A context analysis of a naval apprenticeship type programme

Abstract

Contexts have played significant roles in language curriculum planning. This is a report based on an exploratory study towards developing a content-based English language curriculum in a military-based “boutique university” whereby the academic programme runs in parallel with the training package tailored to the employer’s needs. In the present study, this practice is construed as apprenticeship in concrete and abstract form which originated from Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development or ZPD. A framework consisting of Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis or CDA has been developed to analyse language in order to establish a basis for understanding the contextual factors influencing the content-based English language curriculum planning. The findings revealed that at classroom, programme and institution level of an apprenticeship type programme, the role of English language is strengthened by elements of apprenticeship learning theory.