Section 5.

The Teacher and the Syllabus

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5. The Teacher and the Syllabus

5.1. What is a Syllabus?

Generally, a syllabus is a document which consists of a series of topics prescribed for an

entire course of study. The actual components of the topics may be either content items,
such as words, structures, functions, topics, or they may be process items, such as tasks
and methods.

Sometimes a school department will decide to include some of their own specific rules
and guidance which may not appear in another department’s syllabus, e.g. students are
expected to participate actively, bring textbooks to class, complete homework assignments on
time and so on.

No syllabus is perfect but you will have to be totally au fait with it if the school dictates
that the syllabus must be followed.

5.2 Main Features of a Syllabus

There is no universal structure. Here is what a typical syllabus might look like:

Syllabus items are ordered and should have explicit objectives which tell students the
language items (stands for bits of language, e.g. words or structures) they will have
learned by the end of the course.

It may contain a general time framework (by the end of this course….) but some syllabi
break up the time framework of their components, prescribing, for example, the specific
items that should be dealt with in the first month, in the second, and so on, and by the
end of a course.

A particular preferred approach or methodology the class uses may also be defined, e.g.
the Communicative Approach.

A syllabus may list recommended materials, such as main textbooks, visual materials or
supplementary materials.

A syllabus may explain assessment both in terms of elements to be assessed and how
they are to be weighted.

It may show how the course fits into a broader context (‘the big picture).

It may also establish a ‘contract’ with students by publicly stating policies, requirements,
and procedures for the course.

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It may also set the tone for the course, and convey how we perceive our role as the
teachers and their role as students.

It is often designed to help students assess their readiness for the course by identifying
prerequisite areas of knowledge.

It may be designed to help students manage their learning by identifying outside

resources and/or providing advice.

It can be used to communicate our course goals and content to colleagues.

The syllabus may be linked to or based upon a set coursebook which has to be used.
Note that you may still have to build in supplementary materials to suit particular groups
or activities. No coursebook is perfect.

5.3 Kinds of Syllabi

A number of different kinds of syllabi are used in foreign language teaching. A list of
these is provided below. This list is not exhaustive, but it includes the main types that
you may come across in practice. In reality, almost all actual language teaching syllabi are
combinations of two or more of the types below.

Structural: Syllabus items are structured around a collection of the forms and
structures, usually grammatical, of the language being taught. Examples include nouns,
verbs, adjectives, statements, questions, clauses.

Lexical: Syllabus items are structured around a list of lexical (vocabulary) items (girl, boy,
come across) with associated collocations and idioms, usually divided into graded
sections.

Situational: Syllabus items are structured around a collection of real or imaginary

situations in which language occurs or is used. The primary purpose of a situational
language teaching syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in the situations. Syllabus
sections would be headed by names of situations or locations such as ‘Visiting the
dentist’ or 'In the street'.

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

Notional/functional: Content is structured around a collection of the functions (things

you can do with language) that are performed when language is used, or of the notions,
which are concepts that language can express. Examples of functions include: informing,
agreeing, apologising, requesting; examples of notions include size, age, colour,
comparison, time, and so on. General notions may include `number', for example, or
'time', 'place'; specific notions look more like vocabulary items: 'man', 'woman',
'afternoon'.

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Content-based: In a content-based syllabus, the content, or subject matter, is primary;
language learning (e.g. form) occurs incidentally to the content learning. Content-based
language teaching is concerned with information. An example of content-based
language teaching is a science class taught in the language the students need or want to
learn, possibly with linguistic adjustment to make the science more comprehensible.

Skill-based: Syllabus items are structured around a collection of specific abilities that
may play a part in using language. Skills are things that people must be able to do to be
competent in a language, relatively independent of the situation or setting in which the
language use can occur. While situational syllabi group language functions together into
specific settings of language use, skill-based syllabi group linguistic competencies
(pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and discourse) together into generalised types of
behaviour, such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed
paragraphs, giving effective oral presentations, and so on. The primary purpose of skill-
based instruction is to learn the specific language skill.

Task-based: Syllabus items are structured around a series of complex and purposeful
tasks that the students want or need to perform with the language they are learning. The
tasks integrate language (and other) skills in specific settings of language use. A task-
based syllabus is structured around a variety of language forms, functions, and skills,
often in an individual and unpredictable way, on which students draw to complete some
piece of work (a process). Tasks that can be used for language learning are, generally,
tasks that the learners actually have to perform in any case. Examples include: applying
for a job, talking with a social worker, getting housing information over the telephone,
and so on.

Note: In some schools overseas e.g. small private schools in the countryside owned by,
say, one individual, there may not be a syllabus as described above. Sometimes a
coursebook is used and you follow that religiously whether it’s good or bad. When you
are new and inexperienced, it’s best just to accept the situation and get on with it.
Gradually, you can add in your own supplementary materials and additional topics
where you feel there’s something lacking. A general rule is that the more the school
owner sees you working hard and guiding the students to improvement, the more
flexibility you will be allowed in introducing new materials and topics.

5.4 The Differences between a Syllabus and a Lesson Plan

Some new and inexperienced teachers sometimes have a little bit of difficulty in
determining the difference between ‘syllabus’ and ‘lesson plan’. You won’t have this
difficulty after reading this:

Syllabus

A syllabus is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in a whole course. The

syllabus usually contains specific information about the course, such as information
about what will be covered in the course, a schedule of test dates and the due dates for
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assignments, the grading policy for the course, specific classroom rules etc. The syllabus
is the big picture of what needs to be covered by the end of the course.

Example: Students will study the function of apologising and will be able to express apologies
in different situations.

Lesson plan

A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction she plans for
an individual lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class
instruction. What is covered in the daily lesson plan will relate to a topic in the syllabus.
The lesson plan (perhaps with further lesson plans on subsequent days) is the activity
covered to ensure the learning topic in the syllabus has been achieved via practice and
production in the classroom.

Example: Today students will study two different degrees of apologising (minor incident V
serious incident) and will be able to utilise these in speech and in writing.

5.5 Different Teacher Attitudes towards Course Syllabi

This short section is very important for you.

When you start in your role, you may hear a colleague saying I never bother with the
syllabus. It’s too restrictive. I just crack on and do my own thing - what I feel is important.
Take care with this. A lot of good people may have put lots of time and energy into
developing that syllabus.

When we first start any job we are often uncertain about what we have to do and when
we have to do it. Starting your first teaching role is exactly the same. Your best guide to
this (in addition to your head of department or director of studies) is the syllabus.

So stick with it for these reasons:

It will keep you on track as to what you should cover and by when.
It increases the likelihood of student success in your class. It guides student
learning in accordance with a set thought-out plan and demonstrates to students
that you care about their learning.
It decreases the number of problems which arise in the course. Fewer
misunderstandings arise when the ‘rules of the game’ are explicitly stated.
It provides pertinent information about your course to your colleagues and
department. For example, colleagues who teach subsequent courses with your
class will be able to make assumptions about what students who took your course
know and are able to do.

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