Organization and Coverage of the Syllabus

BY:jahanbakhsh  Nikoopour(ph.D)

Keyword : EFL teachers, 'open-market' materials, evaluation process, 'handed' materials, O'Neill's comment , textbook , The External Evaluation , organizational principles  , The Internal Evaluation  ,The Overall Evaluation , Adapting ELT Materials, The Reasons for Adapting ELT Materials

  We can now assume that the goals of an English language program have been set out and that the contextual factors affecting its implementation have been established and understood. The next step in the task of planning is to select a type of syllabus which is relevant to the learners for whom it is intended, appropriate to the situation, and which fulfils the aims as closely as possible.

The 'syllabus' can be seen for our purposes as the overall organizing principle for what is to be taught and learned. Richards and Rodgers(1986) have proposed a useful framework for the comparison of language teaching methods which illustrates the place of the syllabus in program planning. Their model has three distinct levels, which they term approach, design, and procedure, and is intended to show the relationship between the theory and practice of language teaching as an 'interdependent system'. Briefly, 'approach' is the most general level, and refers to the views and beliefs-or theories- of language and language learning on which planning is based. The next level, 'design' is where the principles of the first level are converted into the more practical aspects of syllabuses and instructional materials. It is here that decisions are taken about the arrangement of content to be taught and learnt, the choice of topics, language items to be included in the program, and so on. Finally, 'procedure' refers to techniques and the management of the classroom itself.