syllabus design by david duna

8/16/2019 Syllabus Design by David Duna

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Syllabus

Design

DAVID NUNAN

In Syllabus Design.' Nunan describes and evaluates a range of syllabus types including gramma~ical,

notional-functional, content-based, task-based, and integrated. he also sets out and illustrates key

procedures for developing syllabuses.These indude needs analysis,goal and objective setting, and the

development of competencies.

: : : - : ~ \ i ~ r .

In'Order to define syllabus design, we need to

sürt.YVith tbe broader field of curriculumdevel-


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Grammatical svllabuses are still very pOpl1-'

lar

today, although

thev

were at

their most pop-

ular through th e 1960s, when virtually all

syllabuses were crafted in grammatical terms.

The assurnption underlying these syllabuses is

that language consists of a finite set of rules

which can be combinecl in various ways

LO

make

meaning. T1 ~~s~ for tbe language learner is.~o

mas.ter each L~k-jD:_th~_ ol=Q~~i?Eesen~~?__~~~e

syIlab~~._ ?et2E~._)P'Ov: ~1g_2n_t? ...tJ~~._l:~Xt. The

whole purpose of the grammatical syllabus was

to control input to the learner so that

orilv

one

itern was presented at él time. This created a

dilemma, which became more and more press-

ing with the advent of Communicative Language

I/Teaching: How could one control input at

/ 1 the same time as one is providing learners with

exposure to the kinds of language they would

encounter outside the classroom?

This problem can be addressed in a number

of ways. On~'i.PJ1..1ti_


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.... holistic forroulae. In other words, learners would

: : f : ; f

be taught question forros such as W hat do you do?

f

.~ .n //and Where doe s = liv e? as single chunks =usJl¡

rs in commUlllcattve tasks such as role plays, infor-

~'8: mation gaps, and so on. They would not be

expected

to

reak these down into their con-

stituent parts immediately; this would happen

gradually over time. In fact, ~ome second lan-

guage acquisition researchers argue that this pro-

cess of leaming strings of language as unanalyzed

chunks and then later breaking them down is a

key psycholinguistic mechanism in the acquisi-

tion process (Ellis 1994).

.

r ,

THE ORGANIC APPROACH

TO GRAMMAR

Underlying the traditi.Jmal lineaLs.yllabuLis the

notion that learning is a process of mastering

each item perfectly one at a time. In fact, when

the structural syllabus was at its height of popular-

ity, rnastery learning was an important movement

within educational psychology. In metaphorical

terrns, ~,t?,~lie~~d t0-~i.~lai}g11age develops jn,

the same way as a builclingjL


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Brindley (1984, 1990) drawsa distinction

berween objective needs and subjective needs:

Objective needs are tliose which can

be diagnosed by teachers.on the basis

of the analysis of personal data about

learners along with inforrnation about

their language proficiency ancl pat-

terns of language use .... whereas the

·~iecti.Y~~.~_)leeQ~. (which are

often

u desi ,,(( .

wan tdh-- .esires, ef'.p-_~,~~o ns o r

other __p.sy-c;:h21Q.gj~almanifestations)

cannot be diagnosed as easily, or, in

many cases, even stated by learriers

themselves (Brindley 1984, p. 31).

Objective needs analyses result in content

derived frorn an ana1ysis of the target commu-

nicative

situatio

ns in which learners

will

engage,

as well as an analysis of the_lsiDg~_ºJ spokenand

~rj.s~e})._Q.isc.o.urse.hey will need to cornprehend

and .prod.uce. Such analyses were fundamental

to the development of an important and endur-

ing movement within language teaching-that

of 1anguage for specific purposes. .

Needs-based course design, particularly

when it results in tightly specified learning out-

comes, has been heavily criticized. Widdowson

(1983), for exarnple, claims that such courses are

exercises in training rather than in education

because learners can only do those things for

which they have been specifically prepared. He

argues that learners should be to able to do

things for which they have not been specifically

prepared. However, the extent to which learners

are able to transfer learning from one context to

another is basically a methodological issue rather

than a syllabus design issue. ~'llla-º-~s designers

can facilitateIearning transfer by building into

the ~yllal;lUsopportunities for recycling. .-

Another criticism of needs-based course

design is that, while it might be relevant in sec-

ond language coritexts, it

is

often irrelevant in

foreign language contexts, where learners have

no

immediate,

or even foreseeable, need to com-

municate oral1y. In such contexts, subjective

needs, relating to such things as learning strat- '

;

egy preferences, may be more relevant than

objective needs.

58

Goal and Objective Setting

Needs analysis provides a basis for specifying

goals and objectives 1 01 él learning programo

Goals are broad, general purposes for learning a I

language. At

the broadest

level.,JI.allid;;Ly..c,.(l.98S)

i

argues that individuals use language·--~-=·~_·_~

• to obtain goods and services,

:1

to socialize with others, and

• for entertainrnent and enjoyrnent.

These

vel

broad goals can be elaborated

and refined, as the following goal staternents

illustrate:

Instruction should enable learners to

1. participate in conversation related to the

pursuit of common activities with others;

2.

obtain goods and services through conver-

sation 01 correspondence:

3. establish and maintain relationships through

exchanging information, ideas, opinions,

attitudes, feelings, experiences and plans;

4. rnake social arrangements, solve problems,

and come

lO

conclusions together;

5. discuss topics of interest;

6. search for specific information for a given

purpose, process

it,

and use it in some way;

7. listen to or read information, process it,

and use it in some way;

8.

give information in spoken or written form

on the basis of personal experience;

9. lisien toor read, and/or view a story, poem,

play,

feature, etc.,

and respond to it person-

ally in some way (Clark 1987, p. 186).

Having established the goals of a. learning

program, the syllabus designer articulares a ser

of objectives designed to realize the goals.

Qbjectives are therefore much more. specific

than goals, and _numerous. objectives .will .be,

specified for any given goal. Formal perfor-

mánce· objectives have three elements: a task

or performance element, a standards element,

and

a conditions element.

T E _ e _ ~ ~ . ~ _ _

ejernent

¡ ..

specifies what the learner is to do, tb~~~~~n9ªr.ds.

elerneni sets out how well the performer is

to

c a r r y ; '

out the task, and the conditions element

establishes the circurnstances under which he oro

¡

she is to perform ...

Unit 1 Teaching Methodology

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2 .

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C

:~

1

-

.

I

.

· ·

-The following examples illustrate just how

specificyerformance obj_~~~ are:

1.

In

a

classroom role play (condition),

stu-

dents will exchange personal information

(performance). Three pieces of informa-

tíon

will

be exchanged (standard).

2.

When listening to a taped weather forecast

(condition); students will extract informa-

tion on minimum and maximum tempera-

tures and other relevant information such as

the

likelihood

ofrain(performance). All key

information wilIbe extracted (standard.)

In the field of general education, the ob$.~-

~,E.I2I9g.hh.has been criticized over the years.

One criticism that is relevant

to

language educa-

tion is that truly valu.~.QkJ~arniJlg......º---uu:om.,e~

canE2~_,~.~_~ccl .~~


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THE STANDARDS MOVEMENT

The most recent manifestation of performance-

based approaches to syllabus design, in the

U nited States at least~Lthe ~tandards mQye-

.rn~n.LJ:hroughout theJ2.~Q.~Ahere

was

a con-

certed push for national education standards,

This push was seen at all levels of government,

and it resulted in legislation mandating the

development

and

implementation of standards.

For example , the Adult Education Act and the

National Literacy Act of 1991 require adult basic

education programs in all states to develop indi-

cators of program quality and to attach perfor-

mance standards to these quality indicators (see

website at the end of chapter).

In many ways, just as the competency move-

ment was a repackaging of concepts from the

objectives movement, the same is true of the stan-

dards move ID e n t.

O

bj_~


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NOTIONAL~FUNCTIONAL

SYLLABUSES

The broader view of language as communication

that emerged during the 1970swas taken up by

sy l-

labus designers. A B indicated earlier, an important

figure here was Wilkins (1976), who argued for

syllabuses based on notions and functions.

Notions are ge~ªl..


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. . . . . . . . . . . • . • • • •

~

••• I .~

pre.

are nec

Critical thinking: Learners go. beyond classify-

ing to

evaluate or

analyze data, for

example,

by

determining

a

point of view or arguing

frorn a given stance.

Hatuls on activities: These involve manipu-

lating data through games, experiments,

and other experiential activities.

Data gathering: These tasks involve learners in

scanning for specific information and/

or colfecting and assernbling facts, data, and

references.

A.nalysis and construction:

This final category

involves

(a)

breaking a text into its com-

ponent parts, elucidating its rhetorical

pat-

tern, and examining text flow (cohesion

and coherence) or (b) applying knowledge

of oral and written discourse conventions

to create a specifically patterned text with

the goal of increasing fluency, accuracy, or

both (Master and Brinton 1997, p. vi).

TASK BASED SYLLABUSES

~

Task-based syllabuses represent a particular real-

ization of Communicative Language Teaching

(Nunan 1989, see also Crookes and Chaudron's

chapter in this volume). Instead of beginning

the design process with lists of grarnmatical,

functional-notional, and other iterns, the designer

conducts .~_~~~~Aq.I}..al)':sis,hichyields a li~~.(>(th.~

éüíñ-municative tasks that the learners for whom

. . • - - - - - -

_. -

-

- -

.•...

~- - - - - - . , - - _ . _ ~ _

.._ - -_ .-

_.- _ • . . . . . . -

- ,

tlie syllabus is)nl.eI}cl.ed will need to. carry out,

In syllabus design, a basic distinction is drawn

between ta~g~~~Js~ and

P .~ Q .9 .g .Q g L c . : ª ,L . l f I :§ . l < > . A

@Egt:.~askjs sC?I1].e :hip-g~.~~ ~~..1.~~~e.r. I?ig~t

conceivably do outside_9LW.~ c;l~srQoIIl. Examples

of~get~bi;cl~d~ .

Taking part in ajob interview

• Completing a credit card application

• Finding

one's

way from a hotel to a subway

station

• Checking into a hotel

~e.9-ªgQgi.f~L~ls?.(l :~ unlikely

to

b.e..deployed

outside the classroom. They a~rea.ted in Q .. Q ~ .ct Q _

p u s F i ; leamers injo ..c9mmunicatingwith._ each

other in. the target language, on

the

assumption

that

this c omm lm i~~ tive -

intefa cíi; ;- ;¡ i1

f~e i· · th ~

acql:i~itio~1' process. .

6

The following is a fairly common example

of a peclagogical task: .

In pairs, students complete an infor-

mation gap task to get instructions on

how to get from one 's hotel to the

nearest

subway

station. Student

A

has

a map of the town center with . the

hotel marked. Student B has the same

map with the subway marked.

Having specified target and pedagogical

tasks, the s111abusdesigne.~nal~e~t¿l.~}EJ~~der:..

to_ id. D._tifx...lll~.)~Qº-~1.c;:qg.e_aQ


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. ;

predictable. This does not mean that suchtasks

are necessarily noncommunicative. Many comrnu-

nicative tasks, such as the following, are of this type.

Class survey. Find someone who Iikes /

doesn

't

like the following:

likes doesri' t like

Eating chilis

Playing tennis

Watching

sci-fi movies

.

~

Doing homework

This task is reproductive because we know that

if the students are doing it right, they wiIl be

saving, Do you like eating chilis? Do you like

playing tennis? etc. It is communicative in that

the person asking the question does not know

whether the classmate's answer

will

be

ye s

or

no .

Creative language tasks, on the other hand,

are less predictable. Learners rnust assemble

the

words and structures they have acquired in new

and unpredictable ways. Here is an example of a

creative task.

Pair work. Who is the best person 'forthe job?

Read the following résumés, and decide who

the best person is for the followingjobs:

• School building supervisor

• Receptionist

• Librarian

• Bookstore clerk

In this task, the language used by the students is

much less predictable. If we were to eavesdrop

on the task, we might predict that we would hear

utterances such as:

1

think , ..

We should ...

This pers~m might ...

However, there is no way of predicting precisely

the language that will be used.

S ylla bu s D e sig n

AN INTEGRATED APPROACH

TO SYLLABUS DESIGN

In this chapter, 1 have outlined the major trends

and developments in syllabus design over the

last twent:y years. In my own work, 1have tried to

embrace an integrated approach to syllabus

design in which all of the elements and options

discussed above are brought together into a single

designo The following example illustrates one way

in which this might be done.

1. Identify the general contexts and situations

in which the leamers will communicate.

2. Specify the communicative events that the

learners will engage in.

3. Make a list of the functional goals that the

learners will need in arder to take part in

the communicative events.

4. List the key linguistic elements that learners

will need 'in arder to achieve the functional

goals.

5. Sequence and integrate the various skill

elements identified in steps

3

and

4:.

In developing integrated syllabuses, 1 find

that cross-reference planning grids are very use-

ful, because they énable me-to map out and coor-

clinate the different elemenrs in the syllabus.

Here is a cross-reference grid integrating func-

tions and structures for the first few units in a syl-

labus underpinning a textbook series for younger

learners. Not only does the grid help guideme in

selectingwhich items to teach when, it also shows

me where and when recycling is necessary. 1 can

also see if there are gaps in the syllabus.

CONCLUSION

In this chapter,

1

have provided an introduction

to the fie1d of syllabus designo

1

suggest that

syl-

labus design is that part of currículum develop-

ment which is concemed with selecting, grading,

integrating, andjustifying the content of the cur-

riculum. Different types of syllabuses, from gram-

matical to task-based, are introduced, described,

and critiqued. The key theoretical and empirical,

6


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..-

) •• T .

.

:..

- .

Functions

Simple

present : .'.

tense.

+ -

,b· e :'::·. i:

What.' Demonstratbles:

'questíons,'-::

this;that .

¡ .:.

IdentifY .

ownership .

~: .

, • .. . .. . .. . :

Introduce

· p e ~ y J ; . : -

> J { ~ , ; ;

. ' :: : : ' ) ' :. ' ) ;: ; . '- ~ /' ' ; ~ ( ? ~ . ' : : :~

< .

Talk aboutt \v.;

. :; f.~ : : .~ fi ~ ~ L :

'

. ..

j ;

;T~i~:


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FURTHER READING

Dubin, F., and E. Olshtain. 1986. Course Desig n.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This book is designed for teachers who have the

planning and development of courses as pan

of their duties. It covers what the authors cal

the fact-finding stage-establishing realistic

goals, surveying existing programs, realizing

goals through instructional plans, selecting

the shape of the syIlabus-and the considera-

tions involved in constructing communicative

syllabuses.

Brown, J . D. 1995.

The Elements o/ Lanp;uage Curriculum.

Boston, vIA:Heinle Heinle.

Although it is a book on curriculum, and there-

fore deals with issues that go beyond syllabus

design, it also provides an accessible introduction

to syIlabus design issues.

Graves, K, ed. 1996.

Teachers as Course

Deuelopers.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

This book contains six interesting case studies

of teachers as course developers and syllabus

S y ll ab us D e s ig n

designers. The narratives of these teachers, who

work in very different contexts worldwide, illus-

trate the process oÍ course development from

the perspective of the teacher.

Nunan, D. 1988a. Syllabus

Design .

Oxford: Oxford

University

Press,

This book explores the principles involved in

selecting, grading, and integrating the Var10US

components of a language syllabus and dernon-

strates how teachers can go about analyzing the

syllabuses in use in their own classroorns. It offers

analytical tools and techniques for evaluating,

modifying, and adapting syllabuses.

WEBSITES

Both the U.S. National Literacy Act of 1991 and the

U.S. Adult Education Act of 1991, along with

related policy resources, are available on-line at

www nifl gov lincs collections policy resource

html

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syllabus design by david duna

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