TYPES OF SYLLABUS AND MODELS OF ORGANIZATION

Types of Syllabus
According to Hutchinson and Waters, a syllabus is a document which says what will (or at least what should
be) learnt. This is an outline or a summary of the topics to be discussed in an education, lecture, or training
course.
The Evaluation Syllabus
It states what the successful learner will know by the end of the course. In effect it puts on record the basis
in which success or failure will be evaluated. It reflects to an assumption as to the nature of language and
linguistic performance. For example, if the syllabus is framed in terms of grammatical structures, this reflects a
view that knowing a language consists of knowing the constituent structures. It would be impossible to produce
an evaluation syllabus without having a view of what language is and how it can be broken down (Hutchinson and
Waters).
The Organizational Syllabus
As well as listing what should be learnt, a syllabus can also state the order in which it is to be learnt. In
organizing the items in a syllabus, it is necessary to consider the factors which depend upon the view of how
people learn, e.g.:
What is more easily learnt?
Are some items needed in order to
What is more fundamental to learning?
learn other items?
What is more useful in the classroom?
The organizational syllabus, therefore, is an implicit statement about the nature of the language and of
learning (Hutchinson and Waters).
The Materials Syllabus
The two syllabuses considered so far might be regarded as pure syllabuses, in that they have not been
interpreted. The syllabuses say nothing about how learning will be achieved. But a syllabus like a course design
model, is only as good as the interpretations that is put on it. On its route to the learner the syllabus goes through
a series of interpretations.
The first person to interpret the syllabus is usually the materials writer. In writing materials, the author
adds yet more assumptions about the nature of the language, language learning, and language use. The author
decides the context in which language will appear, the relative weightings, and integration of skills, the number
and type of exercises to be spent on any language. The degree of recycling or revision. These can all have an
effect on whether and how well something is learnt (Hutchinson and Waters).
The Teacher Syllabus
The second stage of interpretation usually comes through the teacher. The great majority of students
would learn language through the mediation of a teacher. Thus we have the teacher syllabus. (Breen, 1984)
Like the materials writer, the teacher can influence the clarity, intensity, and frequency of any item, and
thereby affect the image that the learners receive. Stevic (1984) recounts how the inexperienced teacher would
finish in two minutes an activity that he would spend 20 minutes on. This kind of variability will inevitably affect
the degree of learning (Hutchinson and Waters).
The Classroom Syllabus
As every teacher knows, what is planned and what actually happens in a lesson are two different things
(Allwright, 1984). A lesson is a communicative event, which is created by a number of forces. The classroom
creates conditions which will affect the nature of a planned lesson.
The classroom then, is not simply a neutral channel for the passage of information from teacher to learner.
It is a dynamic, interactive environment, which affects the nature of both of what is taught and what is learnt. The
classroom thus generates its own syllabus (Breen, 1984).
The Learner Syllabus
The syllabuses we have considered till now might all be referred to as external syllabuses. The last type of
syllabus, however, is the internal syllabus. It is the network of knowledge that develops in the learners brain and
which enables the learner to comprehend and store the later knowledge. We might call this the learner syllabus
(Breen, 1984).
It is a retrospective record of what has been
learnt rather than a prospective plan on what will be
learnt (Candlin, 1984). The importance of the learner
syllabus lies in the fact that is is through the filter of
this syllabus that the learner views the other
syllabuses.
Task Analysis Model
Task analysis is the systematic procedure used
by instructional designers to decide what a learner
needs to learn or understand by participating in
instruction. Defines the content needed to solve the
performance problem or alleviate a performance need
makes the educator work through the individual
students and identify subtle steps makes the designer
see the content from the learners viewpoint.

TYPES OF SYLLABUS AND MODELS OF ORGANIZATION

According to Dick & Carey, task analysis is the process of naming the skills and knowledge that should be involved
in instruction.
- What exactly would learners be doing if they were demonstrating that they already could
perform the goal?
- What should task analysis help us answer
- What is the task that a learner needs to be able to accomplish or perform?
- What are they key components of this task (what are the skills and knowledge learner needs in
order to complete or perform the task)?
- How will you determine whether a learner is able to complete the task?
Conceptual Model
A conceptual model is a model
made of the composition of concepts
that, thus exists only in the mind.
Conceptual models are used to help us
know, understand, or simulate the
subject matter they represent.
The term conceptual model may
be used to refer to models which are
formed
after
a
conceptualization
process in the mind. Conceptual models
represent
human
intentions
or
semantics.
Conceptualization
from
observation of physical existence and
conceptual modeling are the necessary
means human employ to think and
solve problems. Concepts are used to
convey
semantics
during
various
natural
languages
based
communication. Since a concept might
map to multiple semantics by itself, an explicit formalization is usually required for identifying and locating the
intended semantic from several candidates to avoid misunderstandings and confusions in conceptual model.
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are visual displays of key content information designed to benefit learners who have
difficulty organizing information (Fisher & Schumaker, 1995). Graphic organizers are meant to help students
clearly visualize how ideas are organized within a text or surrounding a concept. Graphic organizers provide
students with a structure for abstract ideas.
Graphic organizers can be categorized in many ways according to the way they arrange information:
hierarchical, conceptual, sequential, or cyclical (Bromley, Irwin-DeVitis, & Modlo, 1995). Some graphic organizers
focus on one particular content area. For example, a vast number of graphic organizers have been created solely
around reading and pre-reading strategies (Merkley & Jeffries, 2000).
Spider Map

Series of Events Chain

Used to describe the
stages of something (the life
cycle of a primate); the
steps in a linear procedure
(how to neutralize an acid); a sequence of events (how
feudalism led to the formation of nation states); or the
goals, actions, and outcomes of a historical figure or
character in a novel (the rise and fall of Napoleon). Key
frame questions: What is the object, procedure, or
initiating event? What are the stages or steps? How do
they lead to one another? What is the final outcome?

Used to describe a central idea: a thing (a

geographic region), process (meiosis), concept
(altruism), or proposition with support (experimental
drugs should be available to AIDS victims). Key frame
questions: What is the central idea? What are its
attributes? What are its functions?

TYPES OF SYLLABUS AND MODELS OF ORGANIZATION

Continuum Scale

3
Compare/Contrast Matrix
Name 1 Name 2
Attribute 1

Used for time lines showing historical events or

ages (grade levels in school), degrees of something
(weight), shades of meaning (Likert scales), or ratings
scales (achievement in school). Key frame questions:
What is being scaled? What are the end points?

Problem/Solution Outline
Used to represent a
problem, attempted
solutions, and results
(the national debt).
Key frame questions:
What
was
the
problem? Who had
the problem? Why
was it a problem?
What attempts were
made to solve the
problem? Did those
attempts succeed?

Human Interaction Outline

Used to show the nature of
an
interaction
between
persons
or
groups
(Europeans settlers and
American
Indians).
Key
frame questions: Who are
the persons or groups?
What were their goals? Did
they conflict or cooperate?
What was the outcome for
each person or group?

Cycle
Used to show how a
series of events interact to
produce a set of results
again and again (weather
phenomena,
cycles
of
achievement and failure,
the life cycle). Key frame
questions: What are the
critical events in the cycle?
How are they related? In
what ways are they selfreinforcing?

Attribute 2
Attribute 3
Used to show similarities and differences between two
things (people, places, events, ideas, etc.). Key frame
question: What things are being compared? How are
they similar? How are they different?

Network Tree

Used to show causal information (causes of

poverty), a hierarchy (types of insects), or branching
procedures (the circulatory system). Key frame
questions: What is the superordinate category? What
are the subordinate categories? How are they related?
How many levels are there?
Fishbone Map

Used to show the causal interaction of a complex

event (an election, a nuclear explosion) or complex
phenomenon
(juvenile
delinquency,
learning
disabilities). Key frame questions: What are the factors
that cause X ? How do they interrelate? Are the factors
that cause X the same as those that cause X to
persist?