Cohen, A.D. 1989. Second Language Testing. In: Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Celce-Murcia, M., Mclntosh, L. (eds.) Newbury House Publishers.
Richards, J., Platt, J., Weber, H. 1992. Longman Dictiónary of Applied Linguistics. Longman.
The word curriculum has two meanings in the practice offoreign and second language teaching:
1. The curriculum is an educational programme that States: a/ the educational purpose ofthe programme (the ends),
b/ the content, teaching procedures and leaming experiences which will be necessary to achieve this purpose (the means), c/some means for assessing whether or not the educational ends have been achieved.
2. The curriculum is another term for syllabus. (Richards 1992:94)
A curriculum is an official document serving as a framework or a set of guidelines for the teaching of a subject area in a broad and varied context. It States the scope and goals, the rationale, and the guiding principles of a teaching programme in a broad sense. At the State level, the document will present goals that apply to all types of schools of its kind.
A syllabus, in contrast, is a morę particularized document that addresses a specific group of learners and teachers, a particular course of study or a particular series of textbooks. Thus a curriculum should be implemented through a variety of syllabuses compatible with the overall curriculum. At the State level this would mean that the curriculum provides generał guidelines for educational policy makers and materials developers. The syllabus should translate these guiding principles into specific goals, content, and activities to be carried out in a defined context.
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