Could I or should I develop my own program?

It IS possible and sometimes necessary to develop your own language learning program.

If you have a choice of doing it yourself or following a program somebody else has prepared, what should you do?

Here are some benefits of developing your own program:

• You are in control of what you learn so it should be both relevant and interesting.
• You can use an approach that fits your personality and learning style.
• You can go at your own pace.

Here are some of the disadvantages of developing your own program:

• You may need to allow as much time to plan daily activities as you will need to do the activities. In effect you are having to make your own lesson plans for each day.
• You may be wasting your time by developing your own program if there are good materials available which are effective in helping people learn.
• You do not have a teacher available to give you feedback and evaluation.

Here is what you need when you develop your own program:

• A clear model to follow

  Note:

  It is possible to design your own program without following a model, but if you know enough to do that you probably do not need this book .

• A clear idea of the principles underlying the model and the guidelines
• Access to speakers of the language, preferably a speech community
• Time for planning and developing your program, as well as for doing language activities

• Structured language study options

• Generic module: Could I or should I develop my own program?
• In overview module: Structured language study options
• In overview module: Information to help you make a strategic plan
• In modular book: Managing Your Language Learning Program, by Carol J. Orwig
• In bookshelf: Language Learning

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 3.5, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 17 September 1998

© 1999 SIL International