| dc.description.abstract | We are currently experiencing a salient evolutionary phase in syllabus design in
which the questioning of established and well-tried types of syllabus coincides
with a wealth of innovative proposals from theory, research and classroom
experience. A review of the literature indicates that one particular syllabus
type, task-based, seems to hold special promise. The main reason being its unit
of analysis, namely the task. The task receives much support in second
language acquisition research as a viable unit around which to organise language
teaching and learning opportunities.
Various departments and faculties at the Border Technikon have different
language needs. It, therefore, seems inappropriate to subject all the students to
the same Communication in English syllabus. Secretarial students, specifically,
have a different set of needs, especially because of the sophistication and
complexity of the modem electronic office.
The purpose of this study, therefore, to:
determine the appropriateness of a task-based syllabus for the secretarial
course at the Border Technikon,
determine the target tasks and task types secretaries need to undertake
and
devise a task-based syllabus for these students.
The results of the descriptive study indicated to appropriateness of designing a
task-based syllabus for the special needs of secretarial students. Various target
tasks (e.g., basic listening and writing skills, logical reasoning, oral skills, life
skills and electronic media usage) and task types (e.g., note-taking,
summarising, assessing an argument, interviewing, getting to know other people
and mass media) were identified by means of questionnaires to the students as
well as to prospective employers. On the basis of the results obtained an ESP
task-based syllabus was designed for the secretarial course. | en_US |
