Syllabus and Modularity: a brief survey

Syllabus and Curriculum are two terms often mutually used, while in UK tradition they relate to different things. Syllabus concerns the selection of items to be learnt and the grading of those items into an appropriate sequence; curriculum concerns not just the lists of what will be thaught and the order, but also the planning, the evaluation, the management of educational programmes. Then curriculum is the set of subjects and activities carried out in a school and it may refer to the National curriculum; on the contrary syllabus is related to the specific subject, i.e. the English syllabus, the maths syllabus, etc. Syllabus is subject based while curriculum is interdisciplinary.

There are different syllabuses designed on the basis of specific criteria, such ad learnability (some structural or lexical items are easier for students to learn than others), frequency (some items are more frequent in the language than others), coverage (some words and structures have greater coverage than others), usefulness (in context which could occur more often for students).

Here is a list of possible syllabuses:

Ø The grammar syllabus, based on the acquisition of grammatical structures from the simplest ones to the more difficult ones, leading to the acquisition of the grammatical system of the target language;

Ø The lexical syllabus, based on vocabulary and lexis; e.g. the vocabulary related to specific topics such as art, clothes, etc.;

Ø The functional syllabus, based on the categories of communicative functions, such as inviting, promising, offering, etc. and the exponents for each function;

Ø The situational syllabus, based on different real-life situations, such as at the bank, at the supermarket, at the restaurant, etc.

Ø The topic syllabus, based on different topics such as the weather, sport, music, etc.

Ø The task syllabus, based on a series of non-linguistic tasks, that is instead of a language structure, students are presented with a task they have to perform or a problem they have to solve, such as finding a train-timetable informations; types of task can be classified in listing, ordering, comparing, probleme solving;

Ø The content syllabus, based on other school subjects’ contents, e.g. teaching geography in English;

Ø The multi-syllabus syllabus, based not exclusively on grammatical or lexical categories, or on functions or tasks, but based on a combination of items from grammar, lexis, language functions, situations, topics, tasks, etc.

Ø The modular syllabus, which can be based on situations, topics, thematic blocks or other school subjects.

Modularity

To best introduce what a module is we could use some metaphors, such as that of a piece of a mosaic, or that of a puzzle-lego / building block, or that of a piece of furniture. A module is a unit of teaching and learning whose main characterics are:

Ø It is self-contained although the combination of modules may represent a progression;

Ø It has clear objectives and contents;

Ø It is of limited duration;

Ø It is assessed in terms of descriptors of target outcomes;

Ø It may lead to the award of a specific qualification.

Modularity can be organized in different patterns:

Ø Interdisciplinary, where every subjects contribute to the teaching and learning of a central theme;

Ø Sequential (which is typical of university) where subjects are organized in sequence so that there is a progression in subject 1, subject 2, subject 3, etc.

Ø Graded, where inside the same subject there is a progression from the simplest topics to the more difficult ones;

Ø Finally the highest degree of modularity can be represented in the following scheme:

A C

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option ...n

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option ...n

B D

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option ...n

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option ...n

where students can choose among the options of modules inside a subject, but it’s free, i.e. it’s up to the students going on and back among subjects; this patterns is particularly suitable at higher levels of education and it’s a sort of piano di studio, with a high degree of authonomy.

Language module plan

The elements to appear in a language module plan are:

Ø Addresses;

Ø Title of the module;

Ø Module number;

Ø Themes or titles of the teaching units;

Ø Prerequisites, in terms of grammar, vocabulary, language functions, language activities;

Ø Objectives, in terms of grammar, vocabulary, knowledge and use, language functions, language activities, CEF levels, can do statements;

Ø Competences involved;

Ø Text and materials to be used;

Ø Tasks to be performed;

Ø Strategies involved;

Ø Assessment tools and criteria;

Ø Remedial work;

Ø Links to other modules.