Difference Between Syllabus and Syllabi

Syllabus vs Syllabi

“Syllabi” is the plural form of the word “syllabus.” The dictionary meaning of “syllabus” is:

A summary or outline of the main points of focus of a lecture, course of study, or text.
In law it means a short statement that is presented for any adjudicated case which contains a summary of all the points involved.

“Syllabi” is the plural of the word “syllabus.” This article will discuss the word in context regarding the syllabus of an educational course. “Syllabus” is the summary or outline of an educational course and is descriptive. It is usually set by the examinations board or by the teacher who is responsible for supervising a particular course and controls its quality. Descriptive information of the course includes information like when, how and where to contact the teacher or professor, a schedule of the test dates, outline of the things that will be covered in a course, classroom rules, and grading policies.

A syllabus is necessary along with the curriculum because it serves the purpose of an understanding between the students and their teachers. The grading policies, the classroom rules, the expectation of teachers from students, and the expectation of a particular subject matter being covered by the teacher are all a part of the syllabus. By looking at the syllabus, a student can choose very early in the course if that subject is attractive enough for the student or not.

A syllabus is also very useful in making the curriculum more efficient. For example, it also includes: contact information for the teachers, their email, phone information, etc.; the materials required like textbooks, recommended books, lab vouchers; important dates like exam dates, test dates, etc.

Syllabi are of many different types. One of them being “notional-functional.” “Notional-functional” refers to organizing a curriculum which is “language-learning.” It does not refer to a particular method used by a teacher. In this syllabus, the instructions do not have “grammatical structure” unlike the audio-lingual method. “Notional” refers to people communicating using a particular context, and “functional” refers to the purpose for the speaker.

Some other types of syllabi are:

Lexical Syllabus
Grammatical Syllabus
Task-based Syllabus
Text-based Syllabus
Situational Syllabus
Mixed Syllabus
Learner-generated Syllabus

Summary:
The dictionary meaning of “syllabus” is “a summary or outline of the main points of focus of a lecture, course study or text.” It is very useful in serving the purpose for understanding between students and their teachers while improving the efficiency of a curriculum and outlining the expectations of teachers and students from each other; “syllabi” is the plural form of the word “syllabus.”

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