Abstract
This field study is aimed at establishing criteria for an appropriate syllabus for the first-year students of English at the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers’ College. Following an overview of the past and present English language teaching in North Vietnam and at the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers’ College, the students and their learning problems are analyzed with a view to determining student needs. Such needs should be taken into account when selecting appropriate syllabus content. The relative advantages and disadvantages of language syllabus and teaching methods are discussed. The types of syllabus analyzed are: the structural syllabus, the situational syllabus, and the functional syllabus. The methods considered are: the grammar-translation method, the direct method, the audio-lingual method and the communicative approach. The study next identifies the constraints in designing the first year syllabus for the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers• College. The things to be considered are the desired qualifications of the language teacher and the program for teacher-training at the college. At the same time, the first year students of English are studied in terms of previous learning experience and motivation.The next stage brings together institutional needs and methodological options in a discussion of an appropriate syllabus for the first year.
1. The syllabus aims and objectives: that is, the production of proficiency in the four language skills, especially the oral skills of speaking and listening.
2. The syllabus content: the general principles as well as the actual selection of various functions and topics.
3. The method examination of an eclectic method and the teacher’s roles in the classroom as well as the guidelines for more effective teaching.
4. Evaluation: the functions of and the techniques for evaluation.
A sample of a language unit of the syllabus follows the discussion of constraints. After a general discussion of the teaching of each of the four skills, the study comes to some of the techniques for developing the oral skills of speaking and listening, the main objectives of the first year syllabus. It is intended that this field study will contribute a small part to the growing understanding of the syllabus design which, for a long time, has been so controversial an issue at the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers’ College.
| Date of Award | 1985 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |