English for Specific PurposeThe Syllabus

PRESENTATION BY :

DERA GUSFITRI

MARIA PETRATUSRO MARDIO

Points to be discussed

• What do you mean by syllabus?

• Why should we have syllabus?

• On what criteria can a syllabus be

organized?

• What role should a syllabus play in

the course design process?

What do you mean bt a syllabus?

• A syllabus (pl. syllabuses or syllabi) is

an outline and summary of topics to be covered

in an education or training course. It is

descriptive (unlike the prescriptive or

specific curriculum). A syllabus is often either

set out by an exam board, or prepared by

the professor who supervises or controls the

course quality. It may be provided in paper form

or online.

• A syllabus is a document which says what will

(or at least what should) be learnt.

• Syllabus is, simply, a statement of what is to be

learnt.

Further layers of interpretation...The evaluation of syllabus

It has following traits:

This kind of syllabus will be most familiar as the

document that is handed down by ministries or

other regulating bodies.

It stresses what the successful learner will know

by the end of the course.

In effect, it puts on record the basis on which

success or failure will be evaluated.

It reflects an official assumption as to the nature

of language and linguistic performance.

Further layers of interpretation...The organizational syllabus

It has following traits:

A syllabus can also state the order in which it is to be

learnt.

The organizational syllabus is an implicit statement

about the nature of language and learning.

The organizational syllabus differs from the

evaluation syllabus in that:

• it carries assumptions about the nature of learning as

well as language in organizing its items in a syllabus.

• It is necessary to consider factors which depend upon a

view of how people learn.

• E.g. what is more easily learnt?, what is more

fundamental to learning? Are some items needed in

order to learn other items?

Further layers of interpretation...The materials syllabus

It has following traits:

A syllabus can also state the order in which it is to be

learnt.

The organizational syllabus is an implicit statement

about the nature of language and learning.

The organizational syllabus differs from the

evaluation syllabus in that:

• it carries assumptions about the nature of learning as

well as language in organizing its items in a syllabus.

• It is necessary to consider factors which depend upon a

view of how people learn.

• E.g. what is more easily learnt?, what is more

fundamental to learning? Are some items needed in

order to learn other items?

Further layers of interpretation...The teacher syllabus

The second stage of interpretation usually comes

through the teacher. This type of syllabus:

The great majority of students in the world learn

through the mediation of a teacher .

Teacher can influence the clarity, intensity and

frequency of any item and affect the image that the

learners receive.

Stevick (1984) recounts how an inexperience teacher

would finish in two minutes an activity that he would

spend twenty minutes on.

• This kind of variability affect the degree of learning.

Further layers of interpretation...The classroom syllabus

The classroom is not simply a neutral channel for

the passage of information from teacher to learner.

It is a dynamic, interactive environment which

affects the nature both of what is taught and what is

learnt. A teacher knows two different things happen

in the classroom:

A lesson is a communicative event which is created

by the interaction of a number of forces.

The classroom too creates conditions which will

affect the nature of a planned lesson.

• Hot weather, noise from outside, interruptions to deal

with administrative matters, a visitor.

• Students may be tired, asking irrelevant questions etc.

Further layers of interpretation...The learner syllabus

The syllabuses discussed yet are normally

considered to be external syllabuses. The learners

might participate in their creation to some extent,

but essentially they are external to the learner.

It is a retrospective record of what has been learnt

rather than a prospective plan of what will be learnt.

It is for this reason that the learners must be taken

into account on a continuing basis through every

stage of the course design process.

Why should we have a syllabus?

There are acknowledged and hidden reasons for

having a syllabus:

Language is a complex entity. It cannot be learnt in

one go.

We have to break down complex into manageable

units.

In practical benefits, a syllabus gives moral support to

the teachers and learner.

A syllabus specially in ESP has cosmetic role.

Sponsors and students will want their investments to

be worthwhile.

The syllabus can be seen a statement of projected

routes, so that both the learners and teachers may

know where they are going.

Why should we have a syllabus?

A syllabus provides a set of criteria for material

selection and writing. It defines the kind of texts to

look for or produce, the items to focus on in exercises

etc. This is probably one of the commonest uses for a

syllabus, but it can be one of the most damaging to

the course, if wrongly used.

Uniformity is a necessary condition of any

institutionalized activity, such as education. A

syllabus is one way in which standardization is

achieved.

Syllabuses cannot take into account of individual

differences.

On what criteria can a syllabus be organized?

Topicsyllabus

Structural/ situationalsyllabus

Functional/ notionalsyllabus

Skillssyllabus

Functional/task-based

syllabus

Discourse/ skills

syllabus

Skills and strategies

Situationalsyllabus

What role should a syllabus play in the course design process?

A language centered approach

A skill centered approach

A learning centered approach

The past hoc approach

What role should a syllabus play in the course design process?A learning centered approach:

Analyze target situation

Write syllabus

Write or select texts to illustrate items in syllabus

Write exercises to practice items in the syllabus

Devise tests for assessing knowledge of the items in the syllabus

What role should a syllabus play in the course design process?A skill centered approach:

Analyze target needs

Select interesting and representative texts

Devise a hierarchy of skills to exploit the texts

Order and adapt the texts as necessary to enable a focus on the required skills

Devise activities/techniques to teach those skills

Devise a system to assess the acquisition of the skills

What role should a syllabus play in the course design process?A learning centered approach:

Analyze target situation

Analyze learning situation

Establish general syllabus of topic

and tasksOrder and adapt the texts as necessary to

enable a focus on the required skills

Produce detailed language/skills

syllabus

Check language and skills content of materials and

make necessary adjustments

What role should a syllabus play in the course design process?A post hoc approach:

Write materials on undefined criteria

Write cosmetic syllabus to satisfy

sponsors, teachers, students etc.

Thank you for U’re attention

and participation