Syllabus design

Syllabus Design (by David Nunan)

Grammatical Syllabus

Language is considered to be a set of rules, various combinations of which produce meaning;

LL has to master each rule in the order suggested by the syllabus;

Input control: LL is given one item at a time;

The approach dilemma: input control in the classroom vs. real-life language outside the classroom;

Shortcomings of grammatical approach:

It does not represent the complexity of the language;

The language is not necessarily acquired by LL in the order specified in the grammatical syllabus.

Notional-Functional Syllabus

The learning process is not described in terms of grammatical categories, but in terms of notions and functions.

Notions = general conceptional meanings; the context of communication (e.g. time, cause, duration, etc.)

Functions = communicative purposes (in a given context) achieved through the language (e.g. apologizing, asking for prices, giving compliments, etc.)

Content-Based Syllabus

Language is not presented directly, but through the content of other subjects. In other words, particular content is integrated within L teaching.

Ls acquire target language in the course of doing other things.

Task-Based Syllabus

Needs analysis precedes TB syllabus design. On the basis of needs analysis a list of communicative tasks is designed.

Target task = what learners have to do outside the classroom;

Pedagogic tasks are created to initiate a communication between learners in the target language (in the classroom).

Tasks can be reproductive and creative.

In reproductive tasks learners reproduce language following some model or pattern.

Creative language tasks are less predictable.

In his article Nunan also suggests an integrated approach to syllabus design that touches upon core components of each type of syllabus. 

Course Outline Examples

Course outline - example #1

:-)

Nice positive images, various informal fonts, the party announcement.

:-(

No information on presentation format, textbooks or other course materials.

Course outline - example #2

:-)

Creative class information presentation (Wh-questions), images relevant to course goals; motivating course description (‘ You can learn a lot in 1 month!’).

:-(

No information on the course title, the teacher’s contact information, timeframes for the whole course and/or each module, presentation format, textbooks or other course materials, assessment (assignments information, evaluation rubrics).

Course outline - example #3

:-)

Creative course description, no missing elements.

Activity 2 from “Teaching ESL in Canada”

Course description – example #1

:-)

The description mentions key elements of the course: the target audience, skills that are improved during this course, materials and presentation format.

:-(

The description does not mention learners’ language level.

The language is too academic and it might be too complicated for target learners.

So I would make the whole description less formal, I would add direct questions to learners and add more ‘you’ sentences. And I would underline the importance of the language improvement for service industry workers (something like “The better English you have – the better job you’ll get!”).

Course description – example #2

:-)

The style and syntax of the description is formal, although it is still quite easy-to-read. And it’s the main aim of any writing course: to learn how to express one’s thoughts clearly and in appropriate language. So the description reaches the desired effect. Besides it’s quite informative and covers main points of interest.

Course description – example #3

:-)

The language of the description correlates with learners’ language level.

:-(

The description is too general. I would add more specific details.