syllabus design n
a phase in curriculum development that deals with procedures for develop-
ing a syllabus.
see course design, curriculum development
syllogismn
an argument (seeproposition) in the form of two premises and a conclu-
sion drawn from them. For example:
Major premise:All boys like sports.
Minor premise: John is a boy.
Conclusion:John likes sports.
symbolic functions of language n
the capacity of a language to express ideas and concepts that are not based
on physical perception, such as images, metaphors, etc.
symbolic processing n
also symbolic architecture
symbolic processing refers to the widely held view in psychology and lin-
guistics that mental processes consist of representations in which symbols
are manipulated by a set of rules. More recently, this approach to under-
standing cognition has been challenged by connectionism, which relies
upon an entirely different type of architecture.
synchronicadj
see diachronic linguistics
synchronic linguistics n
see diachronic linguistics
synchronous communication n
in computer assisted language learning, this refers to communication
that is instantaneous, with all participants logged onto their computers
and sending messages in real time. Language classes often use this type of
communication in the form of Internet chat, or with specialized programs
such asdaedalus interchange.
see also asynchronous communication
synchronous computer-mediated communication n
communication via computer networks which takes place in real time, such
as online chats.
synchronous computer-mediated communication