3. PROCEDURAL SYLLABUSES
The principles underlying
procedural and task-based
syllabuses are very similar
In fact, they are seen as
synonymous by Richards, Platt, and
Weber (1985), who describe them
both as follows:
4. a syllabus which is organized around tasks, rather
than in terms of grammar or vocabulary. For
example the syllabus may suggest a variety of
different kinds of tasks which the learners are
expected to carry out in the language, such as using
the telephone to obtain information; drawing maps
based on oral instructions; performing actions based
on commands given in the target language; giving
orders and instructions to others, etc. It has been
argued that this is a more effective way of learning a
language since it provides a purpose for the use and
learning of a language other than simply learning
language items for their own sake.
(Richards, Platt, and Weber 1985: 289)
5. Both task-based and procedural syllabuses share a
concern with the classroom processes which
stimulate learning .
They therefore differ from syllabuses in which the
focus is on the linguistic items that students will learn
or the communicative skills that they will be able to
display as a result of instruction.
In both approaches, the syllabus consists, not of a
list of items determined through some form of
linguistic analysis, nor of a description of what
learners will be able to do at the end of a course of
study, but of the specification of the tasks and
activities that learners will engage in class.
7. TASK-BASED SYLLABUSES
The selection of 'task' as a basic building block has
been justified on several grounds, but most particularly
for pedagogic and psycholinguistic reasons
Long and Crookes (1986) cite general educational
literature which suggests that tasks are a more salient
unit of planning for teachers than objectives
Despite its rather recent appearance on the syllabus
scene, 'task-based‘ covers several divergent
approaches. Two recent definitions of 'task' are
provided below
8. ... a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others,
freely or for some reward. Thus, examples of tasks
include painting a fence , dressing a child, filling out a
form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline
reservation . . . In other words, by "task" is meant the
hundred and one things people do in everyday life.
(Long 1985: 89)
. . . an activity or action which is carried out as the
result of processing or understanding language (i.e. as
a response). For example, drawing a map while
listening to an instruction and performing a command .
. . A task usually requires the teacher to specify what
will be regarded as successful completion of the task.
(Richards, Platt, and Weber 1985: 289)
9. The problem for the task-based syllabus
designer is that a variety of factors will interact
to determine task difficulty. In addition, as
some of these factors will be dependent on
characteristics of the learner, what is difficult
for Learner A may not necessarily be difficult
for Learner B.
11. CONTENT SYLLABUSES
content syllabus is yet another realization of the
analytic approach to syllabus design.
It differs from task-based syllabuses in that experiential
content, which provides the point of departure for the
syllabus, is usually derived from some fairly well-
defined subject area.
This might be other subjects in a school curriculum
such as science or social studies, or specialist subject
matter relating to an academic or technical field such
as mechanical engineering, medicine, or computing.