LITERATURE REVIEW

Studies have been published in the field of curriculum design and

teaching in elementary schools, it is necessary to stand out some of them which give to

this research relevant contributions.

Among the research carried out about English curriculum and English

curriculum design, researchers could find the one conducted by Echeverri P. & Quinchia

M. (2016), whose objective was the curriculum renewal of an English program for

adults. The results from that experience suggested that first, for an effective language

program the curriculum should take into account the needs and interest of adult students;

second, the curriculum proposal should have a clear theoretical and methodological

conceptualization that supports the processes within the program; third, the curriculum

should state activities related to ones adults carry out in their daily live; Fourth, the

implementation of the curriculum proposal should be supported by a teacher

development and mentoring program. This study is relevant to this research since it

shows the process needed for an English curriculum redesign, the elements that have

been taking into account to achieve that goal and the possible teachers’ reactions towards

the new curriculum proposal.

Another research in this area is one called “Enacting a People-Centred

Curriculum in ELT With Teenage Learners” made by Banegas, D. L., & Velázquez, A.

(2014). This study had the objective of reflect on the extent to which the learner-centred

curriculum in English language teaching includes teachers and learners. The results set
that a new approach centered in people will be a great opportunity for reflection,

negotiation, mutual understanding, and recognition of all the paths, it is possible to

critically walk towards knowledge creation and to build a participatory ELT curriculum.

This project has a contribution to this enquiry since it shows that teachers may work

towards a people-centred curriculum by maximizing the potentialities the students’

interests and motivations.

In a Colombian bilingual school was applied a research named

“Learner-Centered Curriculum: A Step Towards English Speaking Skill Improvement

of Non-English Teachers” conducted by Macías, F. D. (2010). Whose aim was to guide

non-English speaking teachers of a Colombian bilingual school to perform their tasks in

English within a school environment, through the implementation of a learner– centered

curriculum based on English speaking-oriented workshops. The Findings revealed that

through the use of speaking-oriented practice in the workshops, the teachers could reflect

on their own foreign language learning process; they became confident and improved

their speaking skills and they had the opportunity of working and enhancing their

autonomous and cooperative learning skills. This enquiry has a great contribution since

it reflects how non-English teachers could improve their English language skills through

their inclusion in a curriculum focused on them as learners.

The last project researchers could find is an article which reports an

action-research project aimed at designing the new primary school curriculum, in

Malaysia by Hena Mukherjee and Jasbir Sarjit Singh. The research attempts to identify

events and conditions which led to the planning and limited implementation of the new
English curriculum. The results showed that the attitudinal difference among teachers

serves to highlight the complex nature and process of curriculum change suggest that the

didactic proposal was easy to use for the teacher, understandable for the students, and

appropriate for the students' proficiency level due to its emphasis on the oral skills. It

was concluded that didactic material should follow the pacing of the teachers' academic

work and has to be closely linked to the reality of teachers and students. This enquiry is

relevant for this research since it provides the stage by stage process of design and

implementation of an English curriculum for primary school, the limitations of the new

curriculum in terms of teachers’ and students’ disposition.

Banegas, D. L., & Velázquez, A. (2014). Enacting a people-centred

curriculum in ELT with teenage learners. PROFILE Issues in Teachers’ Professional

Development, 16(2), 199-205. Retrieved June 10, 2017, from

Echeverri P. & Quinchia M. (2016). Retos en el diseño curriculumr

de un programa de inglés para adultos. Colomb. Appl. Linguist. J., 18(2), pp. 131-148.

Retrieved June 10, 2017, from

Macías, F. D. (2010). Learner-Centered Curriculum: A Step Towards

English Speaking Skill Improvement of Non-English Teachers. ENLETAWA, 3, 7-18.

Retrieved June 10, 2017, from

http://revistas.uptc.edu.co/index.php/enletawa_journal/article/view/1937

Mukherjee, H., & Singh, J. (1983). The New Primary School

Curriculum Project: Malaysia, 1982. International Review of Education / Internationale

Zeitschrift FürErziehungswissenschaft / Revue Internationale De L'Education, 29(2),

247-257. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3443897