Syllabi are not totally distinct from each other.

All actual language teaching syllabuses are

integrated product of two or more types of
syllabi.
In other words, although different language
teaching syllabuses are introduced as if each
can be employed on its own, in practice, these
syllabuses rarely occur independently of each
other.
An Overview of Types of Syllabus

The evolution of syllabus design can be seen as

a progression of assumptions about language
learning, classified by Breen according to two
main paradigms or frames of reference:
1/ 'propositional' or 'product' syllabi
2/ 'process' syllabi
The propositional* paradigm
In second language learning the propositional
paradigm is typified by formal and functional
syllabi and interprets language through a
propositional plan and a formal, system-based
statement of the knowledge and capabilities
required when studying a new language.
A task to be dealt with
The process paradigm
The process paradigm is concerned with how
something is done, including how to
communicate in the classroom and how to
learn how to communicate, and is typified in
task-based and process syllabi.
Wilkins (1993) suggests a distinction between
two categories:
1/ analytic syllabi
2/ synthetic syllabi
The term 'synthetic' refers to structural, lexical,
notional, functional, and most situational and
topical syllabi, in which acquisition is a
process of gradual accumulation of separately
taught parts, building up to the whole structure
of the language.
The learner is exposed to a deliberately limited
sample of language at any time, and has to "re-
synthesise the language that has been broken
down into a large number of small pieces with
the aim of making this learning task easier
Thus synthetic syllabi rely on learner's
(assumed) ability to learn a language in parts
(e.g. structures and functions) independently of
one another, and also to integrate, or
synthesise, the pieces when the time comes to
use them for communicative purposes.
In 'analytic' syllabi, prior analysis of the total
language system into a set of discrete pieces of
language is largely unnecessary
Analytic approaches are organised in terms of
the purposes for which people are learning
language and the kinds of language
performance that are necessary to meet those
purposes.
Analytic syllabi present the L2 in chunks,
without linguistic interference or control,
and rely on the learner's ability to induce and
infer language rules, as well as on innate
knowledge of linguistic universals. Procedural,
process and task syllabi are examples of the
analytic syllabus
The propositional paradigm
1/ The structural or formal syllabus:
This is recognized as the traditional syllabus
which is often organized along grammatical
lines giving primacy to language form. The
focus is on the outcomes or the product.
It is, in fact, a grammatical syllabus in which
the selection and grading of the content is on
the basis of the complexity and simplicity of
grammatical items.
In other words, it specifies structural patterns
as the basic units of learning and organizes
these according to such criteria as structural
complexity, difficulty, regularity, utility and
frequency.
The learner is expected to master each
structural step and add it to his/her grammar
collection. It makes ample use of highly
controlled, tightly structured and sequenced
pattern practice drills .
2/ A notional/functional syllabus
The chief emphasis of this syllabus is upon the
communicative purpose and conceptual
meaning of language i.e. notions and
functions.
In other words, the content of the language
teaching is a number of the functions that are
performed on using the language, or of the
notions that language is utilized to express.
Functions can be exemplified by instances
such as inviting, requesting, agreeing,
apologizing; and notions embrace age, colour,
size, comparison, time, etc. Besides,
grammatical items and situational elements are
considered at subsidiary level of importance .
As proposed to the hypothesis of structural and
situational syllabuses which lies in the fact that
it is most often in search of ‘how’ or ‘when’
and ‘where’ of language the functional/
notional syllabus seeks for ‘what is a learner
communicates through language’.
An important point regarding notional/
functional syllabus is that the needs of the
students have to be explored and analyzed by
different types of interaction and
communication a learner may be involved in.
Accordingly, needs analysis is central to the
design of notional-functional syllabuses .
Needs analysis should be taken into account so
as to establish the necessary objectives. Apart
from needs analysis that has an implicit focus
on the learner, this type of syllabus proposes a
new list consisting of notions and functions
that become the main focus in a syllabus .
Drawbacks:
White (1988:77) argues that "language
functions do not usually occur in isolation" and
there are also difficulties of selecting and
grading function and form .
3/ Situational Syllabus
With this type of syllabus, the essential
component of organization is a non-linguistic
category, i.e. the situation. The underlying
premise is that language is related to the
situational contexts in which it occurs .
The designer of a situational syllabus tries to
predict those situations in which the learner
will find him/herself, and applies these
situations, for instance; seeing the dentist,
going to the cinema and meeting a new
student, as a basis for selecting and presenting
language content .
The content of language teaching is a
collection of real or imaginary situations in
which language occurs or is used. A situation
usually includes several participants who are
involved in some activity in a particular
setting .
The language used in the situation comprises a
number of functions combined into a plausible
part of available discourse. The main principle
of a situational language teaching syllabus is to
teach the language that occurs in the situations .
In this syllabus, situational needs are important
rather than grammatical units. The major
organizing feature is a list of situations which
reflects the way language and behaviour are
used everyday outside the classroom .
Thus, by connecting structural theory to
situations the learner is able to induce the
meaning from a relevant context. One
advantage of the situational approach is that
motivation will be heightened since it is
learner- rather than subject-centered
4/ The topic syllabus
Topical syllabi are a common and convenient
method of organising ESL/EFL textbooks, and
share the motivational potential of situational
syllabi.
Especially if selection is based on needs
identification performed in terms of topics or
on the findings of research on frequency of
topics in the conversations of people of the
same age as the learner.
However, they also share the difficulties of
defining and distinguishing situations and
topics, dealing with the broadness of the
concepts in materials design, predicting
grammatical form, and grading and sequencing
of content.
The use of situation and topic as the unit of
analysis in a synthetic syllabus is thus
problematic due to the impossibility of
distinguishing their boundaries or predicting
what they involve.
5/ The lexical syllabus
The lexical syllabus is a form of the
propositional paradigm that takes 'word' as the
unit of analysis and content for syllabus
design. The main benefit of a lexical syllabus
is that it emphasises utility - the student learns
that which is most valuable because it is most
frequent.
Propositional syllabi: summary.

Formal (structural), functional, situational,

topical and lexical syllabi share a static target
language, product orientation, are ultimately
based on an analysis of the language to be
learned, and implicitly rely on "the validity of
the equation: what is taught = what is (or ought
to be) learnt"
In preserving the traditional roles of syllabus
designer, teacher and student, and in adhering
to a view of language as a linguistic rather than
a psycho/sociolinguistic process involving the
acquisition of social and cultural knowledge,
they ignore the learner as a significant
participant in his/her own language learning.