EF MATESOL PROGRAM

Course title: SDMD

The course syllabus
INTRODUCTION
ISSUES
1. ‘Set’ materials may linger behind aims that have
been reformulated and updated.

2. New syllabus types may be ill-matched to existing

educational objectives.

(McDonough, 2013)
CONTEXTUAL FACTORS

(McDonough, 2013)
CONTEXT & SYLLABUS

PEDAGOGIC PRICINPLES FOR

DECISIONS ABOUT
ACTUAL DESIGN OF
PROGRAMS
MATERIALS & METHODS

CRITERIA

FRAMEWORK
(CONTEXT & SYLLABUS)

(McDonough, 2013)
THE FRAMEWORK FOR SYLLABUS DESIGN

(McDonough, 2013)
SYLLABUS TYPES
The following syllabuses are optional:

• Situational: organized around the language and the oral skills needed for different situations such as at the airport or at a hotel
• Topical or content-based : organized around different themes and topics and how to talk about them in English
• Functional: organized around communicative functions most commonly needed in speaking such as requesting, complaining,
suggesting, agreeing
• Task-based: organized around different tasks and activities that the learners would carry out/complete in English
• Grammatical (or structural): organized around grammatical items.
• Lexical: identifying a target vocabulary to be taught normally arranged according to levels such as the first 500,1,000,1,500,2,000
words.
• Competency-based: based on a specification of the competencies learners are expected to master in relation to specific situations
and activities
• Skill-based: organized around the different underlying abilities mat are involved in using a language for purposes such as reading,
writing, listening, or speaking.
• Text-based: built around texts and samples of extended discourse.

(Richards, 2001)
An integrated syllabus
In most courses there will generally be a number of different syllabus
strands, such as grammar linked to skills and texts, tasks linked to topics and
functions, or skills linked to topics and texts.

A syllabus might be organized grammatically at the first level and then the
grammar presented functionally. Or the first level of organization might be
functional with grammar items selected according to the grammatical
demands of different functions.

In practical terms, therefore, all syllabuses reflect some degree of

integration.

(Richards, 2001)
LIMITATIONS
IN EARLY APPROACHES TO SYLLABUS DESIGN
• The basic units of language are vocabulary and
grammar.
• Learners everywhere have the same needs
• Learners' needs are identified, exclusively in terms of
language needs.
• The process of learning a language is largely
determined by the textbook.
• The context of teaching is English as a foreign
language.

(Richard, 2001; Tomlinson, 2011)

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

From syllabus To curriculum

design development

THE QUEST FOR NEW

METHODS

(McDonough, 2013)
Syllabus vs. Curriculum
• Syllabus design is one aspect of curriculum development.

• A syllabus is a specification of the content of a course of instruction

and lists what will be taught and tested.

(Richards, 2001)
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AS A PROGRESSIVE VIEW

THE TOTAL
THE WRITTEN
LEARNING
MATERIALS ARE
CURRICULUM EXPERIENCES
ACTUALIZED BY
(in schools + in
THE LEARNER
societies)

(Bilbao, 2008)
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AS A PROGRESSIVE VIEW

THE TOTAL
THE WRITTEN
LEARNING
MATERIALS ARE
CURRICULUM EXPERIENCES
ACTUALIZED BY
(in schools + in
THE LEARNER
societies)

(Bilbao, 2008)
TOWARDS AN EFFECTIVE CURRICULUM:
Adherence to theoretical bases

SELECTION FROM THE LANGUAGE TO BE INCORPORATED IN TEXTBOOKS AND

TEACHING MATERIALS

TEACHING METHODS

A SYSTEMATIC SET OF TEACHING PRACTICES

APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING

PARTICULAR THEORIES OF LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGE LEARNING AS BASES

(Richards, 2001)
Curriculum development includes the 04 steps

S1: determining the needs of a group of learners,

S2: developing aims or objectives for a program to address

those needs,

S3: determining an appropriate syllabus (course contents,

teaching methods, materials, etc.)

S4: carrying out an evaluation of the language program that results

from these processes.

(Richards, 2001)
FROM PRINCIPLES TO LEARNERS’ NEEDS

Identification of
learners’ needs

Analysis of
learners’ needs

Principles of second
language
acquisition

(McDonough, 2013)
DIVERSIFYING LEARNERS
• English as a Foreign Language (EFL) – English taught outside English
speaking regions.
• English as a Second Language (ESL) – English taught inside English speaking
regions to non-native learners.
• English for Young Learners (EYL) – English taught as an additional language
to very young to young learners up to, normally, primary level.
• English for Specific Purposes (ESP) – English taught for specific occupational
purposes such as English for medicine and for business.
• English for Academic Purposes (EAP) – English taught to those who wish to
study at institutes of higher education.
• Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) – English taught in cross-
curricular programmes in which content subjects and language are taught
at the same time
(Brown, 2007)
Principles as Scientific Bases
• “… we prepare and use teaching materials and classroom methods
and techniques based on similar, or at least comparable, PRINCIPLES.”
• “By perceiving or internalizing connections between practice (choices
you make in the classroom and theory (principles derived from
research), … will be better able to see why you have chosen to use a
particular classroom technique … to carry out with confidence, and to
evaluate its utility …”

(McDonough, 2013)
Principles of
Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

(Tomlinson, 2011)
FROM NEEDS TO GOALS

Analysis of the reasons

why a group of learners in
Goals are stated.
a particular environment
needs to learn English.

(Richards, 2001)
FROM GOALS TO AIMS/OBJECTIVES
GENERAL GOAL
E.g. The new guidelines for language teaching in Japanese schools include such statements as

‘to develop understanding of language and culture through a foreign language . . . To

develop a positive attitude towards communication in a foreign language, and a basic
practical communication ability in hearing and speaking’.

AIMS/OBJECTIVES (PARTICULAR LEARNING NEEDS)

E.g. At the other end of the scale, a course may be organized to address a particular learning
need for the identifiable purposes of a small group. A course may be designed

‘to meet the needs of learners who need to improve their ability to communicate when
socializing, telephoning, making business presentations and taking part in meetings’, or

‘to help international postgraduate students in English-medium universities develop the

writing skills necessary for writing dissertations’.

(Richards, 2001)
Educational Objectives
as Learning Needs
BLOOM’S TAXONOMY FOR
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
FROM GOALS TO COURSE CONTENT
• grammar (e.g. using the present tense in descriptions)
• functions (e.g. describing likes and dislikes)
• topics (e.g. writing about world issues)
• skills (e.g. developing topic sentences, opening and
closing conversations, turn taking)
• processes (e.g. using prewriting strategies)
• texts (e.g. writing a business letter)

(McDonough, 2013)
TWO ASPECTS OF CONTENT SELECTION

Vocabulary
selection
TEXTBOOKS
Teaching methods & TEACHING
MATERIALS
Grammar
selection

(Richards, 2001)
CONSTRUCTIVE ALIGNMENT

Goals

Course content Aims/Objectives

PRACTICE
• Is there an explicit statement of the goals of the
language programme on which you work? If so, what
are its primary aims?

• If there is not such a statement, try to draft one that

represents your own understanding of the goals.
References
• Brown, H. D. (2007). Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to
Language Pedagogy. Cambridge University Press.
• Johnson, K. R. (1989).The Second language Curriculum. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
• McDonough, J.; Shaw, C., and Masuhara, H. (2013). Materials and methods
in ELT. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Nunan, D. (2008). Syllabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Richards, C. J. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. New
York: Cambridge Language Education.
• Tomlinson, B. (2011). Introduction. In Tomlinson, B. (1998). Materials
development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
(pp. 8-24).