BS ENGLISH LITERATURE & LINGUISTICS
COURSE TITLE: Syllabus Design
COURSE CODE: LNG-605
1. Course Description:
This course gives you the knowledge and skills to approach or review the design and
development of language teaching syllabi. You will look at the relationships between
the syllabus and the curriculum, and with other aspects of teaching and learning, and
explore the challenges of syllabus design. You will look at the role of the coursebook,
learning objectives and assessment outcomes in syllabus design.
It will supply ideas and techniques potentially applicable in the course of future
employment by addressing the question: How do you make the best-informed choice of
materials for a given group of foreign language learners, faced with constraints such as
having to decide on materials relatively quickly, having to invest money in the most
sensible way, possibly having to choose without first being able to pilot the materials,
trying to pick something which will interest your students and, not least, making a choice
which can be defended on the basis of a good number of objective criteria.
Course Objectives:
On successfully completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Define syllabus designing and materials development
2. Describe process oriented and product oriented approaches to syllabus design
3. Describe the process of syllabus designing and materials development
4. Differentiate and develop authentic and created materials
5. Apply theoretical knowledge to design syllabus and develop materials
Learning Outcomes:
Students will be able to know,
• key concepts in syllabus design and development
• issues and options in syllabus design and development
• the relationship between the syllabus and the coursebook
• the role of learning objectives and assessment in a syllabus
• how to design ESP syllabus
Description of Topics:
Weeks Description of Topics Recommended Materials
The origins of language curriculum Richards, 2001, Chapter1,
development pp 1-16; Nunan, 1988,
Chapter 1, pp.3-8
• Vocabulary selection
1st • Grammar selection and gradation
Week
• Assumptions underlying early
approaches to syllabus design
• Discussion questions and activities
The scope of syllabus design
• A general curriculum model
• Defining ‘syllabus’
• The role of the classroom teacher
From syllabus design to curriculum Richards, 2001, Chapter 2,
development pp.23-43
• The quest for new methods
• Changing needs for foreign languages in
Europe
• English for specific purposes
2nd
Week • Needs analysis in ESP
• Communicative language teaching
• Emergence of a curriculum approach in
language teaching
•
Getting Started Nunan, 1988, Chapter 2,
pp.10-25
• Basic orientations
• Learning purpose
Learning goals Product-oriented syllabuses
3rd
Week • Analytic and synthetic syllabus planning
• Grammatical syllabuses
• Criticizing grammatical syllabuses
Product-oriented syllabuses Nunan, 1988, Chapter 3,
pp.27-35
• Analytic and synthetic syllabus planning
5th • Grammatical syllabuses
Week
Criticizing grammatical syllabuses
Product-oriented syllabuses (continued) Nunan, 1988, Chapter 3,
• Functional-notional syllabuses pp.36-40
• Criticizing functional-notional
6th
syllabuses
Week
• Analytic syllabuses
• Conclusion
Process-oriented syllabuses
• Introduction
• Procedural syllabuses
• Task-based syllabuses
• Content syllabuses
Process-oriented syllabuses Nunan, 1988, Chapter 4,
pp.40-45
• Introduction
7th • Procedural syllabuses
Week • Task-based syllabuses
Content syllabuses
Process-oriented syllabuses Nunan, 1988, Chapter 4,
pp.46-51
• The natural approach
• Syllabus design and methodology
8th • Grading tasks
Week • Conclusion
Mid Term Examinations
Nunan, 1988, Chapter 5,
pp.60-71
Objectives
Types of objectives
10th • Performance objectives in language
Week teaching
• Criticizing performance objectives
• Process and product objectives
Needs and goals Nunan, 1988, Chapter 6,
pp.74-84;
• Needs analysis Richards, 2001, Chapter3,
11th • From needs to goals pp.51-89
Week • Conclusion
Selecting and grading content Nunan, 1988, Chapter 7,
12th
pp.85-95
Week • Selecting grammatical components
• Selecting functional and notional
components
• Relating grammatical, functional, and
notional components
• Grading content
Selecting and grading learning tasks Nunan, 1988, Chapter 8,
pp.96-121
• Goals, objectives, and tasks
• Procedural syllabuses
• The natural approach
13th • Content-based syllabuses
Week • Levels of difficulty
• Teaching grammar as process
Selecting and grading objectives Nunan, 1988, Chapter 9,
pp.122-133
• Product-oriented objectives
14th • Process-oriented objectives
Week
Exploring syllabus design Nunan, 1988, Chapter 10,
pp.135-147
• General principles
• Curriculum and syllabus models
• Purposes and goals
15th
Week
• Syllabus products
• Experiential content
• Tasks and activities
• Objectives
The role and design of instructional materials Richards, 2001, Chapter 1,
Authentic versus created materials pp.251-271
Textbooks
• Evaluating textbooks
16th
• Adapting textbooks
Week
Preparing materials for a program
Managing a materials writing project
Monitoring the use of materials
Discussion questions and activities
Approaches to evaluation Richards, 2001, Chapter 1,
Purposes of evaluation pp.286-299
Formative evaluation
17th Illuminative evaluation
Week Summative evaluation
Issues in program evaluation
Procedures used in conducting evaluations
Discussion questions and activities
(Final Term Examination)
Textbook(s):
Nunan, D., Candlin, C. N., & Widdowson, H. G. (1988). Syllabus design (Vol. 55).
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge
University Press.
Suggested Materials:
Nation, I.S.P. and Macalister, J. (2010) Language curriculum design. Routledge
McDonough, J. and Shaw, C. (2003) Materials and Methods in ELT: A Teacher’s
Guide, Blackwell
Richards, J. C. (2017). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching (2nd ed.).
Cambridge University Press.