INSTITUTIONAL PURPOSES FOR TEACHING ENGLISH

Those who plan to develop English language curriculum within a given institution must attend to the nature of that institute, especially to the institute's purposes. Why? One reason is that the selection of an appropriate model or set of procedures for the formulation of objectives depends on the central purpose of that institute. Vocational and other training institutes, for example, are expected to prepare students for specific jobs. Hence, the use of job analysis, a technique for deriving objectives, that directly contribute to helping students find jobs and keep them, is warranted. This technique seeks to ensure a match between what the student learns and what he will do on the job. The method can be amplified, of course, with procedures for collecting data that will help anticipate likely job requirements. Job analysis would be a less appropriate tool to use in the formulation of objectives within an institution whose mission is to further humanistic goals. Such an institution should use a different technical tool to formulate objectives, i.e., a tool more consistent with actualizing learners as individuals.

Illustrations of how institutional purposes match procedures for curriculum development can be seen in the familiar practices of the community college. There is more freedom in the formulation of curriculum goals in community colleges than in traditional institutes devoted to the liberal arts because they frequently have a very broad goal, that of community service, an invitation to meet the educational needs of the community. Because of such goals and the Kuwait legislature's practice of funding community colleges based on student enrolment, the curriculum problem becomes a search for courses that will attract students. The appropriate technical tool for the formulation of objectives in this case is needs assessment, a procedure for uncovering local deficiencies and trends to decide what might be taught, and a way to sample and stimulate interests in various kinds of learning.