Exploring Curriculum Alignment through Syllabus Document Analysis: From National Language Policy to Local ELT Practice

Effective syllabus document design hinges on an alignment between learning objectives, teaching principles

and curricular policy. Much of the work on syllabus design in the English Language Teaching (ELT) context

focuses on the implementation of language teaching principles, such as those from the Communication

Language Teaching (CLT) approach. Limited attention has been paid to this alignment, which is pivotal for

ensuring the coherence and consistency between the intended outcomes, content selection and

organisation, and assessment tasks. Employing qualitative document analysis (QDA), this study identifies the

core syllabus elements and their alignment with current teaching approaches in twelve, localised ELT

syllabuses. Utilising elements from Richards and Rodgers’ (2014) methods analysis and Nunan’s (1988)

syllabus design, the analysis demonstrates that while CLT principles have been incorporated into the

syllabuses, misalignments remain, such as those between intended objectives and assessment tasks. This

paper offers an analytic framework to guide teachers in designing a more closely aligned syllabus and making

visible its connections.