SCHEME OF WORK (SOW)

NUR ALIYAZATON BINTI TON ZALANI

NURHIDAYAHTUL AKMAL BINTI ABDUL SSUKUR
TAN XIN YI
NURUL AFIAH BINTI AHMAD ZUHUDI

What is a Scheme of Work (SoW)?

PLAN THAT INDICATES WHAT WILL BE TAUGHT FOR THE

SEMESTER/YEAR & IN WHAT ORDER IT WILL BE TAUGHT.
OBJECTIVES SET OUT IN THE SYLLABUS FOR EACH
SCHOOL YEAR FORM THE BASIS FOR THE SCHEME OF
WORK FOR THE YEAR.

Who Plans the Scheme of Work?

IT IS GOOD FOR ALL THE TEACHERS WHO TEACH A

PARTICULAR STANDARD TO WORK ON THIS SCHEME
BECAUSE:
TO SYNCHRONIZE MONTHLY TESTS OR EXAM ON WHICH
TOPIC SHOULD BE OR SHOULD NOT BE INCLUDED.
TEACHERS PERCEPTIONS ON THE SYLLABUS ITEMS BECOME
KNOWN TO EVERYONE ELSE AND THIS ENRICHES
TEACHERS.
TEACHING RESOURCES CAN BE SHARED.

Procedure on Yearly Scheme of Work

STEP 1 : U S E T H E S Y L L A B U S ( T E X T B O O K S A N D W O R K B O O K S )
TO BREAK THE SYLLABUS INTO A NUMBER OF THEMES OR TOPICS
EFFECTIVE TEACHING-LEARNING SKILLS.

STEP 2 : U S E T H E I N V E N T O R Y O F S K I L L S , G R A M M A R I T E M S
AND PRESCRIBED VOCABULARY TO DECIDE WHICH SKILLS/ITEMS
SHOULD GO WITH EACH TOPIC OR SCHEME.

STEP 3:

DECIDE ON AN APPROPRIATE SEQUENCE FOR

PRESENTING THE THEMES.

STEP 4:

DECIDE ON THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU CAN FULLY

SPEND ON EACH TOPIC. THIS CAN BE SPELT OUT IN TERMS OF
WEEKS AND SEMESTERS. CHECK ON PUBLIC HOLIDAYS OR
SCHOOL OCCASIONAL HOLIDAYS TO MAKE PROVISION.

Factors to be considered in planning SOW

Amount of time available

- actual class contact provided by MOE

- learning hours can be extended via homework/ project work /
extended reading
How?
i. Find out how many weeks of teaching in a semester & multiply by no. of
minutes available for each week.
ii. Make rough estimate of time for homework/project work
iii. Add extra time to contact time (to obtain total time available for
learning)

Items to be discovered.
Interpreted syllabus

Eg. present tense

Items to be discovered : function of present tense
the forms of present tense
subject verb agreement
time adverbials (usually, often, etc)
Teacher needs to recognize the pattern behind the sample sentences.
To help pupils perceive rules & internalize knowledge for appropriate use.
Eg.

Sentence patterns

Functions

He is a doctor.
The ground is wet.

To indicate states

The sun rises in the East.

A tree has leaves.

To express universal truths

Everyday he comes to school by bus.

On Friday, he goes to the mosque.

To indicate routine or repetitive action.

Grading and sequencing

Some criteria that needed to be kept in mind:
(a) Level of relative learning difficulty of the items specified in the

syllabus. Generally speaking, easier items must be taught before more

difficult ones.
(b) Nature of skill to be taught. Pronunciation and to a lesser extent
grammar, seem to require very systematic, step-by-step teaching. The
productive skills of speaking and writing seem to need more careful control
than the receptive skills of reading and listening.
(c) Possible timing of items at appropriate times in the pupils and
schools calendar of events. For example, it may be appropriate to time a
unit on sports closer to the time the schools sports days is scheduled.

(d) effect on motivation to learn. A topic like repairing a leaking tap

may be linguistically the simplest task specified in the syllabus but
motivationally speaking, would it be the most appropriate to began the
year with?
(e) Coherence within and between units of learning. Can the pupils
see a logical and natural development in the teaching-learning process?
Do earlier units prepare for the later ones? In what sense?

Providing for recycling, reinforcement and enrichment

In deciding which items need recycling, reinforcement and

enrichment, a number of issues need to be born into mind:

Why recycling is important, e.g. to deepen pupils understanding of appropriate

contexts of use for different linguistic forms; to raise pupils mastery to the level
of automatic use.
The importance of the item/skill
How much repetition is required for the skill to be well-learnt
The level of proficiency of the pupils

Balance
Check and rectify any imbalance that there may be in the curriculum:
In achieving balance:
(a) Whether the emphasis and time allocated to an item reflects its

importance in the learning process and usefulness to the pupils

(b) Whether the 4 language skills are given balance treatment
(c) Whether grammar and vocabulary building (development of accuracy)
have been given appropriate attention or if planning has concentrated
entirely on development of fluency.

Integration
Reasons for integration
(a) Real communication involves using more than 1 skill, e.g. speaking and

listening most frequently occur in interactive situations.

(b) Integration of language with interests of pupils and needs(e.g. in learning
other subjects like Geography and Science increases motivation,
(c) Variety of input and output in the learning process improves
comprehension and retention.
(d) Language items like vocabulary and grammar are best learnt in context,
integrated with skills like writing and speaking. Thus, pupils can learnt not
only when it is appropriate to use the target, but they will get multiple and
varied opportunities to practise the target items.