7-PROG-Linear

Progression > Linear

Things to consider

Linear course progression assumes that you need to learn things in a certain order and that you start by one thing, then learn another, build on that to learn another, etc. As such, it is tied in with a product-based syllabus type, as you need to acquire one 'product', usually a grammar item, a notion or a function, before moving on to the next. Strictly speaking, linear progression is not possible, as all language learning is spiral in the sense that it always refers back to what has been learned before. However, in a broader sense, most beginner's language courses, and even intermediate ones, will often take a linear approach, because it is assumed that you need to learn some basics (vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling) before you can move on to more complex, 'real' language.
As in the case of the beginner's course Lagelands, each chapter spells out what you will learn in that chapter, students take little tests, 'checklists' that will indicate whether he or she has successfully acquired these aspects, before they can move on to the next chapter. For an example, click here. A similar approach is used in Reading skills in Business Dutch, which consists of a general and a more specialised module. Students have to work through the general module in which the units are graded in difficulty. Students take a test after 5 units which they have to pass before they can move on to the next 5. After the general module, they move on to the specialised module which takes an independent unit approach.

- What kind of syllabus type do you adopt? If your syllabus is product-based, i.e. grammatical, notion-functional, situational or skills-based, it is more likely to be linear, even though it doesn’t have to be so. Process-based syllabuses tend to work with independent units.

- If your course has a linear approach, make sure you think of ways to assess whether students have acquired or learned the content they need, before they move to the next unit.

- In order to progress, students need adequate formative feedback - do you have a system that is adequate but not too time-consuming? You could work with model answers or self-correcting exercises to do this, self-assessment is a useful and empowering tool, even though some students need to be convinced of its use, make sure you explain its merits.

Examples:
- Lagelands
- Reading skills in Business Dutch
- Read Ukrainian

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