Approaches to Syllabus

Design
Miguel Angel Carranza, MsE.

 Historically, the most prevalent is

the grammatical syllabus (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.

 Structural Syllabus:
It is based on a theory of language that
assumes that the grammatical or
structural aspects of language form are
the most basic or useful .
The structural syllabus can be said to
embrace a theory of learning that holds
that functional ability arises from
structural knowledge or ability.

 The content of the structural syllabus is

primarily grammatical form.
The demand of structural syllabi has
tended to be limited to the sentence.
Semantically defined sentence types such
as statements, questions, interrogatives
and grammatically defined types such as
simple, compound and complex sentences
are seen.

 Structural syllabi have most frequently

been associated with cognitive methods of
language teaching, Audio- lingual,
Grammar Translation Method, Silent Way,
and etc.
Grammar is frequently expected in a
language class and usually constitutes
familiar content.

 According to that syllabi ,

grammatical concepts such as nouns,
imperatives, plural, gerund are simply
better defined than functional ones
and also easily measured.

 Yet the low transferability of

structural knowledge to actual
language behaviour severely limits its
application in language teaching
settings ,at least to language
instruction whose goal is the ability to
function in the language.

 A fundamental criticism is that the

grammatical syllabus focuses on only one
aspect of language, namely grammar,
whereas in truth there exist many more
aspects to language.
Finally, recent corpus based research
suggests there is a divergence between the
grammar of the spoken and of the written
language; raising implications for the
grading of content in grammar based
syllabuses.

Notional Functional Syllabus

Notional/ functional syllabus has been
closely associated with what has been
called communicative language
teaching.
According to communicative approach,
language is used as vehicle for the
expression of functional meaning. The
functional view emphasizes the semantic
and communicative dimension rather
than the grammatical.

 It leads to a specification and organization

of language teaching content by categories
of meaning and function rather than by
elements of structure and grammar
functional/ notional syllabus includes not
only the elements of grammar and lexis
but also specify the topics, notions and
concepts the learner needs to
communicate.

 Notional/ Functionalism was initially

associated with a cognitive type of learning
theory that called for explicit presentation
of language material, conscious
recognition and practice. Sequencing and
grading of language material do not seem
to be of major concern.
Functions associated with multiple forms
are the basis for instruction.

 So a few structures can be used to

perform many functions. Inviting
someone out.
Also, the syllabi is limited to short
utterances or exchanges involving the
functions in question. Routines are
short and presented primarily a vehicle
for teaching, formualic utterances
generally used to perform some specific
function such as I`d love to but I cant.

Situational syllabi

Situational Based Approach

Situational language teaching is an
approach developed by British applied
linguists in the 1930s to the 1960s,
and which had an impact on language
courses which survive in some still
being used today.

Language is always used in a social context and cannot be

fully understood without reference to that context.

Our choice of linguistic forms may be restricted according to

certain features of the social situation and, in any case, we
need the language so that we can use it in the situations
that we encounter.

We should predict the situations in which the learner is likely

to need the language and then teach the language that is
necessary to perform linguistically in those situations.

Units in the syllabus will have situational instead of

grammatical labels.

Situational Syllabus
A situational syllabus is similar to a
functional-notional syllabus in that it
will usually contain communication
functions and notions, but in this
syllabus the choice of functions and
notions depends on the situational
context.

 Benefits The benefits of a situational

context are as follows:
It provides for concrete contexts within
which to learn notions, functions, and
structures, thus making it easier for
most learners to envisage
It may motivate learners to see that
they are learning to meet their most
pressing everyday communication
needs.

 Warning The potential disadvantage of the

situational syllabus is that functions and
notions may be learned in the context of
only one situation, whereas they may be
expressed in a variety of situations.
Also, although some situations have a
predictable script, unforeseen things can
happen in any situation, requiring a change
of script or topic.

Examples of Content

Situational courses do exist. They consist of learning units with

labels like 'At the post office', 'Buying a theatre ticket', 'Asking
the way' and so on.

In all probability they are successful in what they set out to do,
but there are reasons for doubting whether they can be taken
as a model for the general organization of language teaching.

The difficulty centres on just what is meant by 'situation'. With

examples like the ones above there is no great difficulty. They
are situations with fairly evident, objectively describable
physical characteristics.
The language interactions that are taking place are closely
related to the situation itself. There will be grammatical and
lexical forms that have a high probability of occurrence in
these kinds of language event.

SKILL BASED SYLLABUS

ESP: English for Specific
Purposes
EAP: English for Academic
purposes

 Skill: a specific way of using language

that combines structural and functional
ability but exists independently of
specific settings or situations.
Examples:
reading skills,
writing skills:reports, speeches,
listening skills: getting phone calls
Talking orders in a restaurant

 Skill based approaches: Competency based

instruction:
What the learner should be able to do
as a result of instruction.
After so many hours of English instruction,
what should you be able to do?
How many hours of driving classes do
you need to be a competent driver?

 SKILL BASED SYLLABI

The content of the language teaching
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.

 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.

 Skill based is becoming widely used

in adult education ESL programs for
immigrants and refugees.
The skills are presented broadly and
with varied and variable applications
( e.g. intensive reading of many
different types texts) so that specific
skills and global ability are developed
simultaneously.

Examples of Skill-based syllabi

Advanced reading course:
guessing vocabulary from context
reading for the main idea
infering
summarizing readings
Dictionary work
critical reading skills
Analysis of paragraph structure.

Positive Characteristics of the skill.

It is useful when learners need to master
specific types of language, either
exclusively or as a part of a broader
competency.
It is easy to predict the skills someone will
need to deal with in a given context ( at a
college: good writing and reading skills).
Relevance to student-felt needs or wants is
an advantage.

Negative side.. Potential drawbacks

- The degree to which ability to
perform specific tasks in a language is
dependent on or independent of overall
language proficiency.
The skills or competencies can be too
limited ( for phone operators and not
general education: thinking skills. That
is too say it can be too technical).

Applications
It is appropriate when learners need
specific skills, and when the skills are well
defined and learners dont need the other
skills.
It has valuable applications in life skills and
vocationally oriented language programs
for adult immigrants and refugees.
More appropriate for adults
Language programs preparing students for
academic work.

 The task based syllabus:

 The task based syllabus:

The defining characteristic is that it
uses activities that the learners have
to do for non-instructional purposes
outside the classroom.
Tasks are a way of bringing the real
world to the classroom: developing
surveys.

 The intent of task-based is to use learners

real-life needs and activities as learning
experiences, providing motivation through
immediacy and relevance.
The language needed to carry out the tasks
is not provided or taught beforehand, but
discovered by students and provided by
teachers and other resources as the task is
carried out.

 The one aspect of language

knowledge that may not be
addressed by task-based instruction,
however, is explicit metalinguistic
knowledge, or the ability to make
descriptive or prescriptive statements
about the language.

 The primary theory of learning

underlying task-based instruction is
Krashens acquistion theory.
Language is gained through exposure
to and participation in using it
The theory of language most closely
associated with task-based learning is
communicative
(with its 4 components).

How are tasks selected?

According to students` cognitive skills
and linguistic readiness for particular
tasks, their need for the particular
discourse or interactional type, and
availability of resources for carrying
out the task.

The following shorter tasks should be

undertaken before longer and more
complex ones: tasks requiring known
information
Advanced learners may be able to handle
tasks that extend over several days or
weeks: call for a great deal of new or
unknown information, require complex
processing such as evaluation,
comparison..

Examples of task based syllabus

Beginning level
Preparing profiles of class members
for other classes or teachers
Planning and carrying out a class
outing or picnic or dinner.
Producing a class cookbook
Filling out applications

Examples of task based syllabus

Preparing a handbook to the school
to be used by other students
Producing an employement procedure
guide- where to go.. Whom to talk to
Writing various types of letters
Producing newsletters for the other
students
Designing an electronic
portfolio..website..discussion forum

Advanced
Writing term papers for other content
classes.
Doing a price comparison survey of
food stores.
Producing collections of the learners`
community folklore.

Positive Characteristics
Widely applicable.
Suitable for learners of all ages and
backgrounds.
Functional ability should be a natural
outcome of the instructional
experience.

Negative Characteristics
Problems lie in implementing the
instruction: requires creativity and
initiate on the part of the teacher.
If teachers are traditional, or do not
have the time or resources, this type
of teaching may be impossible.
Traditional students may not like it
either: they feel they are not learning
anything.

Applications
Real life tasks should be devised:
Dilemmas, ranking exercises, survey or
questionnaire design.
It works better in ESL environments,
due to the I+1 ( comprehensible
input) students are exposed to.
For our context, if resources are
available: computers, internet access,
and others, it can be used.


CONTENT BASED SYLLABUS
It is the teaching of content or
information in the language being
learned with little or nor direct
explicit effort to teach the language.

 It is closely related to provide instruction/

education to children of immigrants (LEP,
limited English Proficiency). One solution to the
problem of LEP has been controlled
immersion programs but also bilingual
programs: but they are costly.
Immersion: students are given content
instruction in a language they may not
control well or at all.

 The learning theory associated with

content based instruction is an
acquistion theory (Krashen).
CONTENT
Any content based syllabus is by
definition identical to the syllabus of a
content course at any level in science,
social studies, or any other school.

Positive Characteristics
Students learn language and subject
matter simultaneously.
There is a perfect match: what is
neeed and what is provided.
The motivational aspect of content
based instruction, provided that
students find the content material
interisting.

 It can lead to premature fossilization due to

lack of corrective
feedback.
Negative
Characteristics
It is problematic with beginning or low level
adult students.
Applications:
Most applicable in primary and
secondary school settings (biligual schools of
the country. Would you be ready to teach
Science to 5th graders? History? It is a
possibility.