Product vs Process

Oriented Syllabuses
1.
Product-Oriented
Syllabuses
 “
Product oriented syllabuses are those in
which the focus is on the knowledge and
skills which learners should gain as result
of instruction.
– Nunan (1988)-

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 ▪ Product-oriented syllabus focuses on outcomes
(what is learnt at the end of a learning session)
▪ Focuses on things learnt at the end of a learning
process (things that are instructed by teachers/instructors)

Example
In a language classroom- students work with
Grammatical structure in their English course and
show their progress at the end of the session by
attending tests based on the provided grammatical
items.
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2.
Process-Oriented
Syllabuses
 “
A process oriented syllabus focuses on the
skills and processes involved in learning
language.

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 ▪ It focuses on the processes of learning.
▪ Process-oriented syllabuses are developed as a result of a
sense of failure in product-oriented syllabuses to enhance
communicative language skills.

Example
Rather focusing on the features of the products of writing,
such as letters, compositions, notes, reports etc, a process-
writing syllabus would focus on the processes writers use to
complete their tasks, such as: collecting information,
organizing ideas, drafting and revising.
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Types of Product Oriented Syllabus

Functional-
Grammatical Analytical
Notional
Syllabus Syllabus
Syllabus

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Grammatical Syllabus
1. Based on the structure of a language.
2. Learners learn grammatical structures in a sequence
that reflects their complexity.
3. Does not encourage the use of grammatical structures
in real communication, leading to many artificial
contexts for practice.
4. Inability to transfer learning to real communication

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Functional – Notional Syllabus
Function: communicative purpose for which we use language. Notion:
conceptual meanings expressed through language. (objects, entities,
logical relationships, etc.)
1. In this syllabus language contents is arranged according
to learners communicational needs.
2. It sets realistic learning tasks.
3. It provides for the teaching of real world language.
4. It provides for the widespread promotion of foreign
language courses
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Analytical Syllabus
1. Organized in terms of the purposes for which the
learner is learning the language.
2. Syllabus is not designed for analyzing the
grammatical structure of the language. It is designed
for the communicative use/purpose of the language.
3. The language and contents are drawn from the input.
4. Language contents are selected and graded primarily
according to the learner's need (real world
communicative task)
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Types of Process Oriented Syllabus

Natural
Task-Based Content Based
Approach
Syllabus Syllabus
Syllabus

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Task Based Syllabus
1. An activity or action carried out as the result of processing or
understanding language.
2. Based on task-based learning .
3. Learners carry out tasks such as solving a problem or planning an
activity.
4. It involves learner contributions and promote language practice.
5. The language learnt comes out of the linguistic demands of the
activity.
Example: drawing a map while listening to an instruction, filling out a
form, performing a command, etc.

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Content Based Syllabus
1. An approach to language teaching in which the focus is on the
development of language through classroom activities.
2. Designed to promote cognitive skills.
3. Involves the integration of subject matter(what to talk about) and
linguistic matter (how to talk about)
4. Theme based teaching.
5. Language class activities are specific to the subject matter being
taught.
6. Teaching elements/course is structured around certain themes Such
as: Cooperative learning, task base/experiential learning, project
work etc.
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Natural Approach Syllabus
Comprehensively described by Krashen and Terrell (1983). Principles
are based on experimental research such as:
1. The goal is communication skills.
2. Comprehension precedes production.
3. Learners are not forced to respond; production emerges naturally.
4. Central activities promote subconscious acquisition of language,
rather than conscious learning.
The natural approach is designed to develop basic personal
communication skills- both oral and written and was not
developed specifically to teach learning skills.
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Comparison between Product oriented and
Process oriented Syllabus

Product-Oriented Syllabus Process-Oriented Syllabus

▪ Focus is on knowledge and skills ▪ Focuses on the process of
▪ Skills that are learnt at the end of learning
learning session
▪ Skills that are involved in
▪ Focuses on completed acts of language learning process
communication
▪ Emphasis is on the process
▪ Emphasis on the output
▪ Concentration is towards the goal ▪ Series of action is important

Every syllabus is both product-oriented as well as process- oriented. But the

difference is created because of the emphasis on any one of them while
designing a syllabus. Many argue that a successful syllabus must be
combination of both processes and outcomes.
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