Abstract

The purpose of this project is to provide the Tyndale St. George's Community Centre with a program it could adopt for its Level 1 adult ESL course by adapting a structural/functional set of materials and syllabus to reflect a different approach. It is by exploring and putting into practice current thinking and research in syllabus design, second language acquisition, methodology, and adult education that the author has designed a new program to address the specific needs of Tyndale adults. The four chapters of the thesis present: (1) the rationale for the project with a description of Tyndale students and their language needs, (2) the rationale for designing the new Level 1 program according to the principles of task-based language teaching, (3) a description of the pilot project which consisted of designing task-based materials and then piloting them with a Level 1 class at Tyndale, (4) the author's conclusions based on the pilot project. The three appendices present: (1) the student materials that could be used in the new Level 1 program, (2) the Teacher's Guide, (3) materials used in the pilot project and referred to in Chapter 3 but not included in the final version of the new program.