The Syllabus

The Syllabus

1. meaning

   • a syllabus is a specification of what is to be included in a language course
   • is a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt.

2. kind of syllabus

   • A) The evaluation syllabus. B) The organizational syllabus. C) The materials syllabus. D) The teacher syllabus. E) The classroom syllabus. F) The learner syllabus.
   • 1GRAMMATICAL/STRUCTURAL/LANGUAGE FORM. 2 NOTIONAL-FUNCTIONAL. 3 SITUATIONAL 4 TOPIC 5 CONTENT-BASED. 6 SKILLS. 7 PROCESS. 8 PROCEDURAL/TASK-BASED. 9 LEARNING-CENTRED/NEGOTIATED.

3. methodology employed in implementing the syllabus

   • will include materials selection and development, and will involve a selection of the learning tasks, activities and exercise types, and how they are to be presented, in a particular environment, for teaching and learning; it will conclude with assessment and evaluation.

4. Why should we have a syllabus?

   • A) Language is a complex entity. It cannot be learnt in one go.B) a syllabus also gives moral support to the teacher C)the syllabus shows that some thought and planning has gone into the development of a course. D) teacher and learner not only have an idea of where they are going, but how they might get there. E) tells the teacher and the student not only what is to be learnt, but, implicitly, why it is to be learnt. F) A syllabus provides a set of criteria for materials selectionG) A syllabus is one way in which standardisation is achieved H) A syllabus, therefore, provides a visible basis for testing.

5. ESP/EAP syllabus

   • In designing an EAP syllabus, several factors have to be taken into consideration. These include: needs, aims, means (the teachers, materials, equipment, facilities, time and finance), and variables or constraints (limitations of the 'means' become 'constraints').
   • The ESP syllabus is, as we have seen, usually derived from a detailed analysis of the language features of the target situation. It is the detail of this analysis which in our view produces the restricting influence on the methodology.

6. What role should a syllabus play in the course design process?

   • a) A language-centred approach b) A skills-centred approach c) A learning-centred approach d) The post hoc approach