Syllabus design and teacher effectiveness

Syllabus and teacher effectiveness

Syllabus

Stern (1984) explains that the term syllabus was not very popular in America, however it has been widely used in Britain where it is perceived as a statement of the subject matter, the topics and areas to be covered during the course. The author adds that in a course the syllabus would be consulted by students and teachers to prepare for an examination. Stern (1984) uses the terms curriculum and syllabus meaning the same thing. For him, syllabus can be open and negotiable. The author also highlights the importance of understanding learners’ needs to develop the appropriate syllabus.

An example of this is seen in Cowling (2007), where the author of the paper was asked to create a syllabus for a company in Japan for their new employees. The requirement was for a business English communication course to run for three days, three times a year over a period. The first stage consisted on the analysis of the needs of the students. In this paper, it is described that needs analysis was previously perceived as not very formal and teachers used to perform it according to their intuition and after the 70’s it became more formal with proper instruments. In the study, the author carried out research on the learners’ background information. The gathering of the data was rather informal, through note-taking and calls due to different issues such as the trainees duties and their locations. Unfortunately, little information was gathered, the staff in the training section appeared to show little interest in the needs analysis, moreover they had no clue on the type of syllabus that would be required for the course. The author highlighted that the company required learners of the course to pass the TOEIC test, but this was not a hiring requirement. In the end, the client was satisfied with the product that included different types of activities that encouraged communication and a dynamic atmosphere. Cultural aspects were included as well. Learners from this course were able to make use of the language in the context where they needed to develop.

The role of Syllabus in teacher effectiveness

Benesch (1996) points out the hierarchy behind institutions and states that “Employers, academic institutions, instructors, and learners are presented as occupants of a level playing field rather than as players whose differing access to power must be considered.” P. 724 this may be a reason for the existing mismatch between needs and syllabi since teachers may occupy a lower level in the hierarchy and are unable to do much in terms of decision making, sometimes the syllabus is already stablished by people who are not aware of the real needs of learners.

Saville, Zinn and Brown (2010) state that “Although syllabi provide students with important course information, they can also affect perceptions of teaching effectiveness. P. 186 Different syllabi have been developed to try to minimize this issue. Widdowson (1984), explains that in the present the field of TESOL tends to favor person-oriented syllabi, where there is little teacher intervention to allow learners to negotiate their development through communicative class activities. This characteristic in teaching is perceived as part of teacher effectiveness as explained by Acheson and Gall (2003) cited in (Uyrgun, 2013) “teacher effectiveness involves the ability to provide instruction that helps students to develop the knowledge, skills, and understandings intended by curriculum objectives” p. 306

Education plays a vital part in future social roles and individual development. (Widdowson, 1984). Therefore, the path followed by the syllabus will impact any of these areas. However, there might be some conflict between what policy dictates and methodology. Due to this conflict, teachers are sometimes unable to fulfill students’ needs. As a result, there may be a perceived ineffectiveness in language teaching.

References

Benesch, S. (1996). Needs analysis and curriculum development in EAP: An example of a critical approach. Tesol Quarterly, 30(4), 723-738.

Cowling, J. D. (2007). Needs analysis: Planning a syllabus for a series of intensive workplace courses at a leading Japanese company. English for specific purposes, 26(4), 426-442.

Saville, B. K., Zinn, T. E., Brown, A. R., & Marchuk, K. A. (2010). Syllabus detail and students’ perceptions of teacher effectiveness. Teaching of Psychology, 37(3), 186-189.

Stern, H. H. (1984). Review and discussion. General English syllabus design, 5-12.

Uyrgun, Z. (2013). How to Become an Effective English Language Teacher. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 306-311.

Widdowson, H. G. (1984). Educational and pedagogic factors in syllabus design. General English syllabus design, 23-27.