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The most important task that befalls any educator is crafting a syllabus for his or her students. After all, even in the event that an educator has been given a guideline concerning the topics that need to be covered during an educator’s time with their students there is still work to be done. It is the educator alone who will decide exactly how these topics will be covered in class and what supportive material will be used to further the students’ education. One could argue that crafting a syllabus is even more vital for an instructor of a Teaching English as a Foreign Language class, since an instructor has to take into account their students’ cultural backgrounds and know the motivations behind a student’s decision to sign up for their class. Indeed, let us consider how important it is for an instructor of a TEFL class to know the cultural background of their students when crafting a syllabus. In the event that an instructor is teaching in a foreign country he or she needs to understand different cultural norms that dictate how an instructor is expected to teach a class. If an instructor does not do this he or she may come across as rude or disrespectful, and loose the respect of his or her students. At the same time, a TEFL instructor has to take in account the problems a student may encounter during the course because of his or her native language. For example, a student from Japan, whose native language doesn’t have a Latin alphabet will have different problems than a student from Mexico which does have a Latin alphabet. Thus, this is an area in teaching where it is vitally important to know the culture of your students. Similarly, an instructor of a Teaching English as a Foreign Language class has to learn about the motivations behind each student’s reasons for taking this class. As these reasons are often more diverse than one might encounter in a typical classroom where the motivation usually stems from getting good grades or genuine interest in the subject. For example, learning English can often be a job requirement in some businesses and this comes with a series of circumstances that a TEFL instructor needs to consider when crafting a syllabus. For example, if the instructor’s students work full time, they will not have a lot of free time for homework and are probably tired after working. Moreover, students in this scenario may be nervous of embarrassing themselves in front of a subordinate or superior. Thus, an instructor may want to implement a syllabus that focuses more on lecturing and individual class work than one with a heavy focus on class participation and homework. These are but a few examples of why crafting a syllabus is vitally important for an instructor of a Teaching English as a foreign language class. But, it shows why instructor of a TEFL class have to factor in certain aspects when crafting a syllabus that most teachers would not have to consider and why it is important to do so.
