The Envisaged Syllabus for Teaching Englishas a Foreign Language

The present article surveys the role of syllabus and methodology in language teaching programmes. It traces the development of English language teaching syllabuses from the traditional grammatical syllabus to the method-based syllabuses. It illustrates how language classroom activities, teaching and learning roles, and content were addressed in these syllabuses. In particular, the paper focuses on recent language syllabuses which are influenced by the communicative language teaching theory (CLT) and the related development of task-based learning and language as discourse theory. In conclusion, the article argues for an envisaged syllabus which combines the best of available syllabuses and gives the ideal balance between correct language forms and their appropriate use in actual communication. It argues very strongly for a movement in the direction of fluency and for negotiation of content, since it is the circumstances under which fluency is promoted that permit natural discourse, and since it is part of naturalness that content is negotiated.