What are the components of a syllabus? and Why is each component important to develop a syllabus?

Diskusi 3 EFL Curriculum and Materials Development

Please discuss:

• What are the components of a syllabus?
• Why is each component important to develop a syllabus?

Jawaban:

What are the components of a syllabus?

One of the objectives of the syllabus is to inform students about learning design (Supriyatna, 2019). Essentially, the syllabus contains components that provide general information about the course, learning outcomes, and objectives in order to work successfully. A brief explanation of the components of the syllabus as follows:

• Need analysis, goals, and objectives

Needs analysis can play a major role in determining course content, especially for language items (Macalister and Nation, 2020). Need assessment (also called needs analysis) is the first step in designing a course syllabus. This needs analysis can be used to identify present, and target situations. The results of the needs analysis form the basis for developing defined goals and objectives. 

The goal is a general statement concerning desirable and attainable program purposes and aims based on the perceived language and situation needs of the participants in the program (Brown in Supriyatna, 2019). And goals can be expressed in general terms and given more detail when considering the content of the course (Macalister and Nation, 2020). Goals are developed based on perceived needs, as perceptions can change. 

At the completion of a course or program, students are expected to possess a certain set of information, abilities, or behaviors, which are specified in explicit statements known as instructional objectives (Brown, 1995).

• Instructional Material and Media

The material in a course needs to be presented to learners in a form that will help the students to learn (Macalister and Nation, 2020). The source of the learning materials used as the basis for the lesson will greatly determine the ease of making lessons and the possibility of dissemination or publication of subjects in the future. 

To get the appropriate material, the teacher matches the material with the aims and objectives of learning by selecting, adapting, or writing the material. And the teacher must also determine the right media in delivering the material to achieve the learning objectives. 

• Teaching Learning activities

The implementation of the created syllabus is thought of as teaching and learning activities and teaching and learning activities are techniques and exercises that are rationally chosen to achieve goals (Supriyatna, 2019). 

Teachers hold the most important part in this implementation. And in supporting teachers, there are several ways that can be done as follows; first through orienting the teachers to the course, second by supporting them in administrative and curricular areas, and third through monitoring them (Supriyatna, 2019). 

Brown in Supriyanta (2019) said that there are some ways that language programs help teachers, through curriculum development, to do their jobs, such as orienting the teacher to the new syllabus, supporting their efforts, monitoring instruction, and providing ways for teachers to revitalize themselves.

• Assessment

It is one of the important components. Assessment plays an important role in the curriculum and serves to help students attain learning outcomes (Richard, 2017).  Teacher use assessment as a way of grading students’ work and performance, relevant assessment rubrics are designed at the start, together with the course plan. 

Students are therefore familiar with the rubrics and the assessment requirements and focus on these throughout the course. The purpose of the monitoring and assessment part of curriculum design is to make sure that the learners will get the most benefit from the course (Macalister and Nation, 2020). 

Assessment can be categorized as; placement assessment, observation of learning, short-term achievement assessment, diagnostic achievement, achievement assessment, and proficiency assessment (Nation and Macalister in Supriyatna, 2019). So, teachers can receive information about students' progress from assessments.

Why is each component important to develop a syllabus?

The syllabus is a set of plans and arrangements for the implementation of learning and assessment which are arranged systematically and contain interrelated components to then achieve learning objectives. So all components of the syllabus are mutually supportive and interrelated with each other, each component plays a role in constructing a complete syllabus as described above.

The objectives of the syllabus in the learning implementation plan are to simplify, expedite, and improve the results of the teaching and learning process and to develop various professional, systematic, and efficient learning plans. In conclusion, all components of the syllabus are very important and interrelated in order to be systematic and logical to apply.

References:

Macalister, J. & Nation, I. S. P. 2020. Language Curriculum Design. New York. Routledge.

Richards, J. C. 2017. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Soepriyatna. 2019. EFL Curriculum and Materials Development. Tangerang Selatan, Banten: Universitas Terbuka.

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