Syllabus Design Mohammad Alipour Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz Branch

Syllabus The definition of “Syllabus” Difficulty in defining Syllabus “Specifications of the content of language teaching which have been submitted to some degree of structuring or ordering with the aim of making teaching and learning a more effective process". Wilkin’s definition: “Specifications of the content of language teaching which have been submitted to some degree of structuring or ordering with the aim of making teaching and learning a more effective process". “A plan of what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students' learning". Breen’s definition: “A plan of what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students' learning". “To specify what is to be taught and in what order". Prabhu’s definition: “To specify what is to be taught and in what order".

Short history of syllabus design Syllabuses used to start out by drawing up lists of grammatical, phonological and vocabulary items which were graded based on difficulty and usefulness. Learners task was mastery over these items. In the 1970s, communicative views began to be incorporated into syllabuses.

The central question was “ what linguistics Elements learners need to master (products ) & it changed to “what learners need to do with the target language”. Content was specified not only in terms of grammatical elements but also functional skills. ESP Is an offspring of this movement. Here, the focus was also on the experiential content (subject mater) through which language is taught.

The linguistic and communicative syllabuses focus on things learners would know to be able to do as a result of instruction. They are product syllabuses because content is stated in terms of the outcomes of instruction. Recently, however, as it is suggested, content must be specified in terms of learning tasks and purposes. Communication is a process not a product.

Types of syllabus Product-oriented syllabuses - Grammatical syllabus - Grammatical syllabus - Functional-notional syllabus - Functional-notional syllabus Process-oriented syllabuses - Procedural syllabus - Procedural syllabus - Task-based syllabus - Task-based syllabus - Content-based syllabus - Content-based syllabus

What is process & what is product Process is a series of actions directed toward a product and the end itself. Focuses on the learning experiences. They are specified in terms of the end products of a course & these products vary in a number of ways.

Analytic vs. synthetic syllabuses Wilkins (1976) first made this distinction. A synthetic syllabus teach parts of the language separately& step by step. There is a gradual accommodation of parts until the whole structure is built up. The criterion to break down language into parts is grammatical. Items are graded based on grammatical complexity, frequency of occurrence, contrastive difficulty to learners L1, and pedagogic competence.

The term synthetic should not be restricted to grammatical syllabuses, but refers to all syllabuses in which content is product oriented and is taught in a discrete manner.

In contrast, analytic syllabuses are organized in terms of purposes of language learning and the language performance to meet those purposes. Learners are given chunks of language with structures of varying degree of difficulty. The starting point is not general but communicative purposes for which language is used. There is a continuum of syllabuses, and courses are more or less synthetic or analytic and not exclusively one of them.

Structural syllabuses It is the most common type of syllabuses. Input is selected and graded according to grammatical complexity and simplicity. Grammatical complexity doesn’t necessarily equate with learning difficulty. They introduce one item at a time and after mastery, they move to another item.

They consist of a finite set of rules which can be combined in varying ways to make meaning. Also, rules can be learned one by one in an additive fashion. The principle purpose is to help learners make the code called “accumulated entity”. Moreover, once formula aspects are interrelated, learners are automatically able to use them in genuine communication.

Difficulties The links between grammatical chains are usually weak. So, it is difficult to separate and present one discrete item at a time. Research shows that learning doesn’t occur in an additive fashion.

Difficulties During 1970s, structural syllabuses were attacked. First, they misrepresent the nature of language which is a complex phenomenon because they just focus on one aspect of language, i.e. grammar. For example, there is a one-to-one relationship between form and function. Second, grammatical syllabuses are not in the same line with learners’ inbuilt syllabuses or their natural line of language development. Passing through developmental stages in a fixed sequence. Third, grammatical grading distorts language available to learners and it dispense with language acquisition which is more a global than linear process. Grammar develops simultaneously than one item being mastered at a time.

Functional-notional syllabuses From the 1970s, the view of philosophers of language and sociologists began to be incorporated into syllabuses and course books. It was the first time to systematically reflect the broader view of language in syllabuses. The terms functions and notions are confusing. Functions are the communication purposes for which we use language, while notions are the conceptual meanings (objects, entities, states of affairs and so on) expressed through language. Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) list the benefits of functional-notional syllabuses and believe that the best is that communication is the center purpose of the curricula.

Problems First, the selection and grading of items because more complex items help learners sort out communicative purposes. To determine what these purposes are, both linguistic analysis and needs analysis are required. Second, it isn’t possible to specify which function is easier than another. Contextual and extra linguistic functions are used. Third, Widdows (1979) says that like grammatical syllabuses, inventories of functions and notions don’t reflect the way language is learned any more than grammatical and lexical items.

Problems Complexity of selection and grading of items (communicative purposes & needs analysis) Other notions(situational, contextual and non-linguistic factors) rather than the linguistic ones requesting vs. greeting Insufficiency of the inventories of F-N syllabus to reflect the way of LL (Widdowson) Similarity to Grammatical syllabus & misrepresentation of L(grammatical items or functional ones) Infinite set of functions and difficulty in defining or distinguishing functions & notions The lack of a sound psychological basis regarding LL (Brumfit)

Content-based syllabuses Language isn’t linguistically graded, it is from the use of experiential rather than linguistic content as the starting point of syllabus. Content is in terms of situations, topics, and so on. Unlike science, language isn’t a subject in its own right, but a vehicle for communication. It is widespread in ESP courses. The problem is that learners know a great deal of knowledge and it is a trivialization of that content.

Process-based syllabuses Specifying functions and notions didn’t lead to development of communicative language skills which lead to development of process-oriented syllabuses. Organized around tasks rather than grammar or vocabulary. Tasks should be performed. Language learning purpose is use. The focus is on classroom processes and stimulated learning. There is no list of items nor a description of what learners should learn, but the specification of tasks and activities learners engage in class. Involves deriving some new information through processes of inference, deduction, practical learning or perception

Procedural syllabuses Proposed by Prabhu in the Bangalore project Content: different kinds of tasks & activities than grammar and vocabulary Central hypothesis (focusing on meaning = learning structure ) Avoidance of any linguistic syllabus which preselect linguistic items (natural communication in classroom) Avoidance of formal teaching procedures & error correction (form-focused result) Focus shifted from linguistic aspect to learning and learners Designing tasks with no pre-determined linguistic content Subconscious perception of language while conscious performance of task 3 types of tasks (information-gap, opinion-gap & reasoning-gap) e.g., Using telephone to obtain information, giving orders, and instructions to others.

Drawbacks No guidance regarding the selection of tasks and problems No guidance regarding how these tasks relate to real-world language needs of learners Not so much considering the selection and ordering of tasks (graded conceptually and grouped by similarity)

Task-based syllabuses They are based on selection of tasks as building blocks of pedagogy. Task is an activity or action which is carried out as a result of processing or understanding language. Task-based syllabuses had origins in research in SLA during 1980s. First language acquisition and Krashene’s influential views that learners focus upon learning in the input. Focus was placed on how learners interact to negotiate meaning, so focus was on formal and social conventions. The goal was provision of suitable tasks to encourage interaction and negotiation of meaning. This leads to achievement of linguistic knowledge and its social use.

Tasked-based syllabuses Definitions of task: Skehan (1996a): A task is “an activity in which meaning is primary; there is some sort of relationship to the real world; task completion has some priority; and the assessment of task performance is in terms of task outcome”. Lee (2000) : A task is (1) a classroom activity or exercise that has : (a) an objective obtainable just by interaction among participants, (b) a mechanism for structuring and sequencing interaction, and (c) a focus on meaning exchange; (2) a language learning endeavor that requires learners to comprehend, manipulate and/or produce the target language as they perform some set of work plans. e.g., Conducting an interview or visiting a doctor. Content : A series of tasks

A branch of CLT Speaking a language as a skill Subordinating LL & LT to task performance Assessment requires outcome than accuracy of the prescribed language forms Reason: make language in classroom truly communicative & related to real-life situations Four main features of tasks: meaning, non-linguistic outcome, information gap & linguistic resources

Real-world vs. pedagogical tasks By real-world tasks, learners might be called upon to perform real life. However, in pedagogic tasks, learners are required to carry out in the classroom.

Communicative vs. meta-communicative tasks The former involves learners in sharing meaning about everyday tasks. The latter is facilitative and involves learners in communicative or target-like tasks. They are also called pedagogic tasks and involve learners in sharing meaning about their own learning processes.

Merits Relevancy of tasks to real-world language needs of the learners Meaningfulness of tasks to enhance learning Communicative use of language performance Student-centered & encouraging meaningful communication

Factors regarding the issue of task difficulty The degree of the contextual support The cognitive difficulty of the task The amount of assistance The complexity of the L processing & producing The psychological stress The amount & type of background knowledge The characteristics of the learner

Lexical syllabuses It is on the basis of vocabulary and lexis and includes vocabulary related to topics and issues of word formation (affixes). The problem is the relation between lexis and grammar. It is based on corpus linguistics.

Situational syllabuses It offers selecting and sequencing real life situations rather than linguistic items or functions. It is proper when students have specific communicative needs. Not appropriate for general English students. Choosing which situations is hard.

Topic-based syllabuses It is organized because different topics and what students are interested in, based on their communicative needs as well.