Critiquing Syllabus

SOUTHVILLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AND COLLEGES COLLEGE DIVISION

Group 2 Anne, Arida, Cheska, Kim, Suesan

What is a syllabus?
A

syllabus includes the general and specific outlines of the extent to which students would successfully achieve at the end of the courses or subjects. A syllabus should provide a general outline proposal for creating courses for students. A syllabus can be easily adapted for individual classes while retaining an overall structure aimed at helping students acquire the language they need to communicate .

 According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), at

its simplest level a syllabus can be described as a statement of what is to be learnt (p80). Therefore, there can be diverse syllabi in several formats depending on the characteristics endowed by the courses, the instructors, the students, the schools, or other learning environments, but the main point of critiquing a syllabus should be how much the syllabus can contribute learning of the students. British linguists Firth (1957) and Halliday (1973) insisted that adequate descriptions of language must include information on how and for what purposes and in what ways language is used.

 A syllabus could be criticized in two

aspects: 1. the formal aspect 2. the content aspect. the form of a syllabus is related to how much information can be given to students.
However,

it is unnecessary that all syllabi contain all the information in the check list, but the recent syllabus

SOUTHVILLE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL AND COLLEGES

COLLEGE DIVISION
Weekly Instructional Plan

STANDARDS/COMPETENCIES: Use understanding of plot and characters and its connections to other narrative elements to guide comprehension of literary texts including character motive, causes for actions and the credibility of events BIG IDEA Devices and effects ENDURING UNDERSTANDING Use of certain devices, language, and style produce specific effects. TOPIC

LEARNING OBJECTIVES Use pre-reading strategies to develop expectations about the text and to guide the reading process Understand vocabulary and content, connotative and denotative meanings, and idiomatic meanings Use understanding of narrative elements to guide comprehension of literary texts ASSESSMENT FORMS Oral reading of text Oral response to questions

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS Overarching Question: What makes a perfect tragedy? Topical Questions 1. What are the distinctive features of Greek drama? 2. Who is Sophocles? What are his contributions to the development of Greek drama?

LEARNING EXPERIENCES & INSTRUCTION Pre-reading Background Building Greek Drama Unlocking of words Reading: Antigone by Sophocles Wrap-up Assignment: Finish reading the play. Answer worksheet

Critique for Syllabus from Group 3

1. Based on the syllabus checklist, the syllabus sent by Group 3 cannot be thought as a typical syllabus, because: a. some information recommended by the syllabus checklist is missing (e.g. course description, course policies, grading system, name of instructors, and references) b. some specific information such as essential questions and learning procedure are mainly found in a lesson plan; thus, one can say that these are better placed in a learning plan and not in a course syllabus.

2. It seems that this syllabus sent is a weekly learning plan or a specific lesson plan belonging to a whole syllabus; it doesnt include all topics for the term critiquing the contents of this syllabus might also be limited

3. In critiquing the contents of a syllabus,

checking the consistency in carrying out teaching might be the most important factor, but with this syllabus, it is hard to check the consistency of the syllabus.

3. Some problematic issues and

commentaries: a. The assessment of Day 1, oral reading of the text, might be vague considering the goal of the first day. It goes without saying that reading a text is a good activity for helping students to understand the entire text. However, without detail and welldesigned rubrics, it is not easy to assess students reading abilities. Reading the text looks more

b. Assessment forms to evaluate understanding

of the text in Day 1 are not enough to meet the objectives for the day should be adjusted c. The manner of how Day 1 was designed is very teacher- centered. It seems that the teacher who does all the talking and telling of the story. There is no active engagement from the students except for reading the text orally together There should be in between strategies or activities during reading

d. The activity in Day 2 which is role-paying might not meet all the target learning objectives put for the same day the activity and learning objectives need to be adjusted

e. Essential question #4 in Day 2 says, "How

did the use of such devices (literary devices) affect the play?" It seemed a bit vague to be answered by the students this question needs to be rephrased. f. The time allotted to implement this lesson is not enough Maybe it would have been better if Day 1 would be about Sophocles and Greek Drama and then the reading and interpreting of the text in Day 2, and then grammar lesson from the text in Day 3, and so on. g. The objective in Day 2 is hanging. "formulate a response need to be specified

h. It seems that the assessment forms for Day 2 are unattainable Role-playing requires
plenty of time. We have to consider time for brainstorming, grouping and so on. Moreover, doing role-playing, a quiz plus a monologue, not to mention further discussion of literary devices all in a day. i. Assessment forms: need to consider the shy students. (monodialogue); write an essay on how the devices are used in Greek drama, whether it is effective or not and criticizing the devices might help the students to understand more about literary and rhetorical devices