PET 225

TESOL Curriculum
Development
Structural Syllabus

Introduction
Contents of structural syllabus
Characteristics of structural syllabus
Methods in using structural syllabus
Advantages & disadvantages of
structural syllabus
Conclusion

Definition of structural syllabus

"A structural syllabus."
The content of language teaching is
a collection of the forms and
structures, usually grammatical, of
the language being taught.
Examples include: nouns, verbs,
adjectives, statements, questions,
subordinate clauses, and so on.

 A Structural Syllabus (also known as

Grammatical Syllabus, Formal
Syllabus, Traditional Syllabus,
Synthetic Syllabus) is one in which
grammatical structures form the
central organizing feature.
It proceeds from simple grammatical
structure to more complex structure.

Contents of structural syllabus

Two components:
Linguistic structures grammar to be
taught
Words - lexicon

Characteristics of structural syllabus

the focus is on the knowledge and skills which learners should
gain as a result of instruction, not on how they can attain
them.
Language is a system which consists of a set of grammatical
rules; learning language means learning these rules and then
applying them to practical language use.
The syllabus input is selected and graded according to
grammatical notions of simplicity and complexity. These
syllabuses introduce one item at a time and require mastery
of that item before moving on to the next.
This type of syllabus maintains that it is easier for students to
learn a language if they are exposed to one part of the
grammatical system at a time.
Emphasis on drilling activities .

Methods in using structural syllabus

Audio-lingual Method
GrammarTranslation Method

Advantages of structural syllabus

The learner moves from simpler to more
complex grammatical structures and may grasp
the grammatical system more easily.
Teaching and testing are relatively simple,
because teachers deal with discrete-point
knowledge and skills. The teachers need not be
fluent in the language they teach, since
grammatical explanations and drills do not
require a high level of language proficiency.
It is very much helpful to develop writing skills.
It enriches students basic vocabulary.

disadvantages of structural
syllabus
The potential disadvantage of the Structural Syllabus is
that it over-emphasizes language structure and neglects
communicative competence. It does not address the
immediate communication needs of the learner who is
learning a language within the context of a community
where the language is spoken. In fact, the sociolinguistic
aspects of communicative competence are not in focus at
all in a strictly structural syllabus. It is therefore more
useful in a context where the language learner does not
have immediately communication needs.
It hampers the students creative sides because it confines
him/her within the walls of some specific rules.
Here the role of the student is passive, since it is the
teacher who is deciding what to teach in which stage. It is,
thus, a teacher dominated syllabus.

conclusion
There are some statements given to challenge the role of
Structural Syllabus in teaching and learning process, they
believe it cannot easily serve as a basis for developing implicit
knowledge of a second language because of the learning ability,
learners are often unable to learn the structural properties they
are taught because of the manner in which they are taught does
not correspond to the way learners acquire them.
adding the Structural Syllabus with other syllabus can be the
better result in enhancing students capability in mastery their
knowledge. It is not an easy work to build a strong and huge
building, the foundation must be well and find plan, and these
will ensure the building will stand for many decades, like old
man said Pyramid is not build in one night, it needs lot of
sacrifice.