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perform the communicative function being presented. This sometimes makes the choice of language materiał seem random and unplanned to those who are accustomed to the elear progression of the structural syllabus.

The term „functional approach” refers to an approach to syllabus design, not a method of language teaching. This approach restructures the presentation of the target language to coincide with the communicative functions (e.g. asking for information, expressing opinions, giving directions, etc.). The order of presentation of these „functions” may vary a great deal from text to text. The reason is that it is based on the writer’s conception of what the student will need to do in the target language.

Contrary to the structurally based syllabuses which normally follow a fixed progression of verb tenses, regardless of what the student will need to use or understand in the target language, good functional materials take as their starting point the communicative needs of the students. Once the authors have compiled a list of those needs, they determine how each act is performed, i.e. what language forms are used to express each function. Not all of the patterns that are used by native speakers to perform each function are presented at the same time. Choice of presentation is influenced ] by structural complexity, what has already been taught, and j „teachability” of the structure at that point in the students' 1 linguistic development.

Therefore, in designing a functionally based materiał, writers j must:

a)    determine the communicative needs of the students who will be | using the materials;

b)    present the language functions reąuired; and

c)    offer the students a „choice” in expressing or performing the j function.

That means that the primary goal of the structural syllabus is to j build language competence through the knowledge of linguistic i rules, whereas, the primary goal of the functional syllabus is to build 1 language :c,ompetence through the ability to use this knowledge for J effective communication.

7.3.1. The learning process

Valid educational principles underlie the constraction of the functional syllabus, namely:

a)    The individual leamer is at the centre of the learning process -learner-centred approach.

b)    A spiral or cyclical approach is recommended. In this approach the same sociocultural theme, linguistic item, or language function is studied in greater depth at successive levels of learning. The materiał studied previously is integrated with the new learning.

The functions the leamers would need or wish to express with a social situation form the nucleus of each unit and serve as the axis around which the learning activities are developed. The starting point is always the communicative function and the social situation in which the function or purpose is being expressed.

7.3.2. Characteristics ofthe functional units

•    The title of the unit in a textbook is usually expressed in functional terms so that the learners' attention is immediately focused on the communicative purpose of the dialogue or passage.

•    The learning objectives for each unit specify the content and the situational circumstances that make the verbal behaviour of the speakers appropriate

•    The same function may be presented in different situations in morę successive units, especially in intensive courses. Different functions may be presented in the same or in different situations.

•    The grammar and vocabulary to be taught in each unit result from the integration of function situation.

•    In each unit and at each level the leamer is helped understand the social roles and psychological attitudes of the speakers towards each other (formality vs. informality).

•    Since it is impossible to teach the whole of language and culture in any one unit, year, or level, selection and gradation of language items or notions within the communicative functions is necessary.

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