Multi-Syllabus
A syllabus that combines several organising principles in parallel — typically grammar, function, lexis, skills, and topic — so that each unit advances along multiple strands at once. The dominant design behind contemporary general-English coursebooks.
Origin
The multi-strand idea took shape as designers tried to reconcile competing claims of structural, notional-functional, situational, and lexical approaches. Janice Yalden's Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching (Cambridge University Press, 1987) proposed the proportional syllabus, which integrates a semantic-grammatical base with functional and thematic strands in shifting proportions across a course. David Nunan's Syllabus Design (Oxford University Press, 1988) gave the family its broader treatment, distinguishing product-oriented from process-oriented strands and showing how they could combine.
Design Features
A multi-syllabus is typically displayed as a Scope and Sequence grid with one column per strand. A representative unit might list:
- a grammar focus (present perfect for unfinished time)
- a functional focus (talking about experiences)
- a lexical focus (collocations with make and do)
- a topic or theme (travel)
- target skills (a listening sub-skill, a writing genre)
- a pronunciation point (weak forms in have)
Each strand has its own grading logic, but the unit holds them together. The proportions shift over the course: at lower levels the structural strand carries the heavier load, at higher levels the lexical, genre, and skills strands expand as grammatical novelty thins out.
Examples in Coursebooks and Programmes
Mainstream global coursebook series — English File, Cutting Edge, Outcomes, Speakout, Empower — are multi-syllabus designs. So are most exam-preparation programmes: an IELTS, Cambridge B2 First, or TOEFL course typically runs grammar, vocabulary, the four skills, and exam-task strands in parallel, with Needs Analysis determining the proportions. Council of Europe descriptors (CEFR) supply a common reference layer that holds the strands together at each level.
Critiques
Critics including Long (2015) argue that multi-syllabuses inherit the synthetic logic of their structural ancestor: language is still chopped into items and reassembled, only along several axes at once. The strands rarely pull in the same direction at the same moment, and learners are left to integrate them. Defenders reply that no single principle has proved sufficient, and that a coordinated multi-strand design lets coursebooks serve heterogeneous classes without committing to a methodology the teacher may not share.
References
- Yalden, J. (1987). Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
- Nunan, D. (1988). Syllabus Design. Oxford University Press.
- Richards, J. C. (2013). Curriculum approaches in language teaching: forward, central, and backward design. RELC Journal 44(1), 5–33.
- Long, M. H. (2015). Second Language Acquisition and Task-Based Language Teaching. Wiley-Blackwell.