SYLLABUS

TASK BASED SYLLABUS

Definition of Task Based Syllabus
A task-based syllabus is the content of the teaching is a series of complex and purposeful tasks that the students want or need to perform with the language they are learning. The tasks are defined as activities with a purpose other than language learning, but, as in a content-based syllabus, the performance of the tasks is approached in a way that is intended to develop second language ability. Language learning is subordinate to task performance, and language teaching occurs only as the need arises during the performance of a given task. Tasks integrate language (and other) skills in specific settings of language use.
Task-based teaching differs from situation-based teaching in that while situational teaching has the goal of teaching the specific language content that occurs in the situation (a predefined product), task-based teaching has the goal of teaching students to draw on resources to complete some piece of work (a process). The students draw on a variety of language forms, functions, and skills, often in an individual and unpredictable way, in completing the tasks. Tasks that can be used for language learning are, generally, tasks that the learners actually have to perform in any case. Examples include: applying for a job, talking with a social worker, getting housing information over the telephone, and so on
A task-based syllabus is based on task-based learning, an approach where learners carry out tasks such as solving a problem or planning an activity. The language learnt comes out of the linguistic demands of the activity. A task-based syllabus is structured around a series of these tasks.

Example of Task Based Syllabus
A teacher uses a series of projects on British culture as a syllabus for teenage learners on a summer course in the UK, and applies the task-based approach to the work the learners do.
In the classroom various elements of the task-based approach are applicable to activities in other methodologies. For example, learners can see a model of the activity they are to do first, prepare a report of how they completed a task, or a project, and the teacher can record this report and analyze it for further work.

Characteristic of Task Based Syllabus

Looking at the characteristic of task-based syllabus, there are positive and negative characteristic. Positive characteristic:
(1) task-based instruction is potentially very powerful and widely applicable.
(2) Suitable for learners of all ages and backgrounds.
(3) Addresses the crucial problem-directly, by using active and real tasks as learning activities.
(4) Ability to perform the instructional task is equivalent to the ability to use the language, so functional ability should be a natural outcome of the instructional experience.
(5) task-based learning can be very effective when the learners are engaged in relatively similar out-of-class activities (social or academic).
(6) task-based learning can be especially useful for learners who are not accustomed to more traditional type of classroom learning or who need to learn cognitive, cultural, and life skills along with the language.

While the negative characteristics are:
(1) Problems can easily arise with teachers, the instructional setting, or the students,
(2) task-based learning requires resources beyond the text books,
(3) Because TBL is not what many students expected and want from a language, they may resist or object to this type of instruction,
(4) Evaluation of TBL can be difficult; however, it is easy to measure the language proficiency.
Willis (1996) offers a somewhat different pedagogic classification of tasks based on an analysis of the kinds of tasks commonly found in text book materials. The types reflect the kind of operations learners are required to carry out in performing tasks:
• Listing, i.e. where the completed outcome is a list
• Ordering and sorting, i.e. tasks that involve sequencing, ranking, categorizing or classifying items.
• Comparing, i.e. tasks that involve finding differences or similarities in information.
• Problem-solving, i.e. tasks that demand intellectual activity as in puzzles or logic problems.
• Sharing personal experiences, i.e. tasks that allow learners to talk freely about themselves and share experiences.
• Creative tasks, i.e. projects, often involving several stages that can incorporate the various types of tasks above and can include the need to carry out some research.
Cognitive classification
A cognitive approach to classifying tasks is based the kind of cognitive operations different types of tasks involve. Prabhu (1982) distinguishes three general types of tasks based on the kind of cognitive activity involved:
• Information-gap activity involves ‘a transfer of given information from one person to another-or from one form to another, or from one place to another-generally calling for the encoding or decoding of information from or into language.
• Reasoning-gap activity involves ‘driving some new information from given information through process of inference, deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns’.
• Opening-gap activity involves ‘identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation’.

Psycholinguistic classification
A psycholinguistic classification of tasks sets out to establish a typology of tasks in relation to their potential for language learning. The system is ‘psycholinguistic’ in the sense that is based on interact ional categories that have been shown to affect the opportunities learners have to comprehend input, obtain feedback, and to modify their own output. The categories are:
• Interactant relationship: this concerns who holds the information to be exchanged and who requests it and supplies it in order to achieve the task goals. It relates to the distinction between one-way and two-way tasks. This category is derived from research that indicates that when there is a mutual relationship of request and supplanted, negotiation, of meaning is more likely to occur
.• Interaction requirement: this concerns whether the task requires participants to request and supply information or whether this is optional.
• Goal orientation: this concerns whether the task requires the participants to agree on a single outcome or allows them to disagree.
• Outcome options: this refers to the scope of the task outcomes available to the participants in meeting the task goals.

SKILL-BASED SYLLABUS


1. INTRODUCTION
The term “skill” in language teaching is used as a specific way of using language that combines structural and functional ability but exists independently of specific settings or situations. In the other hand, skill is the ability that people must be able to competent enough in language, rather independently of the situation or context in which the language use can occur. The examples are reading skills such as skimming and scanning; writing skills such as writing specific topic sentences or writing memos, reports; speaking skills of giving instructions, personal information, asking for emergency help over the telephone; and listening skills such as getting specific information, listening to foreign radio for news, talking orders in a restaurant and so on. It is also called competency-based instruction.
The ability to use language in specific ways is partially dependent on general language ability, but partly based on experience and the need for specific skills. Efficiency and relevance of instruction are major strengths of skill-based syllabus.
The skills are presented broadly and with varied applications (e.g. intensive reading of many different types of texts) so that specific skills and global ability are developed simultaneously.
The general theory of learning is that the learning of complex behaviors such as language is best facilitated by breaking them down into small bits (skills), teaching the bits, and hoping that the learner will be able to put them together when actually using them.
In skill-based syllabus, the content of the language teaching involves a collection of particular skills that may play a role in using language
The primary purpose of skill-based instruction is to teach the specific language skill that may be useful or necessary in using language. Skills are things that people must be able to do to be competent in a language. Unlike situational syllabi where functions are grouped together into specific language use settings, skill-based syllabi group linguistic competencies (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and discourse) together into generalized types of behavior, such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, specific purpose writing, and so forth.

2. EXAMPLE OF SKILL-BASED SYLLABUS

Skill-based syllabus merge linguistic competencies (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and discourse) together into generalized types of behavior such as listening to spoken language for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, delivering effective lectures and so forth. There are some examples of the way to apply skill-based syllabus such as:
Guessing vocabulary from context scanning or non prose material
Reading for the main idea Using affixes as clues to meaning
Inference More scanning of non prose material
Summarizing readings More work on affixes
Dictionary work Restatement of informational content
More inference work More affix work
More statement More inference
Analysis of paragraph structure Critical reading skill
Using context clues Using expectations
Based on the example above, some examples of competence that must be had by the students are:
- Students will be able to identify common food items from each food group
- Students will be able to read name and price label
- Students will be able to identify coins by name and amount
- Students will be able to give correct change
- Students will be able to identify family members by name and relationship
- Students will be able to write name, address, telephone number, and age in appropriate place form.
To apply this syllabus in learning process, teacher can do some activity like role play, dialogue, writing short paragraph, reading activity in group, etc.
3. POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SKILL-BASED SYLLABUS

Here some positive characteristics of skill-based syllabus:
a. Skill-based content is most useful when learners need to master specific types of language uses. For example, students planning to work in higher education in second language obviously need broad proficiency in the language.
b. It is possible to predict at least what material that students really need, for example student will need specific reading and note-taking skill, the skill of comprehending academic lectures, and ability to do certain types of academic writing.
c. Relevance on student-felt needs or wants is the advantage of the skill based syllabus because learners who know what they need to do with the language generally show great acceptance of instruction that is clearly directed toward their goals.

4. NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF SKILL-BASED SILABUS

Like as other types of syllabi, skill-based syllabi also have negative characteristic. Under the right circumstance, the skill based syllabi has few drawbacks. Up till now, there is a theoretical question about this kind of syllabus. That is about the whether the degree to which ability to perform specific in language is dependent overall language proficiency or not.
Besides that, there are different opinions about this syllabus related to the relationship between skill instruction ad general language proficiency. One side believes that skill based syllabus will be helpful because someone learns language specifically. But other side said that this syllabus will limit some one’s general language proficiency.
Social and philosophical question also rise about the social values that are contained in many skill instructional based program. Skill based instruction that is too limited in scope can program students for particular kinds of behavior (e.g. obedience in a work setting) or isolated them from achievements and ambition that the competencies do not prepare them for (e.g. education rather than entry-level employment).

5. APPLICATIONS

Skill-based instruction is most appropriate when learners need specific skills, and especially when these skills are well-defined and the learners have little need for global language ability. Basically, skill-based instruction is for Language for Special Purpose (LSP). The example of skill based instruction application is in life skills and immigrants and refugees or language programs preparing students for academic work
Skill-based instruction is probably more appropriate for adults that for children, for whom emphasis on concrete content is more appropriate. Skill-based instruction is not appropriate, in large amount, at least, for general purpose or beginning level language programs in which the need of the learners are broad or yet to be defined. In such case, focusing on narrow skill-based applications will take instructional time away from content that is more likely to address their need for overall language proficiency.

A CONTENT-BASED SYLLABUS
With content-based instruction learners are helped to acquire language through the study of a series of relevant topics, each topic exploited in systematic ways and from different angles, as outlined in Mohan's "knowledge framework", (Nunan, 1988:49-50.) Content syllabuses certainly give learners a lot of exposure to the language, which is good. Content-based syllabus are fully described in Mohan (1986) and Graves (1996:206) has some more references to sources of literature on this syllabus type.
But is it sufficient to produce a syllabus that is merely a list of topics ? How will teachers know which particular items of language to focus on more closely? Which items will, in the long run, be of more use to the learner? Or are Mohan and others like him who design content-based "immersion programmes", relying, like Prabhu (1986), entirely on natural acquisition happening, with no overt focus on language form? And if so, how do we ensure that the topics and texts chosen will give a sufficiently balanced exposure to the language that is representative of the target situation? This question is a vital one, and relates closely to the concept of linguistic coverage. How can adequate and balanced coverage be assured? The syllabus designer must, in all fairness, produce a syllabus that is accountable to sponsors, testers, future employers, and of course the learners themselves. Here we have another key concept - that of accountability.
THE CONTENT-BASED SYLLABUS:
The content-based syllabus is the teaching of content or information in the language being learned with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself separately from the content being taught. When teaching techniques are adjusted so that students comprehended the content material as it I presented in the new language, both content and language acquisition do occur. Immersion without adjustment or assistance has been labeled “submersion”.
Students are given content instruction, they may not control well or at all. When undertaken responsibility and informally, immersion can maximize the students comprehension of both the target language and the content material.
The theory of language assumed by content-based instruction embraces the full range of communicative competence, including a structural component( grammatical competence), sociolinguistic and discourse competence(especially in school settings) and strategic competence. It is a used-based the settings in which it is used. Content-based learning doesn’t clearly distinguish form and function in teaching language but makes the language available in the contents of its functions and meanings.
Extensive reading of literature or other content material in a target language can also be seen as a type of content based learning. A content syllabus might be supplemented with traditional, form-focused work on, for example vocabulary development, spelling, specific and intensive writing activities.