Levels of syllabus/curriculum design.

• Every syllabus has three levels:

• Planned : what is intended by designers
• Delivered : what is organised by institution
• what is taught by teachers
• Experienced: what is learned by students

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 Four important questions for syllabus
designers
• What educational purposes do we seek to
attain?
• What educational experiences are likely to
attain these purposes?
• How can these be organised effectively?
• How can we determine whether these
purposes are being attained?
• Tyler,R. 1949
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Suggested Steps for Planning Syllabus:

• Develop a well-grounded rationale for your course.

• Decide what you want students to be able to do as a
result of taking your course, and how their work will be
appropriately assessed.
• Define and delimit course content.
• Structure your students’ active involvement in learning.
• Identify and develop resources.
• Compose your syllabus with a focus on student
learning.

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 Suggested Principles for Designing a
Syllabus that Fosters Critical Thinking:
Critical thinking is a learnable skill; the instructor and class fellows are
resources in developing critical thinking skills.
• Problems, questions, or issues are the point of entry into the subject and a
source of motivation for nonstop inquiry.
• Successful courses balance the challenge to think critically with supporting
students’’developmental needs.
• Courses should be assignment centered rather than text and lecture
centered. Goals, methods and evaluation emphasize using content rather than
simply acquiring it.
• Students are required to formulate their ideas in writing or other
appropriate means.
• Students should collaborate to learn and to stretch their thinking, for
example, in pair problem solving and small group work.
• Courses that teach problem-solving skills nurture students’ metacognitive
abilities.
• The developmental needs of students are acknowledged and used as
information in the design of the course. Teachers in these courses make standards
explicit and then help students learn how to achieve them.

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 Syllabus Functions:

Establishes an early point of contact and connection between student and

instructor
• Describes your beliefs about educational purposes
• Acquaints students with the logistics of the syllabus
• Contains collected handouts
• Defines student responsibilities for successful course work
• Describes active learning
• Helps students to assess their readiness for your syllabus
• Sets the course in a broader context for learning
• Provides a conceptual framework
• Describes available learning resources
• Communicates the role of technology in the course
• Can improve the effectiveness of student note-taking
• Can include material that supports learning outside the classroom
• Can serve as a learning contract

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Curriculum /syllabus as a Discipline
• Graduate and undergraduate students take
• courses in:
• Curriculum development
• Curriculum theory
• Curriculum Evaluation
• Secondary School Curriculum
• Elementary School Curriculum
• Middle School Curriculum
• Community College Curriculum
• Curriculum in Higher Education

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 Foundations of Curriculum Planning
• Social Forces

• The Treatment of Knowledge

• Human growth & development

• Learning as a process

• Technology

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 Philosophy and curriculum design
• Philosophies and curriculum leaders

• Five Educational Philosophies

• Perennialism
• Idealism
• Realism
• Experimentalism
• Existentialism

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 Four main types of need analysis
1.Target Situation Analyses- in which situations learners use
the target language most? Over the telephone, delivering
presentations, meetings, hotel reception. What do they
need L2 for?
2. Learning Situation Analysis- in which style learners have
been taught before? structural, procedural, communicative.
What is the best way to get Learners to L2 target level?
3.Present situation Analysis- where the learners are now
proficiency wise? Give them a test and diagnose their level
of proficiency in reading, writing, listening and speaking
4.Means Analysis- what resources they have, what learning
styles they are used to, what are their class dynamics etc.
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 Needs Analysis and course design

This section discusses the definitions of language needs analysis. Needs

analysis is a very valuable tool in identifying where the learners are and
where learners should be. If we are to analyse needs, we have to know
what kinds of needs are?
Many practitioners define language needs analysis in various ways and
from different viewpoints. The definition of Language Needs Analysis is
based on the work of Nunan (1991), Backman and Palmer (1992), and
Brown (1995), in which they define Language Needs Analysis is a set of
tools, techniques and procedures for determining thelanguage content
and learning processes that involves systematic gathering of specificin
formation about the language needs to meet the learning needs of a
particular group of learners. The needs of a specific group of learners must
be satisfied by the suitable teaching methods based on curriculum and
context. In general, needs analysis is a method in findinglearner’s need in
order to improve their English language skills.
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 This section discusses the definitions of; language needs analysis,
types of English language needs, methods of collecting data of
needs analysis, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) syllabus, and
course design for ESP.

The term “needs analysis” was originated by

Michael West of India in the 1920swhen he was trying to establish
the way the learners should learn English. In the field of language
program planning, needs analysis is the first step in developing a
language curriculum (Brown, 1995). It is a systematic and on going
process of gathering information about learners’ needs,
interpreting the information, and then making course decisions
based on the interpretation in order to meet the needs. It can be
seen that it is the responsibility of the teachers and planners in
investigating the learners to which the language they need in order
to produce and teach an effective course.

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 Types of English Language Needs
analysis
• This section discusses the types of needs
related to the specific group of learners in this
study.The first two types of needs taken into
account for needs analysis of ESP
coursedesign are target needs and learning
needs (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987).1.

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 1.Target needs
refers to what the learner needs to do in the target
situation.Hutchinson and Waters describe the target needs in terms
of necessities, lacks and wants.
Necessities are what the learner has to know in order to perform
effectively in the target situation. Thus, it is a matter of observing
the existing proficiency of the learners.
However,to identify necessities alone is not enough; we also need
to know what the learner knowsalready in order to decide which of
the necessities the learner lacks. Lacks are what thelearners already
know that are the gaps between the target proficiency and the
existingproficiency of the learners. Wants can be considered to be
the perception of the needs of the learners. In other words, wants
are what the learners feel they need. It is concernedwith asking
questions about target situation and the attitudes towards situation
of thevarious participants in the learning process.2.
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 2.Learning needs
can be considered as what the learner needs to do in order tolearn.
Learning needs covers all of the factors connected with the process of
learning, suchas attitudes, motivation and awareness, personality, learning
styles and strategies andsocial background.Both target situation needs
and learning needs are important to ESP course design.They can guide the
direction of ESP course design to meet the learners’ needs since
theyinfluence on the nature of the syllabus, materials, methodology, and
evaluation procedures.In research studies, the researcher can examine the
needs, problems, wants and other implementation factors by investigating
the target situation and learning situation in order to adjust the new
information for learners.In summary, both target situation and learning
needs are important. They can guidethe direction of ESP course design to
meet learner’s needs. The researcher concentrates on target needs
which are the English language needs of the Metropolitan Police Officers
in order to provide the services for the foreign tourists.

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 Issues in ESP Course Design
• The work that has been done in the field of ESP
has generally followed the assumption that if a
group of learners English language needs can be
accurately specified, then this identification can
be used to determine the content of a language
programme that will meet these needs (Munby,
1978). Such interpretations were common in the
1970s and 1980s when needs analysis in ESP
contexts was widespread in language teaching
(Nunan, 1988; Strevens, 1988).
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• Then, such procedures were used as the initial
process for the specification of behavioral
objectives which then explored different syllabus
elements such as functions, notions and lexis in a
more detailed manner (Nunan, 1988). To this day,
this assumption is generally adhered to by most
ESP practitioners when they design or mount a
wide variety of ESP courses such as English for
civil servants; for policemen; for insurance staff;
for medical students; for legal staff; for nurses;
for human resource personnel etc
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 Such ESP courses are also prevalent in a young
and rapidly developing country like Malaysia.
After gaining independence from the British in
1947, Malaysia underwent necessary changes in
her infrastructure, international trade and
economy and these transformations established
the need for relevant and learner-centred ESP
courses in globalised work contexts. Since the
1970s, there has always been a need for ESP
courses in various ESP contexts in multicultural,
multireligious and multiethnic Malaysia.

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 ESP researchers are of the view that once learners
specialized needs and special language registers are
identified, then relevant teaching materials can be used to
teach the course more effectively. When Language for
Specific Purposes (LSP) became widespread, more
determined efforts were made to design comprehensive
LSP syllabus that focused on learners needs. But needs
analysis did not find its remarkable influence and position
in LSP until Munbys (1978) approach to needs analysis was
introduced. Despite numerous criticisms, many researchers
still see the value of using Munbys Communicative Needs
Processor as they view it as being contributory in many
developmental ways (Jordan, 1997; Phan, 2005).

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 Needs analysis is neither unique to language teaching nor
within language training but it is often seen as being the
• corner stone of ESP and leads to a very focused course
(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998: 122). Although there are
various ways of interpreting needs, the concept of learner
needs is often interpreted in two ways:

• as what the learner wants to do with the language

(goal-oriented definition of needs) which relates to
terminal objectives or the end of learning; and
•
what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the
language (a process-oriented definition) which relates to
transitional/means of learning.

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Traditionally, the first interpretation was widely used
and accepted. However, in todays globalised teaching
and learning contexts, ESP courses tend to relate to
both at the same time but tend to focus on the
process-oriented approach in aligning students needs
with their present working scenarios.

In view of these concerns, Dudley-Evans and St. John

(1998: 145) discuss criteria for ESP course design and
put forward useful steps for ESP teachers and course
designers to consider. They list these concerns
surrounding course design in the form of the following
questions: 79
 • Should the course be intensive or extensive?
• Should the learners performance be assessed or non-assessed?
• Should the course deal with immediate needs or with delayed needs?
• Should the role of the teacher be that of the provider of knowledge and
activities, or should it be as facilitator of activities arising from learners expressed
wants?
• Should the course have a broad focus or narrow focus?
Should the course be pre-study or pre-experience or run parallel with the
•study or experience?
•
Should the materials be common-core or specific to learners study or work?
Should the group taking the course be homogenous or should it be
heterogeneous?
Should the course design be worked out by the language teacher after
consultation with the learners and the institution, or should it be subject to a
process of negotiation with the learners?

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 By asking these questions prior to planning course design, the ESP teacher
can be better prepared, more so if the teacher has to balance out some of
these parameters which are linked to institutional and learner
•
expectations (Dudley-Evans and St. John, 1998). In this respect, these
parameters of course design were considered and adhered to by the
researcher and will be addressed in the findings section below.
• In most instances, the content of any ESP course should only be

determined by a comprehensive needs analysis as this first step is seen as

being absolutely crucial if ESP practitioners wish to design a course that
will maximally benefit their learners (Wright, 2001). In the literature of
needs analysis, some of the following aspects are often recommended by
• •experts:

Placement testing (administering tests designed to assess general

English ability and ability to perform adequately in work contexts this
might help determine the starting level of courses in the ESP course)

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 Linguistics needs analysis (to identify skill
development, linguistic structures, lexical items,
language functions and levels of formality)
Learning needs analysis (identify learners
attitudes towards different kinds of methodology,
learning tasks and activities); and
Learner perceptions analysis (discover
learners perceptions of themselves and others as
part of their company culture, and their
relationships with people from other company
cultures)
82
 In analysing course design issues in any teaching and learning
context, it is generally an accepted fact that the process of matching
aim and method is not simply a mechanistic one of finding out what
is the aim and then finding an appropriate method to achieve it.
With reference to course design matters, an inescapable fact of
most needs analysis is the amount of vast information collected and
of deciding what may or may not prove to be relevant clues towards
resolution of hunches which may or may not be discarded
(Alasuutari, 1998). Hence, ESP researchers need to realize that the
accumulation of information about their prospective learners
communicative events is a trial and error period and needs to be
considered before some of it is discarded as it forms part of the
continuous dialectic by which aims and methods, hunches and
observations are fine tuned to suit the specific ESP teaching and
learning environment.

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 A Model is…??
• A simplified, yet communicable representation of a real-world
setting or situation.
• May be synonymous with design.
• It is an organized way of accomplishing a goal or task
• Models are useful because they provide guidance and structure.
Systems models bring various groups, individuals, information, and
activities together to achieve the goal and to provide continuous
feedback in order to improve the curriculum.
• Furthermore, a model should be...
• Practical
• Realistic
• Efficient
•
Inclusive

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 There are five phases to the
Performance Improvement Model...
• Analyze
• Design
• Develop
• Implement
• Control

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 Most Recognized
Technical-Scientific Models
1.The Ralph Tyler Model:
Four Basic Principles

2. The Hilda Taba Model:

Grass-roots Rationale

3.The Francis Hunkins

Decision-Making Model
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 The Ralph Tyler Model:
Four Basic Principles
This is the best known technical-scientific model.
In 1949, Tyler published Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, in
which he outlined four key points:
1) purposes of the school,
2) educational experiences related to the purposes,
3) organization of these experiences, and
4) evaluation of the purposes.
From this rationale came Tyler’s model
This model was developed by Ralph Tyler to simplify the curriculum
development process.
Consists of four primary steps…
Development of performance objectives
Development of activities
Organization of activities
Evaluation
87
• The Tylerian Model was expanded by Doll
(1986)to include:
• Statement of need, based on assessment
• Statement of objective
• Content list and organizational plan
• Description of learning experiences
• Evaluation plan
• Plan to solicit support for the curriculum

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 The final model that we will look at is
the Ten-Step Curriculum Planning
•
Model
This model first appeared in the NASSP Bulletin in
1984 in an article by Zenger and Zenger. It is an
inclusive, organized approach that certainly
meets the definition of “systematic model.” It is
commonly used in the school setting.
• When using the “Ten-Step” Model, the process
may or may not include all steps.
may begin or end at any of the steps.
• steps may be repeated as necessary
evaluation is a critical component of all steps
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 Ten steps in preparing a practical
language teaching syllabus:
• Determine, to the extent possible, what outcomes are desired for the students in the instructional
program. That is, as exactly and realistically as possible, defines what the students should be able to
do as a result of the instruction.
• 2. Rank the syllabus types presented here as to their likelihood of leading to the outcomes
desired. Several rankings may be necessary if outcomes are complex.
• 3. Evaluate available resources in expertise (for teaching, needs analysis, materials choice and
production, etc.), in materials, and in training for teachers.
• 4. Rank the syllabi relative to available resources. That is, determine what syllabus types would
be the easiest to implement given available resources.
• 5. Compare the lists made under No. 2 and 4. Making as few adjustments to the earlier list as
possible, produce a new ranking based on the resources’ constraints.
• 6. Repeat the process, taking into account the constraints contributed by teacher and student
factors described earlier.
• 7. Determine a final ranking, taking into account all the information produced by the earlier
steps.
• 8. Designate one or two syllabus types as dominant and one or two as secondary.
• 9. Review the question of combination or integration of syllabus types and determine how
combinations will be achieved and in what proportion.
• 10. Translate decisions into actual teaching units.
•

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 The Hilda Taba Model: Grass-roots Rationale
In Taba’s book, Curriculum development: Theory and Practice (1962), she
argued
• that there was a definite order to creating the curriculum.
• Where Taba differed from Tyler was that she believed that those who
teach the curriculum, the teachers, should participate in developing it.
She advocated what has been called the grass-roots approach, a model
whose steps or stages are similar to Tyler’s.
• Although Tyler did not advocate that his model only be employed by
persons in the central office, educators during the early days of curriculum
making thought that the central authorities really had the knowledge
thereby creating “top down” curricula.
• Taba believed that teachers should begin the process by creating specific
teaching-learning units for their students.
• More specifically, she advocated that teachers take an inductive approach
to curriculum development—starting with specifics and building to a
general design—as opposed to the more traditional deductive approach—
starting with the general design and working toward the specifics (see
handout).
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The Francis Hunkins: Decision-Making Model
The model has seven major stages: curriculum
conceptualization and legitimization, diagnosis, content
selection, experience selection, implementation,
evaluation; and maintenance.
What sets this model apart is its recommended first
stage of curricular decision making. The first stage
requires that participants engage in deliberation
regarding the nature of curriculum and also its
educational and social-political value. This approach
addresses the concerns of reconceptualists, of putting
stress on understanding the nature and power of
curriculum (see handout).
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 Nontechnical-Nonscientific
• This approach considers that the curriculum evolves rather
than being planned precisely.
• The nontechnical camp focuses on the subjective, personal,
and aesthetic. They stress not the outputs of production
but rather the learner, especially through activity-oriented
• approaches to teaching and learning.
Advocates of this approach might well identify themselves
as postmodern (i.e., the world is viewed not as a machine
but as a living organism). Therefore, individuals who
consider themselves postmodern realize that one cannot
separate curriculum development from the people involved
in the process or from those who will experience the
curriculum.
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 Most Recognized
Nontechnical-Nonscientific Models
• Allan Glatthorn: Naturalistic Model

• 2. The Deliberation Model

• 3. Postpositivist-Postmodern Models

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Allan Glatthorn: Naturalistic Model
• This model takes a middle-ground approach.
It is neither modern, although it does
advocate following a sequence of specific
stages, nor postmodern, although it can be
argued that is promises a great deal of
uncertainty and surprises.
• 2. The model contains eight steps (see
handout).

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 The Deliberation Model
This model represents a means of reasoning about the
• practical problems of what to include in the curriculum.
The process is non-technical primarily because it does not
•
accept a linearity of action. That is, it is not necessary to
blindly follow steps 1, 2, and 3.
• Through deliberation, people are cognizant of the players in
the process and aware of their views, ideas, and agendas.
What type of knowledge and what view of knowledge does
• the person involved in deliberation bring to the process?
Effective deliberation involves stages, although there is no
agreement as to the exact number of stages. What is
proposed is a six-stage process (see handout).
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Postpositivist-Postmodern Models
This model causes curriculum makers to assume an
• openness to process, an eye for the unexpected, and a
willingness to let individuals interact with curricular matters
as they evolve.
• Proponents of this approach to curriculum believe that the
actual planning process assumes its own ethos. Ends are
transformed into new beginnings; people in the process are
altered; students, teachers, and even course materials are
• changed as the dynamics and chaos unfold.
The aim of curricula designed from this viewpoint is not to
have students arrive at understandings, but essentially to
realize that they have more work to do, to continually make
their understandings new.
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 Postpositivist-Postmodern Models
(Continued)
• Curriculum becomes a process of development to be
experienced in unique and at first unimagined ways,
rather than a static body of knowledge to be presented
within a strict time table.
• 5. Curriculum participants are engaged in a critical
dialogue with themselves and others in the planning
process and interact with an evolving content of the
curriculum. This approach to curriculum creation can
never be articulated with a universal precision.
• 6. “If you gather together to create a curriculum, it
will emerge.”

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 Why should we consider various
models?
• To keep the educational system up-to-date with
prevailing advancements in various subjects.
• To reduce the gap between actual output and
required output.
• To adopt blended mode of education.
• To offer more meaningful education.
• To offer international standard so that credit
transfers, student, faculty exchange program can
take place

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When should you consider introducing
new curriculum models?
• When the gap between existing and expected
outcome is noticeable.

• Adoption of new advancements become

essential to carry forward.

• A new methodology such as blended mode of

education demands change of curriculum.
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 Various Approaches to Curriculum
Development
• Behavioral
• Managerial
• Systems
• Academic
• Humanistic
• Reconceptualist (understand, not just
implement or evaluate, the curriculum)

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 Behavioral Viewpoint
• Goals and objectives must be specified.
• Content and activities must be sequenced
based on objectives.
• Learning outcomes must be evaluated
based on goals and objectives

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• Managerial Viewpoint

Curriculum planned in terms of

programs,
schedules, space, resources.
Supervisory & administrative aspects
are concerned.
 Systems Viewpoint
Takes in to account systems theory, systems analysis, and
systems engineering (used mostly in business, governmen
& military)
Academic Viewpoint
Related to broad aspects of schooling
(discipline, values, extra-curricular)
Humanistic Viewpoint
Student centered

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 Reconceptualist Viewpoint
• Focuses on larger ideological and moral issues of education
• Views school as an extension of society
• Curriculum Practioners
• Successful Curriculum Practioners must be able to
select and organize:
• Goals and objectives
• Content (subject matter)
• Incorporate methods, materials, and media
• Interactive & Engaging learning experiences and
activities
• Evaluation techniques

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 appendix

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