2. What is situational syllabi ?
The content of language teaching is a
collection of real or imaginary situation in
which language is used.
A situation involves several participants
engaged in some activities in specific setting.
3. The purpose of situational
syllabi
To teach language that occurs in the situations
which are relevant to the present or future
needs of language learners and prepare them
to use language.
4. 3 types of situational syll.
based on informational content
The limbo situation: The information of specific setting is
little or unimportant.
Setting: at a party Topic: introduction
The concrete situation: The information is about specific
and concrete setting and the language associated with it.
Setting: at the restaurant Topic: ordering a meal
The mythical situation: The information is based on
fictional story line,frequently with a fictional cast
characters in a fictional place.
5. Different types of situations
based on linguistic focuses
Grammatical focus
Pronunciation focus
Lexical focus
Functional/notional focus
Discourse or interactional focus
7. Types of language used
in instructional content
Realistic
language created for
classroom but
intended to mirror
actual occasions of
language use.
Real
language that occurs
outside of classroom.
8. Because of the wide variety of types and
applications of situational content ,it is not
associated with any specific theory of learning.
Situational content has been used with audio-
lingual(behaviorist),cognitive and experiential
instruction.
Situational syllabi are also associated with various
theories of language. For example, a syllabus that
relied almost exclusively on realistic situations is
broadly communicative view of language.
9. seeing the dentist
buying a book at the bookstore
asking directions in a new town
advertising
the universe
the pet shop
Examples
10. Positive aspects
1. Situational syllabi can lead more directly than others to
learners' ability to communicate in specific settings,
especially for highly specific and predictable settings.
2. Situations provide contexts of discourse in which form
and meaning coincide, and the form-meaning
relationship can be reinforced. (going beyond sentence
level to discourse level)
3. The use of situations in language teaching can help to
provide some social and cultural information about the
language and its users in a nondidactic way.
11. Negative aspects
1. Use of predetermined and artificial situations lead the
students to rely on prelearned routines rather than
creative use of language.
2. It is difficult to create authentic language for instructional
purposes.
3. It will be problematic where the learners don't want
cultural values to accompany the language.
4. There is a problem of sequencing.Few criteria are available
to determine the difficulty of situations and grade them.
12. Applications
1. It is useful for conversational course whose objective is
limited conversational ability with specific topics.
2. For learners with specific situations where the language that
will occur is highly predictable.(e.g., with waiters in
restaurants)
3. For learners who have already received formal instruction but
who have weak functional ability in the language.
4. Situational content is usable with learners of all ages, though
it is especially useful for children who neither want nor are
ready for formal analysis.