An English Course Designed for Tibetan Women Living in Exile in India

211 Pages·2010·11.91 MB·English

by  Evelyn Fiona Larsen

DIPLOMARBEIT

Titel der Diplomarbeit:
„An English Course Designed for
Tibetan Women Living in Exile in India“

Verfasserin:
Evelyn Fiona Larsen

angestrebter akademischer Grad
Magistra der Philosophie (Mag. phil.)

Wien, Juni 2010

Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 190 313 344
Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt:
Lehramtsstudium UF Geschichte, Sozialkunde, Politische Bildung, UF Englisch
Betreuerin: A.o. Univ.-Prof. Christiane Dalton-Puffer
ABSTRACT
The diploma thesis provides an English language course design for Tibetan refugees
living in exile in India. The target group of the course are Tibetan women, who are
weaving carpets for living. They show specific language needs which are influenced
by various contextual factors.
The thesis bases its ideas on Western language teaching theories, discussing different
aspects crucial to course design. The concept focuses on contextual factors in order to
match the delicate political and economical situation of the students. Especially,
factors such as semiliteracy and poor education are challenging when planning an
foreign language course. The main goal of the teaching agenda is to endow the
students with language skills which can be used while participating in sales dialogues
and further market activities.
The course design concept draws on the Communicative Language Teaching
approach based mostly on the work of Keith Johnson (1983) and David A. Wilkins
(1976). The model focuses rather on oral and communication orientated language use
than on structural comprehension. Therefore, everyday language usage is emphasized
throughout the concluding course design. David Nunan’s (1988) and Jack C. Richards’
(2001) theories on curriculum design provide the underlying structure of the course
development process. Central theoretical aspects then have been applied to the
students’ situation.
The thesis closes with a course blue print, providing detailed lesson plan drafts and
teaching materials. The course outline has greater potential value beyond this
particular application as it can be modified for the use by other target groups having
similar characteristics.

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ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Das Thema der Diplomarbeit ist die Erstellung eines Englisch-Sprachkurses für tibeti-
sche Flüchtlinge, die im Exil in Indien leben. Zielgruppe des Kurses sind tibetische
Frauen, die ihren Lebensunterhalt mit dem Weben von Teppichen bestreiten. Für sie
ergeben sich spezielle Sprachbedürfnisse, die von verschiedenen kontextuellen Fak-
toren beeinflusst werden.
Die vorliegende Arbeit baut auf zentrale Ideen westlicher Theorien des Sprachunter-
richts auf, die ausschlaggebend für den Kursentwurf sind. Das Kurskonzept konzen-
triert sich auf die kontextuellen Faktoren mit spezieller Berücksichtigung der heiklen
politischen und wirtschaftlichen Situation der Studierenden. Eine besondere Heraus-
forderung bei der Planung des Fremdsprachenunterrichts ist die kaum vorhandene
Bildung und der partielle Analphabetismus der Kursteilnehmerinnen. Das Hauptziel
des Unterrichts besteht darin, funktionale Fremdsprachenkenntnisse zu vermitteln,
die insbesondere die Teilnahme an Verkaufsgesprächen und weiterführenden Markt-
aktivitäten ermöglichen.
Die konzeptuelle Grundlage des vorliegenden Kursdesigns stützt sich auf den
Communicative Language Teaching-Ansatz, wobei vor allem auf die Arbeiten von Keith
Johnson (1983) und David A. Wilkins (1976) Bezug genommen wird. Schwerpunkt
des Ansatzes ist die mündliche und kommunikationsorientierte Sprachanwendung,
wobei der Alltagssprache ein höherer didaktischer Stellenwert eingeräumt wird als
dem strukturellen Sprachverständnis. David Nunans (1988) und Jack C. Richards‘
(2001) Abhandlungen zum Curriculum Design bilden das Grundgerüst für den Prozess
der Kurserstellung. Die zentralen theoretischen Ansätze werden dabei an die Situa-
tion der Studenten angepasst.
Ein konkreter Kursentwurf mit detailliertem Unterrichtsplan und Lehrmaterialien
schließt die vorliegende Arbeit ab. Die Möglichkeit, diesen Leitfaden durch leichte
Anpassung auch bei anderen Zielgruppen mit vergleichbaren Eigenschaften
anzuwenden, birgt seinen potentiellen Wert.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
There are numerous people who have inspired me to invest so much time and effort
in this work, it is hard to highlight only some. In my thoughts I am truly thankful to
all of you. First of all, I want to thank my parents and my family for supporting me in
my studies and my ideas about life. Without their help I would not be the person I am
now.
I also owe a lot to my supervisor Ao. Univ-Prof. Christiane Dalton-Puffer for her help
and her belief in my work. Her guiding questions supported me in finding my way to
this thesis. A big thank you also goes to my friends and my partner who have always
been my caring support, helping me in all situations. So many people in India
influenced my being and so made it possible for me to write this thesis. Thank you for
letting me be part of your world.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii
Zusammenfassung ................................................................................................................. iv

1. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1
2. The Tibetan People ............................................................................................................. 3
2.1. Brief History of the Tibetan People ......................................................................... 3
2.2. Living in “Little Lhasa” ............................................................................................. 6
2.3. The Educational System in Tibet ............................................................................. 8
2.4. The Role of Women in Tibet ................................................................................... 10
2.5. The Tibetan Language ............................................................................................. 12
2.5.1. Some Differences between Tibetan and English ............................................... 12
2.5.2. Why do Tibetans Want to Learn English? ....................................................... 15
2.6. Ethnographical Report ............................................................................................ 16
3. Course Design .................................................................................................................... 19
3.1. Approaches to Language Teaching ....................................................................... 19
3.2. Curriculum vs. Syllabus .......................................................................................... 26
3.3. Defining the Context ................................................................................................ 28
3.3.1. Importance of Motivation ................................................................................. 32
3.3.2. The Group of Students ..................................................................................... 34
3.3.3. Length of a Course ............................................................................................ 37
3.3.4. Length of a Lesson ............................................................................................ 37
3.4. Articulating Beliefs .................................................................................................. 38
3.5. Conceptualizing Content ........................................................................................ 42
3.6. Formulating Goals and Objectives ........................................................................ 46
3.6.1. Goals ................................................................................................................. 47
3.6.2. Objectives ......................................................................................................... 50
3.7. Needs Analysis ......................................................................................................... 52
3.8. Organizing a Course ................................................................................................ 60
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3.8.1. Determining the Organizing Principle(s) .........................................................61
3.8.2. Identifying the Course Units Based on the Organizing Principle(s) ................62
3.8.3. Sequencing the Course and its Units ................................................................62
3.8.4. Unit Content .....................................................................................................64
3.8.5. Unit Organization .............................................................................................64
3.9. Developing Materials ...............................................................................................66
3.10. Designing an Assessment Plan .............................................................................68
3.11. Lesson Plan ..............................................................................................................69
4. An English Course Designed for Tibetan Women Living in Exile in India ...........73
4.1. Teacher’s Note ...........................................................................................................73
4.2. Lesson Plan Organization ........................................................................................76
4.3. Unit 1 ...........................................................................................................................77
4.3.1. Description of Unit 1 .........................................................................................77
4.3.2. Lesson Plans for Unit 1 .....................................................................................78
4.4. Unit 2 ...........................................................................................................................86
4.4.1. Description of Unit 2 .........................................................................................86
4.4.2. Lesson Plans for Unit 2 .....................................................................................87
4.5. Unit 3 ...........................................................................................................................95
4.5.1. Description of Unit 3 .........................................................................................95
4.5.2. Lesson Plans for Unit 3 .....................................................................................96
4.6. Unit 4 .........................................................................................................................104
4.6.1. Description of Unit 4 .......................................................................................104
4.6.2. Lesson Plans for Unit 4 ...................................................................................105
4.7. Teaching Materials and Handouts .......................................................................113
4.7.1. Unit 1: “Who am I?” .......................................................................................113
4.7.2. Unit 2: “What do I wear?” ..............................................................................132
4.7.3. Unit 3: “Fruits and Vegetables” .....................................................................144
4.7.4. Unit 4: “At the Market”..................................................................................160
5. Conclusion .........................................................................................................................171

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