Definition
The syllabus is a "contract
between faculty members and their students, designed to answer students'
questions about a course, as well as inform them about what will happen should
they fail to meet course expectations." It is also a "vehicle for expressing
accountability and commitment" (2005, p. 63). Over time, the notion
of a syllabus as a contract has grown more literal but is not in fact an
enforceable contract.
Etymology
According to the Oxford English
Dictionary, the word syllabus derives from modern Latin syllabus
"list", in turn from a misreading of the Greek σίττυβας sittybas
"parchment label, table of contents", which first occurred in a
15th-century print of Cicero's letters to Atticus. Earlier Latin dictionaries
such as Lewis and Short contain the word syllabus,relating it to the
non-existent Greek word σύλλαβος, which appears to be a mistaken reading of
syllaba "syllable"; the newer Oxford Latin Dictionary does not
contain this word. The apparent change from sitty- to sylla- is explained as a
hypercorrection by analogy to συλλαμβάνω (syllambano "bring together,
gather").
Because the word syllabus is
formed in Latin by mistake, the Latinate plural form syllabi might be
considered a hypercorrection. The OED, however, admits both syllabuses and
syllabi as the plural form.
Purpose
The syllabus ensures a fair and
impartial understanding between the instructor and students such that there is
minimal confusion on policies relating to the course, setting clear
expectations of material to be learned, behavior in the classroom, and effort
on student's behalf to be put into the course, providing a roadmap of course
organization/direction relaying the instructor's teaching philosophy to the
students, and providing a marketing angle of the course such that students may
choose early in the course whether the subject material is attractive.
Many generalized items of a
syllabus can be amplified in a specific curriculum to maximize efficient
learning by clarifying student understanding of specified material such as
grading policy, grading rubric, late work policy, locations and times, other
contact information for instructor and teaching assistant such as phone or
email, materials required and/or recommended such as textbooks, assigned
reading books, calculators (or other equipment), lab vouchers, etc., outside
resources for subject material assistance (extracurricular books, tutor
locations, resource centers, etc.), important dates in course such as exams and
paper due-dates, tips for succeeding in mastering course content such as study
habits and expected time allotment, suggested problems if applicable, necessary
pre-requisites or co-requisites to current course, safety rules if appropriate,
and objectives of the course.
Types
Notional-functional
A notional-functional syllabus is
a way of organizing a language-learning curriculum, rather than a method or an
approach to teaching. In a notional-functional syllabus, instruction is not
organized in terms of grammatical structure, as had often been done with the
audio-lingual method (ALM), but instead in terms of "notions" and
"functions".
In this model, a
"notion" is a particular context in which people communicate. A
"function" is a specific purpose for a speaker in a given context.
For example, the "notion" of shopping requires numerous language
"functions", such as asking about prices or features of a product and
bargaining.
Proponents of the
notional-functional syllabus (Van Ek & Alexander, 1975; Wilkins, 1976)
claimed that it addressed the deficiencies they found in the ALM by helping
students develop their ability to effectively communicate in a variety of
real-life contexts.
Other types[edit]
Grammatical syllabus
Lexical syllabus
Situational syllabus
Text-based syllabus
Skill-based syllabus
Task-based syllabus
Learner-generated syllabus
Mixed syllabus
Online course syllabus
IRG mode syllabus
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