Course coordinator
Dr Iffat Jahan
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 2, 2025 (28/07/2025 - 22/11/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Education School
This course provides tools and critical perspectives for the analysis, development and use of curriculum materials in second language classrooms. It provides students with an overview of dominant and emergent approaches to the teaching of TESOL, hands-on review of instructional materials, and classroom instructional techniques and strategies.
This course may not be offered in person if the enrolment is less than 10 students.
Thisﾠcourse uses applied principles of second language acquisition (SLA), with specific reference to practical classroom strategies for the learning and teaching of English to Speakers of other languages (TESOL). It provides a meta-language for discussing SLA and focuses on pedagogical strategies which teachers can use in a range of educational settings. The pedagogy of language teaching is approached via understandings about communicative competence and more recent concepts that refer to the kind of language ability that is needed for communication in a globalised world. Language teaching is explored through the macro planning of curriculum design and at the micro level of the classroom lesson. The development of the macro-skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing are surveyed as embedded within the social context of language learning. Reflection on context and previous experience is emphasised. Students should take away from this course ideas that work in classrooms and ‘theories’ about why this is the case. Learning achievement in the course is assessed by curriculum design, micro teaching and critical reflection as students of teaching.
Course requirements
Assumed background
Students are expected to bring experiences as a TESOL/TEFL/ESL/FL teacher (or a language or another subject teacher) to the course. As the course builds on prior teaching experience and reflection on that experience, the course is not suitable for students whoﾠhave not previously taught language or any other subject area in a formal or informal context. Students needing initial training and practice should consider enroling in an intensiveﾠcertificate program like CELTA available from ICTEﾠ http://www.icte.uq.edu.au/teachertraining/ﾠ.
Restrictions
Restricted to students enrolled in the GCEdSt, MEdSt, GCAppLing or MAppLing. In Person offering may be cancelled unless a minimum of 10 students enrol.
Jointly taught details
This course is jointly-taught with:
- Another instance of the same course
Each week there is a one-hour hybrid (simultaneous face-to-face and zoom) lecture for both In Person and Externally enrolled students.
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Dr Iffat Jahan
Tutor
Mr Md Rabiul Alam
Ms Lanting Wang
Ms Hang Mai
Mr Yifeng Cheng
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
This course is being offered in internal and external modes concurrently. The 2-hour weekly tutorial is to be attended face-to-face by internal students and online (zoom) by external students.
Students are expected to attend both the lectures and the interactive tutorials, as these provide valuable learning opportunities and experiences.
Aims and outcomes
The course aims to enrich studentsﾒ repertoire of classroom techniques and strategies for teaching and learning of English to speakers of other languages by enhancing their understanding of how second languages are learned on the one hand and engaging them in the design, evaluation and reflection of classroom instruction andﾠinstructional materials in the light of contemporary L2 pedagogy on the other.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notebook/ Logbook, Reflection | Weekly Reflection | 30% 400 words |
1/08/2025 - 29/08/2025
Weekly journals will be due respective weeks on Friday |
| Project | Curriculum Design | 40% 2500 words |
19/09/2025 2:00 pm |
| Presentation, Role play/ Simulation |
Teaching Presentation
|
30% 15 to 18 minutes |
22/09/2025 - 27/10/2025
Presentation dates will be allocated by tutors and students will be advised in class |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
Weekly Reflection
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Notebook/ Logbook, Reflection
- Weight
- 30% 400 words
- Due date
1/08/2025 - 29/08/2025
Weekly journals will be due respective weeks on Friday
Task description
During weeks 1-5, students will submit five weekly journal entries via Blackboard (BB). The weekly journals will contain reflections on week 1 to 5 learning.
The purpose of this task is for you to reflect about important aspects of what we are covering/learning.
Submission guidelines
Submission instructions will be given in class in week 1 and will also be available on Blackboard.
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
Weekly submissions should be received within respective weeks. If students require an extension for this task due to unavoidable reasons (such as late enrolment), please contact your tutor or course coordinator directly.
Late submission
A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply for up to 7 days. After 7 days you will receive a mark of 0.
Curriculum Design
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Project
- Weight
- 40% 2500 words
- Due date
19/09/2025 2:00 pm
Task description
This curriculum design project entails the preparation of a unit of work, or mini curriculum, applying the curriculum design model, proposed by Macalister and Nation (2020). In this project you will design, develop, teach (imagine) and justify a segment of a TESOL program or syllabus for a group of students for whom you are or might be responsible. Your unit design should consist of at least 3 lessons but should not exceed 5 lessons in total. Programs may be based on classes you have taught recently or classes that could be taught in EFL contexts, ELICOS, Migrant Education, schools (Pre, Primary, Secondary), or classes you’d like to teach, etc. either in Australia or overseas.
In designing your curriculum, you should address the following:
Part A.
- The environment for your course, considering the nature of the learners, the teachers and the teaching situation
- The learner group and their specific language learning needs.
- The principles of language teaching and learning used to guide your design.
Part B.
- The goals of your unit
- Summary content and sequencing of a series of lessons
- Materials used for learning
- Assessment of learning, both formative and summative
Part C.
- Reflective justification of your design, drawing clear connections between part A and Part B. In this section you should argue the relevance of your curriculum design for the teaching situation and the needs of the learner group. The choices that you make in relation to goals, content, materials and assessment processes should be clearly justified in relation to research-informed theories of language teaching and learning. You should draw on course readings and current relevant literature to support your justification.
Note that your curriculum design project should not be based on an existing English language course book. APA referencing must be used.
Submission guidelines
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Late submission
A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply for up to 7 days. After 7 days you will receive a mark of 0.
Teaching Presentation
- Hurdle
- In-person
- Online
- Mode
- Oral
- Category
- Presentation, Role play/ Simulation
- Weight
- 30% 15 to 18 minutes
- Due date
22/09/2025 - 27/10/2025
Presentation dates will be allocated by tutors and students will be advised in class
Task description
Students will do a micro teaching presentation on the aspect(s) of the topics covered in the course that they selected for curriculum design (Assessment 2). They will enact the teaching they planned for their mini curriculum. This assessment task is natural, as teaching will be the main responsibility of students in the post-study TESOL career. Students will also have a great opportunity to learn from their peers’ presentations.
Each presentation will be 15 to 18 minutes. Two students will present in their tutorial group in real time, whether in the face-to-face classroom or on zoom, while other students will video record and upload it to the blackboard. The video recording must show the presenter as well as power point slides or any other materials that may be used.
The presentations will start from Week 9. Students will be advised of the presentation schedule by Week 7.
Hurdle requirements
Students have to participate in and pass this assessment to be able to pass the courseSubmission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
If students require an extension for this task, they should email their tutor directly, cc'ing the course coordinator.
Late submission
A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply for up to 7 days. After 7 days you will receive a mark of 0.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Fails to provide materials of any substance or the materials provided are not suitable to the course requirements. |
| 2 (Fail) |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Fails to provide evidence of the understanding of or ability to apply teaching and learning principles and strategies from the course. No evaluative comment. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: Superficial understanding of language teaching and learning principles; limited ability to apply these principles; little or no critical evaluation; resources and tasks are unconvincing or inappropriate; or quality of written or oral communication is poor. |
| 4 (Pass) |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Adequate understanding of language teaching and learning principles; limited critical evaluation; sequencing is sometimes inappropriate or inconsistent; written communication is largely free of errors that effect readability. |
| 5 (Credit) |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Understanding of language teaching and learning principles and awareness of their relevance; aspects of critical evaluation; some attempt to vary resources and strategies, and to sequence tasks, infrequent errors. |
| 6 (Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Frequent evidence of original thought, some critical thought and evaluation; some diversity of resources and strategies, logical sequencing of tasks, useable formats for learning and teaching. |
| 7 (High Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Consistent evidence of substantial thought, an ability to critique and evaluate; use of a diversity of resources and strategies, logical sequencing of tasks, engaging formats for teaching and learning, error free. |
Additional course grading information
Determining final grades:
The final grades are determined by consideration of the weighting of individual assessment items, through the use of weighting formula and the profile of individual grades across accumulated assessment tasks.
An exemplar to show calculation of the final grade:
All three assignments in this course will be provided a grade out of 7. The final grade will be calculated using the weighting and the individual assignment grades as follows.
Assignment 1 (A1): grade of 6 at 35% weighting
Assignment 2 (A2): grade of 5 at 35% weighting
Assignment 3 (A3): grade of 6 at 30% weighting
The final grade for this student taking into account the weighting of each assignment would be: (A1) + (A2) + (A3)
(0.35 x 6) + (0.35 x 5) + (0.3 x 6) = 2.1 + 1.75 + 1.8 = 5.65
The final grade would be rounded to the nearest whole number; in this case the grade would be 6.
In the case where the final grade is 0.5 or above, the grade will be rounded up to the nearest whole number (e.g. 5.5 would become 6). In the case where the final grade is 0.49 or below, the grade will be rounded down to the nearest whole number (e.g. 6.49 would become 6).
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
The following applies to all assessments in this course:
Marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the 'Assessment' folder in Blackboard for this course.
Release of assessment item marks and feedback
In addition to the grade awarded, feedback will be provided in a timely manner to enable students to apply the feedback to further tasks within the course or program and/or plan for supplementary assessment, requests for re-mark, or re-enrolment. However, as per UQ Policy and Procedures Library under the Assessment Policy, results for the final assessment item are to be released only after the final grade for the course has been released. Time frames for applications for assessment re-mark are indicated under the Assessment Procedure.
Re-mark policy
After each assessable item, students will be given the opportunity to view their assessment and so satisfy themselves that a marking or administrative error has not occurred. The formal process of querying a course result (requesting a remark on academic grounds) is set out in the UQ Policy and Procedures Library under the Assessment Procedure.
Use of AI/MT to support or inform assessment
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.
Additional learning resources information
- A Blackboard site has been set up as part of the course and students are expected to visit the site at least weekly to monitor updates on readings, to read materials posted there, to visit web-links and to contribute to on-going ‘bulletin board’ sessions.
- Please ensure that you monitor your UQ emails regularly asﾠall course communication occurs through Blackboard and announcements from Blackboard go out to your UQ email address. Students should take advantage of any additional materials and links available through this mechanism. Students have automatic access to the Blackboard site logging in using their student computer ID and password. This site can be accessed from on campus, or externally. Lecture recordings, and any tutorial materials will be available there.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (28 Jul - 03 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 1 Introduction and course overview |
Week 2 (04 Aug - 10 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 2 TESOL curriculum development, needs analysis and teaching approaches |
Week 3 (11 Aug - 17 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 3 Relating L2 learning, curriculum design and language teaching |
Week 4 (18 Aug - 24 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 4 TESOL curriculum, syllabus and assessment |
Week 5 (25 Aug - 31 Aug) |
Lecture |
Week 5 TESOL curriculum and teaching materials: Scope and evaluation |
Week 6 (01 Sep - 07 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 6 Receptive macroskill: Teaching listening |
Week 7 (08 Sep - 14 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 7 Receptive macroskill: Teaching reading |
Week 8 (15 Sep - 21 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 8 Productive macroskill: Teaching speaking |
Week 9 (22 Sep - 28 Sep) |
Lecture |
Week 9 Teaching vocabulary |
Mid Sem break (29 Sep - 05 Oct) |
No student involvement (Breaks, information) |
Mid-Semester Break No classes scheduled. Please continue with your own private study. |
Week 10 (06 Oct - 12 Oct) |
Lecture |
Week 10 Productive macroskill: Teaching writing |
Week 11 (13 Oct - 19 Oct) |
Lecture |
Week 11 Multiliteracy in the TESOL classroom |
Week 12 (20 Oct - 26 Oct) |
Lecture |
Week 12 Errors, varieties and cultures |
Week 13 (27 Oct - 02 Nov) |
Lecture |
Week 13 Translanguaging in the classroom |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.