Types of Syllabus - Report Example

SYLLABUS By and Date of Submission Syllabus This is a document used to give direction to a particular course of learning and outlines specific expectations from a learner during the learning process. Various designs and methods are used in coming up with syllabuses grounded in the needs identified in a specific course of learning. A syllabus covers a wide area of policies and regulations that must be followed by the people it affects. Educators also use a syllabus as a guide to providing quality standards of education in any particular learning institution. It is therefore imperative to have a favourable and advantageous syllabus for impressive results in any formal learning setting. The purpose of a syllabus There are various reasons why any learning institution or group must have a syllabus. The main reason is forming a basis of decision making on what content of learning to be included and followed. It is a prerequisite that all learning institutions undertake a comprehensive needs analysis before choosing a syllabus that best suits them. There are many forms of syllabi that exist each focusing of a special field and view of carrying out learning processes (Parkes & Harris 2002). Three broad categories of syllabi have been identified and they have brought about a desirable change in the field of learning and teaching of various specialties. A syllabus as a contract Like any other form of a contract, the syllabus seeks to clarify the rules and terms of agreement for the parties involved; teachers and students as well as the management of the learning institution.it is vital in setting what is expected to take place during the learning period be it a semester or a term. The roles and responsibilities of both the students and instructors are clearly outlined, the behaviours of these two parties is also governed along the process by the required involvements and regulations (Afros & Schryer 2009). Students are required to observe strict attendance of lessons, actively participate in learning sessions and assignments while the teachers are to facilitate learning through provision of a course out line. In a contract syllabus, the procedures and policies of the course are adequately delineated. This will ensure that both the instructor and learners are aware of the consequences of violating the institutions learning policies (Robinson 2009). Failure to attend lessons and exam irregularities among others must attract punitive outcomes. The contract syllabus provides for a variety of policies such as; the attendance policy, the academic freedom policy, policies on accommodation of the disabilities, the supplementary exam policy, and policies on incompletes and course work revisions. The course calendar must be provided in a clear and precise manner alongside with grading policies. The whole effort of learning is adequately justified by the need to observe the learning policies and maintaining a high standard of educational integrity by both instructors and learners. Syllabus as a permanent record Among many function of a syllabus, it is also used for accountability and documentation reasons. This provides a future reference source through proper storage and keeping of policies and the essential elements of learning requirements. Information useful for assessing the instructors, the course content and various programs is clearly recorded in a syllabus. Useful information such as the level of learning, the content covered and the kind of credit offered are documented in a syllabus (Thompson 2007). All the relevant information required for the purposed of certification and course transfer is safely contained and stored in a syllabus. The syllabus must contain the following to qualify as the permanent record; it must have the title and term of course, the institution offering the course, number of hours required for full coverage of the course and the venues of learning. Particular information about the names, titles and the positions of the instructors must be recorded in the syllabus. The learning materials such as textbooks and special equipment as well as the main course objectives that are in line with required standards of learning are documented here. The criteria used to assess and evaluate learners at each level of learning together with the comprehensive modification of the course content must be documented for easier use and retrieval. Syllabus as a learning tool The syllabus can be a very useful and student friendly tool when used to facilitate learning of various course. In most instances, the learners become competent and effective in the course when the syllabus is favourable in a way that all needs of different students are included in a syllabus. The learners get to develop a liking attitude for the course by appreciating the teaching culture and content of their course (Jenkins 2010) . The syllabus is mainly student centered and highlights the specific requirements of learning. It is in the syllabus that the course context is provided; it simplifies the relations that exist between the course and the students and more so the relevance of that particular course to the life of leaners. There are various requirements that a syllabus must meet to qualify the purpose of being a learning tool. The syllabus must bear the instructors’ philosophy on the course content, learning, and teaching methods. It should provide a clear planning mechanism to be used during the learning period; the learning timetable, self-management skills and the requirements to be observed in undertaking the course assignments. It must also provide information on the availability of teachers and their assistants along with the institutions resources and offices to cater for disabled students. Types of syllabi There exists a variety of syllabi depending on the type and purpose of learning intended by the learning requirements. An assessment is done to determine the appropriateness of a particular syllabus on a particular course description and needs of students. For instance a course description of a student who wants to learn a foreign language will differ from the one in need of acquiring skill in a native language, this will also demand that these two types of students will use different syllabus. Grammatical syllabus This syllabus concerns itself with the analysis of the basic units of a language and grading them according to functions and uses. The grammatical complexity and simplicity are used as criteria for grading the components of a language. The difficulties of learning a new language experienced by the leaner occasioned by the first language are determined. Selection and grading of grammatical content is the issue of concern that requires careful consideration in planning a grammatical syllabus. The touchstones of determining the grammatical content used include; the simplicity oftenness and the contrasting difficulty. Simplicity lies in the ability of the student to learn and understand with ease. The grammatical rules and content of a particular language.it is also a requirement that the most prolific linguistic structures are given priority in teaching to those with little contribution and language productivity. The level of difficulty encountered by learners while studying another language is closely related to the influence of their first spoken native language. Grammatical syllabus is particularly useful to the students learning to speak and write a foreign language. This type of syllabus is systematic in nature; it ensures all-important elements of a language are taught. This enhances coherence and competence in acquiring written and spoken language skills, the learner is exposed to a pool of vocabularies, their meanings and uses in different contexts. The learning objectives are internalized and evaluated through an organized manner to determine the effectiveness of teaching skills and methods of a language. This type of syllabus places a lot of emphasis on memorizing the rules of grammar and making grammatical corrections in pieces of writings. This proves easy to students and encourages faster acquisition of the necessary skills and content mastery of a foreign language taught. The method is time efficient and economical in teaching a foreign language as compared to the process and setting involved in learning the first language. Rigorous class work will ensure that the students gain most of the language experiences and knowledge in short period of time. Learning of the first language requires different settings and a number of years as this is mainly attained by growth and age. The grammatical syllabus may also present with a number of disadvantages to a learner who is interested in learning a foreign language for the purpose of using it in the particular country of language origin (Abdous & He 2008). The language taught and learnt in classroom setting may be different from the spoken language in the country of origin. This may be brought by the fact that the classroom teaching only focuses on the formal part of the foreign language leaving out the informal bit. The grammatical syllabus in most instances does not amalgamate the formal and functional components into the syllabus blueprint. In following a grammatical syllabus, the learner is trained to focus on the core used of words rather than learn how to distribute them in different contexts. As a result, the learner may experience hardships in writing and communicating effectively. This is regardless of the endowment with language content. The measure of progress using the dimension of grammatical system known will lower the motivation of learners acquiring skills in a foreign language Functional/notional syllabus This type of syllabus is concerned with the need to attain the preferred level communication capacity. The language is organized in terms of the purpose and the meaning a student is expected to express through spoken language along with the language details required. All aspects in which a language is created and spoken are considered; the time, purpose, mood and individual relations. The functional-notional syllabus is mostly directed towards identifying the needs of learners through a rigorous analysis of information gathered in interviews and questionnaires. Considering the wide and wild search and analysis of students needs in learning of a language, there are several merits of this type of syllabus when used to teach students in need of learning a second language. The syllabus gives forth realistic learning tasks and experiences through evidence based planning and setting of learning objectives. The reality of situations is inculcated in the methods of teaching and learning a foreign language (Thompson 2007). The real world language is provided in the everyday learning and teaching process through the following of developments and changes that are being made in the field of linguistics. The learners acquire important skills in receptive listening, reading fluency, and turn taking rules prior to getting involved in any formal conversation and language performances. This positively contributes to the acquisition of the right knowledge and the mastery of a foreign language to any student travelling to or living in the country in which the language originates from. The functional-notional syllabus is also relevant in instilling the sense of purpose of the spoken language in a learner. The need to be specific and objective in a conversation will make the speaker be easily understood and served as required without experiencing difficult of language. The intentions and needs of a speaker are easy to express especially when he or she has the capacity to use the language appropriately and in an acceptable manner. The students derive intrinsic motivation in learning a language foreign to them by the fact that the communicative functions taught are well elaborate with ease and simplicity. Moreover, current and future needs of students in terms of language development and communication are catered for during the whole process of planning this type of syllabus. This becomes beneficial to students learning a foreign language since they are prepared and informed of the current developments and requirements in that particular language of interest (Bligh 2011). The negative side of this kind of syllabus to the learning of a foreign language is brought by the complexity of grading and selecting of language elements. The need to use contextual, extra linguistic and situational factors during selection of grammatical content in most cases infringes on the simplicity of learning a language. The fact that the psychological aspect of learning is not provided in this syllabus also makes it hard to understand how language is learnt. This may in a critical perspective may be seen as fatuous scaling down the motivation and interest of learns in a particular language. The inattention to studying of the other scholarly works on theories of language acquisition is seen as another disadvantage in functional-notional syllabus. Little support is accorded to the arguments that learners understand a language in one notion or function at a single instance than they do so in one word or construct. The use of collective needs for a particular group of learners in planning and executing the learning exercise ignores that different learners have a variety of learning needs. Failure to recognize individual needs in learners may precipitate inadequate acquisition of knowledge and skills in a language. This will make it difficult to acquire the necessary language content and use for the students affected. Topic-based syllabus This syllabus is concerned with language as a basic means of making meaning; conversation is the key focus of language and its acquisition. Multiple methods are employed in task-based learning and re considered vital in achieving learning objectives. This type of syllabus favors a student by adequate consideration of learning requirements through needs analysis with the authenticity in providing learning materials that focus on real language contexts. A variety of tasks offered widens the learning ability as well as encouraging cooperation and socializing skill that strengthen the humanistic orientation (Ur, 2012). The ambiguous definition of language tasks, ignorance of other used of language and hardship of grading various tasks are the most demerits of topic-based syllabus. Lack of clarity and exposure to other contexts in which language is used will work towards denying the students chances of understanding a foreign language in all relevant perspectives. Task based syllabus may constrict the ways in which the language is used and learned adversely affecting the acquisition of knowledge and useful skills through content omissions. Students learning under the guidance of a task-based syllabus are likely to exhibit many inadequacies when using a foreign language, as they are prone to paying little attention to the form of language. Overemphasizing on language meaning in the event of task completion will cocoon the learners to strategic responses; they generate making them pay little attention to the structural changes in a language. It is advisable that this type of syllabus be considered ineffective for use in training students who want to realize the highest level of excellence in languages foreign to them (Scrivener, 2011). Another problem with the use of task-based syllabus is the inadequacies noted in the practicing of language. Most of learning is instructor centered rather than student centered, this makes the teaching job more demanding and encourages little input of students in learning process. Students are likely to end up with inadequate language practices that will later influence the ability to use and understand the language taught. Considering the complexity of a language and the processes required to attain the required skills and knowledge, the type of syllabus chosen must favour the student by providing a conducive learning environment with a blend of current linguistic changes in that particular language of study. It is preferred that the best parts of different types of syllabi are selected and used to enhance learning of foreign languages since relying only on one syllabus can limit proper learning by the disadvantages within. To teach, effectively a foreign language, the syllabus must be planned in a way that the strengths and weaknesses are easily identified. Including a compulsory needs assessment for every learner prior to selection of a syllabus is a major strength in enhancing the learning process. Realizing the effects of changes in linguistics is helpful in determining and planning for future requirements of learning.it also acts as a preventive measures against the uncertainties encountered in the practical field away from the classroom setting. References Abdous, M. & He, W., 2008. A design framework for syllabus generator. Journal Of Interactive Learning Research, 19, pp.541–550. Afros, E. & Schryer, C.F., 2009. The genre of syllabus in higher education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8, pp.224–233. Bligh, M., 2011. Ob syllabus. Management, pp.00–3. Jenkins, H., 2010. Transmedia Storytelling and Entertainment: An annotated syllabus. Continuum: Journal of media & cultural studies, 24, pp.943–958. Parkes, J. & Harris, M.B., 2002. The Purposes of a Syllabus. College Teaching, 50, pp.55–61. Robinson, P., 2009. Syllabus Design. In The Handbook of Language Teaching. pp. 294–310. Scrivener, J. (2011). Learning teaching: The essential guide to English language teaching (3rd ed.). Oxford, UK: Macmillan Education. Thompson, B., 2007. The Syllabus as a Communication Document: Constructing and Presenting the Syllabus. Communication Education, 56, pp.54–71. Ur, P. (2012). A course in language teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More