Meet with all who will be involved in the learning process including program administrators, teachers and students. Ask students what they ultimately want to accomplish and what level of English proficiency they need to achieve in order to accomplish their personal or professional goals. Brainstorm together to decide the skills an average student will have at the program's start and what their skills will look like at the program's end.
Determine how you will objectively measure the learning objectives. Tests are the most common approach in most educational settings.
Draft a set of learning objectives using notes from the brainstorming meeting. A commonly used ESL approach is to have objectives for comprehension, alphabetics, vocabulary and fluency for both speaking and writing. Keep in mind that each outcome must be measurable so write objectives for skill and knowledge that can be directly measured or observed.
Allow all interested parties to review the draft and suggest any additions or revisions.
Write the final draft of learning objectives and publish to your program's catalog or a course syllabi.