viii.

Planning, Programming & Resourcing

Institution: UOW Learning Platform Printed by: Kate Lindner

EDGT930 (S125) Methodology in Date: Saturday, 17 May 2025, 9:40 AM
Site:
Second Language Teaching
viii. Planning, Programming &
Book:
Resourcing
 Table of contents

1. Readings and Resources

2. Reading Activities

3. Introduction

4. Planning Units of Work and Lessons

5. Planning and Programming

6. Sample Units, Lesson Plans, and Resources

 1. Readings and Resources

Readings - Module 3:

Bringing Perspectives to the Classroom

This week's readings are:

Anderson, Jason. 2015. “Affordance, Learning Opportunities, and the Lesson Plan
Pro Forma.” ELT journal 69(3): 228–38. This article offers the opportunity to reflect
on common practices and tools used in our practices. In this case, the humble
lesson plan. As you read, pay attention to the way the concept 'affordance-based
approach' is explored in the article. A useful alternative or just more of the same
with a different name?

Alsagoff, L., & Low, E.-L. (2007). Challenges in Curriculum Development: A

Singapore Model for EFL Tertiary Educators from China. RELC Journal, 38(2),
229–246. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688207079707

Nagao, A. (2020). Adopting an SFL Approach to Teaching L2 Writing through the

Teaching Learning Cycle. English Language Teaching (Toronto), 13(6), 64-.
https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n6p144

Veliz, L., Bonar, G., & Premier, J. (2023). Editorial: Teaching EAL/D learners across
the curriculum. TESOL in Context, 32(1), 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.21153/tesol2023vol32no1art1909

Click here to access some PDF versions of recommended readings.

 2. Reading Activities

Read Chapter 10 Course Design in Hedge. The chapter outlines a series of steps for
planning and programming.

Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: OUP.

Part 1: Work through the Introductory Task on page 337.

Part 2: Now read the rest of the chapter. Use the following questions to help guide your
note-taking:

In 10.2, What are the steps in course design? Hedge outlines a series of steps.
What specific factors need to be taken into account in designing learning
programs?
What is the main difference between a goal and an objective according to Hedge?
Read the sections 10.2.3 and 10.2.4 carefully. What is a “multidimensional
syllabus”?
How does Hedge suggest that course units are planned and constructed?

Post your responses in the Discussion forum by clicking here. Feel free to share
your thoughts with others if you feel comfortable doing so.

Part 3: Read and compare Feez (1998), Harmer (2015) and Scrivener (2005) – the
readings are available in the Week 8 Readings & Resources folder. It may not be
appropriate to use any one of these approaches entirely. It is more likely that you will
find elements from each approach that you could adapt to your circumstances and
planning purposes.

Feez, S. (1998). Text-based syllabus design. Sydney: NCELTR. – Chapter 5: Planning

units of work and lessons

Harmer, J. (2015). The practice of English language teaching. London: Pearson

Longman. – Chapter 12: Planning

Scrivener, J. (2005). Learning teaching: A guidebook for English language teachers.

Oxford: Macmillan. – Chapter 6: Planning Lessons and Courses

Once done with your readings, reflect on the following questions:

 What are the main commonalities in these readings?
What are the main differences between them?
What elements can you select that best relate to your teaching, or intended
teaching, setting?
What are the similarities and differences between Hedge’s (2000) suggestions
above in 10.2.3 and 10.2.4 and how Feez (1998) sees the design of units of work?
Reflecting on your own teaching experience, how have these readings contributed
to your understanding of planning and programming?

Post your responses in the Discussion forum by clicking here. Feel free to share
your thoughts with others if you feel comfortable doing so.
 3. Introduction

Sociocultural theory provides the impetus for language teachers to develop a

classroom setting in which learners collaborate with each other, receive scaffolded help
from the teacher, work within their ZPDs, and use meditational tools in order to make
sense of the target language and progress in their language development. Through a
sociocultural approach to classroom instruction, teachers will become more familiar
with the language levels of their students and consequently will be able to provide more
effective support for their language development (Shrum & Gilsan 2005, p.27).

In this topic we distinguish between ‘planning’ and ‘programming’ in the following way:
Planning can be seen as a more general phase which involves the examination of the
context within which we will be developing the program. Programming, on the other
hand, refers more to the specific identification of goals, objectives, outcomes, content,
activities, materials, assessment and evaluation procedures, and so on. You will also
encounter some other terms in the readings in this topic: course and syllabus design,
planning units of work and lesson planning.

On completion of this topic, students should be able to:

outline contextual factors which might influence the language program in a

particular setting
distinguish between goals and objectives for language programs
identify the steps that need to be taken in order to adequately plan lessons and
units of work

Click here for accompanying notes.


Interactive Video
But first...because this topic is about planning, take a moment to share with others
where you think you might be in the future. Simply click on the Padlet wall below.

Where do you think you might be in years from now? What do you have planned for
the future?

Trouble viewing this page? Go to our diagnostics page to see what's wrong.
Skip to main content

MARK FRASER + 47D share_arrow SHARE open_in_new

Where are you now? Where will you be?

See if you can plan your life in a few bubbles

Where are you now?

Reference:

Shrum, J. & Gilsan, E. (Eds.). (2005). Teachers handbook: Contextualized language

instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Thomson Heinle.
 4. Planning Units of Work and Lessons

There is no single way of planning and programming. It will vary from institution to
institution, teacher to teacher, and class to class. Essentially, your plan, whether this is
a program, unit of work or simply one lesson, needs to be user-friendly and flexible.
Often, more experienced teachers often don’t document their teaching to any great
extent, but particularly in the early years of teaching, this is an invaluable part of your
professional development.

Plans should not be rigid. They should be responsive to students’ needs and allow for
unexpected digressions or the need to modify an activity. A practical way for teachers
to reflect on the usefulness of their plans is through a reflective journal which notes
successes, concerns and things to follow up on.

Although, in the beginning you might find that you need to plan each lesson, it is also
useful and practical to think more broadly in terms of units of work. A unit of work can
last from a few lessons through to several weeks. Within the unit, a variety of related
concepts, skills, understandings and attitudes are developed. The unit of work is
designed in such a way that various elements of language learning support each other
in an interactive, holistic manner. Spelling, for example, might be taught within the
context of reading and writing authentic texts; reading and writing would both reinforce
each other as the students read a text in order to then write a similar one or to gain
information for their writing; the grammar focused on might relate to the type of text
being written.

In planning units of work, we need to think beyond the discrete skill and the single
lesson to a series of lessons involving students in a planned sequence of activities
around a focus of interest – a text, topic, situation, task, purpose, theme, project,
language or feature. Within each unit of work, we would then plan the discrete lessons
which compose the whole.

A unit of work shows:

a sequence of lessons that addresses outcomes based around the unit focus
the depth of knowledge required to address the outcomes for each key learning
area
assessment that is planned and linked to learning experiences
how the content from each key learning area contributes to the overall focus for the
unit
The following video talks about planning in an Australian high school. However the
rationale for placing importance on planning and the process taken to plan has value
for any teaching context, including those in TESOL environments.

Designing a unit

(Source: AITSL, https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/designing-a-unit-

illustration-of-practice)
 5. Planning and Programming

In the previous topic we started to think about how a program will be influenced by the
needs, agencies and interests of the learners and by our views on how we learn
language. In this topic we will consider other factors which need to be taken into
account in planning and programming. Once we have a good understanding of these
contextual factors, we are in a position to develop an appropriate program. In certain
contexts, the teacher has little say in the design of the program. If, for example, a
private college has designed a particular course which has to be followed step-by-step,
or if the head of department insists that a textbook be adhered to without deviation, or if
you are working with the class of another teacher (for example, as an assistant or
trainee), then you might not have much scope for program development. These
extreme cases, however, are rare and most teachers are expected to take
responsibility for at least some of the programming.

Top Down Planning

Preparing to teach requires an instructional plan. No longer is it appropriate to plan for

the ‘universal’ student, or the homogenous class. Students in classes where English is
being learned as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D; ESL; EFL) are drawn from
backgrounds of increasing ethnic and linguistic diversity. Teachers as planners, are
required to cater for what is often a challenging set of teaching circumstances.

It is likely that the state, department or institution you are working for or intend to work
for, has developed guiding frameworks of standards, progression indicators for
assessing and monitoring students’ English language development. These frameworks
are primary contextualising tools as they often focus on end results and provide the
means whereby teachers can work backwards developing programmes, units of work,
and lesson plans. Beginning with the ‘end in mind’ is an important planning strategy
often referred to as curriculum backward mapping.

Each planning step, from programmes to units to lesson plans provides a context for
the following step. Long term objectives and outcomes are broken down into shorter
term lesson objectives and outcomes. This is a ‘top down’ planning strategy which
aims to ensure that the learning outcomes for any level of language learning are
mapped at both the program level and the lesson level against progress indicators,
essential knowledge, skills and attitudes, appropriate forms of summative and
formative assessment, and required resources.
In the Australian setting, teachers in schools are guided by the state department
curriculum frameworks as well as the ESL Scales or ESL Steps, in addition to the
recently Australian National Curriculum documents for English as an Additional
Language or Dialect learners (Teacher Resource and EALD Learning Progressions). In
the Adult education sector teachers are guided by the International Second Language
Proficiency Rating Scale (https://islpr.org/).

In the international context, in addition to country developed English language

standards and frameworks, such as, for instance, the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages CEFR-J (https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-european-
framework-reference-languages/level-descriptions) or the Canadian Language
Benchmarks (http://www.language.ca/index.cfm?
Voir=sections&Id=17355&M=4038&Repertoire_No=2137991327), the requirements of
the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (http://www.ielts.org/) and
Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) (http://www.ets.org/toefl/) are common
benchmarks to determine particular levels of student English language proficiency.

For those new to programming and planning, the following video may provide a helpful
starting point. (Source:
ACARA https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/student-
diversity/illustrations-of-practice/staff-planning-adapting-the-australian-curriculum-to-
meet-the-needs-of-all-students/)

Woden School - ACT

There are many sources of information to guide planning and programming, such as
ACE Planning Guide form the ACE Teaching Fellows which is associated with the The
University of Notre Dame in the USA. Click here to see what they offer.
 6. Sample Units, Lesson Plans, and Resources

Several sample unit and lesson plan structures are provided in the Readings &
Resource folder for your consideration and adaptation. However, for the purposes of
Assessment 3, choose a lesson plan template that best suits your teaching context.
There are some examples in the Reading and Resource folder, but you can find plenty
of examples of lesson plan templates in texts and online. The question is what are the
main components in a lesson plan design? ?And how detailed does it have to be? The
British Council website provides one perspective.

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/lesson-plans

What do you think? Suitable for your teaching context?

Many seasoned teachers don't write detailed lesson plans. However for the purpose of
this topic, it's good to see what actually comprises a lesson plan, whether it's written on
paper or contained in the mind of the teacher. Conceptually, both will be comprised of
the same factors.

Make a list of the factors (or sections) you think are necessary to create a useful lesson
plan.

Please note that for Assessment Task 3 you are not required to plan a Unit, but a
sequence of lessons within a Unit.

Resources on TESOL Language Frameworks

For resources on TESOL language frameworks, see the Week 2 Reading & Resources
folder:

Australian Curriculum
NSW Government Multicultural Education
Victoria Education - The EAL Handbook
ESL Scales
School approaches to the education of EAL students (UK)

Other Resources
Russell Stannard (University of Warwick) has an excellent website featuring numerous
useful videos for lesson planning and design: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/

AITSL Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership

(https://www.aitsl.edu.au/) has a range of resources to assist with programming and
planning