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content ”which” here is not British or American English, but international English or
English as an international lingua franca. At the DESIGN level, the ultimate goal of post-modern English education is that
the learner is expected to become self-actualizing personally and socially. The process is based on constructivist learning, in which basically the learner constructs his or her
own knowledge – individually and collaboratively. The content consists of things that
help the learner acquire English himself or herself, such as course design, syllabus, portfolio, references, and handouts.
At the OPERATION level, the systemic system becomes concrete “marked by the presen
ce of empirical evidence” with a more operational goal in the form of operational objectives derived from the goal of the design written in a lesson plan. We
can observe all the interactions as the process group presentation, group discussion, assessment, written portfolio, which use equipment progress report, laptop, viewer,
Power Point, etc. as the content of the operation level. The conclusion that can be drawn is that when designing learning materials, the
designer has to be systematic and efficient. The design begins with the concept level first, and is followed by the planning design level, and ends with the concrete
operation level. At each level it is necessary for the designer to state the goal, process, and content.
4. Review of Related Research
The following is a brief review of related research relevant to this study. Communicative competence
as the goal of English learning faces a challenge in the
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following study. Peirce 1995, p. 9 in her study maintains that in second language learning theory the integration of the language learner and the language learning context
should be further established. She adds that in fact interaction between language learners and target language speakers should be given more attention. In her study she
shows how immigrant women in Canada sometimes resisted opportunities to speak English. Therefore, communicative competence is not a simple concept; the complex
relationship between language learners and the target language learning context needs to be further studied.
Sercu 2002 supports the concept of intercultural communicative competence ICC. It becomes the goal of language learning and may enrich the concept of
communicative competence. Language learners should have an interest in and knowledge about foreign cultures, peoples and countries. Principles that include criteria
for selecting cultural contents and tasks that deal with culture and language learning tasks are developed. The traditional teacher-led culture teaching cannot cope with the
demand of the developments of present-day society; hence, the relevance of a student- centered learning approach, which can give more opportunities to the acquisition of the
learner’s ICC. Although the writer’s study does not focus on learner-centered learning, it is
necessary to see how learner-centeredness has developed and influenced education in general. Fourteen learner-centered psychological principles formulated in the early
1990’s by American Psychological Association APA for American school reform were reviewed by Alexander and Murphy 1998, in Lambert McCombs, p. 25. The
results of the reviews support many of the ideas in learner-centeredness, which becomes
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a logical consequence of self-actualization learning model. In another study by Pierce and Kalkman 2003, p. 127, learner-centered instructional practices in teacher
education courses are suggested in accordance with those psychological principles. The principles produce strategies for promotion and encouragement of teacher reflection,
knowledge construction, collaboration, and student choices. The writer’s study was inspired by a number of studies mentioned in Richards
and Rodgers 2001 and Richards and Renandya 2002. It follows the trend not to recommend a certain method that contains a set of procedures and techniques for
English teachers and designers, but to support a viewpoint that emphasizes a bigger scope, such as pedagogical principles, syllabus writing, and postmodern learning
principles. This study supports, therefore, the development of core principles, such as found in Bailey Richards Rodgers, p. 251: develop learner responsibility, be
tolerant of learners’ mistakes, develop learners’ confidence, teach learning strategies, etc. Core principles are the result of the development of various personal approaches to
teaching, which teachers and designers have used based on selected established approaches and methods.
From Tomlinson and Masuhara 2004, the writer becomes convinced that what is needed by language teachers and language learning designers are dynamic language
learning principles. Tomlinson and Masuhara assume that all teachers are material developers and that they have their intuitive theories of language learning which help
them develop and use effective language learning materials. The book gives principles and examples of how to select, adapt, and develop materials. It helps teachers develop
and articulate their own theories in principled ways.
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With regard to approaches to teaching, the wr iter’s study is influenced by Brown
in Richards and Renandya, 2002, pp. 9-18, who emphasizes that the most important guide for designers related to language teaching approaches is that they should have a
basis of language teaching pedagogy. The basis is stated in the form twelve principles that are derived from research and theory about second language pedagogy. Designers
and teachers base their lessons on well-established principles of language learning and teaching. They do not bring a prepackaged method to class. It is hoped that they
become more responsive to their students’ needs and purposes. This principled approach to language teaching enables them to engage in a process of diagnosis,
treatment, and assessment. Besides
Brown’s principled approach above, the writer finds it useful to refer to Richards’ discussion of Zahorik’s classification of teaching conceptions into three main
categories: science-research conceptions, theory-philosophy conceptions, and art-craft conceptions in Richards and Renandya, 2002, pp. 19-25. According to Richards, these
three conceptions represent different points of view about teaching. However, he reminds the reader not to apply eclecticism because they are fundamentally different
representations of what teaching is. He suggests that the three conceptions should be regarded as forming a continuum.
With regard to a syllabus design, this study also refers to Finney’s integrated
approach in which content, objectives, and process models are blended. Here, a designer responds to the changing needs of learners and recognizes learners as active
participants in language learning process. The teacher does not only teach, but also encourages learners to be responsible for their own learning. The framework of her
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mixed-focus curriculum is the following: curriculum policy, needs analysis, methodology, and evaluation.
The conclusion that can be drawn is that language learning designers need to have a bigger scope that is derived from pedagogical principles, language learning
principles, and syllabus writing. Each designer should develop his or her core principles that are derived from various personal approaches to language teaching. In other words,
heshe needs to have a principled approach that guides hisher material development process.
B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
