Types of Syllabus: Product Oriented and Structural Approaches

Types
of
Syllabus 1
Luis Octavio Canseco García

Luis Octavio Canseco García / Escuela de Idiomas / Universidad Regional del Sureste / Oaxaca
PRODUCT ORIENTED
SYLLABUS
Also known as the synthetic approach,
these kinds of syllabuses emphasize
the product of language learning and
are prone to intervention from an
authority.
What is a synthetic approach?
In 'synthetic' approaches (Wilkins, 1976

p. 2),
“Different parts of the language are
taught separately and step by step so
that acquisition is a process of gradual
accumulation of parts until the whole
structure of language has been built up”.
What is a synthetic approach?
The typical aim is to teach a new

linguistic structure by means of
explanation of rules, paradigms,
contextualization in dialogues, series of
analogous sentences designed to
promote inductive learning.
In syllabus development (Nunan
2001): this approach controls the
analysis of the target language into its
discrete phonological, lexical and
grammatical elements, each of which
is to be taught separately and in
isolation.
The synthetic syllabus relies on
learners' assumed ability to learn a
language in parts (e.g., structures
and functions) which are independent
of one another, and also to integrate,
or synthesize, the pieces when the
time comes to use them for
communicative purposes.
The synthetic approach represent the
'traditional' way of organizing the
syllabus, and reflect the common-sense
belief that the central role of instruction
is to simplify the learning challenge for
the student.
Structural, lexical notional, and

functional syllabuses are synthetic.
THE STRUCTURAL APPROACH
STRUCTURAL SYLLABUS
Historically, the most prevalent of
syllabus type is perhaps the
grammatical syllabus in which the
selection and grading of the content
is based on the complexity and
simplicity of grammatical items.
The learner is expected to master
each structural step and add it to her
grammar collection. As such, the
focus is on the outcomes or the
product.
In structural syllabi, pedagogic
grammar units or lessons are
organized around isolated
morphosyntactic structures or
linguistic forms such as articles,
possessives, pronouns, prepositions,
questions, conditionals, reported
speech or the passive voice.
The selection of such units is based
on descriptive grammar and on a
general consensus about the
patterns of language that must be
taught. They are usually presented
one at a time or in pairs to be
contrasted (e.g. past simple vs.
present perfect).
Structural syllabi are the most
widespread kind of syllabus and the
ones usually favored by publishing
companies because of their simplicity
and popularity.
In a structural syllabus:
• The learner moves from simpler to

more complex structures and may
grasp the grammatical system more
easily
• If learners are also doing

grammatical analysis, it may fit in well
with what they are discovering about
the language.
A structural syllabus 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.
The Lexical Approach
LEXICAL SYLLABUS
The lexical approach concentrates on
developing learners’ proficiency with
lexis, or words and word
combinations.
It is based on the idea that “an
important part of language acquisition
is the ability to comprehend and
produce lexical phrases as
unanalyzed wholes, or “chunks,” and
that these chunks become the raw

data by which learners perceive
patterns of language traditionally
thought of as grammar” (Lewis, 1993, p.
95).
A lexical syllabus can be derived from
a detailed analysis (normally these
days done mainly by computer) of a
carefully selected corpus of
language that reflects - as far as
possible - the language of the target
discourse community. This could of
course be a specialist or general
corpus.
The analysis can offer the syllabus
designer lists of the most frequent
words, their meanings and
information about their typical
grammatical and lexical
environments, i.e. the collocations
and patterns that words occur in.
So a lexical syllabus includes
grammar, (which is identified through
the common words that make up
common patternings), expressions of
notions and functions but the
organizing principle is lexical.
A lexical syllabus can account for a
far higher proportion of text and offer
a more thorough coverage of the
language of the target discourse
situation than other syllabus types.
A lexical syllabus - with its inventory
of words with their collocations,
meanings and typical patterns – is
clear, unambiguous and accessible -
everybody can recognize what a
word is, and its phrases and patterns
are fairly easily identifiable.
Unfortunately lexical syllabus
would run to at least half a page
per word, indeed far more for the
common words with their many
uses.
For example: most of the 700 most
frequent words (which would seem a
reasonable target for a 120 hour
course) have at least 3 different
meanings, making an inventory of
2100 items.
The Situational Approach
SITUATIONAL SYLLABUS
The point of departure became
situational needs rather than
grammatical units.
Here, the principal organizing

characteristic is a list of situations
which reflects the way language and
behavior are used everyday outside
the classroom.
The Situational Approach: Central Premises
The main focus of a situational syllabus is

on the use of language as a social
medium.
The linguistic premise of this syllabus is

that language is always used in context,
never in isolation and the choice of
linguistic forms are restricted by social
situations.
The Situational Approach: Central Premises
The educational premise is that there

should be a different syllabus for
different learners, based on the
individual needs of the learners.
In a situational syllabus the content of
language teaching is formed by a
range of real or imaginary behavioral or
experiential situations in which a
foreign language is used.
The situational syllabus provides for
concrete contexts within which to learn
language structures, thus making it

easier for most learners to visualize,
and this, in turn, helps in promoting
students’ motivation.
The designer of a situational syllabus
attempts to predict those situations in
which the learner will find him/herself,
and uses these situations (e.g., a
restaurant, an airplane, a post office,
etc.) as a basis for selecting and
presenting language content.
The underlying assumption in a
situation syllabus is that language is
related to the situational contexts in
which it occurs.
The Notional/Functional
Approach
Notional / Functional Syllabus
The starting point for a syllabus of this
kind is the communicative purpose
and conceptual meaning of language
i.e. functions and notions, as opposed
to grammatical items and situational
elements which remain but are
relegated to a subsidiary role.
One advantage of the
notional/functional approach (a
semantically-based syllabus) is that
motivation will be heightened since it is
"learner- rather than subject-centered"
(Wilkins.1976: 16).
A functional-notional syllabus is
primarily based not on a linguistic
analysis but on an analysis of
learners' social and/or vocational
communicative needs.
This syllabus holds that the
classification of skill levels should be
based on what people want to do
with the language (functions) or in
terms of what meanings people
want to convey (notions).
The logic behind the functional-
notional syllabus is that if the goal is
a general competence in
language, language content will be
context-dependent, drawing ideas
from sociolinguistics and viewing
language as interpersonal rather
than a personal behavior.
This type of syllabus makes the
assumption that the learner's needs,
motivations, characteristics, abilities,
limitations and resources are the
point of departure.
Selection from the components of
the syllabus will thus be made in
terms of the learner and in terms of
relevance to his communicative
purposes. This means that the whole
system must be needs-oriented.
This type of syllabus has been
developed from a sociolinguistic
viewpoint with the primary purpose
of identifying the elements of a target
language which its learners, as
members of a particular group and
with particular social and occupational
purposes in mind, most need to
know.
Functional / Notional syllabuses have proved very
popular as a basis for organising courses and materials
for the following reasons:
 They reflect a more comprehensive view of language

than grammar syllabuses and focus on the use of the
language rather than linguistic form.
 They can readily be linked to other types of syllabus

content (e.g. topics, grammar, vocabulary).
 They provide a convenient framework for the design

of teaching materials, particularly in the domains of
listening and speaking.
The Content-Based
Approach
Content-based Syllabus
The primary purpose of instruction is
to teach some content or
information using the language that
the students are also learning.
The students are simultaneously

language students and students of
whatever content is being taught.
The subject matter is primary,
and language learning occurs
incidentally to the content
learning. The content teaching is
not organized around the
language teaching, but vice-
versa.
An example of content-based
language teaching is a science class
taught in the language the students
need or want to learn, possibly with
linguistic adjustment to make the
science more comprehensible.
The Skills-Based
Approach
Skills-based Syllabus
The content of this type of syllabus is
a collection of specific abilities that
may play a part in using language.
Skills are things that people must be

able to do to be competent in a
language, relatively independently of
the situation or setting in which the
language use can occur.
Skill-based syllabi group linguistic
competencies (pronunciation,
vocabulary, grammar, and discourse)
together into generalized types of
behavior, such as listening to spoken
language for the main idea, writing
well-formed paragraphs, giving
effective oral presentations, and so
on.
The primary purpose of skill-based
instruction is to learn the specific
language skill.
A possible secondary purpose is to

develop more general competence in
the language, learning only
incidentally any information that may
be available while applying the
language skills.
Bibliography
Breen, M.P. (1984): “Process Syllabuses for the Language Classroom” in
Brumfit, C.J. (ed): General English Syllabus Design, ELT Documents
118. London, Pergamon Press/British Council.
Candlin, C.N. (1984): “Syllabus Design as a Critical Process.” in Brumfit,

C.J. (ed): General English Syllabus Design, ELT Documents 118.
London, Pergamon Press/British Council.
Johnson, R.K. (1989): “ A Decision-Making Framework for the Coherent

Language Curriculum.” in Johnson, R.K. (ed): The Second Language
Curriculum. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Lewis, M. (1993). The lexical approach: The state of ELT and the way
forward. Hove, England: Language Teaching Publications.
Nunan, D. 2001. Syllabus design. In M. Celce-Murcia (ed.) Teaching English

as a Second or Foreign Language. Boston MA: Thomson Heinle.
Pienemann, M. (1985): “Learnability and Syllabus Construction.” in

Hyltenstam and Pienemann (eds): Modelling and Assessing
Second Language Aquisition. Clevedon, Multilingual Matters.
Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Types of Syllabus: Product Oriented and Structural Approaches

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Types of Syllabus: Product Oriented and Structural Approaches

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Types

Luis Octavio Canseco García

In 'synthetic' approaches (Wilkins, 1976

The typical aim is to teach a new

Structural, lexical notional, and

• The learner moves from simpler to

• If learners are also doing

In fact, the sociolinguistic aspects of

that these chunks become the raw

Here, the principal organizing

The main focus of a situational syllabus is

The linguistic premise of this syllabus is

The educational premise is that there

language structures, thus making it

 They reflect a more comprehensive view of language

 They can readily be linked to other types of syllabus

 They provide a convenient framework for the design

The students are simultaneously

Skills are things that people must be

A possible secondary purpose is to

Candlin, C.N. (1984): “Syllabus Design as a Critical Process.” in Brumfit,

Johnson, R.K. (1989): “ A Decision-Making Framework for the Coherent

Nunan, D. 2001. Syllabus design. In M. Celce-Murcia (ed.) Teaching English

Pienemann, M. (1985): “Learnability and Syllabus Construction.” in

Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional Syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

You might also like