The last decade has seen lots of changes in many fields of education. The field of syllabus design in foreign language instruction is no exception. The main purpose of this paper is thus to examine critically the recent approaches in syllabus design.Syllabus design has been seen as a subsidiary component of curriculum design. Curriculum is concerned with the planning, implementation, evaluation management, and administration of education programs. Syllabus, on the other hand, focuses more narrowly on the selection and grading of content. Nunan. D: 1988

Defining CurriculumCurriculumrefers to the means and materials with which students will interact for the purpose of achieving identified educational outcomes. Arising in medieval Europe was thetrivium, an educational curriculum based upon the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The laterquadrivium(referring to four subjects rather than three as represented by the trivium) emphasized the study of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These seven liberal arts should sound a lot like what you experienced during your formal education.The emphasis on single subjects persists even today. Very likely you moved from classroom to classroom, particularly throughout your secondary education, studying a different subject with each teacher. Yet there was more to your education. Perhaps you participated in athletics, or the band, or clubs, or student government, or made the choice not to participate in any extracurricular activities. All of these (including the option not to participate) are part of what we might call the contemporary curriculum. But there is more.Some educators would say that the curriculum consists of all the planned experiencesthat the school offers as part of its educational responsibility. Then there are those who contend that the curriculum includes not only the planned, but also the unplanned experiencesas well. For example, incidents of violence that have occurred at a number of schools across the nation are hardly a planned component of the curriculum. However, the manner in which violence is addressed before, during, and after the actual event sends a very definite message about how people in our culture interact and how the laws of our nation are applied.Another perspective suggests that curriculum involvesorganized rather than planned experiences because any event must flow of its own accord, the outcome not being certain beforehand. For instance, competitions, whether academic or athletic, can be organized, but the outcomes will depend on a myriad of factors that cannot be planned.Which brings us to the notion of emphasizingoutcomesversus experiences. This shift to the notion of outcomes is very much in keeping with the current movement towardaccountabilityin the public schools, that is, the perspective that there are indeed specific things that the schools are supposed to accomplish with children. District personnel, school administrators, and you as one of many teachers are to be held accountable by the public/taxpayers for ensuring that those objectives are met.Curriculum, it turns out, is indeed much more than the idea of specific subjects as represented by the trivium or the quadrivium. And, as we will see in the next section, it can be characterized not only by what it does include but also by what it intentionally excludes.A key concept to keep in mind is that the curriculum is only that part of the plan thatdirectly affectsstudents. Anything in the plan that does not reach the students constitutes an educational wish, but not a curriculum. Half a century ago Bruner (1960) wrote, "Many curricula are originally planned with a guiding idea . . . But as curricula are actually executed, as they grow and change, they often lose their original form and suffer a relapse into a certain shapelessness" (p. 54). Curriculumhowever grand the plans may becan only be that portion of the plan that actually reaches the student. Planning that keeps that point in focus can be expected to result in a more focused curriculum.-

The Purpose of CurriculumWe have suggested that curriculum refers to the means and materials with which the student interacts. To determine what will constitute those means and materials, we must decide what we want the curriculum to yield. What will constitute the "educated" individual in our society? In other words, what purpose does the curriculum serve?The things that teachers teach represent what the larger society wants children to learn. However, beyond teaching reading and writing, what are the necessary things that they should be taught? Is it really necessary to teach science? Does teaching mathematics really lead to logical thinking, or does it just provide students with some basic computational skills that may or may not come in handy at some future time? You may feel that answering such questions is not something a teacher has to be able to do, but rest assured that at some point a parent will ask you questions like these. As a teacher, you will be the representative of "the curriculum" to whom parents and students turn for answers. The purpose of the curriculum is to prepare the student to thrive within the society as it isand that includes the capacity for positive change and growth.You Actually Have Four CurriculumsThere are essentially four curriculums at work in most educational settings: the explicit, implicit, null, and extra-, or cocurriculum. You are probably familiar with the notions of explicit curriculum and extracurricular activities. The real intrigue of curriculum debate and design comes into play with the implicit and null curriculums.There are four curriculums:Explicit curriculum:subjects that will be taught, the identified "mission" of the school, and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquireImplicit curriculum:lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that cultureNull curriculum:topics or perspectives that are specifically excluded from the curriculumExtra curriculum:school-sponsored programs that are intended to supplement the academic aspect of the school experienceThe Explicit CurriculumExplicit means "obvious" or "apparent," and that's just what the explicit curriculum is all about: the subjects that will be taught, the identified "mission" of the school, and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire. If you speak with an administrator at your school or where you do your observations or practicum work, ask about the curriculum; it is this publicly announced (and publicly sanctioned) explanation of the message of school that will be explained to you. The explicit curriculum can be discussed in terms of time on task, contact hours, or Carnegie units (high school credit courses). It can be qualified in terms of specific observable, measurable learning objectives.The Implicit CurriculumSometimes referred to as thehidden curriculum, the implicit curriculum refers to the lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that culture. While good citizenship may be part of the explicit curriculum, a particular ethos that promotes, for example, multiethnic acceptance and cooperation may also characterize a particular school. This is not to say that parents, teachers, and administrators sat around a table and said, "Hey, let's promote acceptance of diverse ethnic values in the context of the American experience." That would be nice, of course, but then it tends to fall into the category of the explicit curriculum. By virtue of a high multiethnic enrollment, a particular school may have a culture of multiethnic cooperation. Another school, isolated in that its enrollment is primarily that of one ethnic group, would develop a different sort of culture. Individual schools within a district, or even classrooms within a school that share a common explicit curriculum, can differ greatly with regard to the implicit curriculum. This is not an altogether bad situation, but to a great degree the implicit curriculum is subjected to less scrutiny than is the explicit curriculum.There are other aspects to the implicit curriculum, and interestingly enough it is the students who pick up on these messages. Notice how the classrooms and common areas are decorated. These decorations will demonstrate what the implicit curriculum of the school values. Watch the children to see how they interact with each other within the class and throughout the building. Does the school display student work throughout the building? Is there an unwritten rule that children are to be seen and not heard? All of these contribute to a very particular message sent to students about expectations, demands, and codes of conduct.If you want to investigate the notion of the implicit curriculum further, speak with some elementary school students. Ask them what is required to get good grades or the approval of the teacher. Don't be surprised when rather than telling you about studying for an hour every night or completing homework correctly, they tell you things like "sit up straight" or "be quiet in class" or "be on time." The implicit curriculum, difficult as it is to identify and articulate, is something that students understand very quickly. When young children explain the expectations for a student in school, it will likely be the implicit curriculum that they discuss.The Null CurriculumJust as compelling as the notion of the implicit curriculum is Eisner's (1994) concept of the null curriculum. This aspect of curriculum refers to "the options students are not afforded, the perspectives they may never know about, much less be able to use, the concepts and skills that are not a part of their intellectual repertoire" (p. 106-107). The teaching of evolution provides an example. For more than seventy-five years this topic has been an issue of debate. The decision by individual states or school districts within states not to include this topic within its explicit curriculum places it in the category of the null curriculum. In other words, the decision to exclude particular topics or subjects from a curriculum nonetheless affects the curriculum by its very omission.Another example would be the topic of sex education. Sex education has long been an issue with regard to the degree to which it should be included in the school curriculum, but the newer issues of gender orientation, alternative lifestyles, and alternative family configurationsjust to mention a fewexemplify how exclusion from the explicit or implicit curriculum, and thus inclusion in the null curriculum, affects the overall educational experience.Extracurricular ProgramsThe fourth aspect of curriculum is that of the extra curriculum or co-curriculum. This curriculum represents all of those school-sponsored programs that are intended to supplement the academic aspect of the school experience. Athletics, band, drama, student government, clubs, honor societies and student organizations, and school dances and social events all fall under the heading of extracurricular activities. Participation in these activities is purely voluntary and does not contribute to grades or credits earned toward advancement from one grade to the next or to graduation. Extracurricular activities are typically open to all, though participation often depends on skill level.

While some experts opine that higher education needs to be defined by quality, others say that technology will further percolate into classrooms.The coming decade will see a 'phenomenal evolution in the school education landscape', say experts. While some opine that higher education needs to be defined by quality, others say that technology will further percolate into classrooms.Syed Sultan Ahmed, Managing Director of Edumedia India Pvt Ltd, said, "One clear area of evolution I see for schools will be a shift of focus from 'marks based' academic curriculum to 'life based' overall development. Schools talk a lot about it these days but do very little. In the coming years, colleges and universities will start enrolling students on the basis of their overall development and not just grades. This will change the obsession of schools towards exams and marks".Ahmed opined that, schools in general care very little about standards and quality. "In the coming years, with increasing competition and expectations from parents, they will be forced to deliver better quality education at competitive fees," he added.Ahmed also observed that, at present there is a huge disconnect between what children study and what the industry and the world require from them. "In the future, there will be a larger say of the industry in the curriculum that schools teach. Several skill based learning modules will be introduced by schools, making education a lot more relevant to the world. Creativity and innovation will be one of the most priced qualities in the future, and schools will have to gear up to create thinking individuals with a capacity to make sense of the abundant information that they are exposed to," he said.The biggest educational challenge in India, is the failure of the government to provide good quality primary and secondary education through government schools, he said. "Privatization of government schools through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, seems like a possibility in the coming years. Indias dream of becoming a developed nation, depends a lot on its school education," he said.He added that another trend that seems like a real possibility, is personalised distance learning, enabled by technology and home schooling.According to K S Badarinarayan, principal of MVJ College of Engineering, the education sector is something that is constantly evolving. By 2020, education will be more or less virtual in nature. "What we have right now, is a classroom culture. But, the growing presence of internet means that students in Bangalore will be able to choose subjects and courses from across the world. Imagine being able to take one course from America and another from Europe," he said.However, the decline of classroom culture can also have its set of disadvantages. Nevertheless, if employed the right way, expertise from across the world can be mobilised. "I also think that, the future will have students being more competitive and creative. The education sector should also ensure that students are industry ready. Right now, only 25% of all students graduating from engineering colleges are really employable. What happens to the rest? By 2020, hopefully colleges will be able to provide multi-skill development for its students, like technical skills and soft skills put together," he said.Anitha Kurup, a professor at School of Social Sciences and anchor of the education programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), felt that the primary education in the country has grown tremendously in the past decade, which means the higher education has to grow to meet the needs of the primary education. "What the higher education needs to do in the next few years, is to define itself by quality. We need to look at the kind of skills that need to be developed, and the kind of courses you provide to the students. We also need to learn from other countries that have expanded their higher education and gain lessons from their experiences," she said.There is a need for giving importance to basic sciences, socials science and humanities. In her opinion, the reason these fields are suffering right now as opposed to engineering and professional courses, is because these courses are not linked to the kind of job options people are looking for. "Ultimately, private players will be have a big role in the growth of higher education.We need to work out models that are feasible. The government should find a way to engage with the private players, without completely withdrawing, to realise the kind of growth we are looking for," she added.Different Types of Language Syllabus

A number of different kinds of syllabuses are used in foreign language teaching. A list of these is provided below; it is not, of course, exhaustive, but includes the main types that you may come across in practice or in your reading. Each is briefly explained; some also include references to sources of more detailed information on content or rationale.Types of syllabuses1. GrammaticalA list of grammatical structures, such as the present tense, comparison of adjectives, relative clauses, usually divided into sections graded according to difficulty and/or importance.2. LexicalA list of lexical items (girl, boy, go away...) with associated collocations and idioms, usually divided into graded sections. One such syllabus, based on a corpus (a computerized collection of samples of authentic language) is describedin Willis, 1990.3. Grammatical-lexicalA very common kind of syllabus: both structures and lexis are specified: either together, in sections that correspond to the units of a course, or in two separate lists.4. SituationalThese syllabuses take the real-life contexts of language uses as their basis:sections would be headed by names of situations or locations such as Eating a meal or In the street.5. Topic-basedThis is rather like the situational syllabus, except that the headings are broadly topic-based, including things like Food or The family; these usually indicate a fairly clear set of vocabulary items, which may be specified.6. NotionalNotions are concepts that language can express. General notions may include number, for example, or time, place, colour; specific notions look more like vocabulary items: man, woman, afternoon. For an introduction to the topic of notional syllabuses see Wilkins, 1976.7. Functional-notionalFunctions are things you can do with language, as distinct from notions you can express: examples are identifying, denying, promising. Purely functional syllabuses are rare: usually both functions and notions are combined, as for example in Van Eli, 1990.8. Mixed or multi-strandIncreasingly, modem syllabuses are combining different aspects in order to be maximally comprehensive and helpful to teachers and learners; in these you may find specification of topics, tasks, functions and notions, as well as grammar and vocabulary.9. ProceduralThese syllabuses specify the learning tasks to be done rather than the language itself or even its meanings. Examples of tasks might be: map reading, doing scientific experiments, story-writing. The most well-known procedural syllabus is that associated with the Bangalore Project (Prabhu, 1987).10. ProcessThis is the only syllabus which is not pre-set. The content of the course is negotiated with the learners at the beginning of the course and during it, and actually listed only retrospectively (Candlin, 1984; Clarke, 1991).

Current Trends in Education in India: Are you ready to acclimatize and succeed?

Once a time was there, when food, shelter and clothing formed the basic needs of human beings. However, with the development in the industrial age, another important factor that got added up to the list of basic needs waseducation. Currently, one of the important industries worldwide is definitely theeducation industry. Its through education only that transmission of tradition and culture, running of politics and economy is made possible.With a number of educational options existing before the students at present, newer trends are seen to emerge in the field of education that has entirely changed thetraditional system of educationprevalent inIndia. Many career alternatives, which were previously not regarded as important or popular are now among the sought after career options for students. Among these are radio management, radio jockeying, program anchoring, news anchoring, news reporting, fashion designing, event management, content writing, hospital management, medical transcription and many more that have opened up new vistas for education. Though many traditional courses such as engineering and medicine are still in high demand, yet in keeping with the changing trends at the national and global economic scenario, new educational programs are emerging fast, thereby depicting the deviation from the older trends.Online Educationhas become an important mode of education. Since the regularcourses in Indiaare getting very expensive and highly competitive, distance and online education is fast developing as an amazing option for the students.E-learningopportunities are immense in India. Even thedistance educationprograms are serving wonderfully, by offering a chance of getting educated, especially for the less advantaged segment of people. Distance learning can be availed through various types such as postal correspondence programs, pocket PC or mobile learning programs, interactive CD-ROM programs, tele-courses or broadcast course via television or radio and many more.Recent trends and developments in educationhighlight the vital and salient role of education in effectively meeting the growing political and socio-economic challenges in the society. With the fast developments and many variations, conflicting trends can be noticed in the educational system in India.One of the major conflicting trends that can be noticed is thecost of education. As the expense of formal education in the educational institutes is increasing very fast, the expense of education via the internet is comparatively low and affordable. Students can have an easy and cheap access to Internet with the help of cyber cafes and the various other cheap internet home connection schemes available these days. Students here also get the scope to download many e-books, free of cost.Another differing trend can be traced in themethodology of education. With lots of information to gather and more and more books to study, now students are found more burdened with studying, learning and grasping the materials and the lectures. On a contrasting note however, so much efforts are being put into making the learning process an enjoyable one.Yet another conflicting tendency can be found in theresults. Roughly in every part of the country a problem that has been raised is that the type of education followed by theeducational system in Indiadoes not always result in offering jobs to the graduates. Our education system does not provide the students with any assurance that they will get a job on completion of their educational degree. However, jobs are definitely being generated by the medium of internet. Writing articles, web designing, programming, writing reviews etc are among the many job opportunities offered by the internet.Theeducation sector in Indiahas received significant attention from different quarters like the investors, policymakers and media. It is filled with passion and all the enthusiasm on one hand and many anxieties on the other.Internationalization of the Education ProcessAs one of the strategies for building up of reputation, Internationalization will get more importance. It may consist of international collaborations for the faculty members and also the students, joint research tasks or offshore campuses. Since many European universities are anticipated to show their interest in India, so the collaborations will not only e restricted to American institutes and Universities only.Stress on Quality above QuantityQuality of the education system inIndiahas been lagging for quite some times now in comparison to the quantity. In the coming time few changes are expected regarding the matters of transparency and norms. The educational institutes in India would need to fulfill certain basic norms. The institutions are expected to participate more into information sharing and of course accountability. The upcoming educational institutes are expected to be trend setters in adopting several standards related to the quality of education.Increase in the Adoption of TechnologiesWith the increase in the number of institutions, there will be growing need for reorganization and the process of controlling. Different technology based solutions such as the campus managing software packages is expected to gain prominence. Program management tools will also gain prominence among the faculty members who look forward to efficiently organize the class.Increase in the Need for Professional TalentIndian education industry lacks both in quality and quantity when it comes to administrative staffs and faculty members. This might pose serious threats regarding the availability of good faculty members. The expansion of the educational institutes as announced by the Government of India would demand for more faculty members. If the shortage of talented and efficient faculty members persists, then quality of education will suffer immensely.Although the ways of education is witnessing a change, the old conventional setting of the education system has definitely not changed. The same classroom concept is still being used by majority of the schools and other educational institutes in India. Rigid curriculums and huge syllabus still characterize the educational scenario in India. However, with the entrance of the online education system in the picture, things are expected to change for the better. Some of the greatest challenges are being posed by the online educational system towards the traditional way of learning!Education is the groundwork based on which any country can progress and develop. Without educated personnel, sustenance of a vibrant economy is not possible. Some of the recent trends in education are quite apparent while others are still to make its presence felt. Some are yet to emerge and therefore subject to evolution and change. One way you can master the change is by spotting the trends and keeping yourself flexible enough to get ready for the changes. So here are for you theCurrent Trends in Education in India: Are you ready to acclimatize and succeed?Defining CurriculumCurriculumrefers to the means and materials with which students will interact for the purpose of achieving identified educational outcomes. Arising in medieval Europe was thetrivium, an educational curriculum based upon the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The laterquadrivium(referring to four subjects rather than three as represented by the trivium) emphasized the study of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These seven liberal arts should sound a lot like what you experienced during your formal education.The emphasis on single subjects persists even today. Very likely you moved from classroom to classroom, particularly throughout your secondary education, studying a different subject with each teacher. Yet there was more to your education. Perhaps you participated in athletics, or the band, or clubs, or student government, or made the choice not to participate in any extracurricular activities. All of these (including the option not to participate) are part of what we might call the contemporary curriculum. But there is more.Some educators would say that the curriculum consists of all theplanned experiencesthat the school offers as part of its educational responsibility. Then there are those who contend that the curriculum includes not only the planned, but also theunplanned experiencesas well. For example, incidents of violence that have occurred at a number of schools across the nation are hardly a planned component of the curriculum. However, the manner in which violence is addressed before, during, and after the actual event sends a very definite message about how people in our culture interact and how the laws of our nation are applied.Another perspective suggests that curriculum involvesorganizedrather than planned experiences because any event must flow of its own accord, the outcome not being certain beforehand. For instance, competitions, whether academic or athletic, can be organized, but the outcomes will depend on a myriad of factors that cannot be planned.Which brings us to the notion of emphasizingoutcomesversusexperiences. This shift to the notion of outcomes is very much in keeping with the current movement towardaccountabilityin the public schools, that is, the perspective that there are indeed specific things that the schools are supposed to accomplish with children. District personnel, school administrators, and you as one of many teachers are to be held accountable by the public/taxpayers for ensuring that those objectives are met.Curriculum, it turns out, is indeed much more than the idea of specific subjects as represented by the trivium or the quadrivium. And, as we will see in the next section, it can be characterized not only by what it does include but also by what it intentionally excludes.A key concept to keep in mind is that the curriculum is only that part of the plan thatdirectly affectsstudents. Anything in the plan that does not reach the students constitutes an educational wish, but not a curriculum. Half a century ago Bruner (1960) wrote, "Many curricula are originally planned with a guiding idea . . . But as curricula are actually executed, as they grow and change, they often lose their original form and suffer a relapse into a certain shapelessness" (p. 54). Curriculumhowever grand the plans may becan only be that portion of the plan that actually reaches the student. Planning that keeps that point in focus can be expected to result in a more focused curriculum.

The Purpose of CurriculumWe have suggested that curriculum refers to the means and materials with which the student interacts. To determine what will constitute those means and materials, we must decide what we want the curriculum to yield. What will constitute the "educated" individual in our society? In other words, what purpose does the curriculum serve?The things that teachers teach represent what the larger society wants children to learn. However, beyond teaching reading and writing, what are the necessary things that they should be taught? Is it really necessary to teach science? Does teaching mathematics really lead to logical thinking, or does it just provide students with some basic computational skills that may or may not come in handy at some future time? You may feel that answering such questions is not something a teacher has to be able to do, but rest assured that at some point a parent will ask you questions like these. As a teacher, you will be the representative of "the curriculum" to whom parents and students turn for answers. The purpose of the curriculum is to prepare the student to thrive within the society as it isand that includes the capacity for positive change and growth.

Types of curriculumDefinitions of the different types of curriculumWhen I asked my students what curriculum means to them, theyalwaysindicated that it means the overt or written curriculum thinking of a curriculum manual with goals and objectives, or their textbooks. However, the word curriculum as it is defined from its early Latin origins means literally to run a course. If one thinks of a marathon with mile and direction markers, signposts, water stations, and officials and coaches along the route, this beginning definition is a metaphor for what the curriculum has become in the education of our children.Here are multiple definitions of curriculum, from Oliva (1997) (4)Curriculum is: That which is taught in schools A set of subjects. Content A program of studies. A set of materials A sequence of courses. A set of performance objectives A course of study Is everything that goes on within the school, including extra-class activities, guidance, and interpersonal relationships. Everything that is planned by school personnel. A series of experiences undergone by learners in a school. That which an individual learner experiences as a result of schooling. p 4What are the different kinds of curriculum?Obviously the answer to this question is subject to interpretation. Since curriculum reflects the models of instructional delivery chosen and used, some might indicate that curriculum could be categorized according to the common psychological classifications of the four families of learning theories Social, Information Processing, Personalist, and Behavioral.Longstreet and Shane have dubbed divisions in curricular orientations as:child-centered, society-centered, knowledge-centered, or eclectic. Common philosophical orientations of curriculum parallel those beliefs espoused by different philosophical orientations Idealism, Realism, Perennialism, Essentialism, Experimentalism, Existentialism, Constructivism, Reconstructivismand the like.Whatever classification one gravitates to, the fact remains that at one time or another curriculum in the United States has, at some level, been impacted by all of the above. In essence, American curriculum is hard to pin down because it is multi-layered and highly eclectic.My personal definition (Wilson, 1990) of curriculum is:Anything and everything that teaches a lesson, planned or otherwise. Humans are born learning, thus the learned curriculum actually encompasses a combination of all of the following the hidden, null, written, political and societal etc.. Since students learn all the time through exposure and modeled behaviors, this means that they learn important social and emotional lessons from everyone who inhabits a school from the janitorial staff, the secretary, the cafeteria workers, their peers, as well as from the deportment, conduct and attitudes expressed and modeled by their teachers. Many educators are unaware of the strong lessons imparted to youth by these everyday contacts.The following represent the many different types of curricula used in schools todayType of CurriculumDefinition

1. Overt, explicit, or written curriculumIs simply that which is written as part of formal instruction of schooling experiences. It may refer to a curriculum document, texts, films, and supportive teaching materials that are overtly chosen to support theintentional instructional agendaof a school. Thus, the overt curriculum is usually confined to those written understandings and directions formally designated and reviewed by administrators, curriculum directors and teachers, often collectively.

2. Societal curriculum (or social curricula)As defined by Cortes (1981). Cortes defines this curriculum as:[the] massive, ongoing, informal curriculum of family, peer groups, neighborhoods, churches organizations, occupations, mas, media and other socializing forces that educate all of us throughout our lives. 24This type of curricula can now be expanded to include the powerful effects of social media (YouTube; Facebook; Twitter; Pinterest, etc) and how it actively helps create new perspectives.

3. The hidden or covert curriculumThat which is implied by the very structure and nature of schools, much of what revolves around daily or established routines.Longstreet and Shane (1993) offer a commonly accepted definition for this term the hidden curriculum, which refers to the kinds of learnings children derive from the very nature and organizational designof the public school, as well as from the behaviors and attitudes of teachers and administrators. 46Examples of the hidden curriculum might include the messages and lessons derived from the mere organization of schools the emphasis on: sequential room arrangements; the cellular, timed segments of formal instruction; an annual schedule that is still arranged to accommodate an agrarian age; disciplined messages where concentration equates to student behaviors were they are sitting up straight and are continually quiet; students getting in and standing in line silently; students quietly raising their hands to be called on; the endless competition for grades, and so on. The hidden curriculum may include both positive or negative messages, depending on the models provided and the perspectives of the learner or the observer.In what I term floating quotes, popularized quotes that have no direct, cited sources, David P. Gardner is reported to have said:We learn simply by the exposure of living. Much that passes for education is not education at all but ritual. The fact is that we are being educated when we know it least.

4. The null curriculumThat which wedo not teach, thus giving students the message that these elements are not important in their educational experiences or in our society. Eisner offers some major points as he concludes his discussion of the null curriculum.The major point I have been trying to make thus far is that schools have consequences not only by virtue of what they do teach, but also by virtue of what they neglect to teach. What students cannot consider, what they dont processes they are unable to use, have consequences for the kinds of lives they lead.103Eisner (1985, 1994) first described and defined aspects of this curriculum. He states:There is something of a paradox involved in writing about a curriculum that does not exist. Yet, if we are concerned with the consequences of school programs and the role of curriculum in shaping those consequences, then it seems to me that we are well advised to consider not only the explicit and implicit curricula of schools but also what schools do not teach. It is my thesis that what schools do not teach may be as important as what they do teach. I argue this position because ignorance is not simply a neutral void; it has important effects on the kinds of options one is able to consider, the alternatives that one can examine, and the perspectives from which one can view a situation or problems. 97From Eisners perspective thenull curriculumis simply that which is not taught in schools. Somehow, somewhere, some people are empowered to make conscious decisions as to what is to be included and what is to be excluded from the overt (written) curriculum. Since it is physically impossible to teach everything in schools, many topics and subject areas must be intentionally excluded from the written curriculum. But Eisners position on the null curriculum is that when certain subjects or topics are left out of the overt curriculum, school personnel are sending messages to students that certain content and processes are not important enough to study. Unfortunately, without some level of awareness that there is also a well-defined implicit agenda in schools, school personnel send this same type of message via the hidden curriculum. These are important to consider when making choices. We teach about wars but not peace, we teach about certain select cultures and histories but not about others. Both our choices and our omissions send messages to students.

5. Phantom curriculumThe messages prevalent in and through exposure to any type of media. These components and messages play a major part in the enculturation of students into the predominant meta-culture, or in acculturating students into narrower or generational subcultures.

6. Concomitant curriculumWhat is taught, or emphasized at home, or those experiences that are part of a familys experiences, or related experiences sanctioned by the family. (This type of curriculum may be received at church, in the context of religious expression, lessons on values, ethics or morals, molded behaviors, or social experiences based on the familys preferences.)

7. Rhetorical curriculumElements from the rhetorical curriculum are comprised from ideas offered by policymakers, school officials, administrators, or politicians. This curriculum may also come from those professionals involved in concept formation and content changes; or from those educational initiatives resulting from decisions based on national and state reports, public speeches, or from texts critiquing outdated educational practices. The rhetorical curriculum may also come from the publicized works offering updates in pedagogical knowledge.

8. Curriculum-in-useThe formal curriculum (written or overt) comprises those things in textbooks, and content and concepts in the district curriculum guides. However, those formal elements are frequently not taught. The curriculum-in-use is the actual curriculum that is delivered and presented by each teacher.

9. Received curriculumThose things that students actually take out of classroom; those concepts and content that are truly learned and remembered.

10. The internal curriculumProcesses, content, knowledge combined with the experiences and realities of the learner to create new knowledge. While educators should be aware of this curriculum, they have little control over the internal curriculum since it is unique to each student.

11. The electronic curriculumThose lessons learned through searching the Internet for information, or through using e-forms of communication. (Wilson, 2004) This type of curriculum may be either formal or informal, and inherent lessons may be overt or covert, good or bad, correct or incorrect depending on ones views. Students who use the Internet on a regular basis, both for recreational purposes (as in blogs, wikis, chatrooms, listserves, through instant messenger, on-line conversations, or through personal e-mails and sites like Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube) and from personal online research and information are bombarded with all types of media and messages. Much of this information may be factually correct, informative, or even entertaining or inspirational. But there is also a great deal of other information that may be very incorrect, dated, pass, biased, perverse, or even manipulative. The implications of the electronic curriculum for educational practices are that part of the overt curriculum needs to include lessons onhow to be wise consumers of information,how to critically appraise the accuracy and correctness of e-information, as well as the reliability of electronic sources.Also, students need to learn how to be artfully discerning about the usefulness and appropriateness of certain types of information. And, like other forms of social interaction, students need to know that there areinherent lessons to be learned about appropriate and acceptable netiquetteand online behavior,to include the differences between fair usage, legitimate citations, and overt plagiarism.

An Overview of Syllabuses in English Language TeachingbyMohammad Mohseni Far, M.A., Shahid Chamran University, Iran.

IntroductionThe purpose of this article is to briefly introduce and study the influential types of syllabuses utilized in the domain of ELT. Accordingly, the essentials and issues central to each syllabus are dealt with and examined.To begin with, it seems of great importance to define the termsyllabusin order to have a better understanding of what it actually means and to which aspects and dimensions of ELT it is related. Of course, it should be noted that there are many challenges to proper defining and elaborating on the conceptsyllabus.For example, in recent years, the focus of syllabuses has shifted away from structure to situations, functions and notions to topics and tasks. That is why, as Nunan (1988:52) highlights, with the development of the latter obviously "the traditional distinction between syllabus design and methodology has become blurred". Accordingly, though it is a little difficult on initial appearance to describesyllabus,it seems possible to make an attempt to definesyllabusat least in an understandable way. In Wilkins' (1981) words, syllabuses are "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 syllabus can also be seen as "a plan of what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students' learning" (Breen, 1984a) while its function is "to specify what is to be taught and in what order" (Prabhu, 1984). Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80) definesyllabusas at its simplest level as a statement of what is to be learnt. They further add that it reflects of language and linguistic performance. Yalden (1987: 87) also refers to syllabus as a "summary of the content to which learners will be exposed". Candlin (1984) suggests a different perspective implying that syllabuses are "social constructions, produced interdependently in classrooms by teachers and learnersThey are concerned with the specification and planning of what is to be learned, frequently set down in some written form as prescriptions for action by teachers and learners." Finally, in simple words, a language teaching syllabus involves the combination of subject matter (what to teach) and linguistic matter (how to teach). It actually performs as a guide for both teacher and learner by providing some goals to be accomplished. Syllabus, in fact, deals with linguistic theory and theories of language learning and how they are utilized in the classroom.

Syllabuses in ELTSyllabi are not totally distinct from each other. All actual language teaching syllabuses are integrated product of two or more of the types of syllabi presented here. In other words, although different language teaching syllabuses are introduced here as though each can be employed on its own, in practice, these syllabuses rarely occur independently of each other. For a particular course, one type of syllabus usually dominates, while other types of content might be integrated with it. For instance, there is minimal distinction between the skill-based and task-based syllabuses. In fact, the way in which the instructional content is employed in the real teaching procedure is the determining element in choosing a syllabus. The characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of individual syllabuses are investigated in a nutshell as follows.1. A procedural syllabusTheprocedural syllabus was proposed by Prabhu (1980). Prabhus 'Bangalore Project' was based on the premise that structure can be best learned when attention is concentrated onmeaning. The focus shifts from the linguistic aspect to the pedagogical one focusing on learning or the learner. The tasks and activities are designed and planned in advance but not the linguistic content. In this syllabustasksare graded conceptually and grouped by similarity. Within such a framework the selection, ordering and grading of content is not so much considerable for the syllabus designer. Arranging the course around tasks such as information- and opinion-gap activities helps the learner perceive the language subconsciously while consciously focusing on solving the meaning behind the tasks.2. A cultural syllabusStern (1992) introduces cultural syllabus to be incorporated into second/foreign language education. There are many challenges regarding defining the concept ofculture. Seelye (1984:26) refused to define culture, calling it a broad concept that embraces all aspects of the life of man, and Brown (1994) calls it the glue that binds a group of people together. In order to have a better understanding of the termculture, Stern (1992:208) suggests that writers have tried to reduce the vast and amorphous nature of the culture concept to manageable proportions by preparing lists of items or by indicating a few broad categories. Stern keeps on by discounting such lists as presented by Brooks and Chastain as providing only cultural titbits. Nostrands (1978) emergent model is praised by Stern as an attempt to overcome this, as is Seelyes observation that all of mankind have the same needs, and that different groups will satisfy these needs in different ways, as this gives a viewpoint for studying culture. However, Stern also implies that although both Nostrands and Seelyes work give a viewpoint, they are difficult to be put in practice. Hammerly (1982) suggests a mix of anthropological culture and classical culture. He highlights three areas, i.e.information culture,behavioural cultureandachievement culture. Stern believes this to be valuable, but claims that it does not solve the problem of the range of cultural topics.Believing in the fact that there is a consensus on the objectives of teaching culture, Stern (1992) indicates that aims should be: A research-minded outlook The learners own country Knowledge about the target culture Affective goals; interest, intellectual curiosity, and empathy. Awareness of its characteristics and of differences between the target culture Emphasis on the understanding socio-cultural implications of language and language use3. A situational syllabusWith this type of syllabus, the essential component of organization is a non-linguistic category, i.e. the situation. The underlying premise is that language is related to the situational contexts in which it occurs. The designer of a situational syllabus tries to predict those situations in which the learner will find him/herself, and applies these situations, for instance; seeing the dentist, going to the cinema and meeting a new student, as a basis for selecting and presenting language content. The content of language teaching is a collection of real or imaginary situations in which language occurs or is used. A situation usually includes several participants who are involved in some activity in a particular setting. The language used in the situation comprises a number of functions combined into a plausible part of available discourse. The main principle of a situational language teaching syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in the situations.In this syllabus, situational needs are important rather than grammatical units. The major organizing feature is a list of situations which reflects the way language and behavior are used everyday outside the classroom. Thus, by connecting structural theory to situations the learner is able to induce the meaning from a relevant context. One advantage of the situational approach is that motivation will be heightened since it is "learner- rather than subject-centered" (Wilkins.1976: 16).4. A skill-based syllabusSkills are abilities that people must be able to do to be competent enough in a language, rather independently of the situation or context in which the language use can occur. In this syllabus, the content of the language teaching involves a collection of particular skills that may play a role in using language. Although situational syllabuses combine functions together into specific settings of language use, skill-based syllabi merge 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, delivering effective lectures, and so forth. The chief rationale behind skill-based instruction is to learn the specific language skill. Another less important objective might be to develop more general competence in the language, learning only incidentally any information that may be available while utilizing the language skills.5. A structural or formal syllabusThis is recognized as the traditional syllabus which is often organized along grammatical lines giving primacy to language form.The focus is on the outcomes or the product.It is, in fact, agrammatical syllabus in which the selection and grading of the content ison the basis of thecomplexity and simplicity of grammatical items.In other words, it specifies structural patterns as the basic units of learning and organizes these according to such criteria as structural complexity, difficulty, regularity, utility and frequency.The learner is expected to master each structural step and add it tohis/hergrammar collection.It makes ample use of highly controlled, tightly structured and sequenced pattern practice drills.6. A multi-dimensional syllabusSince there is no serious rationale behind the selection of only one of the inventory item types necessary to be chosen as a unit of organization. It is possible to design a syllabus involving lessons of varying orientation; for example, some including important functions, others dealing with situations and topics, and yet others with notions and structures. The underlying principle is that there should be flexibility to change the central point of the teaching material as the course unfolds. This will lead to a syllabus design which is flexible, less rigid and more responsive to the various student language needs.7. A task-based syllabusA task-based syllabus supports using tasks and activities to encourage learners to utilize the language communicatively so as to achieve a purpose. It indicates that speaking a language is a skill best perfected through interaction and practice. The most important point is that tasks must be relevant to the real world language needs of the learner. It should be a meaningful task so as to enhance learning.The content of the teaching is a series ofmultifacetedandfocusedtasks that the students want or need to perform with theaid of thelanguage they are learning.Tasks combine language and other skills in specific contexts of language use.Since language learning is considered subordinate to task performance and language teaching also occurs just as the need arises during the performance of a particular task, the tasks are best defined as activities with a purpose other than language learning so as to develop second language ability.8. A process syllabusThe actual syllabus is designed as the teaching and learning proceeds. This type of syllabus was supported by Breen (1984a:1984b) whereby a framework can be provided within which either a pre-designed content syllabus can be publicly analyzed and evaluated by the classroom group, or a developing content syllabus can be designed in an on-going way. It supports a frame for decisions and alternative procedures, activities and tasks for the classroom group. It explicitly attends to teaching and learning and particularly the possible interrelationships between subject matter, learning and the potential contributions of a classroom.9. A learner-led syllabusesBreen and Candlin (1984) were the first ones proposed the belief of basing an approach on how learners learn. The emphasis is upon the learner, who it is hoped will be engaged in the implementation of the syllabus design as far as that is practically possible. The learners awareness of the course they are studying helps them increase their interest and motivation, attached with the positive effect of developing the skills required to learn.A predetermined and prearranged syllabus provides support and guidance for the instructor and should not be so simply dismissed. The opponents of this view indicate that a learner-led syllabus seems far-reaching, radical and utopian in that it will be complicated to follow as the direction of the syllabus will be mostly the responsibility of the students. Moreover, without the support of a course book, a lack of aims may come about.10. A proportional syllabusThis type of syllabus is basically practical and its focus is upon flexibility and spiral technique of language sequencing leading to the recycling of language. The proportional syllabus mainly tries to develop an overall competence. It seems appropriate and applicable for learners who lack exposure to the target language beyond the classroom.Specifically speaking, this syllabus comprises a variety of elements with theme playing a linking part through the units. This theme is chosen by the learners. At first, the form is of essential value, but later the emphasis will turn towards interactional elements. The shift from form to interaction can occur at any time and is not restricted to a particular level of learner ability. The dominant view in designing a proportional syllabus centers around the premise that a syllabus has to indicate explicitly what will be taught, rather than what will be learned. In closing, the rationale behind designing such a syllabus is to develop a type of syllabus that is dynamic with ample opportunity for feedback and flexibility.11. A content-based syllabusThis syllabus is intended to design a type of instruction in which the crucial goal is to teach specific information and content using the language that the learners are also learning. Although the subject matter is of primary and vital importance, language learning occurs concurrently with the content learning. The learners are at the same time language students and learners of whatever content and information is being taught. As compared with the task-based approach of language teaching that is connected with communicative and cognitive processes, content-based language teaching deals with information. This syllabus can be exemplified by assuming a chemistry class in which chemistry is taught in the language the learners need or want to learn, possibly with linguistic adjustment to make the chemistry more understandable.12. A notional/functional syllabusThe chief emphasis of this syllabus is upon the communicative purpose and conceptual meaning of language i.e.notionsandfunctions. In other words, the content of the language teaching is a number of thefunctionsthat are performed on using the language, or of thenotionsthat language is utilized to express. Functions can be exemplified by instances such as inviting, requesting, agreeing, apologizing; and notions embrace age, color, size, comparison, time, etc. Besides, grammatical items and situational elements are considered at subsidiary level of importance. As ppposed to the hypothesis of structural and situational syllabuses which lies in the fact that it is most often in search of how or when and where of language (Brumfit and Johnson, 1979:84), the functional/notional syllabus seeks for what is a learner communicates through language.An important point regarding notional-functional syllabus is that the needs of the students have to be explored and analyzed by different types of interaction and communication a learner may be involved in. Accordingly, needs analysis is central to the design of notional-functional syllabuses. Needs analysis should be taken into account so as to establish the necessary objectives. Apart from needs analysis that has an implicit focus on the learner, this type of syllabus proposes a new list consisting of notions and functions that become the main focus in a syllabus. White (1988:77) argues that "language functions do not usually occur in isolation" and there are also difficulties of selecting and grading function and form.13. A lexical syllabusAs one of the advocates of the lexical syllabus, Willis (1990, 129-130) asserts that taking lexis as a starting point enabled us to identify the commonest meanings and patterns in English, and to offer students a picture which is typical of the way English is used. He continued to claim that they were able to follow through the work of Wilkins and his colleagues in their attempt to establish a notional syllabus. They also were able to suggest to students a way of referencing the language they had experienced. Thus learners were able to use their corpus in the same way as grammarians and lexicographers use a corpus in order to make valid and relevant generalizations about the language under study. Specifically speaking, Willis lexical syllabus is firmly based on real language. It draws on the COBUILD research which provides an analysis of a corpus of natural language of twenty million words. The COBUILD corpus provides the content of the lexical syllabus, the commonest words and phrases in English and their meanings. It also provides some insights into that content which modifies and shapes the way syllabus designers treat the language in the course books. Thus, the picture of the language one pictures in designing such a syllabus is quite distinct from what one might present intuitively. In fact, intuition on its own cannot identify the most frequent words and phrases of the language, or even recognize their importance. Previously the course writers reliance on intuition has resulted in misrepresentations in the handling with the language. The proposed lexical syllabus is actually based on a body of research into natural language rather than other pedagogic grammars. The result is to put forward a more complete pedagogic description of the language and a better balanced description as well. One of the most significant features of designing such a syllabus is the shift of responsibility for learning onto the learner. Instead of offering discrete patterns to the learner, we enabled the learner to experience a corpus of language which is in many ways typical of the language as a whole, and to learn from examining and analyzing this corpus. By exposing learners to carefully selected language, and by arming them with analyzing that language for themselves, the syllabus helps the learners successfully achieve their goals. Specifically speaking, it is the issue of a dynamic element in the process that is the learner's creativity. In fact, by exploiting the creativity, the learning is vastly made more efficient.

ConclusionThere are many essential points when considering a syllabus to be designed and implemented. The various syllabi touched upon in this investigation all present valuable insights into creating a language program and course. Although the thirteen types of syllabus were examined and defined here as if in isolated contexts, it is uncommon for one type of syllabus to be utilized fully in actual teaching settings. Syllabuses are frequently combined in more or less integrated ways with one type as the organizing starting point around which the others are arranged and connected. To put it another way, in arguing about syllabus choice and design, it should be kept in mind that the question is not which type to choose but which types and how to connect them with each other. Finally, and perhaps preferably, a hybrid syllabus needs to be constructed and designed due to pragmatic reasons. As Hutchinson and Waters (1987:51) state it is wise to take an eclectic approach, taking what is useful from each theory and trusting also in the evidence of your own experience as a teacher.In closing, it is of great importance to note that no single type of syllabus is appropriate for all teaching settings. This is due to the fact that the needs and conditions of each setting are so characteristic and idiosyncratic that particular proposals for integration are not easily possible. Thepossibilityandpracticalityaspects of a particular syllabus to be developed and implemented are of great significance while processing the issue. To put in more tangible terms, in making practical decisions about syllabus design, one must take into account all the potential factors that may affect the teachability of a specific syllabus. By beginning with an assessment and investigation over each syllabus type, keeping track of the choice and integration of the different types according to local needs, one may find a principled and practical solution to the problem of suitability and efficiency in syllabus design and implementation.The investigation on how subtly and carefully a syllabus can be designed and implemented opens a new horizon for future research.

Syllabus: Asyllabus(pl.syllabuses, orsyllabias ahypercorrection;[1][2]frommodern Latinsyllabus"list", in turn from a misreading (sillubos) of the Greek sittubas"parchment label, table of contents"),[3][4]is anoutlineandsummaryof topics to be covered in aneducationortrainingcourse. It is descriptive (unlike the prescriptive or specificcurriculum). A syllabus is often either set out by anexamboard, or prepared by theprofessorwho supervises or controls the course quality. It may be provided in paper form or online.Both syllabus andcurriculumare often fused, and usually given to each student during the first class session so that the objectives and the means of obtaining them are clear. A syllabus usually contains specific information about the course, such as information on how, where and when to contact the lecturer andteaching assistants; an outline of what will be covered in the course; a schedule oftestdates and the due dates for assignments; thegrading policyfor the course; specific classroom rules; etc.[citation needed]Within many courses concluding in an exam, syllabuses are used to ensure consistency between schools and that all teachers know what must be taught and what is not required (extraneous). Exams can only test knowledge based on information included in the syllabus.

Current Trends in Syllabus Designand Materials Development

Cheng XiaotangSchool of Foreign Languages and Literature, Beijing Normal University

1. Introduction

1.1 A clarification of terms: curriculum and syllabus

In the existing literature on language education, the terms curriculum and syllabus are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes differentiated, and sometimes misused and misunderstood. Likewise, the terms syllabus design and curriculum development are causing confusion among both researchers and practitioners. There are at least two reasons for this chaotic use of the terms. One reason is that both of the two terms are used differently in British English and American English. The other is that the concept of curriculum has changed in the past years. Stern (1983) provides an attempt to clarify these two terms:

The term curriculum is commonly used in two related senses. It refers, first, to the substance of a programme of studies of an educational institution or system. Thus, we can speak of the school curriculum, the university curriculum, the curriculum of French Schools, or the curriculum of Soviet education. In a more restricted sense, it refers to the course of study or content in a particular subject, such as the mathematics curriculum or the history curriculum. It is, therefore, used as a synonym of what in British universities and schools is sometimes referred to as the syllabus for a given subject or course of studies. In recent years, however, the term curriculum has come to refer not only to the subject matter or content, but also to the entire instructional process including materials, equipment, examinations, and the training of teachers, in short all pedagogical measures related to schooling or to the substance of a course of studies (p. 434).

Following Stern, Nunan (1988:3) suggests that a curriculum is concerned with making general statements about language learning, learning purpose, and experience, and the relationship between teachers and learners, whereas a syllabus is more localized and is based on the accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level as teachers and students apply a curriculum to their situation.

Rodgers (1989:26, cited in Richards, 2001:39) makes a similar distinction between a syllabus and a curriculum. According to Rodgers, syllabi, which prescribe the content to be covered by a given course, form only a small part of the total school program. Curriculum is a far broader concept. Curriculum is all those activities in which children engage under the auspices of the school. This includes not only what pupils learn, but how they learn it, how teachers help them learn, using what supporting materials, styles and methods of assessment, and in what kind of facilities.

Since the 1980s the view that curriculum development processes are central elements in language program design has become more widely accepted in language teaching. In many countries, language curriculum development units have been established in ministries of education since the 1980s with a mandate to review and develop national language teaching curriculum based on a curriculum development perspective (Richards, 2001:41). Consequently, the kind of document that used to be called syllabus is now called curriculum.

In this paper, syllabus and curriculum are differentiated based on the distinctions outlined above. A syllabus is a specification of what takes place in the classroom, which usually contains the aims and contents of teaching and sometimes contains suggestions of methodology. A curriculum, however, provides (1) general statements about the rationale about language, language learning and language teaching, (2) detailed specification of aims, objectives and targets learning purpose, and (3) implementation of a program. In some sense, a syllabus is part of a curriculum.

Another difference worth note is that syllabus is often used to refer to something similar to a language teaching approach, whereas curriculum refers to a specific document of a language program developed for a particular country or region. Therefore, we can talk about a grammatical syllabus or a task-based syllabus, but we dont have a grammatical curriculum or a task-based curriculum. Based on this distinction, we assume that syllabus design is more of a pedagogical nature, whereas curriculum is a more planning issue.

1.2 The relationship between syllabus and materials

In many parts of the world, language education programs are designed following a syllabus-driven approach, that is, the syllabus determines what kind of materials will be adopted and in what ways they will be exploited for the classroom teaching. In certain educational contexts, the syllabus even determines how materials should be designed in the first place. Therefore, the materials are not seen as an alternative to the syllabus, but an instrument among others used to fulfil the goals of the syllabus. Materials, whether commercially developed or home-made, are an important element within the curriculum, and are often the most tangible and visible aspect of the curriculum. While the syllabus defines the goals and objectives, the linguistic and experiential content, instructional materials can put flesh on the bones of these specifications (Nunan, 1991:208, cited in McGrath, 2002:214).

2. Current trends in syllabus design

2.1 An overview of types of syllabuses

In theory, a language teaching syllabus can be designed in many different ways, depending on the designers view of language and view of language learning and teaching. In the past few decades, the grammatical syllabus, the lexical syllabus, the skills syllabus, the functional-notional syllabus, the content syllabus and the task-based syllabus have been proposed and attracted more or less attention. Below is a brief description of some of the influential types of syllabuses:

Grammatical syllabuses: The underlying assumption behind grammatical syllabuses is that language is a system which consists of a set of grammatical rules; learning language means learning these rules and then applying them to practical language use. The syllabus input is selected and graded according to grammatical notions of simplicity and complexity. These syllabuses introduce one item at a time and require mastery of that item before moving on to the next.Lexical syllabuses: Lexical syllabuses identify a target vocabulary to be taught normally arranged according to levels such as the first 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 words. Lexical syllabuses were among the first types of syllabuses to be developed in language teaching (Richards, 2001:154).Skills syllabuses: Skills syllabuses are organized around the different underlying abilities that are involved in using a language for purposes such as reading, writing, listening, or speaking. Approaching a language through skills is based on the belief that learning a complex activity such as listening to a lecture involves mastery of a number of individual skills or microskills that together make up the activity.Functional-notional syllabuses: In functional-notional syllabuses, the input is selected and graded according to the communicative functions (such as requesting, complaining, suggesting, agreeing) that language learners need to perform at the end of the language programme. The functional-notional syllabuses reflect a broader view of language provided by philosophers of language and sociolinguistics.Content syllabuses: In content syllabuses, the content of language learning might be defined in terms of situations, topics, themes, or other academic or school subjects. The stimulus for content-syllabuses is the notion that, unlike science, history, or mathematics, language is not a subject in its own right, but merely a vehicle for communicating about something else. These syllabuses are also called topical syllabuses.Task-based syllabuses: Task-based syllabuses are more concerned with the classroom processes which stimulate learning than with the language knowledge or skills that students are supposed to master. These syllabuses consist of a list of specification of the tasks and activities that the learners will engage in in class in the target language.

Obviously, each of the above types of syllabuses has its merits and drawbacks (c.f., Nunan, 1988; Richards, 2001). Each was developed with inspirations from linguistic and/or educational studies. Some of these have been used longer and more widely than the others.

ABSTRACT : NEEDEDEnglish occupies a place of prestige in our country, even after more than four decades since Britishers left India. No indigenous language however has come up to replace English, either as a medium of communication or as an official language. With the Independence in spite of many a movement against the teaching of English in India under the influence of nationalistic feeling and emotional hostility English began to reassert its position but, surprisingly, the number of people who can speak and write English as intelligibly and correctly as native speakers of the language do is receding day by day.The way English is taught in our colleges today is to a great extent responsible for the deterioration of the standard of English in India. The problem of declining standards of English in India is very much due to the aims of English Education in general and English Language Teaching in particular. The aims of English Education and Teaching are certainly very lofty and there are inadequate means to realize them. The policy makers have forgotten that English is not the Mother- Tongue of Indians. We must accept that the standard of its teaching has deteriorated vastly and that is why it is essential to know the problems of teaching English in India at undergraduate level in the colleges.This paper is an attempt to trace the problems faced by both the Teacher and the student in the English teaching and learning process at undergraduate level. This paper reports the experiences of the staff involved in the design and operation of a method of teachingproblem-solvingto undergraduates. The paper aims at presenting the contemporary situations in India with regard to English and suggesting remedies where these are called for.English occupies a place of prestige in our country, even after more than four decades since Britishers left India. No indigenous language however has come up to replace English, either as a medium of communication or as an official language. Though Gandhiji was totally against English Education, but he also appreciated the importance of foreign language especially English. In his book, Young India he said:I do not want my house to be walled in on al l sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. I would have our young men and young women with literary tastes to learn as much of English and other world languages as they like and expect them to give the benefits of their learning to India and to the world.1The Secondary Education Commission (1952) found that teaching of English continue vigorously. The commission recorded evidences to the effect that it was through a study of English language and literature that India became united and that she attained freedom from the British. The Report of the Secondary Education Commission says:Many eminent educationalists and scientists have, therefore, expressed the opinion that under no circumstances should we sacrifice the many advantages that we have gained by the study of English. They hold that in matters pertaining to education sentiment should not be the ruling factor and that what was most urgently needed was that our youth acquire knowledge from all sources and contribute their share to its expansion and development. In the attainment of this objective, the study of English was bound to play an important part. 2The knowledge of English will enable us to establish intellectual, cultural, economic, commercial and political relations with the rest of the world and its knowledge is essential for higher legal, technical and scientific education and research in almost all branches of learning. It is also necessary for those writers who wish to reach a bigger audience, for diplomats, editors, lawyers, politicians in fact almost everyone under the sky.The attitudes of the people are also changing towards learning English. V.K.Gokak in his book English in India: Its Present and Future very aptly sums up the attitude of the people as follows:The English language has lined India with the world outside to India and from India to the world. We are blessed with the two way traffic that English has afforded us. We have paid a heavy price in the past for this privilege. But in our indignation over the price that has been paid, let us not throw away the privilege that is already ours.3

India needs a language of the outside world and English language stands relatively on a better position than any other foreign language like French, German, etc. At present many people like to send their children to English medium Schools and Colleges, which are establishing in full swing all around India. But the standard of English teaching kin Schools and Colleges has deteriorated quickly.Our late Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi often emphasized the importance of English language teaching in our Schools and Colleges. She expressed her anxiety at the poor standard of its teaching. The Ministry of Education and Youth Services urged the Study Group on Teaching of English (1971) to prepare a practical programme for improving the teaching of English both at school and college level. The teaching of English in India has amany-sidedproblem and the problems and their remedies will find place in detail in the following lines of the study.The Problems of Teaching English Language atUnder-Graduatelevel : Little understanding of the aims of teachin g English: The primary aim of teaching English at this stage should be to concentrate on the fundamental skills of the language ability of the students namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. It is of paramount importance that the teacher should know what his task is and what he is trying to achieve by teaching English. In the syllabuses of colleges, we do not have a specific plan of what to teach and when to teach, as it is there in syllabus of school. It is for the teacher to decide how and when to teach a particular teaching item. Thus, they want to cover the whole course without reading its aims and objectives. They believe to go on with their job of teaching without knowing the difficulties of the learner. The teacher should be fully aware of the fact that his students proficiency in English is not up to mark owing to the deteriorating standard of teaching in schools. Our objectives of teaching English should be practical and in keeping with the standard of proficiency achieved by our students. We should emphasize on the main aims of teaching English is to develop the ability of students to read and understand books, journals and reference materials in English. Dearth of competent Teachers: The teacher o f English is incompetent to realize the need for and significance of English in the new perspective. They fail to revise their aims in the new setting and also to teach English most effectively within a short time. We Teachers should realize that a lot of responsibility rests on our shoulders. T.P.Reddi in his presidential Address said in October 1977,We, the teachers of English, are keenly aliv e to the responsibility that rests on us. We have to see that English is taught at all levels and taught well and its standards are properly maintained.4The teachers of English of colleges do not keep themselves abreast with the recent developments in the field of linguistics and theories of learning and teaching, without which they cannot teach their students effectively. The problem of dearth of competent teachers arises due to the lack of teachers who are specialized in the method of Teaching English.Defective textbooks and curriculum: The nex t important problem of teaching English in colleges is bad Textbooks. There is a mistaken idea that the standard of English is raised by the prescription of difficult books. Speed in reading can be achieved only through the provision of books which students can read with comprehension. Where books are beyond the ready comprehension of students, distaste for reading is created. This unfortunate attitude is one of the obstacles which the college teacher has to overcome. University syllabus does not fully satisfy the present objectives of the teaching of English. Books are often prescribed which reflect English life and culture and are less understood and appreciated by students. Books containing common vocabulary and common themes would have been more useful. The prose book about physical and social sciences may be more useful. The purpose of any prose book is to enable the students to develop the stock of words and thus such words can be used in our daily lives are certainly more useful. For e.g. the introduction of Shakespeares plays at degree level is not practical, because to teach Shakespeare to the students who are not sound in linguistic skills is nothing but to try to make asuper-structureon the sandy foundations.Faulty Examination system: One of the facto rs responsible for the deterioration is the pattern ofquestion-setting.It is easy to predict what questions would be asked on what books in which examinations. The students simply have to memorize. The teacher also teaches only those aspects which are important for the examinations. Students, teachers are not given proper orientation and teachers are to be blamed for this. Students of English Honours are expected to be proficient in spoken English as well. They are unable to posses the ability to develop the power of written and oral expression in a classroom situation. Some marks should be reserved for internal tests also, which is also lacking in the evaluation system. It has been seen that such teachers who are engaged in private tuition or associatedwith coaching classes or institutions on commercial lines encourage the penetration of corrupt and dishonest practices into the academic life on the campus. It is mostly these teachers who reduce centralized evaluation of answer books to a state of farce. They can never be serious examiners. They even evaluate their part of answerbooks without caring for the merit and the demerit of the answer scripts. Such examiners should be debarred permanently from examination and evaluation work. Wrong Methods of Teaching: The methods and techniques used by the Teacher are faulty and out of date. The programme of teaching is carried out by inefficient methods in classroom. Of course, good teachers are more important than good methods, but an efficient teacher can improve remarkably the quality of teaching by applying good methods and techniques of teachings. Most teachers in Bihar use the grammar translation method. For e.g. A teacher comes to class, picks up a textbook of the prescribed syllabus, opens it and starts reading himself and then tells the meaning of some lines or all lines in Hindi. Everything cannot be translated as it is in Hindi. For instance, if a teacher in Maharashtra asks her student to translate the following sentence of Marathi into English: Maaza Gala Baslay then the students will try to translate the sentence as their teacher teaches them; they might give the answer as: My neck is Si tting or My neck sat. The actual and correct answer is: My throat is upset or I have a sore throat. Some teachers are very conservative in their approach and they are not ready to learn any new methods and techniques of Teaching English. In other places we often witness teachers using the lecture method and they are very much comfortable using it and they ignore the other methods of teaching. Insufficient provision ofaudio-visualaids: Many teachers are unable to teach English effectively because they face a lot of problems due to the lack ofTeaching-Aids.There are very fewaudio-visualaids available and it is insufficient for the teachers to use it effectively. Some are so costly that the colleges can only afford to buy few. Shortage of time: We have four lectures per week for the teaching of English in colleges, but in most of the colleges, classes are not held owing to the lack of adequate number of teaching staff. Sometimes teachers rush for the syllabus completion. They are in lack of time for doing other activities including different methods of teaching English like Role play,Play-way,Dramatization, etc. in the class. Most of the Teachers practice the Grammar Translation method, and out of 50 minutes of per lecture. We discover half the time i.e. 25 minutes are gone intranslation and students gets just 25 minutes or less to listen to English Language. There may be a better understanding of the passage being studied this way, but the students, in fact, learn less English then they would have done if the teacher had taught the passage by techniques which use questions, illustrations and simple practice drills. The teacher also doesnt have time to carry out the interaction with the students in English.Unsatisfactory supervision: The next proble m is due to the unsatisfactory supervision by the teachers. The teachers in most of the colleges are least bothered about the students. They only guide the clever students, who are always very active in the class, and for others they develop a negative attitude. Most of the teachers fail to supervise the students homework or their potentials. The teacher should try to help the students who are weak and should try to sort out their learning disabilities by supervising them from time to time. For e.g. Film- Tare Zameen par.Crowded classes: The size of the classes ev erywhere was considerably large and thus, students participation in the class work was quite impossible. The ratio of students in relation to teachers was not proportional. This is one of the reasons why individual attention is not possible to the students. For individual attention, there is a provision of Tutorial classes but the number of students in Tutorials also is again very large, because most of the college can afford neither so many rooms for this purpose, nor so many teachers to conduct effective teaching of English. It should also be recognized that the practical work in the teaching of Englishdemands that the number of students in the class be limited. Inability of the Teacher to solve the Stude nts Problems: The teachers of English also faced difficulties to solve the problems of students. They had to teach fundamental elements of language and the conceptual concept of the prescribed texts. The conceptual concept of the texts often had no limitations in the life of students. Therefore, they reflect more on the notebooks which are published in the different parts of the country.Socio-psychologicalproblems: The next problem is due to the Socio- Psychological Problems, which influences the teaching of English in their own respective Ways:1. Lack of Motivation: In learning a second or a foreign language, motivation is the crucial force which determines whether the learner embarks on a task at all, how much energy he devotes to it, and how long he perseveres. It is known as acomplex phenomenon and includes many components, such as, the individuals drive, need for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on.2. Lack of Communicative Need: The primary motive for learning a language is that it provides a means of communication. A person is, therefore, most likely to be drawn towards learning a second language if he perceives a clear communicative need for it. The extent of this communicative need depends upon the nature of the social community in which the person lives. Inability of the Teacher to understand the difference between the teaching of literature and the teaching of language skills: One of the reasons for the declining standards of teaching English is the inability of teachers to understand the difference between the teaching of literature and the teaching of language skills. Everybody knows that the study of a language is not an end in itself, it is a means to develop ones power of expression and comprehension can be achieved by mastering stylistic elements of the language. According to A.K.Sharma:English language teaching in India, you will agree with me, has suffered a lot so much that our students who pass intermediate o r degree examinations with English either as a compulsory or as an elective subject, can neither speak nor write correct English. May be, because the emphasis in our schools and colleges has always been on the conceptual content and the stylistic content has been neglected so far.5 Lack of creativity in students: Students ar e generally to a great extent handicapped in the power of self expression; therefore, great empha