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Notes On Syllabus Vs Curriculum Course: Applied Linguistics

The document discusses the key differences between a syllabus and curriculum. A syllabus is a descriptive document that provides details on topics, assignments, and schedule for a specific subject. It is determined by exam boards and tailored by individual teachers. A curriculum is a prescriptive set of guidelines for the overall academic content and chapters covered in a program determined by the educational institution. It encompasses a wider scope than a syllabus and remains uniform for all teachers until the entire course is completed.

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1K views3 pages

Notes On Syllabus Vs Curriculum Course: Applied Linguistics

The document discusses the key differences between a syllabus and curriculum. A syllabus is a descriptive document that provides details on topics, assignments, and schedule for a specific subject. It is determined by exam boards and tailored by individual teachers. A curriculum is a prescriptive set of guidelines for the overall academic content and chapters covered in a program determined by the educational institution. It encompasses a wider scope than a syllabus and remains uniform for all teachers until the entire course is completed.

Uploaded by

Sadia Mukhtar
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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NOTES ON SYLLABUS VS CURRICULUM

Course: Applied Linguistics

What is syllabus?
Syllabus is basically a document that defines the subject. It explains the things
you need to know about a subject. When a student starts a specific subject in a
class, he needs to know about the subject. The syllabus is the document which
guide towards the subject.

What is included in syllabus?


The student can know the topics, assignments and schedule of a subject by
reading syllabus. It also covers the rules, policies and instructions. In short we
can say that a syllabus is a summary or brief of main lectures in a subject.

What is curriculum?
Curriculum is a whole content which is taught in a particular course/program.
These are skills, learning experience, and knowledge to be imparted to the
students. It is a very broad term and has no specific definition. You can call it
combination of instructional practices, series of things that students expect to
learn, a floor plan or blue print of what will be taught. Curriculum is
prescriptive in nature

Syllabus Vs Curriculum: Key Differences


Here is a table listing the various comparison points of the debate of syllabus vs
curriculum:
Comparison Points Curriculum Syllabus
of
Syllabus vs
Curriculum
Meaning A set of guidelines of A document that has all
the the
different academic information about
contents different
and chapters that are topics or concepts that
covered during a need
program to be covered for a
offered by a particular particular
educational institution. subject.
Nature Prescriptive Descriptive
Structured For Complete Course Each Subject Under the
Course
Determined By Administration of Exam Board
College,
Institute or School or
the
Government
Scope Wide Narrow
Uniformity Uniform for all the Different from one
teachers teacher to another
Term Duration Until the course lasts A fixed-term,
can also be a year
BASIS FOR SYLLABUS CURRICULUM
COMPARISON

Meaning Syllabus is the document Curriculum is the overall content,


that contains all the portion taught in an educational system or
of the concepts covered in a a course.
subject.

Origin Syllabus is a Greek term. Curriculum is a Latin term.

Set for A subject A course

Nature Descriptive Prescriptive

Scope Narrow Wide

Set out by Exam board Government or the administration


of school, college or institute.

Term For a fixed term, normally a Till the course lasts.


year.

Uniformity Varies from teacher to Same for all teachers.


teacher.

Elaborating the Key Differences Between Syllabus vs Curriculum


 The first point of difference lies between the structure of the syllabus vs
curriculum. Curriculum contains the overall content as provided by an education
board for a particular course spanning across a stipulated time period.
Whereas syllabus explains the summary of different topics covered or units that
will be taught in a specific subject or discipline under that particular course.
 Curriculum remains prescriptive in nature as its structure needs to be followed
in the specified manner while syllabus is more descriptive and flexible in
nature and can be covered in a non-prescriptive manner.
 Curriculum is meticulously designed by the school or college
administration while syllabus gets created by teachers by the educational board.
 Curriculum stays the same for every teacher while syllabus can differ and it can
be covered in a distinctive manner as per their own individual teaching style.
 Another important point of difference between syllabus vs curriculum is that the
term curriculum originated from Latin “curricule” which means to run or course.
On the other hand, the term syllabus finds its origins in
the Greek “sittuba” meaning title slip or label.
 Curriculum encompasses more extensive scope than syllabus. This is
because syllabus remains confined to a particular subject while curriculum
provides the structure for the whole course.
 Syllabus is only provided for a year while the curriculum covers the whole
course.
 Curriculum contains all the subjects and outlines how they will be
studied during the course while syllabus is more detailed version for each
subject under the course.

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