SYLLABUS TYPES

Syllabus is a list of the topics to be covered on a course. This is usually drawn up by the
institution in which teaching takes place sometimes with input from both internal sources
(students, teachers, academic managers etc.) and external sources (sponsors, examination
boards, ministries etc.). Syllabuses (or syllabi) often do prescribe the methodology even if
only implicitly.

Curriculum is an externally imposed and prescribed set of learning objectives and content.
Such lists are often drawn up by ministries or other external powers such as examination
boards. Curriculums (or curricula) do not usually prescribe how a course will be taught; they
merely list what is to be taught and what the learners should be able to do by the end of a
course (or series of courses spread over considerable time such as secondary school
curricula).

The terms curriculum and syllabus are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes
differentiated, and sometimes misused and misunderstood.

Syllabus design deals with the selection and grading of content based on principles
Methodology is concerned with the selection and sequencing of learning activities, exercises,
and related classroom activities.

Grading/sequencing: the arrangement of the content of a language course or a textbook so

Selection: the choice of linguistic content (vocabulary, grammar etc.) for a language course,
textbook, etc. Procedures for selecting language items to include in a language course include
the use of frequency, difficulty etc.

What is a syllabus?

‘A plan of what is to be achieved through teaching and learning.’ (Breen 1984)

‘A document which says what will (or should) be learned. '(Hutchinson and Walters 1987)

‘A specification of what is to be taught in a language program and the order in which it is to

The syllabus is the overall organizing principle for what is to be taught and learned.
(McDonough and Shaw 1993)

Why have a syllabus?

 to break down the complex into manageable units of learning

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 to guide teachers and learners in how the work will be covered

On what criteria can a syllabus be based?

White (1988) divides syllabus into two broad types and within these he lists the following
sub-types amongst others:

 structural/grammatical focus
 situational focus
 topic/theme focus
 notional/functional focus
 skills focus

Types of syllabuses

1. Grammatical/Structural
A 'traditional' syllabus, listing formal language items to be learned. The ordering of items
usually depends on a judgement concerning their complexity rather than communicative
utility. Simple forms are handled first, more complex ones later e.g. the present tense,
comparison of adjectives, past tense etc.

2. Functional
A syllabus which focuses on learning the language to perform certain functions in the
language such as asking for and giving information, apologising etc. Such a syllabus may
subsume within it a notional approach but that is not common. It is common to find it
combined with a Situational Syllabus, however. Typical content will cover lists such as:
 Asking about/expressing likes and dislikes
 Greetings and introductions
 Offering/accepting/declining refreshment.
Purely functional syllabuses are rare, both functions, notions and structures are combined.

3. Lexical
This kind of syllabus focuses on lexical patterns with associated collocations and idioms,
usually divided into graded sections and common ways to express meaning. It usually draws
on corpus research to discover patterns and frequencies in the language.

4. Grammatical-lexical
A very common kind of syllabus: both structures and lexis are specified: either together, in
sections that correspond to the units of a course, or in two separate lists.

5. Situational
These syllabuses take the real life contexts of language uses as their basis: sections would be
headed by names of situations or locations such as 'Eating a meal' or 'Travelling by air, train,
car.

6. Topic-based
This is a syllabus organised around topic rather than language structure which has similarities
to both a lexical and a situational syllabus (with both of which it is often combined).
These sorts of syllabuses are often designed with a specific group (or age group) in mind or

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when teaching English for Special Purposes (ESP). Typical topics in such a syllabus might
include: Lifestyles, Personal relationships, School. These usually indicate a fairly clear set of
vocabulary items, which may be specified

7. Notional
A syllabus which focuses on learning the language to describe universal concepts, notions
such as size, temperature, frequency, likelihood etc.

8. Task based
This kind of syllabus focuses on using tasks to help learners deploy language
communicatively. It is important that the tasks represent real-world language. This kind of
syllabus is often combined with a skills-based or process syllabus.
Task types are usually listed and sometimes particularly tasks are prescribed. For example,
Negotiation tasks: reaching a consensus; Forward planning tasks: planning an excursion.

9. Mixed or hybrid
This is possible the most common type of syllabus and focuses on combining elements of all,
or a range of, syllabus types so that each lesson or series of lessons focuses on different
aspects of what is to be learnt. Typical content will include items from any of the areas above.
In many cases, a mixed syllabus will be a combination of a structural, functional and topic
syllabus. Language will be set in a topic area, the structure will be presented and practised and
then the learners will focus on using the language to communicate.

10. Procedural
These syllabuses specify the learning tasks to be done rather than the language itself or even
its meanings. Examples of tasks might be: map reading, doing scientific experiments, story-
writing etc. The most well-known procedural syllabus is associated with the Bangalore
Project (Prahbu, 1987).

11. Process
This is the only syllabus which is not pre-set. The content of the course is negotiated with the
learners at the beginning of the course and during it, and actually listed only retrospectively.

Characteristics of a syllabus:
1. consists of a comprehensive list of: content items (words, structures, topics)
process items (tasks, methods, techniques)
2. items are ordered (easier, more essential items first)
3. has explicit objectives
4. it is a public document
5. may indicate a time schedule
6. may indicate a preferred methodology or approach
7. may recommend materials

Selection and grading

By grading we mean the speed with which the student progresses, how much new material is
introduced in a given number of hours, how close together or how far apart new grammatical
structures are in relation to each other, how much new vocabulary is introduced in each unit
and so on. The grading of the language content can be steep, average or shallow.

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By recycling we mean the consolidation of knowledge. Taking the example of teaching
vocabulary, a word may need to be recycled three, four or six times before it is learnt
adequately.

Linear and cyclical progression

Grading and recycling

Functional syllabus Structural syllabus

Identify the possible syllabus type for each box.