Syllabus design

• Syllabus


  An expression of opinion on the nature of language and learning, acts as a guide for teachers and learners by providing goals to be attained
• Types of syllabus


  • Evaluation syllabus
  • Organizational syllabus
  • Materials syllabus
  • Teacher syllabus
  • Classroom syllabus
  • Learner syllabus
• Evaluation syllabus


  • To put on record the basis on which success or failure will be evaluated, to reflect an official assumption as to the nature of language and linguistic performance
• Organizational syllabus


  • A list of what should be learnt will be organized, factors which depend upon a view of how people learn will be considered in order to determine the order of terms
• Materials syllabus


  • Additional assumptions about the nature of language in terms of contexts of language, relative weightings and integration of skills, number and type of exercises, degree of recycling or revision will be decided by the author
• The Teacher syllabus


  • Teacher influence the clarity, intensity and frequency of any item, and thereby affect the image that the learners receive
• The Classroom syllabus


  • Is a planned lesson done by the teacher, although it is well planned by the teacher, it can be affected by all sorts of unexpected conditions while conducting the lesson
• The Learner syllabus


  • Also known as the internal syllabus, the network of knowledge that develops in the learner's brain, enables learner to comprehend and store the later information
• Why is syllabus required?


  • As a contract
  • As a permanent record
  • As a learning tool

  
• Why is syllabus required?


  • Better management of study time, assessments, and reading materials
  • Provides moral support
  • Reassures sponsors and students
  • Acts as road maps
• Why is syllabus required?


  • Emphasizes the most important aspect of language
  • A set of criteria in selecting and producing materials
  • Assures uniformity
  • Basis for evaluating students

  
• Criteria of organizing syllabus


  • Focus
  • Select
  • Subdivide
  • Sequence
• Steps in designing an ESP syllabus


  1. Conducting needs analysis

  2. Determination of goals and objectives of the course

  3. Content conceptualization

  4. Selection and development of materials and activities

  5. Organization of content and activities

  6. Assessment and evaluation
• Needs analysis


  • The first and fundamental process in designing syllabus, although there is no definite definition of ESP, all ESP scholar agree that in designing an ESP course, needs analysis must be taken as the priority
• Goals

  General statements of the overall, long term purpose of the course, related to the acquisition of a job in the future or communication of the target language community
• Objectives


  Can be drawn from the results of the needs analysis, since ESP was situated for the adult learners seeking for employment in the future, the goals and the objectives should relate to those needs
• Content conceptualization


  • Choosing and analysing the necessary content related to the needs analysis and the goals and objectives
• Practical guidelines to content choice and design


  • Define what the students should be able to do as exactly and realistically as possible, as the result of the instruction
  • Rank the syllabi in order of importance according to the desired outcomes
  • Evaluate available resources and match them with the syllabi
  • Designate one or two syllabi as dominant
  • Review how combination and integration of syllabus types can be achieved and in what proportion
  • Translate decisions into actual teaching units
• Selection and development of materials and activities


  • Effectiveness in achieving the course purposes, appropriateness of the materials so that the students will feel comfortable, feasibility so that the material will be in accordance with the students' capabilities and the course will not prove too difficult for them
• Sources of materials


  • From published materials (textbooks, journals, magazines)
  • From real speech (lecturers, hotel communication, seminars)
  • Specially written simplified and adapted from public materials or instances of real speech
• Organization of content and activities


  • Course organization is important since it provides the teacher and the students with a clear idea of what will be taught, the content and activities may also be sequenced based on the standard operational procedure (SOP) of the related job, the tasks performed in each duty need to be identified and sequenced based on the operational procedure
• Task-Based Approach (TBA)


  The sequenced tasks are again analysed to reveal the language functions and language expression needed for those tasks, certain information related to the culture understanding and standard performance required for those tasks can also be assessed and analysed
• Assessment


  Related to determination of students' proficiency
• Evaluation


  The process of collecting and interpreting information about an educational program, reflects students' reason for failing or succeeding and ways of improving their learning
• Assessment can also provide feedback on the effectiveness of the course and in general, it would be an on-going part of the entire process