The idea of a lexical meta-syllabus

Abstract There are competing orientations in language teaching syllabus design resulting in lack of clarity about the goals of the selection process of curriculum planning. Empirical studies of the statistical distribution of lexical items in spoken and written language indicate regularities which could be exploited for curriculum design. Although data are not sufficient to construct a lexical syllabus, the potential of unifying syllabus design is clear. Recommendations for further research are made.