<h1 class="page-title" style="text-align: center;">TESOL®- Immersion Method, and Outcome-based Curriculum Method</h1>
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https://youtu.be/s2ap4Q5uxGE

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<strong>Immersion Method</strong><strong> IM</strong>

Most often used with children, immersion is the way that we learned, or rather, acquired our first language. IM requires that children spend a large portion of each day living and working in the second language. Children in bilingual families or those living abroad often experience the Immersion Method.

In recent years many countries, including Canada, the USA, Russia, and Wales have carried out experiments in this area by establishing schools where all lessons are undertaken in a second language. In the case of English-speaking Canadian children, the French Immersion program is the selected language. There has also been a growth in the number of bilingual schools, where children spend half of each day working their first language and the other half in the second language. The results so far suggest quite a measure of success with this most natural approach to language learning.

As the children learn by absorbing the language unconsciously in much the same way that they acquired their mother tongue, very little formal teaching is needed.
<h3><strong>The Lexical Approach</strong></h3>
G-T, Audio-lingual, and Structural approaches all emphasize accuracy, and in practice, this is almost always at the expense of fluency. Once it became accepted that making mistakes is not a crime, there followed an essential shift in importance from form to meaning, that is from grammar and morphology, (the shapes of words: take - took - taken - taker) to vocabulary and semantics.

The lexical approach views meaning as stored in 'lexical chunks'. The teacher's task is to enable learners to understand and manipulate these chunks. The grammar associated with the chosen chunks is taught but the initial selection of items to be taught is lexically based. Much use is made of collocation, idioms assume a more central role in the syllabus, and more emphasis is placed on the receptive skills, especially listening. In common with the communicative approach, exercises should use units of discourse rather than single isolated sentences.

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<h3><strong>The Humanistic Approach and Learner-Centered Teaching</strong></h3>
These follow on from the Communicative Approach, with its emphasis on the social and emotional rather than linguistic needs of the learners, and also from current pedagogy in mainstream teaching. Good teachers have always treated their students as individuals, with their own and differing backgrounds, opinions, ambitions and problems. They have tried to motivate their students by making their lessons relevant to them.

In the classroom, however, this principle has always been subservient to other considerations - particularly to the language being taught. The humanistic approach puts this consideration first and allows the language, and the skills to be practiced, to follow from it. (In 1.8.3 we discuss the naming of the various approaches; it is a matter of priority, not exclusivity). In a typical activity, the teacher might ask students to bring holiday photographs to the class. Students describe their holidays and ask a question while the teacher provides corrections on their language skills.

<strong><em>In the learner-centred approach</em></strong>, the curriculum is determined by discussion between teacher and learners, a syllabus evolves from students’ needs. Classes could be by means of weekly meetings. The teacher prepares the following week's lessons on the basis of Friday discussions. It works best with adult learners who have reasonably common aims, with intrinsic rather than purely extrinsic motivation.

For many courses throughout the world, the syllabuses are set by external requirements. But even here learners could decide, for example, to concentrate on reading rather than listening, or on vocabulary rather than grammar, or to have an extra pronunciation lesson. In all discussions, the teacher is consulted, and students may well adopt the teacher's advice, but the learners make decisions to control their own learning. There should be a genuine and equal partnership between teachers and learners.
<h3><strong>Methods Conclusion</strong></h3>
Your approach to language teaching is the keystone of all your teaching methodologies in the classroom. You should be able to "profess" at least major components of your theory of language learning and education, and have at least an understanding of how that theory enlightens your classroom practices. Keep in mind the dynamic nature of the theoretical stance of even the most experienced teachers. We have much to learn, collectively, in the profession. You may even want to consult other approaches to Second Language teachings such as Community Language classes, Wikipedia, the Silent Way, or the Natural Approach, and incorporate some of their principles to your personal approach.
<h3><strong><em>Outcomes-based Method - A Curriculum Planning Concept - 2017</em></strong></h3>
The University Grants Committee of Hong Kong recently (2017) appointed a consultant to advise on the facilitation of outcomes-based teaching and learning in Hong Kong universities. Outcomes-based education implies that when planning programs desirable learning outcomes are identified and considered. Course content, learning activities and assessment are designed so as to be consistent with the achievement of the desired learning outcomes. The evidence is then gathered to determine whether the desired outcomes are being achieved. This evaluation evidence provides feedback to ensure that elements in the teaching and learning environment are acting to facilitate the nurturing of the desired outcomes.

In its Strategic Plan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has formulated a set of desired outcomes for its graduates.

The University expects that its graduates should have acquired an appreciation for the broad range of values of intellectual disciplines. Within that wide spectrum, students must gain a depth of knowledge in a specialty as a vehicle for future studies. They should have a high level of bilingual proficiency in Chinese and English, and a basket of skills including numeracy, analytic skills, and IT capability appropriate to the modern age, and above all the ability to continue with life-long learning and professional development. They should have cultivated a habit of reading widely, learned to be critical and independent. They should be effective in communication and teamwork. Our students are also expected to have a deep understanding of Chinese culture and an appreciation of other cultures, and with that appreciation also a high degree of intercultural sensitivity, tolerance, and a global perspective. They should have an attitude of compassion, honesty, and integrity in relation to self, family, and society, and the ability to contribute as citizens and leaders. They should have a sense of purpose, responsibility, and commitment in life, a desire to serve, as well as taste in their pursuits.

The strategic plan contains steps to maximize the extent to which these ambitious learning outcomes can be achieved.
<h4><strong> </strong><strong>Best practice</strong></h4>
Best practice in teaching and learning at CUHK has implicitly, if not always explicitly, been consistent with outcomes-based education. Good practices in outcomes-based learning and education are, therefore, well established at CUHK. The Integrated Framework for Curriculum Development and Review was drawn up with the model of outcomes-based education in mind. The review processes inherent in the Integrated Framework are intended to aid departments in achieving consistency between desired learning outcomes and the realization of those outcomes. This chapter is designed to align teaching and curriculum development with best practice.
<h3><strong>Student needs</strong></h3>
If courses are planned with an outcomes-based approach, the initial task is to identify desired outcomes. When best practice is employed, the starting point for determining the desired outcomes of programs and courses is student needs. What knowledge, skills and capabilities do students need on graduation?

In professional programs, such as teacher education, this implies that the students need to graduate as competent professionals in the field. Knowing theories about teaching is not sufficient – the students need to be able to put theory into practice.

Course planning needs to look beyond the end of a course to consider lifelong learning needs. Most commonly this is by ensuring that courses play a part in developing the intellectual capabilities needed for lifelong learning. In the quotation below, students are referred to readings that will help them in the future.
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<h3><strong>Self-managed learning</strong></h3>
Perhaps the most important learning outcome is that students learn how to learn for themselves. When they graduate there will be many new topics, they will need to learn, and so it is important that their university education develops their capacity to do so. Chan Hung Kan shows how to do this by requiring students to discover the origin of words from first principles. To require students solving problems, rather than providing them with the solutions, trains and enhances their thinking abilities.

In selecting what to teach the excellent teachers were aware of the elements of course planning. It is not just a matter of covering the topic-specific appropriate content, but the desired learning outcomes have to be considered as well. Gordon Mathews justifies this conclusion through the nature of his discipline, which is anthropology.

By encouraging students to think independently, they will develop the skill or competence needed to learn on their own. On graduation they will need to be lifelong or self-managed learners; so this ability needs to be developed.
<h3><strong>Communication skills</strong></h3>
Students from each of the disciplines recognized that communication skills were important and closely related to the interpersonal skills needed to work with others. Again, these were seen as being developed through practice in learning activities. Most commonly such Communication Skills were through discussion in class and by students’ class presentations. Most medical schools incorporate a specific course to develop students’ communication skills.
<h3><strong>Interpersonal skills</strong></h3>
Teamwork was recognized as an important capability. There are few professionals nowadays who work as individuals, so the ability to be able to work as part of a team is essential. Interpersonal skills are developed through teamwork practice, group projects, or nowadays online collaborated projects.
<h4><strong>Student needs</strong></h4>
A curriculum development model stresses the need for curriculum planning to be consistent with the desired learning outcomes. To achieve the ideal curriculum, it is necessary to know about the students’ anticipated future needs. Determining the future needs of students means anticipating developments within the discipline or profession. As the pace of change in technology and society quickens, this is not a task to be underestimated.

<strong>Elements of curriculum planning</strong>

Planning the curriculum then involves a range of aspects. Firstly, the desired learning outcomes need to be addressed. If students’ future needs are to be met, what are the important learning outcomes that need to be achieved?

The second aspect of curriculum planning is designing learning activities, which will promote the achievement of these targets. The next part demonstrates that meaningful learning occurs through active engagement in learning tasks that require students to deploy their capabilities. Optimum curriculum planning includes designing learning activities, which are consistent with the aims and intended learning objectives.

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<h3><strong>Curriculum planning model. </strong></h3>
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The aspects of curriculum planning can be incorporated into a model, which shows how they relate together and influence each other. This model is shown in Figure 2.

At the top of the model are the student learning needs, which were the starting point of part 2. These lead to five elements of the curriculum, which should be incorporated into curriculum plans, desired learning outcomes, fundamental concepts, learning activities, assessment, and feedback. As we will see in part 5, assessment has a very strong influence on learning outcomes. These are shown as related to student learning needs by a feedback loop to complete the cycle.  The central part of the model might be compared to the interaction model of curriculum development, one of those commonly cited in curriculum development texts (e.g. Brady, 1990). This consists of the four elements of objectives, content, activities, and evaluation, with each element permitted to interact with each other.
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<h3><strong>The mechanism for the development of desired outcomes</strong></h3>
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To develop curriculums with desired outcomes we would need to create students practice opportunities. Generic capabilities are nurtured if programs provide learning activities, which require the deployment of the capabilities in question. Developing such capabilities will increase students’ intellectual perceptions. Critical thinking will develop through analytical debates on key topics.

The best way to develop critical thinking is to make demands that would require critical thinking practice.

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<h3><strong>Teaching and learning environment</strong></h3>
The remainder of this part shows how the curriculum, the teaching, and the learning environment can be configured to enhance students’ capabilities. The facets of the broad curriculum, the teaching, and the learning environment are related to exercise the use of the capabilities.
<h3><strong>Active Learning</strong></h3>
One of the most important planes of the teaching and the learning environment for promoting the development of capabilities is the provision of active learning experiences. The practice of the capabilities occurs when there is an activity demanding their application. The capabilities are not practiced by sitting in a lecture theatre listening passively to a lecture.

Perhaps the most common form of learning activity noted by the students in the focus groups was discussion, which was particularly important for developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. For the discussion to be successful in nurturing capabilities, the professor or tutor needs to take a facilitative and stimulating role. Most of the courses featuring students’ presentations require them to research a topic and initiate a discussion. The professor could then facilitate an in-depth exploration of the topic through searching questions.
<h3><strong>Teaching for understanding</strong></h3>
Closely related to the deployment of active learning experiences is the need for teaching to promote a comprehensive understanding of a topic. Intellectual capabilities are developed through practice in their use. Courses, which aim to give students a thorough understanding of key concepts, can provide that practice. Those, intentionally or unintentionally, expect students to remember a mass of detail is unlikely to stretch intellectual capacities.

This means that topics need to be explored comprehensively. As time allocated to courses is finite, this might imply that concentration on dealing with a restricted number of key concepts is needed, rather than superficial coverage of general topics. Understanding comes through relating to real-life applications, rather than learning abstract theory.
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<h3><strong>Coherence of curriculum</strong></h3>
Curriculums need to have high degrees of consistency, which is compatible with providing practice in the desired capabilities. Curriculum design and planning need to include clearly formulated aims for the development of necessary generic and professional/ disciplinary capabilities. The design needs to ensure that adequate practice is provided in each capability.

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<h3><strong>Student-student relationships</strong></h3>
The “teamwork” capabilities are communication and interpersonal skills. The former implies the ability to effectively communicate ideas to others and to be able to hold a productive interactive dialogue. Interpersonal skills are needed for the effective functioning of teams.

These capabilities develop through practice. Communication skills are practiced when students give presentations and hold meaningful class discussions. Interpersonal skills are practiced when students work together in teams. Such activities are commonly promoted through social media, online discussion groups, blogs, online collaborated projects, and surely in classrooms face-to-face contacts.

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<strong><em>Teacher-student interaction</em></strong>

The teaching factors establish that teachers need to take a facilitative stance to promote student-centred learning. This means not always supplying direct answers to students’ questions, but probing and prompting so that they work out their solutions. Questioning techniques that require students to delve deeper and be more reflective are more likely to stimulate higher-order thinking capabilities.

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<h3><strong>Variety of assessment</strong></h3>
Achieving consistency between desired outcomes and assessment would often imply having a range of assessment items. Most courses have a number of aims and it can often be hard to devise a single item or type of assessment. In these cases, it is preferable to have several items of assessment of different types.
<h4><strong>Feedback on the curriculum development model</strong></h4>
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<h4>Feedbacks, principally from students, can inform the development and refinement of each element in the model. Excellent teachers recognize that there are always ways in which a course can be improved. Initial plans are carefully made and then fine-tuned in the light of students’ feedback.</h4>
https://youtu.be/3GWS58U3kZA
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