FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CURRICULUM & SYLLABUS DESIGNCURRICULUM & SYLLABUS DESIGN

Instructors: Bessie Dendrinos and Kia Karavas

NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENSFACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATUREAPPLIED LINGUISTICS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Questions this presentation attempts to answer

• What is a curriculum and what is a syllabus?• Which are the characteristics of a syllabus? • Which are the organising principles of a syllabus? • Are there international perspectives on curriculum

development? • Which are the basic steps in designing a language

course?• How does one go about articulating course objectives?• What is an ‘a-priori’ and ‘a-posteriori’ syllabus?

Curriculum vs. syllabus

• The terms curriculum and syllabus are often used interchangeably

• In TEFL the terms are more frequently referring to two different documents

What is a curriculum?• The curriculum is a document referring to the programme of

studies in an educational system (or an institution)• It is a document in which the object of knowledge is organised

in a particular way. • It alludes to all those activities in which pupils engage, as a

result of their school studies, including:– what they learn– how they learn– how teachers help them learn– which materials they use – how they are assessed

Are there different curricula?

• When referring to curriculum we may be referring to:

– to the school curriculum [το σχολικό πρόγραμμα σπουδών], or

– to the subject-specific curriculum [το πρόγραμμα σπουδών ενός μαθήματος (π.χ. ιστορία, φυσική, ελληνικά) μιας βαθμίδας εκπαίδευσης, π.χ. του Δημοτικού]

• When we are speaking about the detailed programme of a class we are referring to the syllabus [το αναλυτικό πρόγραμμα σπουδών ενός σχολικού έτους, π.χ. η ιστορία της Γ’ Γυμνασίου]

The school curriculum

• The school curriculum deals with the abstract general goals of education which reflect the overall educational and cultural philosophy of a country, national and political trends as well as a theoretical orientation to language and language learning

• The school curriculum provides the overall rationale for educating students

Questions addressed by the school curriculum• What is the purpose of educating students in this particular

institution/ educational level?

• What kinds of knowledge should students be offered?

• What kinds of learning experiences do the students need to go through in order to acquire the predefined knowledge, competences and skills?

• What kinds of teaching methods should be used to facilitate learning?

• How should these learning experiences be organised?

• How should learners be assessed in order to understand if purposes have been achieved?

By answering these questions, the curriculum provides information about:

a) the goals of education

b) subjects to be taught

c) activities learners should engaged in and how

d) methods, resources and materials

e) allocation of time to each subject

f) assessment of students

g) assessment of the curriculum itself .

Difference between curriculum and syllabus

• A curriculum is concerned with making general statements about: – language learning– learning purpose and experience, – the relationship between teachers and learners

• A syllabus is localized and is based on the accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level, as teachers and students apply a curriculum to their situation.

What else about a syllabus?

• At its simplest level a syllabus can be described as a statement of what is to be learnt.

• Syllabus refers to the content or subject matter of an individual subject .

• It is a detailed and operational document which specifies the content of a particular subject.

• It is a kind of plan which translates the abstract goals of the curriculum into concrete learning objectives

What does a syllabus include?• It may include the learning objectives, the selection and

grading of content • It may also include the selection of learning tasks and

activities• It is a document of administrative convenience and so it

is negotiable and adjustable to the needs of a class

Syllabus demands 1:• It should provide an accessible framework of the

knowledge, competences and skills on which teachers and learners will work

• It should offer a sense of continuity and direction in the teacher’s and learners’ work

• It should represent a retrospective account of what has been achieved

• It should provide a basis on which learner progress may be evaluated.

Syllabus demands 2:• It should be sufficiently precise so that it may be

assessed through implementation as being more or less appropriate for its purposes and users

• It must harmonise the three contexts within which it is located: the wider language curriculum the language classroom and the participants within it the educational and social reality that the course-plan is

supposed to serve.

The British National Curriculum• The British National Curriculum, introduced in the mid 80’s,

includes a broad description of the general aims/goals to be realised within the school.

• It also includes: (a) broad descriptions of the content or subject matter of individual subjects, in the form of “can-do statements”, (b) broad descriptions of evaluation of all the learning experiences planned for pupils through classroom instruction.

• Syllabi are designed at school level, by teachers who are in a subject specific department. Each Department’s teachers are also responsible for choosing textbooks available in an open market and for designing support teaching and learning materials.

Curricula in the USA

• There is no national curriculum. Each state has its own rules about curriculum development.

• Curriculum development may be a school project, only sometimes following the general guidelines of the state and sometimes the municipality.

• Many decisions are made at a school level, by teachers who are in a subject specific department and also decide what textbooks to use, how to use them and when.

• Department teachers are also responsible for designing support teaching and learning materials in accordance with the assumed needs of particular groups of learners.

The Greek curriculum• Greece has a centralized educational system aspiring to ensure that all

students in Greek schools receive the same quantity and quality of education.

• The School Curriculum is developed by order of the Ministry of Education so that schools throughout the country teach the same subjects, at the same time, in exactly the same way.

• The Subject-Specific curriculum, concerned with the structure, content and organization of a particular course, is also developed by order of the Ministry of Education and it is published in the government gazette [Εφημερίδα της Κυβερνήσεως]

• The course syllabus for each subject, usually providing a very detailed description regarding the content of a particular subject (i.e., WHAT is to be taught and HOW) is also developed by order of the Ministry of Education.

Course vs. syllabus• A course is taken to mean a real series of lessons, what is actually

delivered to students while a syllabus is a document which describes what is to be delivered.

• Different teachers deliver different courses using different materials and having different groups of learners, but may be using the same syllabi.

• A course is the whole package including materials, lessons, resources, extra curricular activities, assessment etc. In other words a syllabus is an element (and a prerequisite) of a course.

Steps to course design

Step 1: Needs analysis

Step 2: Means analysis

Step 3: Specifying learning objectives

Step 4: Designing the syllabus

Needs analysis• Firstly, the curriculum and syllabus designer asks they

WHY questions: “what does the learner need to do with the target language” or why is this particular group of learners need to learn the target language

• Any kind of needs analysis involves collecting information about and from the learners (i.e., factual information about the learners, and/or their perceptions, goals, priorities, and preferences.

Information from needs analysis• General personal background• Language background• Attitudinal and motivational factors• Situations in which English is frequently used• Situations in which difficulties are encountered• Common communication problems in different situations• Frequencies with which different transactions are carried out• Perceived difficulties with different aspects of language use• Preferences for different kinds of activities • Suggestions and opinions about different aspects of learners’

problems

Means analysis: considering constraints

• Understanding the context of the teaching/learning project is a vital step because without a clear understanding of the resources and constraints it might not be possible to achieve the learning goals.

• Assessing the resources means considering: – the people (who will be teaching whom)– the types of materials are available– time allocated to the subject and how this time is

distributed in the school schedule– the class (size of class, number of students)– resources available

Specifying the objectives• The objectives set must be appropriate not only to

learner needs but also to the constraints of the educational institution

• Objectives state the outcomes of students’ learning.

• Objectives can guide in the selection of language-related tasks and activities

• Objectives can also give learners a clear idea of what they can expect from a language course.

Specifying objectives

Product objectives• These focus on the product of learning such as the

language students are supposed to acquire, the skills they are supposed to develop or the kinds of things they are expected to do with the language

Process objectives• These focus on the process of language learning, the

kinds of experiences students will undergo in the classroom.

Designing the syllabus: This involves first of all the decision about what content will be included and how it will be sequenced:

•Focus: Which aspects of the language will we focus on? (The answer to this question depends on one’s theory of language and language learning)

•Selection:Given a specific focus, the syllabus designer selects particular elements of language to deal with.

•Subdivision:This involves breaking down selected content into manageable units. This is often hierarchical with superordinate categories and subordinate categories.

•Sequencing: Involves marking out of content along a path of development. Deciding the order in which the items should be taught.

‘A-priori’ and ‘a-posteriori’ syllabi‘A-priori’ syllabus =• The content of the syllabus and objectives of the course are pre-

specified (both have been determined in advance), and this is the most common and familiar approach to syllabus design.

‘A-posteriori’ syllabus =• The content of the syllabus is specified as the class progresses,

because it is assumed that what is pre-specified will not actually be learnt (i.e. teaching is not equivalent to learning).

• Focuses on the processes of learning (not the product), on the kinds of activities students are engaged in (these are pre-specified)

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