Negotiated Syllabuses

A negotiated syllabus involves the teacher and the learners

working together to make decisions at many of the parts of the
curriculum design process. It is a way of giving high priority to
the recognition of learner needs within a course and to the need to
continually adjust courses while they are running to suit changing
needs and circumstances. Negotiated syllabuses are also called
“process syllabuses” (Breen, 1987). The word process in the term
process syllabus indicates that the important feature of this type of
syllabus is that it focuses on how the syllabus is made rather than
what should be in it.
Reason for Having a Negotiated Syllabus

1. Where the teacher and students have different backgrounds.

2. Where time is short and the most useful choices must be made.
3. Where there is a very diverse group of students and there is a need to
find common ground.
4. Where initial needs analysis is not possible.
5. Where there is no course book.
6. Where the students’ past experiences must be part of the course.
7. Where the course is open-ended and exploratory.
Aspects of the Negotiated Syllabus
Purposes: Why are we learning the language? (Goals)
Content: What should be the focus of our work? (Content and sequencing)
Ways of working: How should the learning work be carried out? (Format and
presentation)
Evaluation: How well has the learning proceeded? (Monitoring and assessment)

Steps of the Negotiated Syllabus

1. Negotiating ( negotiating the goals, content, format and assessment of the course )
2. Implementing ( implementing these negotiated Decisions)
3. Evaluating ( evaluating the effect of the implementation in terms of outcomes and
the way the implementation was done )
An Example of a Negotiated Syllabus

1. For the first two weeks of class the teacher follows a set programme.
2. At the end of the two-week period the teacher asks the class to be active in
deciding what will they do for the next two weeks.
3. The teacher and the class members list the activities and parts of the course
on the board, and then discuss about what should be removed or added to to
the list.
4. The next step is to rank the items in the list and fit them into the class
timetable. During this discussion the learners negotiate with each other and
with the teacher.
5. The resulting timetable with its activities then becomes the timetable for the
next one or two weeks, when it is then renegotiated.
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