Cross-cultural Understanding in EFL : A prospect of Syllabus Design

In this paper we present a review of PETS series approved by the Singapore Ministry of Education with a view to obtaining their designing ideas for incorporating cross-cultural understanding in the teaching of English to their primary school children. Since the Course of Study for the Junior High School by The Japan Ministry of Education has not stated yet in any concrete terms What the teaching of English to junior high school children must incorporate in its syllabus regarding the area of cultural understanding, we have in front of us a very important and complex task through which our future EFL teaching hopefully comes to grips with this idea integrated in the syllabus and then into the future textbooks. Upon reviewing the PETS series, we have found the following :(1) The thematic idea of designing syllabus for the learning of English may provide an alternative way in preparing the EFL materials in Japan.(2)The PETS have a very wide selection of information regarding foreign lands countries.(3)The PETS provide true pictures of the people using English as their first Language.

英語教育

異文化理解

テーマ・シラバス

EFL

Cross-cultural understanding

Thematic Syllabus