Papers by Michal Kirschner
TESOL Quarterly, 1996
The purpose of this paper is to describe a workshop designed to raise teachers' ... more The purpose of this paper is to describe a workshop designed to raise teachers' awareness of potential obstacles to student comprehension of test questions. Such an awareness is essential to the process of test writing or the construction of teaching materials. Although ...
English for Specific Purposes, Dec 1, 2001
In countries where university students must read course bibliographies in English but perform rel... more In countries where university students must read course bibliographies in English but perform related tasks in L1, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course coordinators must often design their own courses and materials. In this paper, we present the Complementary Pyramid Syllabus Design (CPSD), developed at the Division of Foreign Languages, Tel Aviv University, Israel. The CPSD is a principled four-pronged approach to EAP reading course design employing elements of Type A syllabi (focusing on the discrete elements of language) and Type B syllabi (emphasizing the purposes for and process of acquiring a language). A CPSD syllabus for a particular course incorporates explicit instruction on discrete linguistic forms, reading comprehension strategies, academic genres, as well as criterion tasks which focus on meaning and which mirror real-life academic tasks. The weight of each of these elements varies in a systematic manner depending on the students' L2 pro®ciency. The CPSD approach is grounded in the literature on such topics as syllabus design, the nature of the reading process in L1 and L2, and genre. A¯owchart depicting the procedure for designing EAP course syllabi as well as a sample case of course design are presented.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2002
Abstract This paper presents a detailed design for a content-based unit, the focus of which is th... more Abstract This paper presents a detailed design for a content-based unit, the focus of which is the film Caravaggio (1986) by British director Derek Jarman. The unit also includes readings in art history and film and is part of a specialized EAP /ESP reading comprehension course for first-year students majoring in art history and in a multi-disciplinary arts program at Tel Aviv University, Israel. The paper includes the practical and theoretical rationale for selecting and sequencing the materials and the tasks which require students to integrate and synthesize the various texts. The paper addresses various theoretical and pedagogical concerns faced by course designers and classroom instructors in an EFL context.
TESOL Quarterly, 1996
The purpose of this paper is to describe a workshop designed to raise teachers' ... more The purpose of this paper is to describe a workshop designed to raise teachers' awareness of potential obstacles to student comprehension of test questions. Such an awareness is essential to the process of test writing or the construction of teaching materials. Although ...
English for Specific Purposes, 2001
In countries where university students must read course bibliographies in English but perform rel... more In countries where university students must read course bibliographies in English but perform related tasks in L1, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course coordinators must often design their own courses and materials. In this paper, we present the Complementary Pyramid Syllabus Design (CPSD), developed at the Division of Foreign Languages, Tel Aviv University, Israel. The CPSD is a principled four-pronged approach to EAP reading course design employing elements of Type A syllabi (focusing on the discrete elements of language) and Type B syllabi (emphasizing the purposes for and process of acquiring a language). A CPSD syllabus for a particular course incorporates explicit instruction on discrete linguistic forms, reading comprehension strategies, academic genres, as well as criterion tasks which focus on meaning and which mirror real-life academic tasks. The weight of each of these elements varies in a systematic manner depending on the students' L2 pro®ciency. The CPSD approach is grounded in the literature on such topics as syllabus design, the nature of the reading process in L1 and L2, and genre. A¯owchart depicting the procedure for designing EAP course syllabi as well as a sample case of course design are presented.
TESOL Quarterly, 1992
... We therefore recommend cautious use of the cloze to test reading comprehen-sion. ... However,... more ... We therefore recommend cautious use of the cloze to test reading comprehen-sion. ... However, in our situation, this requires the student to formulate an answer in L2, which often ... with unstructured responses depends on various factors such as the language of response (L1 or ...
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2002
This paper presents a detailed design for a content-based unit, the focus of which is the film Ca... more This paper presents a detailed design for a content-based unit, the focus of which is the film Caravaggio (1986) by British director Derek Jarman. The unit also includes readings in art history and film and is part of a specialized EAP /ESP reading comprehension course for firstyear students majoring in art history and in a multidisciplinary arts program at Tel Aviv University, Israel. The paper includes the practical and theoretical rationale for selecting and sequencing the materials and the tasks which require students to integrate and synthesize the various texts. The paper addresses various theoretical and pedagogical concerns faced by course designers and classroom instructors in an EFL context.
TESOL Quarterly, 1996
The purpose of this paper is to describe a workshop designed to raise teachers' ... more The purpose of this paper is to describe a workshop designed to raise teachers' awareness of potential obstacles to student comprehension of test questions. Such an awareness is essential to the process of test writing or the construction of teaching materials. Although ...
English for Specific Purposes, Jan 1, 2001
In countries where university students must read course bibliographies in English but perform rel... more In countries where university students must read course bibliographies in English but perform related tasks in L1, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course coordinators must often design their own courses and materials. In this paper, we present the Complementary Pyramid Syllabus Design (CPSD), developed at the Division of Foreign Languages, Tel Aviv University, Israel. The CPSD is a principled four-pronged approach to EAP reading course design employing elements of Type A syllabi (focusing on the discrete elements of language) and Type B syllabi (emphasizing the purposes for and process of acquiring a language). A CPSD syllabus for a particular course incorporates explicit instruction on discrete linguistic forms, reading comprehension strategies, academic genres, as well as criterion tasks which focus on meaning and which mirror real-life academic tasks. The weight of each of these elements varies in a systematic manner depending on the students' L2 pro®ciency. The CPSD approach is grounded in the literature on such topics as syllabus design, the nature of the reading process in L1 and L2, and genre. A¯owchart depicting the procedure for designing EAP course syllabi as well as a sample case of course design are presented. #
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Papers by Michal Kirschner