The purpose of this study was to propose a
curriculum plan based on a literature review of ways of
developing English instructional materials. The plan
is designed for implementation at the Faculty of
Education in Universitas Terbuka (the Open University
of Indonesia). This study is important because it will
help educational planners to improve course materials
so that distance teaching methods are suitable and
effective for language teaching.
The review of the literature showed that little
research has been done on the problem of teaching
English at a distance. Nevertheless, in certain
situations where there is no possibility for
face-to-face contact, distance courses for learning
English must be designed, and materials effective for
learning English must be developed. The communicative
approach based upon the assumption that language is
taught for communicative purposes, is the current
method favoured in language teaching. It is used
mainly for teaching the skills of listening and speaking, and it is very important that the English
teacher teaches the students how to communicate having
due to regard for the purpose, situation, place, and
person. The problem is how this approach can be put
into practice not only in a classroom setting, but also
in a distance learning setting.
The curriculum plan described in this study
focuses on aims and objectives, subject content,
subject sequencing, teaching methods and media,
learner's assessment, and course evaluation. The
communicative model for teaching English was considered
for some aspects of the plan.
Some specific suggestions are given for English
teaching at a distance at Universitas Terbuka. First,
the print materials and audio-cassettes should be an
integrated package. Second, the format of
audio-cassette should be changed to reflect
communicative ideas in language teaching. Third, UT
should provide Language Resource Centres in every
distance learning unit throughout Indonesia. And
finally, UT should take advantage of radio broadcasting
to support students' learning.