PRESENTED FOR: DR. SUZAN ARAFAT PREPARED BY: AMJAD SAMEER EL- ISA

2 N D SEM. 2013

An- Najah National UniversityCollege of Graduate Studies

TEFL Programme

Module 12 The Syllabus

Objectives:

By the end of this presentation, students are expected to have a clear idea about:

What is a syllabus?Characteristics of a syllabus.Different types of language syllabus.Using the syllabus.

What is a syllabus?

A syllabus is a document which consists, essentially of a list. This list specifies all the things that are to be taught in the course/s for which the syllabus was designed. For example, a beginner course or six year old secondary school program.

Other definitions:a syllabus is a summary of what will be

covered in a course of study.(Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 )

... the syllabus is simply a framework within which activities can be carried: a teaching device to facilitate learning. It only becomes a threat to pedagogy when it is regarded as absolute rules for determining what is to be learned rather than points of reference from which bearings can be taken.

(Widclowson 1984: 26)

Any syllabus will express—however indirectly—certain assumptions about language, about the psychological process of learning, and about the pedagogic and social processes within a classroom.

(Breen 1984: 49)

Characteristics of a syllabus

Consists of comprehensive list of: - content items (words, structures & topics) - process items (tasks, methods).Is ordered (easier, more essential items first).Has explicit objectives (usually expressed in

the introduction).Is a public document ( to involve not only the

teachers but also the learners and their parents, employers, inspectors and researchers).

May indicate a time schedule.May indicate a preferred methodology or

approach.May recommend materials.

Different types of language syllabus

1- Grammatical:A list of grammatical structures, e.g. present

tense , comparison adjectives or relative clauses.

2- Lexical: A list of lexical items which associated

collocation and idioms.3- Grammatical lexical: Very common, both structures and lexis are

specified either together or separetly.

4- Situational: take the real life contexts of language uses as their basis: section would be headed by names of situations or locations such as “eating a meal” or “ in the street”.

5- Topic-based:This is like the situational syllabus, except that

the heading are broadly topic based including things like “food” or the “family”.

6- Notional:Are concepts that language can express,

general nations like “numbers”.

7-Functional-notional: Functions are things you can do with language,

as distinct from notions you can expressed such as: “identifying”, “denying” and “promising” . This type of syllabus is rare, usually notions and functions syllabus are usually combined together.

8-mixed (or multi-strand):Modern syllabus combined different aspects in

order to be maximally comprehensive and helpful to both teachers and learners in these you may find specifications of topics, tasks and grammar.

9-procedural:These syllabuses specify the learning tasks to

be done rather than the language it self or even its meaning. For example: “map reading” or “story-writing”.

10-process:This is the only syllabus which is not pre-set.

The content of the course will be negotiated with learners at the beginning of the course and during it.

Using the syllabus.

How teachers use syllabus varies very widely between different countries and institutions, and depend on financial resources as well as on teaching approach.

1-Anna: “the syllabus of the language school where I teach is very comprehensive, it includes grammar, vocabulary, functions, notions, situations and gives references to material I can use. I use it all the time and couldn’t do without it. When preparing a teaching session or series of sessions I go first to the syllabus, decide what is appropriate to teach next according to its program, plan how to combine and schedule the components I have selected and take the relevant books and materials from the library”.

2-Joseph:”there is a syllabus, but we don’t have to use it, nor there any fixed course book. Although the college recommended certain ones. I simply ignore the syllabus since I prefer to do my thing, based on the needs of my (adults) students. I use materials and activities from different sources ( teacher’s handbooks or textbook) which are available in the institution's library in order to create a rich and varied program that is flexible enough to be altered and adapted to student needs during the course”.

David: “ the school where I work can not afford course books for the children, so I have the only book; I also have an officially authorized syllabus. Everything I teach I take it either from the syllabus or from the course book. I don’t add material of my own for one thing, the authorized don’t approve; for another, I'm not confident enough of my knowledge of the language I'm teaching – I'm might make mistakes”.

Teachers like Anna do the same thing when there are no lack of resources in the drawing-up of very detailed syllabuses and the purchase of a wide variety of teaching materials teacher may find it most effective mainly from the syllabus as the basis of their program, drawing on specific materials as they need them.

In other relatively affluent settings there may be a policy of allowing teachers complete freedom in designing their teaching program in such case syllabus may be non-existent or ignored teachers like Joseph new independent program.

There are some situations where even one book per student is an un-known luxury, as described by David; in this case may based the course on the course book or the syllabus or a combination of the two. Sometimes the syllabus has an extra role to play: as a source of information and reassurance of teachers who are not confident of their own knowledge of the target language.

Conclusions

One document which gives a detailed account of the various syllabus components which need to be considered in developing language courses. Necessary components of a language syllabus:

1 The situations in which the foreign language will be used, including the topics which trill be dealt with;

2 The language activities in which the learner will engage;

3 The language functions which the learner will fulfill.

4 What the learner will be able to do with respect to each topic;

5 The general notions which the learner will be able to handle;

6 The specific (topic-related) notions which the learner will be able to handle;

7 The language forms which the learner will be able to use;

8 The degree of skill with which the learner will be able to perform.(van Ek 1975: 8-9)