Syllabus Design

Questions to ask before embarking on language syllabuses

The fundamentals of Syllabus Design

Who is going to refer to the syllabus?
Which areas of the students' competence most require improvement to bring them up to the target level?
What are the required target levels and how will you indicate them in a syllabus?
How will you organise the syllabus? In other words, what factors will you decide upon as the basis for specifying the syllabus e.g. Topic, Function etc.
How will you coordinate these factors so as to provide a coherent statement which can guide the people who refer to the syllabus?
How will you sequence items in the syllabus?
How will you allow for revision and recycling?

[From 'Illyrian Case Study'- part of Ron White's lecture on MA Course at Birkbeck College in 1986]

Materials -

(1) a needs analysis for the students concerned.

For General ELT Syllabus Design, see The Council of Europe's "Waystage" 1990 by Van Ek and Trim (published by Cambridge University Press) for a statement of objectives for learners who are around a lower intermediate level, "Threshold 1990" by Van Ek and Trim (published by Cambridge University Press) for a statement of how a learner should be able to use English in order to function independently in everyday communication (intermediate level) and the "ESU Framework" by Brendan J. Carroll and Richard West published by Longman 1989 - the English Speaking Union's performance scales (descriptions for all the different 'bands' or levels) related both to general English and L S R W skills
For English for Specific Purposes (e.g. designing syllabuses for dockers or in-flight cabin attendants), see Munby's "Communicative Syllabus Design" and the literature on behavioural objectives (Taba, H. 1962 "The types of behavioural objectives", in Lee & Zedlin) (Tumposky, N.R. 1984 "Behavioural objectives, the cult of efficiency and foreign language learning: Are they compatible?" in TESOL Quarterly 18/2295-310).

(2) A description of the national and institutional situation for which the syllabus is being prepared

For such a description, see M. Skilbeck's Situational Model of Curriculum Development 1975 in "School-based curriculum development", in Lee & Zedlin as well as Roger Bower's model for "Project Management and Performance" pages 99-120 in "ELT Documents 116 Projects for the Third World" (published by Pergamon in association with The British Council) - a very interesting read by someone who has really done the job!

TEACHING INDEX | NEXT