Yi-Hsuan Gloria Lo 

National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan


ABSTRACT

A curriculum is a form of politics (Apple, 1993). The politics of a curriculum defines what is legitimate and valued and what is not. In Taiwan, the objectives of vocational high school (VHS) education are to prepare students to acquire relevant professional knowledge and practical skills and to integrate them into their future career development. However, with the push for students to pass the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), few English curriculum designs have been developed to align with the originally intended objectives. Inspired by the notion of critical pedagogy and participatory curricula, a task-based ESP (English for Specific Purposes) program was developed for a group of Vocational High School (VHS) students. This program aimed to empower and embody an alternative curriculum politics that opposed the test-oriented curriculum but highlighted authentic language use and meaningful tasks and emphasized the integration of theory and practice. This paper analyzes and describes how an alternative curriculum politics was shaping and being shaped by different components of the ESP program based on the language design model proposed by Nation and Macalister (2010). It also demonstrates how instructional objectives, activities, and materials were organized and implemented in the four courses of the ESP program to reflect the curriculum politics. Finally, to deepen and broaden our understanding of the notion of curriculum politics, this study reconceptualizes curriculum politics by comparing and contrasting the sociocultural system of the ESP program and that of the VHS English education based on the six dimensions of Gee‘s (1999) cultural model. In light of the findings and discussion, both theoretical and practical implications are addressed. Suggestions for further studies are provided.


Key Words: Curriculum Politics, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Vocational High School (VHS), Curriculum Design, Cultural Model

 

課程政治學的再建構:以一個台灣高職專業英文課程為例

 

駱藝瑄

國立臺灣科技大學

 

摘要

課程是一種形式的政治學。課程政治學定義何種為合法且具價值的知識。台灣高職教育的目標之一是為結合學生的專業知識與未來職場所需之實用技能。但在升學主義掛帥的台灣社會,合法且有價值的知識被準備考上理想的科技大學所取代;漸漸地,高職教育偏離了設立的初衷。受到批判教育學和參與式課程理論的啟發,本研究採用了有別於現有一般高職英語教學之課程政治學,專為高職學生研發設計了以任務為導向的專業英文課程。本文首先以Nation和Macalister(2010)的課程發展模式介紹並分析課程發展中各個組成面向互動下所呈現的課程政治學,接著本文具體而微的描繪研究中的四門課程,其教學目標、活動和教材,如何啟動並開展新的課程政治學;最後,為深化並延伸我們對課程政治學的理解,本研究以Gee(1999)社會文化基模之六大面向,探究此套專為高職生所設計的專業英文課程與台灣現有一般高職英文課程所架構之社會文化體系,其相同相異之處。根據研究分析結果,本文提出理論與實務的啟發和建議,以及未來可行之研究方向。

 

關鍵詞:課程政治學、專業英文(ESP)、高職(VHS)、課程設計、文化基模