Syllabus Design Role of Teacher, Learners, and Materials

2.1.6 Syllabus Design

Syllabus is also an essential part in this study. Its importance leads us to the next step, which is designing syllabus. Before deciding syllabus used in the thesis, the writer would like to explain the definition of syllabus, so there would be no misconception afterwards. According to Hutchinson and Waters 1987: 80, a syllabus is a document which states what will or at least what should be learnt. Nunan 1988: 3 also states that syllabus as a statement of content which is used as the basis for planning courses of various kinds, and that the task of the syllabus designer is to select and grade this content. He also adds 1988: 159 that syllabus as a specification of what is to be taught in a language program and the other in which it is to be taught. A syllabus may contain all or any of the following: phonology, grammar, functions, notions, topics, theme, and tasks. There are three kinds of syllabus that are proposed by Nunan 1988: 42. Since this study is intended to design materials that are needed and appropriate to children of Domby, the writer adapts the second type of syllabus, task-based syllabus. In setting the syllabus up, the teachers should consider the two types of task proposed by Nunan. There are real world task and pedagogical task. Real world task are important as they are likely to encounter the real world setting. Meanwhile, pedagogical task are designed for the sake of learners’ learning and may not necessarily be significant when applied in real world use Nunan, 1988: 47. Using task as core for a TBL syllabus there must be weak and strong form. Skehan 1996 assumes strong and weak forms of tasks which be a sound PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI guideline for syllabus designer in designing Task based syllabus. A strong form of tasks argues that tasks should be central unit of language teaching and everything become supplementary. Completing the tasks would be enough to develop learners’ L2 competence. A weak form is embedded in a more complex pedagogic context.

2.2 Theoretical Framework