V.

Syllabus Design/Course Design:

Communicative Language Approaches

Introduction

Syllabus design witnessed new orientation since the 1970’s. The progress of
communicative language teaching changed from the focus of the syllabus design from just
focusing on English as a linguistic system to be mastered, to a focus on English as a tool for
communication (Carter & Nunan, 2001). For these language specialists, “syllabus designers,
materials writers and teachers began to select content not because it was 'there' in the
linguistic systems of the language, but because it matched learners' communicative needs
(Ibid :2).

V.1. Syllabus Design/ Course Design

One of the greatest challenges of teaching any subject is the course design. The latter is
an important step for an efficient teaching/ learning process to occur. Hutchinson and Waters
(1987:65) refer to course design as “the process by which the raw data about a learning need
is interpreted in order to produce an integrated series of teaching-learning experiences, whose
ultimate aim is to lead the learners to a particular state of knowledge.” Hence to adequately
define the syllabus/course objectives, the backbone in the construction of any language
syllabus or course, an analysis of learners’ needs is primordial. In that, those objectives will
be expressed in terms of particular types of communication in which the learner need to
engage.

V.1.1. Needs Analysis

In fact, determining the learning needs prior to any teaching/learning process is a

prerequisite since teachers’ awareness towards specific needs existing in a particular
institution, profession, or individual is put at the forefront (Kubota and Chiang, 2013). Needs
Analysis is regarded by Nunan (1988:13) as “techniques and procedures for collecting
information to be used in syllabus design are referred to as needs analysis”.

To generate the needed data upon which crucial teaching/Learning decisions are taken, a
set number of questions are stated (Dudley-Evans, 2001:131). Starting by uncovering (a)
What do students need to do with English?, then exploring (b) Which of the skills do
learners need to master? And how well?, and at last inquiring about (c) Which genres do
they need to master, either for comprehension or production purposes?. For this scholar, no

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needs analysis is complete unless learners’ target situation, learning situation, and present
situation are inspected.

Needs Analysis provides information about “what learners are required to do with the
English and the skills and language needed in the target situation” this inquiry is referred to
as: “Target Situation Analysis”. Besides examining the learners’ target situation, inspecting
the pedagogical and methodological factors which affect decisions about the language
learning course is the second part in needs analysis process which is labeled as the “Learning
Situation Analysis”. However, before making any decision, investigating students’ strengths
and weaknesses prior the language course is crucial. This important step that seeks to
establish what the students are like at the beginning of their language course is referred to the
“Present Situation Analysis” (Dudley-Evans, ibid). According to Flowerdew (2013:327), “a
present situation analysis draws attention to the gap between what students are able to do with
language at the beginning of the course and what they need to do at the end of the course;
sometimes referred to as their Lacks”.

Accordingly, when we analyse the learners’ needs, we determine the purpose of learning
via the analysis of the following aspects:

a. Determining learners’ level of proficiency: by proficiency we mean how good a

person is doing something. The levels of proficiency are graded according to the
following scale: “Beginners = post beginners=pre-intermediate= intermediate=post-
intermediate=pre-advanced=advanced.

For instance, we may teach the same language function; but differently.

For beginners: describe the physical appearance of a friend

Describing

For advanced: describe the moral qualities of Hamlet

b. Identifying Learners’ social Needs: the identification of learners’ social needs is to

know how does the environment influence on the learner’s learning;

c. We should also know the cognitive development of the learner, age, level of
intelligence...;

d. Learner’s interest and motivation.

V.1.2. Needs Analysis and Communicative Language Teaching

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 The concept of needs has been largely ignored by the structurally based syllabuses and the
concept of communicative function is often lost in the concentration on grammatical form.
Therefore, the demand for an appropriate teaching methodology is as strong as ever.
Communicative language teaching primary goal is to build the communicative competence
(the ability to use language for effective communication); consequently, needs analysis gained
and ESP emerged.

V.1.3. Communicative Competence vs Grammatical Competence

Communicative competence has been approached by language scholars in distinct ways.

In Canale and Swain (1980) regarded it as “a synthesis of knowledge of basic grammatical
principles, knowledge of how language is used in social settings to perform communicative
functions, and knowledge of how utterances and communicative functions can be combined
according to the principles of discourse”. According to Richards (2006: 3), Communicative
competence includes the following aspects of language knowledge:

a. Knowing how to use language for a range of different purposes and functions
b. Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and the participants
(e.g., knowing when to use formal and informal speech or when to use language
appropriately for written as opposed to spoken communication)
c. Knowing how to produce and understand different types of texts (e.g., narratives,
reports, interviews, conversations)
d. Knowing how to maintain communication despite having limitations in one’s
language knowledge (e.g., through using different kinds of communication strategies)

Even though, grammatical competence is an important factor for language learning,

argues Richards (ibid); yet, it is not sufficient enough to use the language for meaningful
communication. This latter is referred to as communicative competence which includes the
following aspects of language knowledge:

a) Knowing to use the language for a range of different purposes and functions;

b) Knowing how to produce and understand different types of discourse;

c) Knowing how to vary our use of language according to the setting and
participants.

V.1.4. Trends in Language Teaching

Approaches to Language teaching can be grouped in three phases:

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1st Phase: Traditional approaches to language teaching (Grammar Translation, structuralist...)
gave priority to grammatical competence as the basis of language proficiency.

2nd Phase: Classic Communicative language teaching (early 1970’s) such as Audioligualism
and situational language teaching (See Figure One)

Figure One: Sample of Situational Lesson1

3rd Phase: Modern Communicative language teaching attention (late 1970’s) was directed to
the knowledge and skills to use grammar and other aspects of the language for different
communicative purposes such as: making requests, giving advice, making suggestions,
narrating. The concept of planning a language syllabus around the communicative needs of
the learners rather than around a fixed body of knowledge has serious implications for the

1
Adapted from : Ashammari et al.(2005)

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field of language teaching. Hence, several new syllabus types were proposed by advocates of
Communicative Language Teaching such as:

1. Skill based syllabus: it focuses on the four skills (reading, speaking...), and breaks each
skill down into its components micro skills.

2. Functional syllabus: language teaching is organised according to the functions the

learner should be able to carry out such as expressing likes and dislikes. (See Figure
Two)

Figure Two: Sample of Functional Lesson2

V.1.5. The Notional-Functional Syllabus

The applied linguist, David Wilkins (1972), realized that it was possible to group language
items for teaching purposes not only in terms of grammatical category to which they belonged
but also in terms of language function they performed. In their description to this approach,
Canale and Swain (1980:2) point the following:

2
Adapted from : Ashammari et al.(2005)

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 A Communicative (Functional/Notional) approach is organized on the
basis of communicative functions, (eg: apologizing, describing,
inviting, promising) that a given learner or a group of learners needs
to know and emphasises the ways in which grammatical forms may be
used to express these functions appropriately.

Meaning that, a range of a grammatically varied language could be taught together to

exemplify functions such as “apologizing”, “thanking”, “requesting”. In a Notional Approach,
the aim is to insure that the learner knows how different types of meanings are expressed, so
that he can adapt and combine the different components of this knowledge according to
particular act of communication.

The Notional approach which represents an approach to syllabus design, not a method of
language teaching is based on Speech Act Theory3 which categorises the social purpose of an
utterance within a given setting. For example, when a mother says to her son “it is raining”
this utterance may have different meanings depending on what is intended by the speaker
(the communicative purpose).

1st meaning: You have to take your umbrella.

2nd meaning: You are not allowed to go out and play in the yard.

3rd meaning: Breaking the ice to open a conversation

In describing the notional-functional syllabus, White (1988:75) considers that two

important elements represent the basis of this syllabus: (1) a notional aspect concerned with
concepts such as “time, space, movement, cause and effect”, (2) a functional aspect describes
and classifies “the intentional or purposive use of language”.

V.1.5.1. Premises of Notional-Functional Syllabus

1. Communication is a meaningful behaviour in a social and cultural context that

requires creative language use rather than synthetic sentence building.

2. Language is constructed around language functions and notions:

3
J.Austine (1962) “How to do Things with Words”, Searl (1970) “ Speech Acts”

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  Functions refer to the communicative purpose for which we use the language
such as evaluating, persuading, arguing, requesting, expressing emotions...;

 Notions or the Semantico-grammatical categories such as notions of time,

quantity, duration, space, location...

3. The basic aim of this approach was to transfer these functions into acts of
communication.

V.1.5.2. Semantico-Grammatical Categories

According to Wilkins (1972:260), Semantico-Grammatical Categories contribute to the
definition of the grammatical content of learning. They are categorized into six categories of
meanings where each category is further subdivided. These categories represent notions of
Time, Space, Quantity, Matter, Case, Deixis

a. Notion of Time: Point of time, Duration…etc

b. Notion of Quantity: Grammatical numbers, Numerals, Quantifiers, Operations.

c. Notion of Space: Dimensions, Location, Motion.
d. Notion of Case: Agentive, Objective, Dative, Instrumental, Locative, Factitive,
Benefactive
e. Notion of Diexis: Person, Time(the same stated above),Place, Anaphora
Examples of Notions
Notion of time:
1. Time relation: (different tense forms: present time relation: simple present…etc)
2. Point of time: (indicators of time: tomorrow, in 1983, in the morning…etc)
3. Duration:( words indicating the duration of an action: while, during…etc)
4. Frequency: ( words indicating the frequency of an action: always, often, never…etc)
5. Sequence age
Notion of Case
Wilkins (1972:262) considers that the notions of Agent (subject) and Objective
(object) propose themselves for an early learning because they help to define the fundamental
syntactic relations within the sentences. Introducing both the Objective as Subject and Object
of an active sentence is to be developed early in learning.

V.1.5.3. Communicative Functional Categories

These categories of communicative functions relate to language uses and are categorized
as the following:

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 1. Modality: utterances in which the truth value of the prepositional content is modified
in some way such as expressing Certainty, necessity…etc

2. Moral discipline and evaluation: utterances involving assessment and judgment such
as expressing judgment, approval, disapproval.

3. Suasion: utterance designed to influence the behaviour of others such as persuading,

suggesting, recommending, begging, urging…etc

4. Argument: exchange of information and views

5. Rational inquiry and exposition : categories relating to the rational organization of

thoughts and speech such as hypothesis, verification, cause…etc

6. Personal emotions : expressing personal reactions to events (positive and negative)

7. Emotional relations: expressing response to events involving an interlocutor such as

Greeting, Sympathy, gratitude…etc

8. Interpersonal relations : selection of forms appropriate to relationship of participants

in the event ( politeness and status: degree of formality and informality)

V.1.6. Teaching Grammar in Notional Syllabus

According to this approach, grammar is a set of notions organised in the mind of the
speaker. These notions are the interaction of categories of meanings and grammatical forms.
Notions are internal, abstract and represent notions of time (time relation: past tense, present
tense; duration: until, since), quantity (countable, uncountable), space (dimension, location,
motion) and so on.

In this way grammar is studied from a semantic point of view and is established as a set of
notions common to all human beings referred to as semantico-grammatical categories like:
time, distance...And under the same notion there are many rules. For example, under the
notion of quantity there are the rules of countable and uncountable nouns.These rules are not
rigid they are consumptions we can manipulate “here is the chair / there is the chair”.
Whenever a person change his place according to a stable object the name he implies to the
notion of place, time, distance change

Conclusion

The Notional Functional Syllabus takes desired communicative capacity as its starting
point. To communicate there are various ways of using a language depending on various

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social purposes: common and specific. Whereas common social purposes encompass
functions like greeting, apologising, assuming, judging, advising...etc; specific purposes
include language functions such as explaining, exemplifying, illustrating, arguing...etc

This approach begins by assessing learners’ communicative needs that may be done
intuitively, or by means of questionnaire/interview, because what the learner wants to
communicate is taken as a starting point. Language teaching is organised in terms of content
rather than form. Language program according to the N-F principles would consist of
sequenced sets of oral and written functions beginning with those most needed for survival
and concluding at a proficiency level sufficient for the learner to communicate successfully (
not natively/or near natively). This level has been termed as the “Threshold Level” of
communication in Europe.