Deepening Your Understanding: Resources on Course Syllabus Design

To further your understanding of the roles and work of the LPD, check out the practical and scholarly resources below.

Practical Resources

Graphic Organizers

• Chrome extensions
• MindMup
• Lucid Chart

• Web applications
• Bubbl.us
• Coggle
• Caccoo
• Mindmomo

Infographic Tools for Visual Syllabus Design

• Canva
• Piktochart
• Visme
• Easel.ly
• Venngage

Graphic Syllabi

• Composition
• Liquid syllabus
• Would a course syllabus be better as an infographic?
• Turning your syllabus into an infographic

UDL 

• Guidelines
• Accessible Syllabus

Undergraduate Syllabus Templates

• University of Arizona
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Carnegie Mellon University

Scholarly Resources

Lord, G. (2014). Language program direction: Theory and practice. Pearson. [Chapter 3].

Macedo, D. (2019). Decolonizing foreign language education: The misteaching of English and other colonial languages. Routledge.

Nilson, L. (2007). The graphic syllabus and the outcomes map: Communicating your course. Jossey-Bass.

Paesani, K., (2017). Redesigning an introductory language program: A backward design approach. L2 Journal, 9(1), 1-20. 

Richards, J. C. (2013). Curriculum approaches in language teaching: Forward, central, and backward design. RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 44(1), 5-33. 

Robinson, P. (2013). Syllabus design. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp.5495-5498). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1135 

Rosen, L., & Grovergrys, K. (2021). The power of media-based syllabi: If only students knew what the syllabus said. FLTMAG. https://fltmag.com/media-based-syllabi/?fbclid=IwAR11GQe6r4wMcgw0M9Iq_C8tErxXWwcafNISXk8mYjjQq5QPxJ6jLzUr8IM

Tobin, T., & Behling, K. (2018). Reach everyone, teach everyone: Universal Design for Learning in higher education. West Virginia University Press.

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Module References

Afros, E., & Schryer, C. (2009). The genre of syllabus in higher education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 8(3), 224-233.

Albers, C. (2003). Using the syllabus to document the scholarship of teaching. Teaching Sociology, 31(1), 60-72. 

Allen, J. P. B. (1984). A functional-analytic approach to ESL at the secondary level in Ontario. Bulletin of the Canadian association of applied linguistics, 6(2), 71-80.

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Harvard University Press.

Breen, M. (1987). Contemporary paradigms in syllabus design, Part 1. Language Teaching, 20(2), 81-92.

Canale, G. (2016). (Re)searching culture in foreign language textbooks, or the politics of hide and seek. Language, Culture, and Curriculum, 29(2), 225-243.

Candlin, C. N. (1984). Syllabus design as a critical process. In Brumfit, C. J. (Ed.), General English syllabus design (pp. 29-40). Pergamon. 

CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (version 2.2). http://udlguidelines.cast.org 

Chapelle, C. A. (2016). Teaching culture in introductory foreign language textbooks. Palgrave Macmillan. 

Criser, R., & Knott, S. (2019). Decolonizing the curriculum. Die Unterrichtspraxis / Teaching German, 52(2), 151-160. 

Cubillos, J., & Ilvento, T. (2019). Syllabus matters: The impact of course type on speaking gains abroad. NECTFL Review, 83, 41-56.

Curdt-Christiansen, X. L. & Weninger, C. (2015). Language, ideology and education: The politics of textbooks in language education. Routledge.

Del Valle, J. (2014). The politics of normativity and globalization: Which Spanish in the classroom? Modern Language Journal, 98(1), 358-72.

Doolittle, P. E., & Siudzinski, R. A. (2010). Recommended syllabus components: What do higher education faculty include in their syllabi? Journal of Excellence in College teaching, 20(3), 29-61. 

Dubin, F., & Olshtain, E. (1986). Course design: Developing programs and materials for language learning. Cambridge University Press.

Feez, S. (1999). Text-based syllabus design. TESOL in Context, 9(1), 11-14.

Gray, J. (2013). Critical perspectives on language teaching materials. Palgrave Macmillan.

Herschensohn, J. (1990). Toward a theoretical basis for current language pedagogy. Modern Language Journal, 74(4), 451-458. 

Hockensmith, S. (1988). The syllabus as a teaching tool. The Educational Forum, 52(4), 339-351.

Hodaeian, M., & Biria, R. (2015). The effect of Backward Design on intermediate EFL learners’ L2 reading comprehension: Focusing on learners’ attitudes. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Language Research, 2(7), 80-93.

Keles, U., & Yazan, B. (2020). Representation of cultures and communities in a global ELT textbook: A diachronic content analysis. Language Teaching Research, (Online First). https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168820976922 

Krahnke, K. (1987). Approaches to syllabus design for foreign language learning. Prentice Hall.

Korotchenko, T., Matveenko, I., Strelnikova, A., & Phillips, C. (2015). Backward Design method in foreign language curriculum development. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 215, 213-217.

Kubota, R. (2004). Critical multiculturalism and second language education. In B. Norton & K. Toohey (Eds.), Critical pedagogies and language learning (pp. 30– 52). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Long, M. H., & Crookes, G. (1993). Units of analysis in syllabus design: The case for task. In G. Crookes & S. Gass (Eds.), Tasks in a pedagogical context (pp. 9–54). Multilingual Matters.

Matejka, K., & Kurke, L. B. (1994). Designing a great syllabus. College Teaching, 42(3), 115-117. 

Meyer, A. Rose, D.H., & Gordon, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: Theory and practice. CAST Professional Publishing.

Nunan, D. (1988). Syllabus design. Oxford University Press.

Nunan, D. (2001). Second language acquisition. In R. Carter & D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to teaching English to speakers of other languages (pp. 87–92). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Parkes, J., & Harris, M. B. (2002). The purpose of a syllabus. College Teaching, 50(2), 55-61.

Rabbini, R. (2002). An introduction to syllabus design and evaluation. The Internet TESL Journal, 8(5). http://iteslj.org/Articles/Rabbini-Syllabus.html  

Rahimpour, M. (2010). Current trends in syllabus design in foreign language instruction. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2, 1660-1664.  

Richards, J. C. (2013). Curriculum approaches in language teaching: Forward, central, and backward design. RELC Journal: A Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 44(1), 5-33. 

Robinson, P. (2009). Syllabus design. In M. H. Long & C. H. Doughty (Eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp. 294-310). Wiley-Blackwell.

Robinson, P. (2013). Syllabus design. In C. Chapelle (Ed.), The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics (pp.5495-5498). Blackwell Publishing Ltd. http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1135 

Scida, E., & Jones, J. (2017). The impact of contemplative practices on foreign language anxiety and learning. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 7, 573-599. 

Shardakova, M., & Pavlenko, A. (2004). Identity options in Russian textbooks. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 3(1), 25-46.

Slattery, J., & Carlson, J. (2005). Preparing an effective syllabus: Current best practices, College Teaching, 53(4), 159-164.

Smith, M., & Razzouk, N. (1993). Improving classroom communication: The case of the Course syllabus. Journal of Education for Business, 68(4), 215-221.

Thompson, B. (2007). The syllabus as a communication document: constructing and presenting the syllabus. Communication Education, 56(1), 54-71.

Thompson, K. D. (2013). Representing language, culture, and language users in text- books: A critical approach to Swahili multiculturalism. Modern Language Journal, 97(4), 947-964. 

Uzum, B., Yazan, B., Zahrawi, S. Bouamer, S., & Malakaj, E. (2021). A comparative analysis of cultural representations in collegiate world language textbooks (Arabic, French, and German). Linguistics and Education, 61, 1-12.

Widdowson, H. G. 1984. Educational and pedagogic factors in syllabus design. In Brumfit, C. J. (Ed.), General English syllabus design (pp. 22-28). Pergamon. 

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. 

Wilkins, D. (1976). Notional syllabi: A taxonomy and its relevance to foreign language curriculum development. Oxford University Press. 

Yalden, J. (1987). Syllabus design: An overview of theoretical issues and practical implications. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 8, 30-47.