A taxonomy and its relevance to foreign language curriculum development.The author’s ideas about syllabus design are seminal to the current debate on the need for a new, communication – oriented approach to language teaching. NOTIONAL SYLLABUSES will stimulate thought and experiments in the field of syllabus design, and will be of wide interest among educationalists as well as applied linguists.
Dating from 1980, this book was written in response to a major study by the international Evaluation Association of achievement by education syllabuses worldwide in six key school subjects, including English. Among the contributors, Alex Inkeles criticises the IEA study for its insufficient analysis', but commends the exercise for its challenges to popular assumptions about educational achievement and the role of teachers. Douglas Pickett and the other authors drew on the IEA data to make recommendations, including allowing the mother tongue in the ELT classroom.
