Types of Syllabus 1

Types of Syllabus 1
Luis Octavio Canseco Garca

Luis Octavio Canseco Garca / Escuela de Idiomas / Universidad Regional del Sureste / Oaxaca
PRODUCT ORIENTED SYLLABUS
Also known as the synthetic approach, these kinds of syllabuses emphasize
the product of language learning and

are prone to intervention from an authority.
What is a synthetic approach? In 'synthetic' approaches (Wilkins, 1976 p. 2),
Different parts of the language are

taught separately and step by step so that acquisition is a process of gradual accumulation of parts until the whole structure of language has been built up.
What is a synthetic approach?

The typical aim is to teach a new linguistic structure by means explanation of rules, of
paradigms,
contextualization in dialogues, series of

analogous sentences designed to
promote inductive learning.
In
syllabus
development
(Nunan
2001): this approach controls the analysis of the target language into its discrete phonological, lexical and
grammatical elements, each of which is to be taught separately and in isolation.
The
synthetic
syllabus
relies
on
learners' assumed ability to learn a language in parts (e.g., structures
and functions) which are independent

of one another, and also to integrate,
or synthesize, the pieces when the

time comes to use them for
communicative purposes.
The synthetic
approach represent the
'traditional' way of organizing the syllabus, and reflect the common-sense belief that the central role of instruction is to simplify the learning challenge for the student. Structural, lexical notional, and
functional syllabuses are synthetic.

THE STRUCTURAL APPROACH

STRUCTURAL SYLLABUS
Historically, the most prevalent of syllabus type is perhaps the
grammatical syllabus in which the

selection and grading of the content
is based on the complexity and

simplicity of grammatical items.
The learner is expected to master each structural step and add it to her grammar collection. As such, the focus is on the outcomes or the product.
In
structural units
syllabi, or
pedagogic lessons are
grammar organized
around
isolated
morphosyntactic
structures
or
linguistic forms such as articles,
possessives, pronouns, prepositions,

questions, conditionals, reported
speech or the passive voice.

The selection of such units is based on descriptive grammar and on a general consensus about the
patterns of language that must be
taught. They are usually presented

one at a time or in pairs to be
contrasted (e.g. past simple vs.

present perfect).
Structural
syllabi
are
the
most
widespread kind of syllabus and the
ones usually favored by publishing

companies because of their simplicity and popularity.
In a structural syllabus: The learner moves from simpler to

more complex structures and may grasp the grammatical system more easily If learners are also doing
grammatical analysis, it may fit in well with what they are discovering about the language.
A structural syllabus does not address the immediate communication needs of the learner who is learning a language within the context of a community where the language is spoken. In fact, the sociolinguistic aspects of
communicative competence are not in

focus at all in a strictly structural
syllabus.
The Lexical Approach

LEXICAL SYLLABUS
The lexical approach concentrates on developing learners proficiency with
lexis,
or
words
and
word
combinations.
It is based on the idea that an important part of language acquisition is the ability to comprehend and produce lexical phrases as unanalyzed wholes, or chunks, and that these chunks become the raw
data by which
patterns
95).
learners
perceive
of
language
traditionally
(Lewis, 1993, p.
thought of as grammar
A lexical syllabus can be derived from
a detailed analysis (normally these

days done mainly by computer) of a
carefully
selected
corpus
of
language that reflects - as far as possible - the language of the target discourse community. This could of course be a specialist or general corpus.
The analysis can offer the syllabus designer lists of the most frequent
words,
information
their
meanings
their
and
typical
about
grammatical
and
lexical
environments, i.e. the collocations and patterns that words occur in.
So
lexical
syllabus
includes
grammar, (which is identified through

the common words that make up common patternings), expressions of notions and functions but the
organizing principle is lexical.
A lexical syllabus can account for a far higher proportion of text and offer a more thorough coverage of the language of the target discourse situation than other syllabus types.
A lexical syllabus - with its inventory
of
words
with
their
collocations,
meanings and typical patterns is
clear, unambiguous and accessible everybody can recognize what a word is, and its phrases and patterns are fairly easily identifiable.
Unfortunately
lexical
syllabus
would run to at least half a page

per word, indeed far more for the common words with their many uses.
For example: most of the 700 most frequent words (which would seem a reasonable target for a 120 hour
course) have at least 3 different

meanings, making an inventory of
2100 items.
The Situational Approach

SITUATIONAL SYLLABUS
The
point
of
departure
rather
became
than
situational
needs
grammatical units.
Here,
the
principal
organizing
characteristic is a list of situations which reflects the way language and behavior are used everyday outside the classroom.
The Situational Approach: Central Premises
The main focus of a situational syllabus is on the use of language as a social
medium.
The linguistic premise of this syllabus is that language is always used in context, never in isolation and the choice of
linguistic forms are restricted by social

situations.
The Situational Approach: Central Premises
The educational premise is that there should be a different syllabus for different learners, based on the
individual needs of the learners.
In a situational syllabus the content of language teaching is formed by a range of real or imaginary behavioral or experiential situations in which a
foreign language is used.
The situational syllabus provides for concrete contexts within which to learn language structures, thus making it easier for most learners to visualize, and this, in turn, helps in promoting students motivation.
The designer of a situational syllabus attempts to predict those situations in which the learner will find him/herself,
and uses these situations (e.g., a

restaurant, an airplane, a post office,
etc.) as a basis for selecting and

presenting language content.
The
underlying
assumption
in
situation syllabus is that language is related to the situational contexts in which it occurs.
The Notional/Functional
Approach
Notional / Functional Syllabus
The starting point for a syllabus of this kind is the communicative purpose and conceptual meaning of language i.e. functions and notions, as opposed to grammatical items and situational
elements
which
remain
but
are
relegated to a subsidiary role.

One
advantage
of approach
the (a
notional/functional
semantically-based syllabus) is that

motivation will be heightened since it is
"learner- rather than subject-centered"

(Wilkins.1976: 16).
functional-notional
syllabus
is
primarily based not on a linguistic
analysis
learners'
but
on
an
and/or
analysis
of
social
vocational
communicative needs.
This
syllabus
holds
that
the
classification of skill levels should be based on what people want to do with the language (functions) or in terms of what meanings people want to convey (notions).
The logic behind the functional-
notional syllabus is that if the goal is

a general competence in
language, language content will be context-dependent, drawing ideas from sociolinguistics and viewing language as interpersonal rather than a personal behavior.
This type of syllabus makes the assumption that the learner's needs,
motivations, characteristics, abilities,

limitations and resources are the point of departure.
Selection from the components of the syllabus will thus be made in
terms of the learner and in terms of

relevance to his communicative
purposes. This means that the whole system must be needs-oriented.
This type of syllabus has been developed from a sociolinguistic viewpoint with the primary purpose of identifying the elements of a target language which its learners, as
members of a particular group and
with particular social and occupational

purposes in mind, most need to know.
Functional / Notional syllabuses have proved very popular as a basis for organising courses and materials for the following reasons:
They reflect a more comprehensive view of language than grammar syllabuses and focus on the use of the language rather than linguistic form. They can readily be linked to other types of syllabus content (e.g. topics, grammar, vocabulary). They provide a convenient framework for the design of teaching materials, particularly in the domains of listening and speaking.
The Content-Based
Approach
Content-based Syllabus
The primary purpose of instruction is
to
teach
some
content
or
information using the language that the students are also learning.
The
students
are
simultaneously
language students and students of whatever content is being taught.

The subject matter is primary, and language learning occurs incidentally to the content
learning. The content teaching is not organized around but the vice-
language
teaching,
versa.
An
example
of
content-based
language teaching is a science class taught in the language the students need or want to learn, possibly with linguistic adjustment to make the
science more comprehensible.
The Skills-Based Approach

Skills-based Syllabus
The content of this type of syllabus is a collection of specific abilities that may play a part in using language. Skills are things that people must be
able to do to be competent in a
language, relatively independently of the situation or setting in which the language use can occur.
Skill-based syllabi group linguistic

competencies (pronunciation,
vocabulary, grammar, and discourse)

together into generalized types of behavior, such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, giving
effective oral presentations, and so on.

The primary purpose of skill-based instruction is to learn the specific language skill. A possible secondary purpose is to develop more general competence in the language, learning only
incidentally any information that may be available while applying the
language skills.
Bibliography
Breen, M.P. (1984): Process Syllabuses for the Language Classroom in Brumfit, C.J. (ed): General English Syllabus Design, ELT Documents 118. London, Pergamon Press/British Council. Candlin, C.N. (1984): Syllabus Design as a Critical Process. in Brumfit, C.J. (ed): General English Syllabus Design, ELT Documents 118. London, Pergamon Press/British Council. Johnson, R.K. (1989): A Decision-Making Framework for the Coherent Language Curriculum. in Johnson, R.K. (ed): The Second Language Curriculum. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Lewis, M. (1993). The lexical approach: The state of ELT and the way forward. Hove, England: Language Teaching Publications. Nunan, D. 2001. Syllabus design. In M. Celce-Murcia (ed.) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Boston MA: Thomson Heinle. Pienemann, M. (1985): Learnability and Syllabus Construction. in Hyltenstam and Pienemann (eds): Modelling and Assessing Second Language Aquisition. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters.
Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.


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Luis Octavio Canseco Garca

PRODUCT ORIENTED SYLLABUS

Also known as the synthetic approach, these kinds of syllabuses emphasize

the product of language learning and

What is a synthetic approach? In 'synthetic' approaches (Wilkins, 1976 p. 2),

Different parts of the language are

What is a synthetic approach?

contextualization in dialogues, series of

promote inductive learning.

grammatical elements, each of which is to be taught separately and in isolation.

learners' assumed ability to learn a language in parts (e.g., structures

and functions) which are independent

or synthesize, the pieces when the

approach represent the

functional syllabuses are synthetic.

THE STRUCTURAL APPROACH

Historically, the most prevalent of syllabus type is perhaps the

grammatical syllabus in which the

is based on the complexity and

pedagogic lessons are

linguistic forms such as articles,

possessives, pronouns, prepositions,

speech or the passive voice.

patterns of language that must be

taught. They are usually presented

contrasted (e.g. past simple vs.

widespread kind of syllabus and the

ones usually favored by publishing

In a structural syllabus: The learner moves from simpler to

communicative competence are not in

The Lexical Approach

The lexical approach concentrates on developing learners proficiency with

A lexical syllabus can be derived from

a detailed analysis (normally these

grammar, (which is identified through

organizing principle is lexical.

A lexical syllabus - with its inventory

meanings and typical patterns is

would run to at least half a page

course) have at least 3 different

The Situational Approach

The Situational Approach: Central Premises

The main focus of a situational syllabus is on the use of language as a social

linguistic forms are restricted by social

The Situational Approach: Central Premises

individual needs of the learners.

foreign language is used.

and uses these situations (e.g., a

etc.) as a basis for selecting and

relegated to a subsidiary role.

semantically-based syllabus) is that

"learner- rather than subject-centered"

primarily based not on a linguistic

The logic behind the functional-

notional syllabus is that if the goal is

motivations, characteristics, abilities,

Selection from the components of the syllabus will thus be made in

terms of the learner and in terms of

purposes. This means that the whole system must be needs-oriented.

members of a particular group and

with particular social and occupational