Requirements of the syllabus to teaching foreign languages in a primary school What is a syllabus? A syllabus is more localized and is based on the accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level as teachers and students apply a curriculum to their situation.
At its simplest level a syllabus can be described as a statement of what is to be learnt. Syllabus refers to the content or subject matter of an individual subject . It is a detailed and operational document which specifies the content of a particular subject. It is a kind of plan which translates the abstract goals of the curriculum into concrete learning objectives.
The syllabus for each subject provides a very detailed description regarding the content of a particular subject; that is, WHAT is to be taught and learned in a particular class, as well as the way the object of knowledge is to be dealt with (HOW).
What does a syllabus include? • Narrow view of syllabus design: a syllabus is only concerned with the specification of learning objectives and the selection and grading of content.
• The broader view argues that a syllabus is not only concerned with the selection and grading of content but also with the selection of learning tasks and activities. In other words, syllabus design is also concerned with methodology.
Requirements of a syllabus • The course plan should provide an accessible framework of the knowledge and skills on which teachers and learners will work.
• It should offer a sense of continuity and direction in the teacher’s and learners’ work.
• It should represent a retrospective account of what has been achieved.
• It should provide a basis on which learner progress may be evaluated.
• It should be sufficiently precise so that it may be assessed through implementation as being more or less appropriate for its purposes and users.
• It is a document of administrative convenience and will only be partly justified on theoretical grounds, and so is negotiable and adjustable.
• It must harmonise the three contexts within which it is located:
– the wider language curriculum,
– the language classroom and the participants within it,
– the educational and social reality that the courseplan is supposed to serve.
