Huda Bin Seddiq
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Syllabus design
By: Michael P. Breen According to Breen (1984), there are two major paradigms for designing a syllabus: A traditional and well established paradigm which includes Structural and Functional syllabuses, and the recent paradigm which includes Taskbased and Process syllabuses. This part of Breen’s article distinguishes between Structural and functional syllabuses based on six questions:
1. What are they? The structural syllabus is mainly organized in terms of grammatical structure and lexical items that form the language while the functional syllabus is organized around language functions (offering, apologizing, advising …) and notions (numbers, weather, colors… colors…). Both of the two syllabuses are of Type A syllabuses. Also, they are classified as productoriented syllabuses that focus on the outcomes learnt at the end of the learning process rather than the process itself. Moreover, both are based on a linguistic view of the language.
2. What knowledge do they focus on? The structural syllabus focuses on the language itself as a system which includes phonology, grammar, lexis, morphology and discourse. It focuses on the generative rule nature of the language; i.e. infinite sentence structures can be formed from limited rules. However, meaning and communication are not ignored but they are not a priority. The functional syllabus was developed because of the appearance of sociolinguistics, pragmatics and speech act. Therefore, in additional to the focus on the knowledge of language rules as a code, the functional syllabus gives priority to the conventions governing the use of the code, to reach the linguistic competence along with the communicative competence.
3. What capabilities do they focus on and prioritize? In the structural syllabus, learners should reach the mastery of the language system which will ensure the correct and accurate production of the language realized in the correct use of the four language skills, starting with the receptive skills that contribute to the productive ones. In the functional syllabus , learners should achieve appropriate social use of the language at the first place without ignoring the accurate producing of the language code. Like the structural syllabus, it focuses on the four skills but mainly on the accurate and appropriate use of them with the sequence from receptive to productive skills. skills.
4. On what basis do they select and subdivide what is to be learned? The Structural syllabus’s selection and subdivision reflect the organization of the language system and subsystems besides their their rules as they are identified by linguists. linguists. It separately separately presents: presents: phonology, phonology, grammar, grammar, lexis, lexis, morphology morphology and the structural features of discourse as text. In each subsystem, language aspects are selected to suit the level of students, i.e. the degree of accuracy in producing them. Large units are divided into smaller units. In the functional syllabus, the selection and subdivision of the language are based on its functions in the social life. Therefore, main language purposes are categorized into sets and subsets functions with consideration to how they are realized linguistically as a code.
5. How does it sequence and grade what is to be learned? In the structural syllabus, skills are presented from receptive to productive ones. It presents the basic aspects of language subsystems step by step and expects learners to accumulate and synthesize the parts of the new language system and add them to what they already know until they reach an accurate use. Language is graded according to three criteria: Its complexity, frequency of use and usefulness. The functional syllabus’s sequence is from the general main sets of function to the more specific ones, and from the most common linguistic code/realization of functions to the more varied or refined ones. It expects learners to acquire key functions with their most common linguistic code as a basic foundation then gradually they refine their knowledge with alternative more advanced linguistic realizations to replace the old ones. Language is graded according to three criteria: from the most needed function to the less needed, and from the most frequent functions to the less frequent, rare ones.
6. What is their rationale? There are three arguments in support of the structural syllabus: 1- It is well-established and formed by a long tradition of linguistic analysis. 2- It presents the language as systematic and rule-governed which makes it easier for the learner to uncover how the new language works. 3- It calls upon the human capacity to be metalinguistic which includes the capacity of categorizing, seeking the regularities, looking beneath the surface of things to discover how they work in order to learn the language more easily.
On the other hand, there are three arguments in support of the functional syllabus: 1- The arising motivation and need to get rid of the mechanism old methodology of grammar-translation and audiolingualisim and to apply the new view of language offered by linguists. 2- The concern for meaningfulness as an important element in the language learning experience. 3- The wish to enable learners to use language from their classroom to achieve things in their social life.
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Question1:
Although the Structural and Functional syllabuses are always contrasted as different syllabuses, the author has put them under the same paradigm. Why?
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Question 2 Put [ S ] if the statement is related to Structural Syllabus and [ F ] if the statement is related to the Functional Syllabus:
1. Grading is problematic and subjective. [
]
2. Teaching and testing are relatively simple, because teachers deal with discrete-point knowledge and skills. [ 3. Sequencing and selection of teaching items is not as difficult as it with other syllabuses. [ 4. It neglects linguistic items and gives more attention to fixed expressions and formulas. 5. It recognizes that the speaker must have a real purpose for speaking. [
]
] [
]
]
6. Provide a simple way to deal with the enormous complexity and diversity of language. [
]
7. It hampers the student’s creative sides because it confines them within the walls of some specific rules. [
]
8. 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. [
]
9. It is well- established that many decades of language learners have been successful in acquiring a new language having been taught on the basis of this type of syllabuses [
]
10. Communication will be intrinsically motivating because it expresses basic communicative functions. [
]
Question1:
Although the Structural and Functional syllabuses are always contrasted as different syllabuses, the author has put them under the same paradigm. Why?
•
•
•
Both of the two syllabuses are of Type A syllabuses. Also, they are classified as product-oriented syllabuses that focus on the outcomes learnt at the end of the learning process rather than the process itself. Moreover, both are based on a linguistic view of the language.
Question 2 Put [ S ] if the statement is related to Structural Syllabus and [ F ] if the statement is related to the Functional Syllabus:
1. Grading is problematic and subjective. [ 2.
F
]
Teaching and testing are relatively simple, because teachers deal with discrete-point knowledge and skills. [
3. Sequencing and selection of teaching items is not as difficult as it with other syllabuses. [ S
]
4. It neglects linguistic items and gives more attention to fixed expressions and formulas.
F
5. It recognizes that the speaker must have a real purpose for speaking. [
F
[
S
]
]
]
6. Provide a simple way to deal with the enormous complexity and diversity of language. [
S
]
7. It hampers the student’s creative sides because it confines them within the walls of some specific rules. [ S
]
8. 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. [
S
]
9. It is well- established that many decades of language learners have been successful in acquiring a new language having been taught on the basis of this type of syllabuses [
S
]
10. Communication will be intrinsically motivating because it expresses basic communicative functions. [
F
]
