Abstract

Standard syllabuses are crucial for effective teaching and learning. Bangladeshi tertiary institutions prepare syllabi for all EFL writing courses, but their syllabi often contain inadequate writing contents and subskills. Despite offering similar compulsory EFL writing courses, the syllabi of the universities are hardly coherent and appear balanced against global standards. Thus, this study aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the EFL courses offered at Bangladeshi universities by analyzing the availability of the writing content and subskills in their syllabi. This qualitative study collected documents from ten syllabi for EFL courses from five private and five public universities in Bangladesh. Content analysis was employed to investigate the trends and patterns of the availability of the elements of writing subskills and writing contents in the syllabus materials. To improve the validity of the content analysis, the study used manual text analysis and inter-author coding. The study was conducted with rigor, gathering the best syllabus documents directly from the source. The analysis showed that syllabi from most tertiary EFL courses are deficient in writing content, subskills, and homogeneity, significantly deviating from ideal syllabus criteria. The syllabi display a poor availability of writing content and subskills, indicating a need for improvement in the content and subskills of these courses. Recommendations call for policymakers and syllabus designers to ensure that EFL writing course syllabi encompass essential subject components, adhere to global standards, and comply with national educational policies.