Common characteristics of a syllabus

A syllabus is a document which consists, essentially, ofa list. This list specifies all the things that are to be taught in the course(s) for which the syllabus was designed (a beginner's course, for example, or a six-year secondary-school programme): it is thereforecomprehensive. The actual components of the list may be eithercontent items (words, structures, topics), orprocess ones (tasks, methods). The former is the more common. The items areordered, usually having components that are considered easier or more essential earlier, and more difficult and less important ones later. This ordering may be fairly detailed and rigid, or general and flexible

The syllabus generally hasexplicit objectives, usually declared at the beginning of the document, on the basis of which the components of the list are selected and ordered.

Another characteristic of the syllabus is that it is apublic document. It is available for scrutiny not only by the teachers who are expected to implement it, but also by the consumers (the learners or their parents or employers), by representatives of the relevant authorities (inspectors, school boards), by other interested members of the public (researchers, teacher trainers or textbook writers). Underlying this characteristic is the principle of accountability: the composers of the syllabus are answerable to their target audience for the quality of their document.

There are other, optional, features, displayed by some syllabuses and not others. Atime schedule is one: some syllabuses delimit the time framework of their components, prescribing, for example, that these items should be dealt with in the first month, those in the second; the class should have completed this much by the end of the year. A particular preferredapproach ormethodology to be used may also be defined, even in a syllabus that is essentially content-based. It may list recommendedmaterials – coursebooks, visual materials or supplementary materials - either in general, or where relevant to certain items or sections.

Different types of language syllabus

A number of different kinds of syllabuses are used in foreign language teaching. A list of these is provided below; it is not, of course, exhaustive, but includes the main types that you may come across in practice or in your reading. Each is briefly explained; some also include references to sources of more detailed information on content or rationale.

1. Grammatical

A list of grammatical structures, such as the present tense, comparison of adjectives, relative clauses, usually divided into sections graded according to difficulty and/or importance.

2. Lexical

A list of lexical items (girl, boy, go away…) with associated collocations and idioms, usually divided into graded sections.

3. Grammatical-lexical

A very common kind of syllabus: both structures and lexis are specified: either together, in sections that correspond to the units of a course, or in two separate lists.

4. Situational

These syllabuses take the real-life contexts of language uses as their basis: sections would be headed by names of situations or locations such as 'Eating meal' or 'In the street'.

5. Topic-based

This is rather like the situational syllabus, except that the headings are broad topic-based, including things like 'Food' or 'The family'; these usually indicate fairly clear set of vocabulary items, which may be specified.

6. Functional

Functions are things you cando with language, (examples are ‘identifying’, ‘denying’, ‘promising’

7. Mixed or 'multi-strand'

Increasingly, modern syllabuses are combining different aspects in order to be maximally comprehensive and helpful to teachers and learners; in these you may find specification of topics, tasks, functions and notions, as well as grammar and vocabulary.

8. Procedural

These syllabuses specify the learning tasks to be done rather than the language itself or even its meanings. Examples of tasks might be: map reading, doing scientific experiments, story=writing.

Process

This is the only syllabus which is not pre-set. The content of the course is negotiated with the learners at the beginning of the course and during it, and actually listed only retrospectively.

How necessary is a coursebook?

In some places coursebooks are taken for granted. In others they may not be used at all: the teacher works according to a syllabus, or according to his or her own programme, using textbooks and supplementary materials as the need arises. A third, 'compromise', situation is where a coursebook is used selectively, not necessarily in sequence, and is extensively supplemented by other materials.

In favour of using a coursebook

Framework

A coursebook provides a clear framework: teacher and learners know where they are going and what is coming next, so that there is a sense of structure and progress.

Syllabus

In many places the coursebook serves as a syllabus: if it is followed systematically, a carefully planned and balanced selection of language content will be covered.