designing a learner-centered esp course … a learner-centered esp course for adults and 237...

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AbstractThis paper examines the organization of a six-week Conversational English ESP

course design for the tweny-two adult administrative human resources staff working in the International Inlingua Language Learning Center in Istanbul. At the very start of this course, a thorough needs analysis taking into account the language needs of the learners based on the essentials put forth by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) and Dudley-Evans and St.John (1998) established the core framework for the study and the findings from this analysis were used for the ESP course and syllabus design. Throughout my study, I always tried to tailor-make the course to suit the needs and wants of the learners and contribute to a positive learning experience since they were all in a non-native English speaking country. In the final phase of my study for the ESP course design in question, the choice of the right syllabus was a major decision in language teaching, and it was made as consciously and with as much information as possible. After due consideration, I decided on the Situational-Based Syllabus as the most appropriate syllabus from among the several distinct types of language teaching syllabi and prepared the course content for the Conversational English Class.

Key Words: ESP, syllabus design, language needs, wants, decision-making, course content.

Yetişkinler İçin Öğrenci Merkezli Özel Amaçlı İngilizce Kursunun Tasarımı ve Öğrenci Amaçlarının Durumsal İzlenceye Dahil Edilmesi

ÖzetBu çalışma, İstanbul Uluslararası Inlingua Dil Öğrenme Merkezi’nde görev yapan 22

kişilik yetişkin İnsan Kaynakları personeli için tasarlanmış altı hafta süreli İngilizce Konuşma ESP (Özel Amaçlı İngilizce) kursunun planlanması ile ilgidir. Bu kursun başında, esasları Hutchinson ve Waters (1987) ve Dudley-Evans ve St.John (1998) tarafından ortaya konulan kapsamlı bir Gereksinim Analizi uygulanmış ve bu çalışmanın bulguları tüm araştırmanın temel çerçevesini oluşturmuş olup, buradan elde edilen veriler gerek Özel Amaçlı İngilizce kursunun ve gerekse müfredatın tasarımında kullanılmıştır. Çalışmam boyunca, öğrencilerim İngilizce konuşulmayan bir ülkede olduklarından dolayı, kursu onların gereksinim ve beklentileri doğrultusunda düzenledim ve dil öğrenme için olumlu bir ortam oluşturmak için elimden geleni yaptım. Söz konusu ESP kurs tasarımının son safhasında, en önemli olay doğru müfredatın belirlenmesiydi ve bu tespitin hatasız yapılabilmesi için mevcut verilerin oldukça bilinçli kullanımı önemliydi. Detaylı bir değerlendirmeden sonra, tüm mevcut müfredat türleri arasından Durumsal İzlence üzerinde karar kıldım ve İngilizce Konuşma Kursunu bu doğrultuda düzenledim.

Anahtar Kelimeler: ESP, müfredat tasarımı, dil ihtiyaçlarını, istiyor, karar verme, ders içeriği.

DESIGNING A LEARNER-CENTERED ESP COURSE FOR ADULTS AND INCORPORATING THE LEARNERS’ AIMS INTO

A SITUATIONAL-BASED SYLLABUS

*) Assist. Prof.Dr.BeykentÜniversitesiYDYO İngilizceMütercim-TercümanlikBölümüÖğretimÜyesi

Turgay DİNÇAY (*)

EKEV AKADEMİ DERGİSİ Yıl: 15 Sayı: 49 (Güz 2011)

236 / Assist. Prof. Dr. Turgay DİNÇAY EKEV AKADEMİ DERGİSİ

IntroductionNowadays,mostTurkishESPpractitionersdesignawidevarietyofESPcoursessuch

asEnglish for civil servants, for policemen, for insurance staff, formedical students,for legal staff, fornurses, forhuman resourcespersonnel etc.SuchESPcourseshavestartedtobemoreprevalentinourrapidlydevelopingcountry,especiallyafterTurkey’sapplicationforfullmembershipoftheEuropeanUnioninthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury.Sincethen,Turkeyhasundergonealotofchangesinhernationalandforeignpolicy,internationaltradeaswellaseconomyandthesetransformationsestablishedtheneedforrelevantandlearner-centeredESPcoursesinourglobalizingworld.

ItisforthisreasonthatiftheESPinstructorslackthebasicknowledgeandexperienceabouthowtodesignaneffectivecourse thatwillcover thespecificlanguageneedsoftheirstudents,theyareoftenfacedwithvariouscomplexitiesandproblems.Duetothisreason,many instancesofESPcoursedesign inourcountryareoftenad-hocandnotentirelybasedoncomprehensiveneedsanalyses.

AllESPcoursedesignersshouldknowthatthejobofaneffectiveESPcoursedesignincludes:

(a)planninganddesigninganappropriatecoursesuitableforthetargetESPgroups,(b)decidingonthepracticaltypeofsyllabusthatwellmeetsthebasicrequirements

oftheESPcourseparticipants.

1. Theoretical Background to ESP Course DesignThe ideaof focusingon learners’needsoriginated in the1970s resulting from the

interestinthedesignoflanguagecoursesthatcouldsatisfyindividualandsocialneeds(PalaciosMartinez,1992:135).Itsdevelopmentevolvedinassociationwiththeteachingoflanguagesforspecificpurposes.In1978,Munbyproposedhis“CommunicationNeedsProcessor”(CNP),amodelforneedsanalysis(Figure-1)whichwasquiteinfluential,andstated that thedesignof syllabuses for languagecoursescouldonly takeplaceafterapreliminaryworkonthelearners’needs.

In spite of such ESP diagrams designed by different practitioners, Munby’sCommunicativeNeedsProcessor(1978)asseen inFigure-1stillkeeps itsvaluesas itis considered contributory to ESP inmany developmentalways (Jordan, 1997; Phan,2005).

Figure 1:TheMunbyModel

Participant

(Learner)

CommunicativeNeeds

Processor

ProfileofNeeds

237DESIGNING A LEARNER-CENTERED ESP COURSE FOR ADULTS AND INCORPORATING THE LEARNERS’ AIMS INTO A SITUATIONAL-BASED SYLLABUS

TheCommunicativeNeedsProcessor(CNP)istheheartofthemodel.Theinformationthatisreceivedfromthelearner,theparticipant,isprocessedintheCNPinwhichthereareanumberofcategoriesofwhichresultsprovideusaneeds–adescriptionofwhatthelearnerwillbeabletodowiththetargetlanguagewhenthecourseisover.

HutchinsonandWaters(1987:54-63)assumethatneedsanalysisisacomplexprocessandshouldtakeintoaccountthefollowingpointsbelow:

a)“Target Needs”,whatlearnersneedtodoinordertolearn–i.e.languagelearning.b)“Subjective Needs”, that is, theiraffectiveneeds,suchas their interests,wishes,

expectationsandpreferences(Nunan,1988)Wecangatherinformationaboutlearners’needsthroughdifferentmedia(Hutchinson

andWaters, 1987:58; Palacios Martinez, 1994:143) such as surveys, questionnaires,interviews, attitude scales, intelligence texts, language texts, job analysis, contentanalyses,statisticalanalyses,observation,datacollection,orinformalconsultationwithsponsors,learnersandothers.

Furthermore, needs analysis should not only be considered as a pre-stage for thedesignoflanguagecourses:infact,itisan“on-goingprocess”(White,1998:91)and,asevaluation,itcanbeusedtodesign,improveandimplementlanguageprograms.

InESPcoursedesign,ifweaccuratelyspecifyEnglishlanguageneedsofagroupoflearners,weareeasilyabletodeterminethecontentofalanguageprogramthatwillmeetspecifiedneeds(Munby,1978).Afterthisinitialprocessforthespecificationofbehavioralobjectives,itistimetoexploredifferentsyllabuselementssuchasfunctions,notionsandlexisinamoredetailedmanner(Nunan,1988).Thecommonly-useddiagrampreparedundertheaboveconsiderationsistheoneinFigure-1belowbyBell(1981:36).Inthelightof thetheoreticalknowledgeabove,Bell(1981:36)alsopreparedthecommonly-useddiagraminFigure-2below.


Figure 2:ESPLanguageTeachingSyllabusDesign

The steps on the left branch (Analyse Needs, Specify Skills) are the externalrequirements expected of the student. The steps on the right branch (Analyse Error,Specify Level) are the student’s present competence and the bottom branch (SelectTeaching Strategy, Design Teaching Materials, Evaluate) are to do with educationalphilosophy.Themainemphasisinthepresentstudyisontheleftbranch: Analyze Needs,Specify Skills,Design Syllabus.

Dudley-Evans&St.John (1998:122)wrote that (a)needsanalysis isoften seenasbeingthecornerstoneofESPforaveryfocusedlanguagecourseandthat(b)theconceptoflearnerneedsisofteninterpretedintwowaysalthoughtherearenumerouswaystodoit:

1. Goal-oriented definition of needs:whatthelearnerwantstodowiththelanguageattheendoflearning,

2. Process-oriented definition of needs:whatthelearnerneedstodoactuallyacquirethelanguage.

Traditionally, the first interpretation was widely used and accepted. However, intoday’sglobalisedteachingandlearningcontexts,ESPcoursestrytomeetbothoftheneedsgivenabove,andtheemphasisisgenerallyontheprocess-orientedapproachforthepurposeofaligningstudents’needswiththeirpresentworkingscenarios.

AccordingtoWright(2001),ifacoursedesignerwishestogatherinformationaboutthecontentofanyESPcourse,heshoulduseacomprehensiveneedsanalysisasthefirst


step.Healsostates thatanESPpractitionercanmaximallybenefit their learnersonlythroughawell-designedanalysisofthelearners’needs.

AnESPcoursedesignershouldaskthefollowingquestionstohimselfpriortoplanningcoursedesign(Dudley-EvansandSt.John,1998:145)inordertobalanceoutsomeoftheinstitutionalandlearnerexpectations(Dudley-EvansandSt.John,1998):

1.Shouldthecoursebeintensive or extensive?2.Shouldthelearners’performancebeassessed or non-assessed?3.Shouldthecoursedealwithimmediate needs orwithdelayed needs?4.Shouldtheroleoftheteacherbethatoftheprovider ofknowledgeandactivities,or

shoulditbeasfacilitatorofactivitiesarisingfromlearnersexpressedwants?5.Shouldthecoursehaveabroad focusornarrowfocus?6.Shouldthecoursebepre-study or pre-experience or run parallel withthestudyor

experience?7.Shouldthematerialsbecommon-core or specific tolearnersstudyorwork?8. Should the group taking the course be homogenous or should it be

heterogeneous?9.Shouldthecoursedesignbeworked out by the language teacher afterconsultation

withthelearnersandinstitution,orshoulditbesubject to a process of negotiationwiththelearners?

1.1. Conducting the QuestionnaireDudley-Evans andSt.John (1998:145) noted that only six of the questions in the

questionnaireweredirectlyrelatedtothechoiceofthelearners.Itisforthisreasonthatthelearnerswererequestedtoansweronlysixoftheninequestionsinthequestionnairebelowwith great care and attention. In analyzing course design issues, question itemnumbers (6), (8)and (9)proposedbyDudley-EvansandSt.John (1998:145)werenotincludedinthequestionnairesincetheyaregenerallyconcernedwiththeinstitutionalandresearcherexpectations.

Forpracticalpurposesandsakeofeasiness,itwasconductedinTurkish.1.Doyouwanttohaveanintensive or extensivecourse? a.Intensive b.Extensive2.Doyouthinkthatyourperformanceshouldbeassessed or non-assessed? a.Assessed b.Non-assessed3.Inyouropinion,whichofthefollowingneeds shouldyourteacherdealwith? a.Immediate b.Delayed4.Doyouthinkthatyourteachershouldplaytheroleofaproviderofknowledgeand

activities,afacilitatorofactivitiesarisingfromlearners’expressedwants? a.Provider b.Facilitator


5.Doesthecoursewithabroad focus or narrow focushelpyoumore? a.Broad b.Narrow6.Shouldthematerialsbespecific or common-coretolearnerstudyorwork? a.Specific b.Common-core

1.2 Findings and Discussion on the Questionnaire

Rightafterthequestionnaire,thekeypersonnelwerealsoconsultedaboutthecontentoftheESPcoursethatwouldguideinpreparingthesyllabus.Belowarethefindingsfromthequestionnaireandaseriesofconsultations:

1. The Duration of the CourseThelearnerspreferredthecoursetobeextensiveinnatureastheclassdurationwas

for1½hourstwiceaweekovera6-weekduration(totalof18hours).

2. Assessing the CourseItwasnottobeanassessedcourse.Thelearnerswereoftheopinionthatthenon-

assessednatureoftheESPcoursewouldhelpthemtorelaxmoreduringtheclassesastheycouldparticipatefullyinthelessonswithouthavingtheanxietyoffailure.

3. The Aims of the CourseIn this respect, both the immediate needs –what the students have at the time of

thecourse-anddelayedneeds–theonesthatwillbecomesignificantlater–weretobetackledequally.


4. Teacher as a Provider or Facilitator?Theexpectationofthelearnerswasthattheyexpectedtheteachertoleadwhattheyare

todoandlearn.Inotherterms,theywishedtohaveateacherwhowouldworkwiththemasafacilitatorofalltheactivitiesintheclassroomandencouragethestudentstomapoutthetypeofactivitiestheywantedtodo(e.g.listentoexplanationofthestaff,discussinsmallgroups,presenttwosetsofsolutionstoherproblemandseekhercommentsontheirsuggestion).

5. Broad or Narrow FocusThecoursehavinganarrowfocuswaspreferredasoneofthekeyaimsofthecourse

was toconcentrateona few targetcommunicativeevents. In this instance, thecoursefocusedoneverydayconversationsandoralcommunicativeeventsusuallypracticedbythelearners.Thiswasseenasbeingrelevanttothelearners’languageneedsbecausethekeytopicsthatwereoutlinedsuitedthecourseaims.

6. Specific or Common-core MaterialThe common core material–materialthatusescarriercontentwhichiseitherofa

generalacademicnatureorofageneralprofessionalnature–wasthepreferenceofthestudents.AsthenatureofthejobofthisgroupoflearnersinvolvedusinggeneralEnglishtodealwithpeopleatwork,mostofthematerialswerematchedtothespecificlanguageexpressionsthattheyusedatwork.Therefore,Idesignedreal-lifesituationssuchasroleplays,conversations,anddialoguesthatmatchedattheirworkplaces.

2. The Place of Syllabus in ESP CourseGatheringandanalyzingthelanguageneedsandaimsofthelearnersthroughcertain

methodsisnottheendfororganizingESPcourse.Wealsoneedtodecideonappropriatesyllabus type(s) that match(es) the course in question. Hence, it is essential for ESPteacherstoknowwellaboutthecontentsanddetailsofsyllabusinESPcourse.Thereareseveraldistincttypesoflanguageteachingsyllabi,andeachofthesedifferenttypesmaybeimplementedinvariousteachingsituations.Thebenefitsofawell-preparedsyllabuscanbelistedasbelow:

1.Aneffectivesyllabusconveyswhattheclasswillbelike,whatstudentswilldoandlearn,aswellaswhattheycanexpectofyou.

2. It increases the likelihood of student’s success in your class. It guides studentlearninginaccordancewithyourexpectationsanddemonstratestostudentsthatyoucareabouttheirlearning.

3.Awell-designed syllabus decreases the number of problemswhich arise in thecourse.Fewermisunderstandingsarisewhentherulesofthegameareexplicitlystatedinyoursyllabus.

4. It assists in your professional development.Writing and revising your syllabiprovideyouthereoccurringopportunitytoreflectonboththeformandpurposeofyourapproachtoteachingsuchquestionsas:


a.WhydoIselectthecontentIdo?b.ShouldIpresentthecontentinthisorder?c.Arethesethebestteachingstrategiesforthiscourse?d.Isthereabetterwaytoevaluateachievement?5.Ittacitlyrecordsandtransmitsyourteachingphilosophy.Thesyllabusisapublic

document.When you are up for tenure or a promotion, your colleagues look to yoursyllabusforinformationabouthowyouteach.

6. It provides pertinent information about your course to your colleagues anddepartment.Forexample,colleagueswhoteachsubsequentcoursesinyourdepartmentwillbeabletomakeassumptionsaboutwhatyourstudentsknowandareabletodo.

2.1. Types of SyllabiBelowismentionedsix typesofsyllabi.Thecharacteristics,differences,strengths,

and weakness of individual syllabi are defined as follows. However, one should notconsiderthateachtypeofsyllabusistotallyindependentoftheothers.Inotherterms,foragivencourse,onetypeofsyllabusmaybedominant,whileothertypesofcontentmaybecombinedwithit.Togiveanexample,thedistinctionbetweenskill-basedandtask-basedsyllabimaybeminimal.Insuchcases,thedistinguishingfactorisoftenthewayinwhichtheinstructionalcontentisusedintheactualteachingprocedure.

1. A Structural (Formal) SyllabusAstructuralsyllabus isacollectionof theformsandgrammaticalstructuresof the

languagebeingtaughtsuchasnouns,verbs,adjectives,statements,questions,subordinateclauses,andsoon.

2. A Notional/Functional SyllabusAnotional/functionalsyllabusisacollectionofthefunctionsorofthenotionssuchas

informing,agreeing,apologizing,requesting,andsoon.

3. A Situational SyllabusAsituationalsyllabusisacollectionofrealorimaginarysituationsinwhichlanguage

occursorisused.Theprimarypurposeofasituationallanguageteachingsyllabusistoteachthelanguagethatoccursinthesituationssuchasseeingthedentist,complainingtothelandlord,buyingabookatthebookstore,meetinganewstudent,andsoon.

4. A Skill-Based SyllabusAskill-basedsyllabusisacollectionofspecificabilitiesthatmayplayapartinusing

language.Theprimarypurposeofskill-basedinstructionistolearnthespecificlanguageskillsandtodevelopmoregeneralcompetenceinthelanguage.

5. A Task-Based SyllabusAtask-basedsyllabus isaseriesofcomplexandpurposeful tasks that thestudents

wantorneedtoperformwiththelanguagetheyarelearningsuchasapplyingforajob,talkingwithasocialworker,gettinghousinginformationoverthetelephone,andsoon.


6. A Content-Based SyllabusTheprimarypurposeofthissyllabusistoteachsomecontentorinformationusing

thelanguagethatthestudentsarealsolearning.Anexampleofcontent-basedlanguageteaching is a science class taught in the language the students need orwant to learn.While doing this,we alsomakewith linguistic adjustment tomake the subjectmorecomprehensible.

2.2. Choosing and Integrating SyllabiAlthoughthesixtypesofsyllabusarearecommonlyknownandused,theycannotbe

consideredtotallyapartfromeachother.Eachoneisusedexclusivelyinactualteachingsettings.Inotherterms,theyaregenerallycombinedwitheachother,withonetypeastheorganizingbasisaroundwhichtheothersarearranged.Theimportantthingthatshouldbekeptinmindisthattheissueisa)whichtypestochoose,notwhichtype,andb)howtorelatethemtoeachother.

Alltypesofsyllabifallintotwocategoriesasa)traditionalandb)holistic.Traditionalandholisticsyllabusesreflectdifferentviewsoflanguageinadditiontolanguagelearningandteaching.Bothof theapproaches tosyllabusarequitevalid,andmostof theESPcoursesreflectelementsofboth.Thesyllabusthatwewillusealwaysdetermineswhichofthelabels‘traditional’or‘holistic’tobeemployed.

1. Traditional View of SyllabusLinguisticcontentisofprimaryimportanceintraditionalsyllabuses.Thesituational

andthematicchoicesaresecondarytolinguisticcontent.Togiveanexample,theaudio-lingualmethodemphasizes a careful sequencingofgrammatical structures,whicharefirst presented and then repeated, with gradual memorization of the dialogue. Thisapproach,highly-basedonbehavioristpsychology,seeslanguageasasystemofbuildingblocks,andlanguageacquisitionasaprocessofhabitformation,throughimitationandrepetition.Thisapproachtendstoignorethematiccontent,andgrammarandvocabularyarepresentedinisolatedsentences.

Traditionalsyllabusesaresuitedtosometypesoflearners.Thus,studentscanfocusonaparticularaspectoflanguagebybreakingthelanguagedownintobitsandpieces.Bydoingso,theyarenolongerblurredbyotherproblemsofalexicalorphonologicalnatureofthelanguagebeingtaught.

2. Holistic View of SyllabusThosewhocriticize the traditionalsyllabusargue that it isnot logical tobreak the

languageintobitsandpieces.Theyputforththatthelanguageshouldbeexperiencedasawhole.Thismeansthataholisticapproachusestexts,i.e.,wholepiecesoflanguage,rather than individual sentences. In this way, students are prepared for the languagetheywill encounteroutside the classroom. In scientific terms,wemustprogress fromlearningabout thelanguage(languageusage) toconsideringhowlanguageworks inacommunicativesense(languageuse)whichrequiresus togobeyondthesentenceandlookatlongerstretchesoflanguage.


The holistic view has gained prominence in recent years.A holistic syllabuswillfrontauthenticandcommunicativetexts,topics,andtasks.Itplacesgreateremphasisonmeaningfulcommunicationfromthelearner’spointofview,notisolatedphonemesandmorphemes.

Languageerrorsarecorrectedbytheteacheras theclasswhilethestudentsareonthetask.Grammarislearnedreactively,ratherthanpre-emptively.Inshort,thefocusisonfunctionandfluency.Learnersexperiencethelanguageoutsidetheclassroom.Form,accuracy,andanalysisarenotofprimaryimportance.

AcomparisonofthetraditionalandholisticviewsofsyllabusmaybeoutlinedasinTable-1whichisadaptedfromthebooktitled“TheLearner-CentredCurriculum”writtenbyDavidNunan(1988).

Table 1:AComparisonofTraditionalandHolisticApproaches

TRADITIONAL VIEW HOLISTIC VIEW

Focusesonlanguageasasequenceofgrammaticalpatterns.

Focusesoncommunicationratherthangrammar.

Selectslanguageitemsonabasisofcomplexityoflinguisticcriteria.

Selectsonthebasisofwhatlanguageitemsthelearnerneedstoknow.

Tendstobemoreformalandbookishinlanguage Emphasizesgenuineeverydaylanguage.

Aimstohavestudentsproduceformallycorrectsentences.

Aimstohavestudentcommunicateeffectivelyinordertocompletethetask.

Emphasizesthereadingandwritingskills.

Givesspeakingasmuchtimeasreadinginordertocompletetask.

Tendstobeteacher-centredinteaching. Tendstobestudent-centredinteaching.

Focusesontheformofexpressionratherthanthecontent.

Resemblesthenaturallanguagelearningprocessbyconcentratingonthecontent/meaningoftheexpressionratherthantheform.

3. Why a Situational-Based ESP SyllabusWiththistypeofsyllabus,theessentialcomponentoforganizationisanon-linguistic

category, i.e. the situation. The underlying premise is that language is related to thesituationalcontextsinwhichitoccurs.Thedesignerofasituationalsyllabustriestopredictthosesituationsinwhichthelearnerwillfindhim/herself,andappliesthesesituations,for instance; seeing the dentist, going to the cinema andmeeting a new student, as abasisforselectingandpresentinglanguagecontent.Thecontentoflanguageteachingisacollectionofrealorimaginarysituationsinwhichlanguageoccursorisused.Asituation


usually includes severalparticipantswhoare involved in someactivity inaparticularsetting.Thelanguageusedinthesituationcomprisesanumberoffunctionscombinedintoaplausiblepartofavailablediscourse.Themainprincipleofasituationallanguageteachingsyllabusistoteachthelanguagethatoccursinthesituations.

In thissyllabus,situationalneedsare important rather thangrammaticalunits.Themajor organizing feature is a list of situations which reflects the way language andbehaviorareusedeverydayoutsidetheclassroom.Thus,byconnectingstructuraltheoryto situations the learner is able to induce the meaning from a relevant context. Oneadvantageof the situational approach is thatmotivationwill beheightened since it is“learner-ratherthansubject-centered”(Wilkins.1976:16).

Table 2:CourseContentofaSituational-BasedSyllabus

WEEK KEY TOPICS GRAMMAR FOCUS HOURS

WEEK – 1INTRODUCTION TO COURSEa. GettingStartedb. Makingintroductions

a. Verbtensereviewb. Pronouns

3hrs

WEEK – 2GREETING PEOPLEa. Initiatingconversationsb. Telephoneetiquette

a. Questionformationb.WH–questionc. Preposition

3hrs

WEEK - 3ASKING FOR INFORMATIONa. Seekingclarificationb. Confirminginformation

a. Yes/noquestionb. Future and present

tensec. Tagquestions

3hrs

WEEK- 4LISTENING TO INSTRUCTIONS/QUERIESa. Understandingqueriesb. Respondingtoqueries

a. Presentcontinuoustense

b.Vocabularyfocusc. Tagquestions

3hrs

WEEK- 5USING POLITE EXPRESSIONSa. Respondingtoothersb. Havingconversationsc. Makingbriefpresentations

a. Clausesb.Modalsc. Verbtenses

3hrs

WEEK - 6

DISCUSSING ISSUES AND CONFIRMING DETAILSa. Socialcommunicationb. Everydayofficeconversationsc. Contributingideasand

suggestions

a. Modalsb.Adjectives,adverbsc. Imperativesd.Conditionalverbse. Singular/plural

3hrs

ConclusionThere are many essential points when considering a syllabus to be designed and

implemented.Thevarioussyllabitoucheduponinthisinvestigationallpresentvaluable


insightsintocreatingalanguageprogramandcourse.Althoughthesixtypesofsyllabuswereexaminedanddefinedhereasifinisolatedcontexts,itisuncommonforonetypeofsyllabustobeutilizedfullyinactualteachingsettings.Syllabusesarefrequentlycombinedinmoreorlessintegratedwayswithonetypeastheorganizingstartingpointaroundwhichtheothersarearrangedandconnected.Toputitanotherway,inarguingaboutsyllabuschoiceanddesign,itshouldbekeptinmindthatthequestionisnotwhichtypetochoosebutwhichtypesandhowtoconnectthemwitheachother.Finally,andperhapspreferably,a hybrid syllabus needs to be constructed and designed due to pragmatic reasons.AsHutchinsonandWaters(1987:51)state“it iswise to takeaneclecticapproach, takingwhatisusefulfromeachtheoryandtrustingalsointheevidenceofyourownexperienceasateacher”.

Inclosing,itisofgreatimportancetonotethatnosingletypeofsyllabusisappropriatefor all teaching settings.This is due to the fact that theneeds and conditionsof eachsettingaresocharacteristicandidiosyncraticthatparticularproposalsforintegrationarenoteasilypossible.Thepossibilityandpracticalityaspectsofaparticularsyllabustobedevelopedandimplementedareofgreatsignificancewhileprocessingtheissue.Toputinmoretangibleterms,inmakingpracticaldecisionsaboutsyllabusdesign,onemusttakeintoaccountallthepotentialfactorsthatmayaffecttheteachabilityofaspecificsyllabus.Bybeginningwithanassessmentandinvestigationovereachsyllabustype,keepingtrackofthechoiceandintegrationofthedifferenttypesaccordingtolocalneeds,onemayfindaprincipledandpracticalsolutiontotheproblemofsuitabilityandefficiencyinsyllabusdesignandimplementation.Theinvestigationonhowsubtlyandcarefullyasyllabuscanbedesignedandimplementedopensanewhorizonforfutureresearch.

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