Written by Işıl İşgör, Aylin Acar, Buket Erdem, Gürkan Gergin, Orkun Yazıcı
Enterprise
CONTENT
PART
1
DESIGN & ORGANIZATION
1.
I. COMPONENTS
OF THE COURSEBOOK PACKAGE
1.
II. ORGANIZATION
OF THE CONTENT
1.
II. 1. A. TYPES OF
SYLLABUS
1. II. 1.
B. WRITERS' CLAIM
1. II. 2. LOGICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CLAIM AND LAY-OUT
1.
III. SUITABILITY
OF THE ORGANIZATION TO STUDENTS
AND TEACHERS
1.
III. 1.
TECHNIQUES USED FOR RECYCLING AND REINFORCEMENT
OF LEARNING
1. III. 2.
FLEXIBILITY
1.
IV. SEQUENCE
OF THE CONTENT
1.
V. CLEARANCE
OF THE LAYOUT
PART
2
LANGUAGE CONTENT
2.
I. GRAMMAR
2. I. 1.
CORRESPONDENCE TO STUDENTS' LANGUAGE NEEDS
2.
I.
2. BALANCE OF FORM AND USE
2. I. 3.
RELATION OF ITEMS
2.
II. VOCABULARY
2.
III. PHONOLOGY
PART
3
SKILLS
3.
I. READING
3.
II. LISTENING
3.
III. SPEAKING
4.
IV. WRITING
PART
4
TOPIC & METHODOLOGY
4.
I.
TOPIC
4.
I. 1.
REALITY OF THE TOPICS INCLUDED IN THE COURSEBOOK
4. I. 2. RELATION OF THE TOPICS TO THE LEARNER'S KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM
4. I. 3. COMPREHENSIBILITY OF THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CoNTEXTS
4.
II. METHODOLOGY
4. II. 1. APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE LEARNING TAKEN BY COURSEBOOK
4. II. 2.
TECHNIQUES USED FOR PRESENTING AND PRACTISING NEW
LANGUAGE ITEMS
4. II. 3.
DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATIVE ABILITIES
PART
5
EVALUATION OF TEACHER'S BOOK
5.
I. TEACHER'S
BOOK
5. I. 1.
GUIDANCE FOR TEACHERS
5. I. 2.
COMPREHENSIBILITY AND FLEXIBILITY OF
TEACHER'S BOOK
5.
I. 3.
CULTURAL EXPLANATION
5.
II. TEACHER'S
ROLE
PART
6
PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
PART
7
QUESTIONNAIRE
7.
I. STUDENT'S
QUESTIONNAIRE
7.
II. TEACHER'S
QUESTIONNAIRE
7.
III. LEARNING
-TEACHING SITUATION
APPENDIX
REFERENCES
PART
1
DESIGN & ORGANIZATION
1.
I. COMPONENTS
OF THE COURSEBOOK PACKAGE
Enterprise, by Virginia Evans and Jenny Dooley, is claimed to be 'a communicative course, specially designed to motivate and involve students in effective learning' at all stages. The course supposes to take learners from beginner to intermediate level in four stages. The coursebook package on sale in Turkey comprises:
·
Student's
Book:
Coursebook 1- Beginner (15 units, 124 pages), Coursebook 2- Elementary
(15 units, 128 pages), Coursebook 3- Pre-Intermediate (22 units, 127 pages),
Coursebook 4- Intermediate (12 units, 132 pages)
General
Sections: Contents,
course units, 4 cartoon stories (in Coursebook 1-
Beginner and 2- Elementary), revisions, grammar references (excluding
Coursebook 1-
Beginner), list of irregular verbs, word lists, photo files.
·
Workbook:
One Workbook per every corresponding Coursebook.
General
Sections:
Contents page, course units, progress tests (in Workbook 1-
Beginner and 2- Elementary), video projects.
·
Teacher's
Book:
Profess to provide guidance on how to deal with the material as it
appears in each unit in the Student's Book by teaching notes, as well states
that objectives of each unit are set out in the Teacher's Book (Enterprise 1-
Beginner, Teacher's Book, p.3), contains four tests of two versions each with
answer sheets.
·
Audio
Casettes:
Class casettes contain all the exercises in the Student's Book marked
with [casette] symbol (Enterprise 2- Elementary, Teacher's Book, p.3). It
is declared that prominence is on students experience the language spoken
naturally. Hence,
the recordings aim to teach vocabulary and train students to understand natural
speech in real-life situations.
(Enterprise 1- Beginner, Teacher's Book, p.3)
·
Grammar
Student's Book:
Aims to enhance student's mastery in grammar through sensible and
inter-related items.
Except these
course componenets, there are test booklets, test booklet keys, audio Cds, video
casettes in the total package.
No 'CALL' material is designde for the course book.
Enterprise is first printed in Britain in 1998.
1.
II. ORGANIZATION
OF THE CONTENT
Subjects selected to constitute a coursebook together need to be arranged
for stud over a period of time, in other words, a specification of what is
taught and in what order it is taught over a period of time with a starting
point and a final goal makes a definition of 'syllabus'.
Syllabus types are dealt in follow.
1.
II. 1.
A. TYPES
OF SYLLABUS
·
Structural
Syllabus: Assumes
the grammatical or structural aspects of language form, such as Past Tense,
verbs, nouns etc. as the basic or useful frame of it.
Language form is the content of Structural Syllabus.
Accuracy, having knowledge of rules in producing communication are the
goals of it and it internally has a sequential format developing from relatively
easy patterns to more difficult ones.
(For instance, Present Perfect Tense assumed to be more difficult than
Present Continuous Tense.)
·
Functional
Syllabus: It
is based on the identification of communicative functions which are selected and
sequenced according to usefulness to the learner, for example identifying,
reporting, correcting, describing.
It advocates that "using terms as 'making requests for information'
means more than 'interrogative form of modal verbs followed by
infinitive'". Besides
chance of using what is learned outside the classroom to communicate at early
stages stands as its feature.
·
Situational
Syllabi: This
type takes real-world situations (such as 'at a restaurant', 'at the market
place' etc.) to consider for organizing in principles, to grade what is taught.
That may be of a fictional story line or a realistic situation like
'ordering a meal at a restaurant'.
Using dialogues usually at the beginning of a lesson is the most familiar
way of presenting a situation, well-prepared ones can show how native speakers
act and what they talk about etc.
In addition role-plays is another version.
(Ed. Yavuz, M., Lecture
Photocopies, p.84)
Skill-Based
Syllabi: It
is defined as a specific way of using language that combines structural and
functional ability but existing independently of specific settings or
situations. For
example, reading skills such as skimming and scanning; writing skills such as
writing specific topic sentences, work reports; speaking skills of giving
instructions, asking for emergency help, and listening skills such as getting
specific information from a radio broadcast and so on.
(Ed. Yavuz, M., Lecture
Photocopies, p.88)
·
Task-Based
Syllabus: It's
defining characteristic is expressed as its using activities which learners have
to do for non-instructional purposes outside of the classroom.
It is added that as language form is learned through language use
transfer is stimulated in an interactional manner by processing new and old
information. It
can be applied in a number of instructional settings, anywhere that real-life
tasks can be discovered for learners.
·
Content-Based
Syllabus: Accepted
to be simple in concept as it is taken "the teaching of content or
information in the language being learned with little or no direct affort to
teach the language itself sperately from the content being taught."
(Ed. Yavuz, M., Lecture Photocopies, p.96)
It doesn't clearly distinguish form and function in teaching language but
makes the new language available in the contexts of its fuctions and meanings.
Extensive reading of literature or other content material in target
language can be seen as a type of content-based learning.
It is possible to see it applicable with work as vocabulary development,
spelling, specific and intensive writing activities, etc.
1.
II. 1.
B. WRITERS'
CLAIM
The authors of Enterprise, Evans and Dooley, have stated the claim that
"The course embodies a multi-syllabus approach and a wide variety of
presentation methodology" (Evans, V.
and Dooley, J., Enterprise 1-
Beginner, Coursebook, p.5).
The basis of each unit declared to be on a single broad theme, ensuring
coverage of a core of common, useful language related to topics of general
interest assumingly with which students need to be familiar.
1.
II. 2.
LOGICAL CORRELATION BETWEEN THE CLAIM AND LAY-OUT
To point out, the basic structure of units of Enterprise are Lead-in
sections, reading sections, language development sections; vocabulary, grammar,
reading and listening, pronounciation, communication sections, writing sections,
revision units, three adventure stories.
In order to see the correspondence between the claim and lay-out these
parts will be surveyed briefly.
Lead-in section is purported "to draw on the students' knowledge of
the given topic".
(Evans, V. and
Dooley, J., 1998)
In these sections topics are of shopping, festivals, various foods,
internet, world problems, animals, travel and so on.
Through questions associated with pictures, illustrations and listening,
vocabulary, grammar forms and functional items to be learned are familiarized.
(see Appendix 1-a, Enterprise 2- Elementary, Coursebook, p.40)
In reading sections, cross-cultural texts of different authentic types as
letters, leaflets, articles are placed (see Appendix 1-b, Enterprise 1-
Beginner, Coursebook, p.63).
They let students improve sub-skills such as reading for gist or specific
information.
New vocabularyand grammar items are presented in formal tables
emphasizing their uses (See appendix 1-c, Enterprise 1- Beginner, Coursebook,
p.56) with sub-headings under the title of language development.
Lexical items, introduced in reading texts, are practised through various
types of exercises such as matching with pictures (see Appendix 1-d, Enterprise
1- Beginner, Coursebook, p.41) in vocabulary sections.
Grammar sections present linguistic items in concise forms (see Appendix
1-e, Enterprise1- Beginner, Coursebook, p.50).
Then, "activities to free use of the grammar items in geniune
language tasks" like fill-ins, pair works realized.
Meaningful texts on authentic, cross-cultural topics are dealt
practically as claimed.
(see Appendix 1-f, Enterprise 2- Elementary, Coursebook, p.107)
Beside preparing students for the reading tasks listening skills are
improved through listening tasks.
(see Appendix 1-g, Enterprise 1- Beginner, Coursebook, p.74)
Pronounciation activities help students to recognize sounds and reproduce
them correctly. Listening
skills as intonation, catching ellision and sound discriminations are cared.
(see Appendix 1-h, Enterprise 1- Beginner, p.87, 2- Elementary, p.59, 3-
Pre-Intermediate, p.39)
In communication sections meaningful exchanges resembling real-life
communication and language functions (as apologising, suggesting) provided
through various practises in appropriacy to friendly or formal social contexts.
Here listening and pairworks proposed (see Appendix 1-i, Enterprise 1-
Beginner, p.86, 2- Elementary, p.58).
Prepared plans and information are given to help students create their
own writing tasks as projects and differently with guided help (for example,
write a postcard using the plan) both together in books 1- Beginner and 2-
Elementary, whereas just one writing activity (either project or guided one)
proposed in books 3- Pre-Intermediate and 4- Intermediate.
After focusing on these aspects, it can be stated that Enterprise Course
is designed in terms of 'Integrated Syllabus' type as it gives forms and items
in situations and settings supported with skills (reading, listenning, speaking,
writing) and their sub-ordinate skills (skimming, scanning, intonation,
discrimination) being conscious of appropriate using item in what sort of
context and situation.
1.
III. SUITABILITY OF THE
ORGANIZATION TO STUDENTS1.
III. SUITABILITY OF THE
ORGANIZATION TO STUDENTS
AND
TEACHERS
Students of
Coursebook need to communicate effectively and expect the coursebook to present
language with interesting and actual items.
Graded material, including Workbook as a supplementary, should facilitate
learning balanced with more authentic unsimplified material which encourages
language acquisition. Besides it
should be practical for teachers to adopt different teaching situations and
syllabi. As for teachers, they want a helpful description of the
methodology of the course and cues for lesson planning.
Enterprise Teacher's Book informs and directs teachers about what to do
during activities.
1.
III. 1.
TECHNIQUES USED FOR RECYCLING AND REINFORCEMENT
OF LEARNING
When
grammar and vocabulary is considered, items not only need to be met in context
and actively practised, but they also need to be repeated, that is recycled
two-to-four times before they become stored in the long term memory.
One principle of recycling can be stated that "items are encountered
in a structured way on several occasions in different contexts."
Hence, the form and the sound of a language item (grammatical form or
lexical item) can be learned by students through progressive exposure and by
meeting it in a number of different contexts they develop an increasing
understanding of its use and meaning. (Ed.
Yavuz, M., Lecture Photocopies)
Placing
revision units after each fourth or sixth units is applied as a recycling and
reinforcement technique, also the appendix and grammar reference are helpful
parts for reinforcement. To add, it
can be said that in order to recycle and reinforce 'comparison and contrasting'
techniques are used. To examplify,
when Past Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Simple Tenses are compared, example
about when they are used is presented. (see
Appendix 2, Enterprise 2- Elementary, p.56)
Similarly, Simple
Past Tense is taught initially in Unit 10 of Enterprise 1- Beginner, Coursebook,
it continues in Unit 2 of Enterprise 2- Elementary, Coursebook and later
compared with Past Continuous Tense in the next Unit.
Past Tenses are recycled in 7th Unit of Enterprise 3- Pre-Intermediate,
Coursebook.
The auxiliary
"mustn't" (implying prohibition) is presented formally in Unit 14 of
Enterprise 1- Beginner, and recycled in the 10th Unit of Enterprise 2-
Elementary. In Unit 20 of
Enterprise 3- Pre-Intermediate, a different usage of "must" in the
sense of "making deductions" is realised.
The modal
"can" presented in Unit 14 of Enterprise 1- Beginner, and in Unit 10
of Enterprise 2- Elementary.
Revision unit after
each fourth unit provides reinforcement for vocabulary items, grammar forms, and
communication as mentioned earlier.