Fundamental Concepts in Designing of Syllabi in English (Special) and General English Courses at Undergraduate Level

A syllabus needs to be evolved rather than imposed from outside. However, quite often as it were, it is imposed from outside in the sense that a few teachers or a group of teachers consult some standard books and go on to make a list of what them feel are important topics in them. It is proposed here, in this research paper, to differentiate between General English, or Compulsory English or English (Compulsory) as it is variously called, and English in literature. It is also proposed to differentiate between curriculum, syllabus, and course content, and to bring out difference between the syllabus at the school and collegiate levels, vis-à-vis the aims, objectives, content, materials, methodology of teaching and learning, and methods of evaluation.