Answers to Question I (a) & (b) of Assignment II

(a). I think a good syllabus should clearly mention the objective of the course. If it is
some text, it should clearly mention the number of periods the text should be
completed within. It should clearly state what sort of questions should be asked from
the particular text. For example it may state questions based on the style of the
author, theme, plot and characters should be asked. However, if there is no any
prescribed text, the syllabus designer should clearly mention what readings can be
used here, for example any contemporary short story or texts of general interest and
so on.

It should clearly mention what skills should be covered. Mere mention of the skills
may turn to be very confusing for the teacher unless the syllabus designer includes
topics to be covered under each skill. For example if it is Writing, it may mean all
types of letters, applications, reports, essays, summary and so on. So the syllabus
should detail what has to be covered from each skill. The same details should be
provided for other language skills.

I believe a good syllabus should also include method of teaching. What should be the
strength of the class; how many lectures should be delivered per week; how to make
learning effective for mediocre students; whether tutorials should be observed or not
etc some may be the areas that a good syllabus may highlight.

A good syllabus should also mention the mode of examination. As each language skill
demands different mode of examination peculiar to its content and requirement. What
should be the technique: multiple-choice, short answer, long answer questions or
writing of essays or blend of these is expected to be included in a good syllabus. It
should clearly mention how many times the students should be tested in a year.

A good syllabus should also provide a detailed list of suggested readings including the
name of the publisher, writer, and editor (if any), year of publication. Cases have been
observed where the suggested books are available neither at the seminar and library of
the institute nor at the book stores in the city. Sometimes the suggested books have
stopped to be published. Therefore the syllabus designer must take special care while
working on this area. The institution must take responsibility to avail the resources it
recommends.

The examiner finds himself inclined towards the text or the topic that he/she likes the
most or the one which he/she taught with more efforts or the topic he/she thinks
his/her students will be able to give good performance for. Therefore, weightage of
marks from each text and unit along with evaluation pattern must be provided if a
syllabus needs to be branded as a good one.

(b). Following is a list of some aspects of language teaching that do not appear in a
syllabus.
i. Level of competence of language of the students.
ii. Socio-economic background of the students.
iii. Teachers workload.
iv. Name of the publication so that each student may have same text book and
level of communication gap may be reduced.
v. Suggested methodology.