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2.1.Planningcoursesanddesigningsyllabuses
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Beforestartingacourse,theteacherhastodecideonthetypeofsyllabuss/heisgo-
ingtousewiththegroup.Dependingonthetypeandlengthofthecourse,teacherscan
adoptvarioussyllabustypes.Themostoftenusedsyllabustypeinyounglearnercourses
isatopic-basedsyllabus,butteachersofyounglearnersalsousestory-based,task-based
orproject-basedsyllabuses.
Inatopic-basedsyllabusthecoursecontentconcentratesonthetopicswhichare
thecoreofthecourse.Thewayinwhichtheyareorderedinfluencesthechoiceoflangu-
ageitems,structuresandfunctionswhichwillbeused.Incanbesaidthatforthecourse
organizationthetopicsaresuperior,andallotheritemsareadjustedtosuitthem/and
reinforcethelanguageinatopicalway.Thisapproachisconsistentwiththewaygeneral
lowerprimarysyllabusesareorganized(seeChapters2.1and2.2)andistheeasiest
choiceforregularlanguagecoursesinlowerprimaryclassesinPolishschools.
Inastory-basedsyllabustheauthorselectsanumberofstories,usuallyfairytales
orpopularstorybooksforchildren,andstructuresalllanguage,skills,concepts,etc.aro-
undthestories.Beforethestoriesaresequenced,theyshouldbecarefullyanalysedand
laterputinorderofdifficulty.Inthiscasethenumberofstoriesusedinacoursewillde-
pendonhowmuchtimeisspentoneachofthem.So,whilewritingastory-basedsylla-
bus,teachersneedtodoalotofparallelplanningbeforetheymaketheirfinaldecisions
concerningtheselectionofcontent.Thiskindofsyllabuscanberecommendedfor
pre-primaryandlowerprimaryteaching.Itcanbeusedinthewholeeducationalstage
(e.g.grades1–3)orforashorter,one-semesteroryearlycourse.
Anothertypeofsyllabuswhichcanbeusedforthewholeyearoronesemesteronly
isaproject-basedsyllabus.Itcanbebasedononelong-termprojectoraseriesofshor-
terprojects.Inthistypeofsyllabusitsauthorhastotakeintoaccountboththefinalpro-
ductandtheprocessofachievingthefinalaim,whichisaccomplishingtheprojectinthe
assumedtime.Soagain,thecoursecontentwillbedeterminedbytheprojecttopicand
thetaskswhichneedtobeperformedinordertoachieveit.Atthesametimetheauthor
willhavetolookaftertherightchoiceofactivitiestocaterforthedevelopmentoflangu-
age,skillsandconceptswhiletheprojectdevelops(seeChapter11.5).
Atask-basedsyllabusisusuallyusedinshortcourseswhicharefocusedonprepa-
ringthestudentsforcarryingoutaspecifictask.Itmaybetheend-of-theyearperfor-
mancepreparedforparents,stagingaplayorhostingafamouspersonorvisitorsinclass.
Likeinaproject-basedsyllabus,thefinalproductpredeterminestheprocessofpreparing
forthefulfilmentofthetask.Languageworkhastobecarefullyplannedtoallowthe
learners,relativelybalancedlanguagedevelopment(seeChapter2.2.3).
Whendesigninganyoftheabovesyllabusestobeusedinayounglearnercourse,
teachersshouldfirstreflectonthecoursecontentwhichissuitablefortheirlearners.No
matteriftheyareconsideringalistoftopics,stories,projectsortasks,thefirstconcern
shouldbetheirappropriatenessforageandlevelofthestudents.Forteacherswhoare
planningatopic-basedsyllabus,CarolRead(1996)suggestsalistofpracticalguidelines
forchoosingtherighttopics.AccordingtoRead,thetopicsshould:
•motivateandinterestchildren;
•provideasuitablychallengingcontextinwhichlearningtakesplace;
•lendthemselvestothedesignofpurposefulactivities;