSIS

 SITUATION ANALYSIS

Situation analysis is an analysis of factors in the context of a planned or present curriculum project that is made in order to assess their potential impact on the project. These factors may be political, social economic, or instutional situation analysis complements the information gathered during needs analysis. It is sometimes considered as a dimension of need analysis, and can also be regarded as and aspect of evaluation.

Societal factors

Point out that the circumstances of foreign language teaching are completely different in both countries. In examining the impact of societal factors on language teaching, therefore, the aim is to determine the impact of groups in the community or society at large on the program. These groups include :

1. Policy makers in government

2. Educational and other government officials

3. Employers

4. The business community

5. Politicians

6. Tertiary education specialists

7. Educational organizations

8. Parents

9. Citizens

10. Students

Learner factors

Learners are the key participants in curriculum development projects and it is essential to collect as much information as possible about them before the project begins. In here, the focus is on other potentially relevant factors such as the learners’ backgrounds, expectations, beliefs, and preferred learning styles. Learners have their own agendas in the language lesson they attend. These agendas, as much as the teacher’s objectives, determine what learners take from any given teaching or learning encounter. Learners may affect the outcomes of project in unexpected ways.

Among relevant learner factors therefore are the following:

1. What are the learners’ past language learning experiences?
2. How motivated are the learners to learn English?
3. What are their expectations for the program?
4. Do the learners’ views on language teaching reflect any culturally specific factors?

Adoption factors

            Curriculum changes are of many different kinds. They may affect teachers’ pedagogical values and beliefs, their understanding of the nature of the language or second language learning. Some changes may be readily accepted while others might be resisted. Although curriculum planners might provide many compelling reasons for adopting a communicative teaching methodology.

            The goal of situation analysis is to identify key factors that might positively or negatively affect the implementation of the curriculum plan. This is sometimes known as a SWOT analysis because it involves an examination of a language program’s internal strength and weaknesses in addition to external opportunities and threats to the existence or successful operation of the language program.

            Situation analysis thus serves to help identify potential obstacles to implementing a curriculum project and factors that need to be considered when planning the parameters of a project.