Many teachers feel that the primary goal of language education is the development of communicative rather than linguistic competence. This shift in focus has affected syllabus design. However, no single syllabus appears satisfactory by itself. The grammatical syllabus is effective to instill in learners automatic production of accurate structural…

Papers in this journal issue concern various aspects of foreign language syllabus construction. Titles and authors are: "The Threshold Level: A Notional-Functional Syllabus" (Barbara F. Matthies); "Functions of Grammar in a Language Teaching Syllabus" (William E. Rutherford); "Communicative and Grammatical Syllabuses to…

The New York City schools' syllabus for the first year of high school French instruction outlines a communicative curriculum conforming to state standards of preparation for state language proficiency examinations. The syllabus begins with an introductory section that describes the objectives and approach used and provides suggestions for…

The New York City schools' syllabus for the first year of high school Spanish instruction outlines a communicative curriculum conforming to state standards of preparation for state language proficiency examinations. The syllabus begins with an introductory section that describes the objectives and approach used and provides suggestions for…

The New York City schools' syllabus for the first three years of high school Italian instruction outlines a communicative curriculum conforming to state standards of preparation for state language proficiency examinations. The syllabus begins with an introductory section that describes the objectives and approach used and provides suggestions for…

An examination of foreign language syllabus design reviews current literature on six syllabus types and discusses the process of choosing and integrating syllabi for classroom use. The six syllabus types are structural, notional-functional, situational, skill-based, task-based, and content-based, characterized as differing by increasing attention…

A conceptual and practical structure for designing a local native language and culture curriculum for preschool through grade 9 is presented. The first section outlines the program's philosophy, rationale, and general and specific learner expectations, and offers an overview of the suggested linguistic and cultural content of such a program. The…

The history, development, and content of the notional-functional "threshold-level" (T-level) syllabus and the application of its principles in the preparation of new second language instructional materials are outlined. The context for development of the syllabus by the Council of Europe was based on the need for a uniform, sequenced program of…