situational syllabus 1

The Situational SyllabusTeam members: 胡聪，金春玲，龚蔡敏

Outlines1.Introduction 1.1 Definition of situational syllabus 1.2 Features of situational syllabus 1.3 Problems of situational syllabus 2.The difficult points 2.1 Situational grading 2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of situational syllabus 3.Summary and comments

1.1Definition of situational syllabus

1.2 Components of situational syllabus1.3 Features of situational syllabus 1.4 Problems of situational syllabus

DefinitionSituational syllabus is often defined as one which the contents are organized according to situations in which certain language is likely to be employed.(Richards, et al, 1985:260; Ur, 2000: 178)

ComponentsAims: enable Ss to communicate effectively in specific situation in real world as well as to learn the language associated with the situation Objectives: accuracy in both pronunciation and grammar; basic structures and sentence patterns; four skills… Non-language outcomes: Ss are motivated to learn English, since they are satisfied with the practicality of situational syllabus; Ss find there is a real need to learn in actual situation… learning contents: vocabulary list, structures involved in situations; culture… Implementation: activities occurred in specific situations / teachers’ role

Features of situational syllabus1. A true situational syllabus (none exists so far) would try to provide the learner with the knowledge and skills he would need to deal with social demands.

it answers the question: When and where will the learner need the target language? it attempts to specify the situations.

two assumptions1) language consists of patterns of social use 2) language learning implies becoming proficient in using the language in social situations

2. A truly situational syllabus would take the setting of use of the language the type of interaction involved as primary; linguistic forms as dependent on the situations.

Problems of the pure situational syllabus1.It assumes that the syllabus designer is able to predict accurately the situations in which the learner will find himself and it is only in a very small number of cases that we can predict with any degree of certainty.

Eg: a flight announcer at a international airport "announcing the arrival of a x Airways flight number n from y" However, for most learners the prediction of situational needs is an impossibility.

2.It further assumes that the components of the concept ‘situation’ have been exhaustively listed and their interrelationships mapped, when the actual position is that we have, at best a number of vague taxonomies and even vaguer notions of how the elements involved influence each other.

3.Another assumption is that there is some predictable relationship between the situation on the one hand and the language used in it on the other .Unfortunately, there are no strong relationships of this type,except for highly ritualized languag

e use such as prayer,greetings, leaving taking, thanking,etc.

Part 2 Difficult points2.1 Situational grading 2.2 Advantages and disadvantages of situational syllabus

2.1 Situational grading Situational syllabuses are not syllabuses which list situations nor are the situations graded from “easy” to “difficult”.

The reasons: Unlike the grammarian, who has strict criteria for deciding on the complexity of any sentence. The social scientist can just have some rough and ready taxonomies of items involved in situations but only very hazy notions of how these items interrelate.

In a sense, all situations are equally complex. It is only where the actions and understanding of the participants prescribed by ritual that a situation can be “simple” but such situations of necessity, are the least useful to the learner.

It is only in ritualized interaction that the language is predictable and in all other situations the language can not be predetermined.

So, there is no way in which the syllabus designer can decide whether a situation is easy or difficult to learn or whether it is simple or complex.

2.2 Advantages & disadvantages

Advantages Motivating learners It is not subject-centered but learnercentered. Learners learn language structures within concrete contexts thus making it easier to understand and master new knowledge.