Syllabus Design in the Arena of English Language Learning in South Korea - Essay Example

Journal The of syllabus design has taken center stage as a topic in the arena of English language learning in South Korea. South Korean students are encouraged from an early age to learn English, and their parents devote considerable resources in an effort to accelerate their learning through private institutions and private tutors. However, results have been disappointing and there is no measurable improvement in the students writing or speaking proficiency level when Toeic or CSAT are used as the standard.

In an effort to improve the English reading and writing skills of middle and high school students, the new presidents transition team suggested a move to a content-based syllabus by 2010. This strategy would dictate that students would be taught other subjects, such as science and social studies, in English. The idea would require students to be language students of whatever content is being taught. Because I have taught ESL in Korea for 7 years, have taken a course in TESOL, and my experience in my current syllabus writing course, I could have predicted the negative reaction to the program.

The content-based syllabus was met with widespread criticism and the program was quickly terminated. This outcome was predictable based on the problematic application of a content-based syllabus at the middle and high school level. Syllabus design has exposed me to the requirements of readiness in second language teaching. As a rookie teacher, the conventional wisdom taught that a good second language teacher would rely on a structural and notional functional syllabus. A structural syllabus is a collection of forms and structures, while the notional is a collection of the functions that are performed when the language is used.

In light of my recent educational experience, I no longer rely on those outdated models nor do I apply them. My daily schedule involves teaching conversational English to classes of students with varying backgrounds. The students may range from middle school level to the business professional. The classes may be all of one level or mixed, which demands a different approach to the question of the syllabus for each class. I approach my classes, and the issue of syllabus, from the principle of theory meets reality.

Beyond simply teaching the class, a key component of the syllabus is to maintain the motivation of the students. For the most basic learners, my approach is to use a mixture of a structural/notional syllabus. For the false beginners a skill based/ task based syllabus is used. For my intermediate and higher level learners a content-based syllabus is used. While a structural situational syllabus could, and would, provide them with the basic knowledge they need, this type of syllabus would soon de-motivate my more advanced learners.

I would in effect be killing my class and my students would soon display a great lack of interest My perspective is that syllabus plays an important role in guiding students in their area of learning. It is a guide of what to learn and how to teach it. The reaction to the transition teams proposal for a content-based syllabus was inappropriate for the target group. The wrong syllabus met with disastrous results, as neither teachers or students were prepared for it.