2. Difference between curriculum & syllabus
Syllabus
Curriculum
A very general concept which involves consideration of the
whole complex of philosophical, social & administrative
factors which contribute to the planning of an educational
programme.
A subpart of curriculum which is concerned with
a specification & organisation of units to be
learnt & how to be taught.
3. What is a
syllabus?
Ways of organising a course & its materials.
Brown, 1995
Provides a focus for what should be studied,
along with a rationale for how that content should
be selected & ordered. Mckay, 1978:11
A specification of the content of a course of instruction
& lists what will be taught & tested.
Richards, 2005:2
Describes the major elements that will be used in planning a
language course & provides the basis for its instructional forms
& content. Richards, 2005:152
A syllabus is not only an educational construct; it is also a pedagogic
one. It not only defines what the ends of education through a particular
subject ought to be but it also provides a framework within which the
actual process of learning must take place and so represents a device
by means of which teachers have to achieve these ends.
Widdowson, 1984
5. Structural
Situational
Topical
Grammatical & phonological structures are the organising
principles – sequenced from easy to difficult or frequent to less
frequent.
Situations (e.g. At the bank, at the supermarket) form the
organising principle – sequenced by the chances students will
encounter them.
Topics or themes (e.g. food, health) form the organising
principle - sequenced by the chances students will encounter
them.
6. Notional
Conceptual categories called notions ( e.g. duration, quantity,
location) are the basis of organisation – sequenced by
usefulness of each notion.
Skills
Skills (e.g. listening for gist, scanning, giving a talk, writing a
letter) are the basis of organisation - sequenced by usefulness
of each notion.
Functional
Functions (e.g. greeting, seeking information, describing
processes) are the organising principle – sequenced by
usefulness of each function.
7. Notional-functional
A notional-functional syllabus is a way of organizing a language-learning
curriculum, rather than a method or an approach to teaching. In a notional-
functional syllabus, instruction is not organized in terms of grammatical
structure, as had often been done with the audio-lingual method (ALM), but
instead in terms of "notions" and "functions.“
In this model, a "notion" is a particular context in which people
communicate. A "function" is a specific purpose for a speaker in a given
context. For example, the "notion" of shopping requires numerous language
"functions," such as asking about prices or features of a product and
bargaining.
Proponents of the notional-functional syllabus (Van Ek & Alexander, 1975;
Wilkins, 1976) claimed that it addressed the deficiencies they found in the
ALM by helping students develop their ability to effectively communicate in
a variety of real-life contexts.[4]
8. The semantic basic concepts (what to communicate) NOTIONS
The functional interactional aspect (why we communicate) FUNCTIONS
The formal grammatical knowledge (how we communicate) STRUCTURES
Fig. 1: Possible Components of a Syllabus (After Wilkins, 1976)
9. Following Van Ek, functions can be explained as “what people do by means
of language” (1976:5) or, according to Johnson, as “‘uses’ of the language”
(2001:184). We perform certain functions, for instance, ‘denying something’
or ‘expressing surprise’, by acts of speech in communication.
While functions are therefore related to human behaviour, notions
“denote abstract concepts which reflect general, and possibly universal,
categories of human experience [and thought], such as time, space, quantity,
location etc.” (Newby 2001a:449).
They can be defined as what we ‘handle’, the concepts we refer to while
fulfilling language functions (cf. Van Ek 1976:6). In short, notions and
functions thus characterise what we say and why we say something
respectively (cf. Newby 2001a:450).
10. Task or activity-based categories (e.g. drawing maps, following
instructions) are the organising principle – sequenced by
usefulness of each function.
Task
Cyclic / Spiral
Assumes that what the learner learns at some earlier point
becomes the ‘core’ or basis for later learning. Views learning
as accumulative rather than s step-by-step addition of
knowledge.
Procedural
Views the teaching & learning process as involving a range of
decisions – decisions to be taken by teacher & learners in
relation to classroom language learning. Decisions have to be
made concerning 3 major elements of classroom work :
participation, procedure, & subject matters. In other word, the
focus is more on the means rather than the ends of learning.
12. SELECTION
FOCUS
SUBDIVISION
SEQUENCING /
GRADING
Determining the major subject matter
/ content based on needs analysis
Breaking down of subject matters into manageable
units e.g. grammatical systems, communication
situations, themes/topics to particular rules,
functions, vocabulary
The marking out of subject matter along a path
of development e.g. from simple to complex
Focusing on aspects & elements of subject
matter, e.g. particular structures, set of
functions, range of communication events
13. Grading / sequencing
SIMPLE COMPLEX
Language skills & subskills
Language functions
Language forms / structures
Learning situations / contexts
Teaching / learning materials
Topics / themes
Learning tasks
FAMILIAR UNFAMILIAR
OLD NEW
IMMEDIATE REMOTE
15. Syllabus
Aims/
Goals
Objectives
General statements about what must
be accomplished in order to attain &
satisfy students’ needs.
Precise statements about
what contents or skills the
students must master in
order to attain a particular
goal or aim.
17. Objective
Also known as instructional or teaching objective. Refers to a statement
of specific changes a programme seeks to bring about & results from an
analysis of the aim into its different components.
18. Homework: Study your country’s English Language
syllabus to discuss the following questions:
1. What syllabus type/s does your country’s national school
language syllabus adhere to? What are the organising
indicators? If more than one syllabus type is being used,
which syllabus type is the most dominant one and which
types are the less dominant ones? How are the different
syllabus types used in combination?
2. What and how are components in the syllabus graded or
sequenced? What are the organising indicators?
