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TBE_p5_6_Ch2_Components_of_a_syllabus2

Uploaded by

Clevrin Pro
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Teaching Business English Course

Chapter 2. Syllabus Design for TBE

Components of a TBE Syllabus

Exactly what is a syllabus? A syllabus is a complex tool, having many different roles. It is a
document, which provides: 1) criteria for the materials to be used; 2) objectives of the course;
3) information about how students will be evaluated. The syllabus is similar to a map, in that it
lets students know where they will travel, how they will travel, and what will determine their
degree of success or failure in their journey.

Here it is important to remember that businesspeople do not need to understand ALL English
grammar. It is a good idea to concentrate on areas of grammar that students will use the most.
For example, conditionals are an important part of negotiating. A syllabus should be designed in
relation to the performance skills and/or language functions needed. No single stipulation exists
on what a Business English syllabus should contain, but it is generally accepted that one should
address, not only the functions of a language, but the structures of a language, and the correlating
vocabulary.

One method for designing a syllabus is to relate it to the business performance skills needed.
Some examples of performance skills are meetings, or socializing and writing reports. Once the
performance skill has been determined, it can be broken down into functions, grammar, and other
areas necessary for communication. For example:

Performance Skill ---------------------> meetings


Function ---------------------> expressing intention
Grammar ---------------------> will, “going to”
Other ---------------------> body language, intonation, etc.

Above is a general outline that states the objectives of the lesson when focusing on the
performance skill of “meetings”. It can (and should) be expanded in different ways by including
detailed information. During meetings certain sub-skills are practiced: describing changes,
discussing strategies, and procedures for carrying out a project are a few. These sub-skills can be
broken down even further to recommending, agreeing, comparing and contrasting.

Another approach for designing a syllabus, involves using language from real-life situations. This
will give the instructor the key structures, functions and features of a language that the students
need to learn and become familiar with. One useful source can be training videos. These videos,
though scripted, offer the learner the opportunity to see the functions, skills and strategies of
language use in a native English-speaking environment.
Teaching Business English Course
Chapter 2. Syllabus Design for TBE

Topic

A topic syllabus is related to a specific job. For example, a secretarial position could include
answering the telephone, taking notes, writing memos, or dealing with people, etc. For each of
these tasks, the appropriate grammar would be presented and practiced.

Structural/Situational

This type of syllabus deals with specific situations and role-playing them, such as those of a hotel
employee. Each hotel has different areas utilizing different vocabulary and grammar structures.
Hotel employees that work in a reception area would need to understand questions beginning
with “where”, and “how”, as well as adjectives, pronouns, etc.

Functional/Notional

This might be the type of a syllabus used for particular contexts and specific purposes i.e. students
learn the language for a situation where it would be needed. For example, a notion for students
studying management would be getting people to do things and the functions would be
persuading, requesting, asking for help, giving commands, giving instructions, advising,
suggesting, warning, etc.

Skills

This syllabus is geared toward specific skills, such as writing. Writing specific types of reports and/
or memos. The students would learn pre-writing strategies, practice writing skills, and how to
review and edit their final written product.

Functional/Task-based

A functional or task-based syllabus would teach the students how to complete specific tasks such
as dealing the orders, using the telephone, receiving visitors, writing reports, giving presentations.

Skills and Strategies

This syllabus deals with specific skills and strategies on how to complete them successfully. An
example could be looking for a job. The students would learn how to look for a job, how to read
want ads (including abbreviations), how to interpret the information, how to know if he or she is
qualified and how to actually apply for the job and get through an interview.

Basically, a good syllabus should contain a combination of the above and should be taken into
consideration for students to successfully learn. Including a combination of these options in your
Business English syllabus, will ensure that the students will learn, and learn what they need, in
order to be successful.

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