FOCUSING ON

LANGUAGE

CONTENT IN A

COMMUNICATIVE

SYLLABUS

WAHYU UTAMI2010 1250 0440

SURYONO2010 1250 1260

Discrete and holistic views: the horns

of a dilemma

Integrating notional and functional meaning with

grammar thematic content and lexis

Teachers need to do the following :

Present lingustic forms

systematically

use communicative context

use a variety of text – types

what is needed for course development is to combine forms,

notions, functions, lexis and language skills.

DEVELOPING

INVENTORIES

NOTIONS AND GRAMMAR

THEMES AND TOPICS

SOCIOCULTURAL FUNCTIONS

A. All the grammatical topics to be taught during

the course, organized in a sequence suitable

for systematic learning and for

generalizations that can be developed along

the way;

B. A list of notional categories to be taught

during the course.

A. To provide appropriate cultural

contextualization for the language

material in the syllabus.

B. To motivate interest by using topics

that are relevant and appealing to a

particular group of learners.

The typical situations in which each speech act is

used by native speakers.

The extent to which the speech act changes in

form or selection of the particular utterance

according to the participants taking part.

The most frequent utterances that native speakers

use to carry out this speech act in formal and

informal settings.

The goal is to create course plans which will consist of a theme, a list of notions and grammatical structures, and a selection of functions.

Lexis is derived in part from the notional-grammatical inventory; time expressions; prepositions; verbs that fit the patterns.

Lexis has failed to receive enough attention either in older grammatical syllabuses or in more recent communicative approaches.

Designers are able to choose new lexical items which draw on the selected theme.

Planners need to work with maps of language content which are compatible with the chronological constraints of the instructional setting, so grammars which segment language into discrete elements

have great appeal.

• It has gained prominence through the influence of a humanistically

oriented philosophy.

• The unit of analysis of language itself has come to be viewed by linguistic scholars and those in related disciplines not as single sentences, but rather so longer spans of language or discourse.

Second & foreign language instruction has ;to a great extentincorporated the discrete element view of languageparticularly in audiolingual and cognitive – code approaches

Human languages differ in the

manner in which forms

represent functions.

Forms and functions in

language are manisfestations

of the discrete vs. holistic

dilemma as it appears in the

domain of language content.

Fluency, has been associated with

communicating one’s idea, getting the

meaning across, or in the terms of the

dichotomy, using language either

holistically or comprehensively.

Accuracy processes are concerned with

those aspects of language content that are

conducive to analysis through dissection.

Those who stress knowing

the formal properties of

language as a proper

outcome for learners in a

language course, and

‘activists’ those who stress

using language actively.

Various sequential plans have been proposed for

course design :

A holistic approach

A more structural / notional approach

The early phrase of the course is structural

The course follows a thematic, communicative

tone, similar a language arts course.

Other suggestions have been made for the

utilization of language content based on analyses

that are less tied to discreteness since they draw on

systemic characteristic

An approach to the study of

human language might

provide course designers a

framework which brings a

synthesis of discrete and

holistic view.

“FOCUSING ON

LANGUAGE

CONTENT IN A

COMMUNICATIVE

SYLLABUS “

(this presentation is an excerpt of chapter 6 of course design” by Fraida Dubin & Elite Olshtain)