EVALUATING CURRICULAR INNOVATION IN EFLEDUCATION
PaulTurner ＊
Introducti on
Thefol l owi ngarti cl eexami nesal arge-scal ecurri cul ari nnovati oni n Engl i shasaforei gnl anguage( EFL)educati onatauni versi ty
＊＊i nwestern Japan wheretheauthorworked forseveralyears.Thi si nnovati on i s eval uatedthroughthel ensofNumaMarkee' s( 1993,1997a,1997b)theoreti - calframeworkforanal ysi ngandunderstandi ngtheprocessofadopti on andspreadofcurri cul archangei nl anguageeducati on.
Forthepurposesofthi sarti cl e,' curri cul um'i sdefi nedasanumbrel l a term thatencompassesvari ouscomponentssuchaspl anni ng,materi al s, andtasks,butpri nci pal l yconcernssyl l abusandeval uati on( Hal l ,2001, p.9) .' Change'i susedsynonymousl ywi th' i nnovati on' ,whi chi sdefi nedby Markeeas". . . proposal sforqual i tati vechangei npedagogi calmateri al s, approaches,and val uesthatarepercei ved asnew by i ndi vi dual swho compri seaformall anguageeducati onsystem"( Markee,1993,p.231) .
Fi rstofal l ,Markee' s( 1993,1997a,1997b)framework i soutl i ned, fol l owi ngwhi chaspeci fi ccurri cul ari nnovati oni seval uatedbyusi ngthe
＊ForeignLanguageInstructor,FukuokaUniversity
＊＊NOTE:ThisevaluationisnotaboutFukuokaUniversity.
framework' scri teri atoi l l ustrateparti cul arfactorsandi ssuesthatare rel evanttoan understandi ng oftheprocessofi nnovati on i n l anguage educati on.
A FrameworkforConceptual i zi ngInnovati on
Markee' s( 1993,1997a,1997b)theoreti calframeworki sbasedonthe anal ysi softhefactorsthatdetermi nethesuccessorfai l ureofani nnova- ti on.Itconsi stsofacomposi tequesti on:"Who,adopts,what,where,when, why,and how?"to whi ch responsesareprovi ded to each partofthe questi on.Inordertoanswertheseven-partquesti on,arangeofi ssues i mpacti ngoncurri cul um changei sconsi deredfrom thei ncepti onofan i nnovati onprocesstoi tscompl eti onbyusi ngasetofcri teri aandcatego- ri eswhi charesummari zedi nthefol l owi ng:
' WHO'referstothevari ousstakehol ders'soci al l ydefi nedrol esand adopti onbehavi oursthatarebasedonthei rpsychol ogi calprofi l es.These i ncl udechangeagents,cl i ents,adopters( orresi sters) ,i mpl ementers,and suppl i ersofi nnovati ons.
' ADOPTS'outl i nestheextenttowhi chani nnovati oni sul ti matel y adopted,dependentoni tspercei vedval uebypotenti aladoptersi nvol vedi n thedeci si on-maki ng process.Thi sdeci si on-maki ng processi ncl udesfi ve phases,duri ngwhi chadopters:1)l earnaboutani nnovati on,2)become convi ncedofi tsmeri ts( ordefi ci enci es) ,3)deci detoadopt( orrej ect)the i nnovati on,4)begi ni mpl ementi ngi t,and5)confi rm ( ordi sconfi rm)thei r deci si ontoconti nueusi ngthei nnovati on( Markee,1993,p.231) .
' WHAT'setsoutadefi ni ti onofcurri cul ari nnovati onas". . .amanaged
processofdevel opmentwhosepri nci pl eproductsareteachi ng ( and/or
testi ng)materi al s,methodol ogi calski l l s,andpedagogi calval uesthatare percei vedasnew bypotenti aladopters"( Markee,1997a,p.46) .Theexact natureofan i nnovati on,i ncl udi ng new i deas,new practi cesand new behavi oursareal li nvol vedi nthi scategory.
' WHERE'i s about soci ocul turalconstrai nts on i mpl ementi ng an i nnovati on;notthegeographi calcontext.Suchconstrai ntsarel i kel yto i ncl udecul tural ,i deol ogi cal ,hi stori cal ,pol i ti cal ,economi c,admi ni strati ve, i nsti tuti onal ,andsoci ol i ngui sti cfactors.
' WHEN'referstotheti merequi redtoi mpl ementani nnovati on.The spreadofi nnovati onamongpotenti aladoptersi sasl ow process.Markee ( 1997b,p.84)suggeststhatthedi ffusi onofnew i deasorpracti cesoften takesal ongti meandi sasl owerprocessthanchangeagentsanti ci pate.
' WHY'concernsthereasonsforadopti ngorrej ecti ngani nnovati on.
Thereasonsi ncl udesoci ocul turalconstrai nts( see' Where' ,above) ,the psychol ogi calprofi l es of stakehol ders,and the i nnovati on' s i nherent attri buteswhi chfaci l i tateori mpedetheprocessofadopti on.Theattri butes i ncl ude:advantagesofadopti ngani nnovati on;compati bi l i tywi thprevi ous practi ce;compl exi ty;tri al abi l i ty;observabi l i ty;form anddesi gn;ori gi nal - i ty;andfeasi bi l i ty.
' HOW'i saboutstrategi esofi nnovati oni nl anguageeducati onthatare i ncorporated i n a ' di ffusi on-ofi nnovati ons'perspecti ve ( see bel ow) .It categori ses di fferent approaches to i mpl ementi ng curri cul ar change, i ncl udi ng:
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Research,devel opment,and di ffusi on ( RD&D)model ,whi ch i s accompani edbyempi ri cal -rati onalchangestrategi es
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Centre-peri phery( CP)modelwhi chusespower-coerci vestrategi esto
i mposechange
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Probl em-sol vi ng ( PS)modelwhi ch i scompl ementedby normati ve- reeducati vechangestrategi esandi sreputedl ythemostpopul armodel
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Soci ali nteracti on( SI)modeli nvol vi ngmai nl yunpl annedchange
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' Li nkage'or hybri d modelwhi ch,recogni zi ng thecompl exi ty of change,i sasynthesi sofRD&D,PS,andSImodel s
( Markee,1997b,pp.86-7)
Thereareseveralstagesofcurri cul ari nnovati on,i ncl udi ngi ni ti ati on, adopti on,i mpl ementati on,andspread.Tounderstandhow eachofthese proceeds,Markee( 1997a)proposesa' di ffusi on ofi nnovati on'vi ewpoi nt whi chcompri ses:
1.Expl anati onofdi fferentratesofadopti onbyuser-adoptersrel atedto thei r psychol ogi calprofi l es,soci ocul turalvari abl es,and i ntri nsi c characteri sti csofani nnovati on;
2.Anal ysi sofhow vari ouschannel sofcommuni cati on( emai l ,memo, researchj ournal ,wordofmouth,etc. )canbeusedtonoti fypotenti al adoptersofani nnovati on;
3.Identi fi cati onofthestagesofdeci di ngwhethertoadopt,i mpl ement, conti nue( ordi sconti nue) ,andfi nal l yretai n( orrej ect)ani nnovati on;
4.Awarenessofthepersonaland soci alconsequences( benefi ci alor otherwi se)ofcurri cul archange;and
5.Understandi nghowani nnovati oncanbedesi gned,i mpl emented,and mai ntai ned.
( Markee,1997a,pp.42-3)
Markee( 1993)arguesthatthi sdi ffusi oni stperspecti vei sessenti alfor teachersand researcherstoembracebecausei tprovi desan i ntegrated frameworkforunderstandi ngthedevel opmentandeval uati onofi nnova- ti oni nl anguageeducati on( p.242) .
Innovati oni nanEFLCurri cul um:A CaseStudy WHO?
Thestakehol dersi nacurri cul um i nnovati onforal lEngl i shl anguage cl assescompri sedfourmai npl ayers:the*uni versi tyadmi ni stratorswho ori gi nal l y adopted and i ni ti ated the change;the teachers who were responsi bl efori mpl ementi ngthechange;thestudentswhowerethecl i ents;
andacomputersoftwarecompanywhi chwasthesuppl i erofthei nnova- ti on.
Teachers ( potenti aladopters and i mpl ementers)percepti ons ofa proposed curri cul ari nnovati on can vary wi del y so thatcategori esof adopterscanbedi vi dedi ntoearl yadopters,earl ymaj ori ty,l atemaj ori ty, l aggardsandresi sters( Markee,1993:233) .
However,apsychol ogi calprofi l eofnati veEngl i shl anguagei nstruc- torsatthesubj ectuni versi tywoul dsi tuatemostofthem asi nnovatorsand adopters.Thi si sbecausetheywere"wi del ytravel l ed,wel leducated,and upwardl ymobi l e;theytend[ ed]tobehi gh-ri sktakerswhotol eratehi gh l evel sofuncertai nty,andtheytend[ ed]tohaveahi ghdegreeofexposureto massmedi aandcl oseprofessi onalorpersonalcontactswi thchangeagents"
( Markee,1997b,p.85) .Accordi ngl y,mostoftheEFL teacherscoul dbe
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NOTE:Thi seval uati oni snotaboutFukuokaUni versi ty.
characteri zed as psychol ogi cal l y recepti ve to adopti ng the curri cul ar i nnovati onbecausetheyhadbeeneducatedi nadvancedwesterncountri es and were consequentl y open-mi nded and hi ghl y tol erantto ri sk and changedci rcumstances
ADOPTS?
Thei nnovati onwasani mposedchangebythe*uni versi tyadmi ni stra- ti on and di d noti nvol vethedi ffusi on ofchangeprocessenvi saged i n Markee' s model .The consequences of thi s power-coerci ve method of adopti on and i mpl ementati on are di scussed i n ' How'secti on,bel ow.
Therefore,becauseofcoerci on,theearl yandmi d-phasesofthedeci si on- maki ngprocesswerenotevi dentandadopti onofthei nnovati ondi dnot dependonpercepti onsofi tbystakehol ders( i mpl ementi ngi t)i ncl assrooms.
Notwi thstandi ng,adopti onandconti nui nguseofthei nnovati onwasabl e tobeconfi rmed,contrarytotheexpectati onoffai l urei mpl i edi nMarkee' s model ,andthei nnovati onwasul ti matel yasuccess( see' How' ,bel ow) .
WHAT?
The i nnovati on compri sed a l arge-scal e change to the Engl i sh l anguagecurri cul um ata*uni versi tyi nwesternJapanwheretheauthor taught9-10cl assesweekl yforseveralyears.Formal l yadoptedi n2005,the i nnovati on i nvol ved the i ntroducti on ofel ectroni c l earni ng ( hereafter ' e-l earni ng' )accompani edbyweekl yi n-cl asstestsasacompul sorycompo- nentofthecurri cul um foral lfi rstandsecondyearEFL conversati on
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NOTE:Thi seval uati oni snotaboutFukuokaUni versi ty.
cl asses.The computer software ( marketed as ALC Net-Academy by Hi tachi )consi stedofasel f-studye-l earni ngcourseforbegi nnerl eveland i ntermedi ate l evell earners to i ncrease vocabul ary and i mprove thei r l i steni ng ski l l si ndependentl y,whi l eal l owi ng teacherstomoni torthei r progress.Thestatedobj ecti veofi ntroduci ngthee-l earni ngandmi ni -tests wastoi mproveTOEICtestscores,whi chwastobeachi evedbyencourag- i ngl earnerstoi mprovethei rstudyhabi ts.
Thee-l earni ngwascompl etedbyl earnersashomeworkandbecame i ncorporatedi ntheteacher-desi gnedcl asscurri cul ums.Itrequi redl earners tosystemati cal l ycompl eteassi gneduni tsofstudyi nthei rownti meusi ng uni versi ty computers( onl y,asthesoftwarewasnotaccessi bl efrom externalcomputers)asnecessary preparati on forweekl y mi ni -tests( of about8mi nutesdurati on)hel dduri ngcl assti me.Themi ni -testresul ts compri sed20%ofterm gradesandteachersperi odi cal l yrecei vedcomputer pri ntoutsshowi ngarecordoftotall oggedhoursandnumberofhomework studyuni tscompl etedbyeachl earner.
WHERE?
Thesoci ocul turalcontextwasEFLconversati oncl assesi naJapanese
*uni versi ty.Eachcl asstypi cal l ycompri sedaround35Japanesestudents and severalforei gn exchangeChi nesestudents.TheEFL cl asseswere compul sory and focused on devel opi ng communi cati ve competence i n speaki ng and l i steni ng ski l l s as preparati on for taki ng the TOEIC profi ci encytest,whi chwasadmi ni steredtwi ceyearl yi nJanuary-February
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NOTE:Thi seval uati oni snotaboutFukuokaUni versi ty.
andJul y-August.Therewerevari ousconstrai ntsoncurri cul um change, i ncl udi ngthepedagogi calconstrai ntofadi sproporti onateemphasi son passi ngtestswhi chi sasi tuati oncommontomostEastAsi aneducati onal contexts.
Otherconstrai ntsi ncl udedacul turaltradi ti onwhi chtendstovi ew teachersastransmi ttersofknowl edgeandfactstobedi l i gentl yrecei vedby passi vel earners,thusmi l i tati ng agai nstCLT ( communi cati vel anguage teachi ng)pri nci pl essuchasl earner-centrednessandfosteri ngfl uency.Thi s resi stancetocommuni cati vel earni ngmethodsbei ngusedi ncl assroomsi s wi despreadi nJapanesesoci etywhereteachersarevi ewedasl eadersand authori tyfi guresandl earnersareregardedas' emptyvessel s'tobefi l l ed.
Al so,thel ocaleducati onalcul turegeneral l y rej ectsthecommuni cati ve obj ecti vesthatemphasi zeaprocessofl earni ngi npreferencetotheproduct andoutcomes,andl i kewi seopposesfl uencybei ngval uedmorehi ghl ythan accuracy i n a schoolsystem where audi o-l i ngual i sm and grammar transl ati onmethodsofl earni ngEngl i shsti l lpredomi nate.
WHEN?
Introducti onofthei nnovati onbytheadopter( *uni versi tyadmi ni stra- ti on)waseffectedbythei mpl ementers( nati veEngl i shl anguageteachers) i mmedi atel y,begi nni ng i n thesamemonth asi twasannounced i n a teacher' sori entati on meeti ng.A percentageofpart-ti meteacherswere i ni ti al l ysomewhathosti l eandunrecepti vetothei nnovati onandcoul dbe characteri zedasresi sters( di scussedfurtheri n' How' ,bel ow) .
＊
NOTE:Thi seval uati oni snotaboutFukuokaUni versi ty.
WHY?
Thei nnovati onwasi ntroducedwi ththeexpressgoalofi mprovi ng studentsTOEICtestscoresbyfosteri ngbetterstudyhabi tsi nl earnersto hel p achi eve thi s obj ecti ve.The adopted i nnovati on contai ned some attri buteswhi chpotenti al l yenhancedi tseffecti veness.Thesei ncl uded:
1.E-l earni ngi scul tural l ycompati bl ei nJapanbecauseofhi ghcomputer l i teracy,worl dcl assel ectroni ctechnol ogyandwel l -resourcededuca- ti onalfaci l i ti es;
2.Mi ni -testsarecul tural l ycompati bl ei nJapanbecausetest-taki ngi s ani ntegralpartoftheeducati onsystem;
3.Thei nnovati on seemed rel ati vel y compl ex i n i tsearl y stagesof operati onunti luser-adoptersunderstoodi tsrequi rementsandbegan toexperi encei tsbenefi ts.
4.Thei nnovati onfaci l i tatedi mprovedl earni ng,especi al l yl i steni ngski l l 5.Mi ni malcostwasi nvol vedforthecomputersoftwareappl i cati onand
producti onoftestpapers.
HOW?
Asnotedearl i er,i n' Adopts' ,thei nnovati onwasanadmi ni strati on- i mposedchangesothati tsi ntroducti onanddi ffusi onwasal mosti mmedi - ate,onceal lstakehol dersunderstoodwhatwasrequi redofthem.However, therewassi gni fi canti ni ti alresi stanceby someteachers( i mpl ementer- resi sters)and many students ( cl i ent-resi sters) .Thi s was because the requi rementforl earnerstocompl eteregul are-l earni nghomeworkand prepareforweekl ycl assroom testsmadeaddi ti onaldemandsonthei rti me.
Adj usti ngtothi snewrouti neandacqui ri ngthenecessarycomputerski l l s
needed to compl ete the homework took severalweeks.Al so,several part-ti meteacherswereopenl y resentful ,percei vi ng thei nnovati on as i nterferi ngandi mposi ng.Ingeneral ,theconcernsoftheseteachersabout thei nnovati oncoul dbecharacteri zedasconstrai nts,compri si ng:
1.Personalconstrai nts of i nterference i n autonomy,i ntrusi on on l i mi tedcl assti meandaddi ti onalworkl oadonteachers;and
2.Pedagogi cal constrai nts of i nterference i n teachers'personal l y- desi gnedcurri cul umsandhowcl assesarerun.
3.Psychol ogi cal constrai nts of forfei ti ng ful l ownershi p of thei r personal l y-desi gnedcurri cul ums
Perhapsthesi gni fi cantpoolofresentmentcoul dhavebeenavoi dedi f al lpart-ti me teachers ( who taughtaround 80% ofcl asses)had been consul tedaboutthei nnovati onpri ortoi tsadopti on.Butnonewere.Onthe otherhand,theapparentl yauthori tari anmanneri nwhi chthei nnovati on wasadoptedcoul dbej usti fi edbytheadmi ni strati ononthegroundsthat al loftheteachersaffectedbythei nnovati onwerenon-Japanese,ofwhom theoverwhel mi ngmaj ori ty( i ncl udi ng5ful l -ti mersandaround25part- ti mers)l acked adequateJapanesecommuni cati on abi l i ty to expressa coherentopi ni on aboutanythi ng unl essi twasexpressed i n Engl i sh.
However,thatwasnotnecessari l yaval i dreasonfori mposi ngani nnova- ti oneveni fpossessi ngl egi ti mateauthori tytodoso.
Torei terate' Adopts'( above) ,theadopterofthei nnovati onwasthe
*uni versi tyadmi ni strati onwhi chrequi redal lteachers,i ncl udi ngthosewho
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NOTE:Thi seval uati oni snotaboutFukuokaUni versi ty.
hadobj ecti onsandresi stedi tduetopersonal ,pedagogi calandpsychol ogi - calconstrai ntsi ti mposed,toadoptandi mpl ementthecurri cul ari nnova- ti on.Inthi ssi tuati on,thepower-coerci vemethodofeffecti ngcurri cul um changewasanauthori tari anandtop-downapproachtoi nnovati onand ri skednegati veconsequencessuchasendusers,i ncl udi ngl earners( i nfl u- encedbythei rteacher) ,feel i ngdi sl i keorambi val enceratherthanbei ng hi ghl ycommi ttedtothei nnovati on' ssuccess.Thi scontrastswi ththemore egal i tari an and bottom-up di ffusi on process of i nnovati on adopti on outl i nedbyMarkee( 1997b,p.87)thattendstofaci l i tateposi ti vefeel i ngsof i nvestmentandpersonalownershi p.
Notwi thstandi ng,aftertwoyearsofi mpl ementi ngthei nnovati on,i t hadapparentl ybeenadaptedtoeachoftheteacher' scurri cul umsandany remai ni ng resi sters no l onger expressed open di ssent.Moreover,the obj ecti veofoveral li mprovementi nTOEICscoreswasreal i zed( theaverage scorei ncreasi ngbyaround8%i ntwoyears)andi n2007the*uni versi ty recei vedanawardforexcel l encei nEngl i sheducati onfrom theMi ni stryof Educati on( Japan' speakeducati onalauthori ty) .Accordi ngl y,becauseof thesuccessofthei nnovati on,the*uni versi tywasabl etocl ai m thati ts ori gi naldeci si ontoadoptwasj usti fi ed.
Concl usi on
In theforegoi ng exampl eofaspeci fi ccurri cul ari nnovati on i n a Japaneseuni versi ty,Markee' s( 1993,1997a,1997b)theoreti calframework wasempl oyedtoprovi deauni fi edandsystemati cmethodfori denti fyi ng
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