COURSE PLANNING AND SYLLABUS DESIGN

COURSE PLANNING AND SYLLABUS DESIGN

Submitted to fulfill one of the requirements of Curriculum and Material Development

Lecturer: Yayan Suryana, Drs. M.Pd.

Written by :

Ditha Febrivania (III B)

NPM. 108060053

ENGLISH EDUCATIONAL DEPARTMENT

TEACHING AND EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES FACULTY

SWADAYA GUNUNG JATI UNIVERSITY

2011

Course Planning and Syllabus Design

The course rationale

A starting point in course development is a description of the course rationale. Developing a rationale also helps provide focus and direction to some of the deliberations involved in course planning.

Describing the entry and exit level

In order to plan a language course, it necessary to know the level at which the program will start and the level learners may be expected to reach at the end of the course. Language programs and commercial materials typically distinguish between elementary, intermediate, and advance levels, but these categories are too broad for the kind of detailed planning that program and materials development involves.

Choosing course content

Decisions about course content reflect the planners, assumptions about the nature of language, language use, and language learning, what the most essential elements or units of language are, and how these can be organized as an efficient basis for second language.

Determining the scope and sequence

The sequencing of content in the course also needs to be determined. Sequencing may be based on the following criteria.

Simple to complex

Chronology

Need

Prerequisite learning

Whole to part or part to whole

Spiral sequencing

Planning the course structure

Two aspects of this process, however, require more detailed planning: selecting a syllabus framework and developing instructional blocks.

Selecting a syllabus framework

A syllabus describes the major elements that will be used in planning a language course and provides the basis for its instructional focus and content.

§ Grammatical (structural) syllabus: one hat is organized around grammatical items.

§ Lexical syllabus: one that identifies a target vocabulary to be taught normally arranged according to levels.

§ Functional syllabus: one that is organized around communicative functions. A functional syllabus seeks to analyze the concept of communicative competence into its different components on the assumptions that mastery of individual functions will result in overall communicative ability.

§ Situational syllabus: one that is organized around the language needed for different situations. A situational syllabus identifies the situations in which the learner will use the language and typical communicative acts and language used in that setting.

§ Topical or content-based syllabus: one that is organized around themes, topics, or other units of content. With topical syllabus, content rather than grammar, functions, or situations is the starting point in syllabus design.

§ Competency-based syllabus: one based on a specification of the competencies learners are expected to master in relation to specific situations and activities.

§ Skills syllabus: one that is organized around the different underlying abilities that are involved in using a language for purposes.

§ Task-based syllabus: one that is organized around tasks that students will complete in the target language. A task is an activity or goal that that is carried out using language.

§ Text-based syllabus: one that is built around texts and samples of extended discourse.

§ An integrated syllabus: decisions about a suitable syllabus framework for a course reflect different priorities in teaching rather than absolute choices.

Developing instructional blocks

Two commonly used instructional blocks are planning by modules and units.

v Modules: this is self-contained and independent learning sequence with its own objectives. Modules allow for flexible organization of a course and can give learners a sense of achievement because objectives are more immediate and specific.

v Units: a unit seeks to provide a structured sequence of activities that lead toward a learning outcome. The factors that account for a successful unit include:

ü Length: sufficient but not too much material is included.

ü Development: one activity leads effectively into the next: the unit does not consist of a random sequence of activities.

ü Pacing: each activity within the unit moves at a reasonable place.

ü Outcome: at the end of the unit, students should be able to know or do a series of things that are related.

Preparing the scope and sequence plan

Once a course has been planned and organized, it can be described. One form in which it can be described is as a scope and sequence plan. This might consists of a listing of the module or units and their contents and an indication of how much teaching time each block in the course will require.