Syllabus Design

Selection & grading of structural items in an English language syllabus for beginners & elementary learners

In classes of beginners and elementary level students, care needs to be taken to teach grammatical structures in an order which makes it possible for learners to move gradually from the familiar to the unfamiliar. It should still be possible to use functional vocabulary and settings, though focus on syntax at these lower levels is inevitable.

Most TEFL Certificate Courses should therefore still be setting questions like this for trainee teachers to answer:

EXAM TITLE: In what order would you teach the stuctures listed below to a class of adult beginners, and why?

To be + noun - e.g. Are you a student. They're housewives.
Possessives - e.g. John's my you're his her our their
Prepositions of Place - e.g. On under next to behind in front of
Present Continuous - e.g. He's typing.
Pronoun Objects - e.g. Me you him her us them
Can - e.g. Can you...? Yes, I can. No, I can't + verb. I can't speak English.
Present Simple + -ing - e.g. I like swimming
Do you questions - e.g. Do...? Does...? Yes, I do/he does. No, I don't/he doesn't.
Present Simple negative form - e.g. I don't like milk.
Question word + do you - e.g. Where/What/When do you….?
Adjective/adverb - e.g. He drives carefully. He's a careful driver.
Comparative of adjectives - e.g. John's taller than Mary. John's as rich as Mary.
Have - e.g. Have you..? I have + noun. I haven't + noun. I have a car.
Present Perfect - e.g. I've opened the door.

[From a Stockholm 1981 TEFL Training Course given by David Jones]

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