Ielts syllabus design essay

1 . Introduction The attached The english language for academic purpose (EAP) syllabus is made for an IELTS preparation course, which particularly focuses on the listening check.

The reasons lurking behind this choice are that IELTS preparation course is very popular in China and tiawan, and to certainly be a specialist about teaching IELTS listening aligns with the author’s career prepare.

All scholars are male and female Oriental student outdated between 18 and twenty-five, who search for tertiary education in English-speaking countries. In addition , all of them are in the intermediate level, and they want to get a good grade in the listening test. This will likely be a five-week teaching, and three several hours per week with a different product. Additionally , it will probably be used in a hypothetical course in a non-public language college, and the approx . number of students for each class is 25.

In the pursuing parts, the writer will initial give the meaning of syllabus, as well as the importance and necessity of undertaking needs analysis. Then there will be a demonstration with the attached syllabus design, that include the approval of the picked types of syllabuses and the choice of the choice and grading of content material.

At last, a conclusion will be directed at summarise the real key points through this essay.

2 . The definition of syllabus Basically, a syllabus is a standards of precisely what is to be included in a dialect course; and it concerns the selection of items to be discovered and the grading of those things into the right sequence (Jordan, 2003; Hamer, 2002). Additionally , Nunan (1988) defines syllabus to a broad and a narrow strategy. In a wide view, the syllabus and methodology needs to be together, as the difficulty of distinguishing content material and jobs with the progress communicative terminology teaching (CLT). Whereas, a narrow view considers differentiating syllabus design and style and strategy: syllabus design and style essentially focuses on the selection and grading of content, while methodology is more about the selection of learning tasks and activities (Nunan, 1988).

Linking for the attached syllabus, because tuning in is regarded as a receptive skill, and it requires few activities than productive skills, such as writing and speaking (Hyland, 2006). Consequently, the fastened syllabus is created under the thin view, and it is orientated while using selection and grading of content.

three or more. Needs research The term ‘analysis of needs’ first appears in a posted survey record of dialect teaching by Michael Western in 1926 (West, 1994). However , there was clearly little focus given to the needs examination in the subsequent decades. The main reason could be the classic belief of basing curricula on dialect structures instead of on individual learner requirements at that time (Richards and Rodgers, 1986). With the development of language teaching, the word ‘need analysis’ was re-raised by the Council of Europe Modern Vocabulary Projects group in the 1970s, and needs analysis is recognised because the beginning point for creating syllabuses, training, martials as well as the kind of instructing and learning that occurs (Strevens, 1977; Coffey, 1984; Fatihi, 2003).

Similarly, Michael jordan (2003) likewise suggests that building a syllabus should entail examining needs analyses and establishing goals. In the in the meantime, the concept of learners’ needs becomes more wider, which pertains not only to chinese knowledge and skills that for certain goal situation reasons, but likewise refers to needs, lacks, wants, desires, motivations, constraints and requirements, which may be linguistic, affective, material or institutional (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987; Allwright, 1982).

According to Brown (1995: 36), demands analysis is defined as “the organized collection and analysis of most subjective and objective information necessary to establish and validate defensible subjects purposes that satisfy the language learning requirements of students within the context of particular institutions that affect the learning and teaching situation. And there are a lot of fundamental inquiries need to consider when conducting a needs analysis. As Jordan (2003) suggests and additional summarises in the Figure you, they are:

* Why is the analysis staying undertaken? (E. g. to determine the type of syllabus and content) * Whose needs have to be analysed? (E. g. the learners’; the teachers’; the sponsors’) 2. Who performs the examination? (E. g. sponsor; teacher; student) * What is to get analysed? (E. g. target situation; present situation; deficiencies) * How is the research to be conducted? (E. g. questionnaires; tests) * What is the examination to be undertaken? (E. g. before the EAP course) 2. Where is the EAP program to be placed? (E. g. the learners’ own country)

Figure 1 ) Needs examination: summary

Origin: Jordan (2003), Chapter two, pp. 29.

The significance of conducting a needs examination is that this can be a device to find out the learners’ necessities, demands and falls short of, which straight determines the sort of syllabus and content, in addition to the appropriateness and effectiveness in the course (Fatihi, 2003). Also it is a process to get identifying the academic objectives within a valid program, in order to aid the learning for language learners (Jordan, 2003). Yet , there are also a few limitations of needs evaluation, which include

1) the complicity of changing needs in to goals seeing that “an evaluation of specific requirements could result in multiple course objectives (Dubin and Olshtain, 1986: 102);

2) the lack of an efficient needs analysis procedure, as most needs evaluation procedures do not solve the leap among needs research and supplies development (West, 1994); 3) the quality and dependability of the devices used in a needs examination and the results obtained (Van Hest and Oud-de Glas, 1990). In spite of those limitations, it is continue to worth doing needs evaluation because a few studies have got showed that this can be good for the development of program (Bosher & Smalkowski, 2002; Chaudron ou al., 2005).

4. Demonstrating syllabus design and style 4. one particular Selecting syllabus types

There are various types of syllabus design that have been utilized over the last few decades (Yalden, 1987). Generally, a number of different types of syllabus could be subsumed beneath two wide-ranging headings; specifically, the product-oriented syllabus which will focuses on the end result, and the process-oriented syllabus which focuses on the means to a finish (Nunan, 1988). The various types syllabus below these two extensive headings had been listed in the Figure installment payments on your Additionally , a skills-based syllabus that is based upon one or more of the four classic language skills can be highlighted in Jordan (2003). It seems that this type of syllabus is usually on the half way between product syllabuses and method syllabuses since suggested simply by Robinson (1991). Furthermore, one other independent syllabus is lexical syllabus which has been initially created by the work of COBUILD since 1980; and it is on the basis of terminology and lexis (Lewis, 1993; Harmer, 2002).

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