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How useful are the following in planning your lessons?3,0002,5002,0001,5001,0005000National curriculum/syllabusfrom the government/ministrySchool syllabus/curriculum guidelinesExaminations syllabusClass syllabus/scheme of workLesson plansTextbook/coursebookSupplementarymaterials/worksheetsThe availability ofclassroom equipmentThe way you learned EnglishYour pre-service teacher trainingAttendance at conferencesIn-service teachertraining coursesYour English teachingcolleagues at schoolYour membership ofprofessional organisationsNot applicable Not at all useful Not very usefulSomewhat usefulVery usefulFigure 2: Lesson planningAll the case study teachers worked from a plan, which was detailed to a greater orlesser extent and the researchers were shown a range of coursebooks from whichteachers worked. In the UAE the researcher was also shown national documentsand their value was discussed. Four of the five teachers seemed keen toimplement government policy and used national curriculum documents to supportthis implementation, although in Korea the strict government guidelines were seenas rather constraining. Government policy seemed to be least constraining inItaly, where ministerial guidelines have traditionally been quite general and open.The most important level of planning from a teacher’s point of view seemed tobe at school level, with each school or group of schools preparing its own annualsyllabus, based on ministerial guidelines but with some flexibility. The CommonEuropean Framework of Reference for Languages was also mentioned by the casestudy teacher as influencing the syllabus.Global Practices Young Learners | 47