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Types of Syllabus

The document discusses various types of English syllabuses, including structural, situational, functional, and lexical syllabuses, highlighting their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. The structural syllabus focuses on grammar and language forms but lacks practical communicative application, while the situational syllabus is tailored to specific contexts for language use. The functional syllabus emphasizes the practical use of language functions, and the lexical syllabus prioritizes teaching the most frequently used words and their patterns for effective communication.

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Types of Syllabus

The document discusses various types of English syllabuses, including structural, situational, functional, and lexical syllabuses, highlighting their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. The structural syllabus focuses on grammar and language forms but lacks practical communicative application, while the situational syllabus is tailored to specific contexts for language use. The functional syllabus emphasizes the practical use of language functions, and the lexical syllabus prioritizes teaching the most frequently used words and their patterns for effective communication.

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telagox411
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TYPES OF SYLLABI

Let us now look at different types of syllabuses for teaching English, their characteristics and the
advantages and disadvantages pertaining to each:

 The structural/grammatical syllabus


 The functional syllabus
 The situational syllabus
 The lexical syllabus

The structural/grammatical syllabus


This is the syllabus with which most of us are familiar. This is also called a grammatical or linguistic
syllabus because it is centred around grammatical items such as articles, the singular and plural, the
tenses and adverbial forms. The structural syllabus was produced for the first time in the mid-fifties
in Madras and it was made part of that state's school curriculum. Very soon it spread to different
parts of the country. The inspiration came from pioneer work carried out at the Institute of
Education, London, by people like Mackey, Noonan and others. They attempted to do for the
structures of English what Michael West and others had done for vocabulary --- prepare a list of the
minimum number of words and structures that a non-native learner would need to be able to
communicate adequately (using a 2500 word vocabulary). It had to be a more arbitrary and
subjective kind of selection, because it was difficult to find statistical evidence to show which
structures are most commonly used in a language (as in the case of words). In addition to the criteria
of frequency, range, productivity and teachability (used for selecting and grading vocabulary), the
criterion of complexity was also used for selecting and grading the structures. Simple structures
were taught before introducing the complex ones. These structures were taught in situations, but
the situations were artificial and far removed from reality.

Some people consider the structural syllabus to be subject-centred because its starting point is the
internal structure of language rather than its use. The sequencing of the items in the structural
syllabus is based on the accumulated practical wisdom of teachers. This sequence may not match
with the natural order of acquisition of learners.

The syllabus gives practice to learners in manipulating language forms but pays little attention to the
functional meaning that the language forms can be used for. The problem gets further complicated
because there is no one-to-one relation /between form and function.

Grammatical grading implies mastery of one grammatical item at a time. But language acquisition is
more a global than a linear process and it demands the learning of different items simultaneously.
Grammatical grading in this sense, interferes with the natural language acquisition process.

Advantages and disadvantages of learning English through the structural syllabus

The structural syllabus helps the learners to master structures but does not tell them how to use
them. It helps them to acquire linguistic competence but it does not help them in acquiring
communicative competence. There is every likelihood of learners getting demotivated with this kind
of syllabus because they cannot readily put to use what they have learnt in the classroom.

The situational syllabus


The starting point for syllabus organization of the situational syllabus is situations. The syllabus
designer using situational syllabus has to identify situations (for example, at the bank, at the post
office) where the learners are likely to use the language, analyse the transactions they are likely to
make in those situations, and give them the language they need to successfully perform those
transactions.

For example, take a situation, "At the Bank". People go there to open an account, deposit money,
deposit cheques or withdraw money. Sometimes, they take loans. They need to interact with the
employees of the bank in order to get their work done. The syllabus designer will make a list of the
language items necessary to perform these functions at the bank and will include them in the
syllabus.
This type of syllabus is especially useful for people who use language in limited situations and for
specific purposes. The learners will be motivated to study because it is based on their needs.

The functional syllabus


In this syllabus, the criterion for the selection and organisation of the content is functions. A list of
functions is made and graded in terms of its usefulness to the learner, and the language necessary
for performing these functions is provided to the learner.
Some examples of functions for which we use English are:

 asking for information


 expressing likes and dislikes
 agreeing and disagreeing
 asking for permission
 giving and refusing permission
 introducing yourself
 starting a conversation with a stranger
 closing a conversation
 congratulating someone
 responding to compliments or congratulations

The order in which the functions are arranged is based on the syllabus designer's assumptions about
the usefulness of these functions in meeting the communicative needs of the learners.
To that extent, the ordering of the content is subjective in nature.

The advantages of a functional syllabus are as follows:


i. It is based on the learners' perceived needs. The learners will be motivated to learn because the
syllabus makes sense to them. Learners find topics like introducing someone, agreeing and
disagreeing, more useful than learning grammatical structures.
ii. Learners can start putting to use whatever language they learn in the classroom. For example, if
they learn the different forms of introducing someone, they can start making use of those
expressions immediately after the class (in real-life situations). But in the case of learners who
learn through the structural syllabus, some gestation period is required before they can actually use
the language.

iii. Learners who drop out half way through the course also develop some communicative ability.

The limitations of a functional syllabus


i. The lists of functions and notions (like the lists of structures and words) may not necessarily reflect
the way languages are learned (Widdowson, 1979). ii. The criteria for selecting functions, like need,
utility, coverage do not go hand in hand with the criteria applied for selecting structures which are
simplicity, combinability, teachability and learnability. As the functions dictate the structures to be
used, some structures, which come late in the structural syllabus will have to come early in the
functional syllabus.

The lexical syllabus


In this type of syllabus, word frequency determines the contents of the course. Samples of natural
language are analysed on a large scale (using computers) and the commonest words in the language
along with the commonest patterns are identified. The learners are exposed to the different ways in
which these words are used in their most natural environment. In the early eighties, the COBUILD
research team analysed 20 million words and found that there are 700 most frequent words which
account for around 70% of all English texts; 1500 most frequent words which account for around
76% of texts, and 2,500 words which account for 80% of all texts. Learners are first taught the 700
most frequent words of English and their meanings and uses. At Level II, they are exposed to 1500
words and at Level III, they are exposed to 2,500 words. At the end of Level III, learners learn 80% of
the words along with their meanings and uses.

Summary

Some of the syllabuses which focus on the end -product of language learning are:

The structural syllabus focuses on teaching words and structures. Learners


learn the usage but they may not be able to use them for communication in real-
life situations.

The situational syllabus concentrates on the situations in which the learners


are likely to use the language and tries to give them the language for communicating
with people in those situations. In this syllabus, a conscious attempt has been
made to help the learners use the language in those situations. But the syllabus
is not designed for language use outside those situations.
The functional syllabus tries to overcome this barrier by giving learners
opportunities to use English as a tool of communication in different settings.
They are given the language to express different functions.

Finally, the lexical syllabus tries to teach the learners the commonest words
along with their meanings and the commonest patterns in which they are used so
that learners can use the language for communication.

Thus we can clearly see the shift in the different syllabuses from knowledge about the language
(structural syllabus) to how to use the language(other syllabuses).

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