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Process-oriented syllabuses

PROCEDURAL SYLLABUSES

PROCEDURAL SYLLABUSESThe principles underlying procedural and task-based syllabuses are very similarIn fact, they are seen as synonymous by Richards, Platt, and Weber (1985), who describe them both as follows:

a syllabus which is organized around tasks, rather than in terms of grammar or vocabulary. For example the syllabus may suggest a variety of different kinds of tasks which the learners are expected to carry out in the language, such as using the telephone to obtain information; drawing maps based on oral instructions; performing actions based on commands given in the target language; giving orders and instructions to others, etc. It has been argued that this is a more effective way of learning a language since it provides a purpose for the use and learning of a language other than simply learning language items for their own sake.(Richards, Platt, and Weber 1985: 289)

Both task-based and procedural syllabuses share a concern with the classroom processes which stimulate learning .They therefore differ from syllabuses in which the focus is on the linguistic items that students will learn or the communicative skills that they will be able to display as a result of instruction. In both approaches, the syllabus consists, not of a list of items determined through some form of linguistic analysis, nor of a description of what learners will be able to do at the end of a course of study, but of the specification of the tasks and activities that learners will engage in class.

Task-based syllabuses

Task-based syllabusesThe selection of 'task' as a basic building block has been justified on several grounds, but most particularly for pedagogic and psycholinguistic reasons Long and Crookes (1986) cite general educational literature which suggests that tasks are a more salient unit of planning for teachers than objectives Despite its rather recent appearance on the syllabus scene, 'task-based covers several divergent approaches. Two recent definitions of 'task' are provided below

... a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward. Thus, examples of tasks include painting a fence , dressing a child, filling out a form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline reservation . . . In other words, by "task" is meant the hundred and one things people do in everyday life.(Long 1985: 89). . . an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language (i.e. as a response). For example, drawing a map while listening to an instruction and performing a command . . . A task usually requires the teacher to specify what will be regarded as successful completion of the task.(Richards, Platt, and Weber 1985: 289)

The problem for the task-based syllabus designer is that a variety of factors will interact to determine task difficulty. In addition, as some of these factors will be dependent on characteristics of the learner, what is difficult for Learner A may not necessarily be difficult for Learner B.

Content syllabuses

Content syllabusescontent syllabus is yet another realization of the analytic approach to syllabus design. It differs from task-based syllabuses in that experiential content, which provides the point of departure for the syllabus, is usually derived from some fairly well-defined subject area.This might be other subjects in a school curriculum such as science or social studies, or specialist subject matter relating to an academic or technical field such as mechanical engineering, medicine, or computing.

PREPARED BY:

PATRIXIA ANN BALDONAZA3E

REFERENCE:SYLLABUS DESIGN (PDF)By: NUNAN

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pedagogicPedagogicalOf, relating to, or befitting a teacher or educationback

psycholinguisticThe study of the mental faculties involved in the perception, production, and acquisition of languageback

SalientVery important or noticeableback