Syllabus Design
David Nunan
Aspects of Task-Based Syllabus Design
Introduction and overview
Syllabus design is concerned with the selection, sequencing and justification of the content of the curriculum. Traditional approaches to syllabus development were concerned with selecting lists of linguistic features such as grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary as well as experiential content such as topics and themes. These sequenced and integrated lists were then presented to the methodologist, whose task was to develop learning activities to facilitate the learning of the pre-specified content.
In the last twenty years or so a range of alternative syllabus models have been proposed, including a task-based approach. In this piece I want to look at some of the elements that a syllabus designer needs to take into consideration when he or she embraces a task-based approach to creating syllabuses and pedagogical materials.
Questions that I want to explore include: What are tasks? What is the role of a focus on form in language learning tasks? Where do tasks come from? What is the relationship between communicative tasks in the world outside the classroom and pedagogical tasks? What is the relationship between tasks and language focused exercises?
Task-based syllabuses represent a particular realization of communicative language teaching. Instead of beginning the design process with lists of grammatical, functional-notional, and other items, the designer conducts a needs analysis which yields a list of the target tasks that the targeted learners will need to carry out in the ‘real-world’ outside the classroom. Examples of target tasks include: Taking part in a job interview. Completing a credit card application. Finding one’s way from a hotel to a subway station. Checking into an hotel.
Any approach to language pedagogy will need to concern itself with three essential elements: language data, information, and opportunities for practice;
Aspects of Task-Based Syllabus Design
Introduction and overview
Syllabus design is concerned with the selection, sequencing and justification of the content of the curriculum. Traditional approaches to syllabus development were concerned with selecting lists of linguistic features such as grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary as well as experiential content such as topics and themes. These sequenced and integrated lists were then presented to the methodologist, whose task was to develop learning activities to facilitate the learning of the pre-specified content.
In the last twenty years or so a range of alternative syllabus models have been proposed, including a task-based approach. In this piece I want to look at some of the elements that a syllabus designer needs to take into consideration when he or she embraces a task-based approach to creating syllabuses and pedagogical materials.
Questions that I want to explore include: What are tasks? What is the role of a focus on form in language learning tasks? Where do tasks come from? What is the relationship between communicative tasks in the world outside the classroom and pedagogical tasks? What is the relationship between tasks and language focused exercises?
Task-based syllabuses represent a particular realization of communicative language teaching. Instead of beginning the design process with lists of grammatical, functional-notional, and other items, the designer conducts a needs analysis which yields a list of the target tasks that the targeted learners will need to carry out in the ‘real-world’ outside the classroom. Examples of target tasks include: Taking part in a job interview. Completing a credit card application. Finding one’s way from a hotel to a subway station. Checking into an hotel.
Any approach to language pedagogy will need to concern itself with three essential elements: language data, information, and opportunities for practice;