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60 MICHAEL McCARTHY AND RONALD CARTERarc treated, whether as a series of layers of language, or as realizations within generalspecifications of discourse strategies.4 Analysis as the precursor of tasksAston’s programmc favoured a ‘ lire-syllalius’ oriented tolvards strategic issues in discourse.Specifying strategics is something that can lie done in different ways and at different levels.Some syllabuses (for example ICC 19x6) specify a gcncral set of strategies, but it is alsopossiblc to conceive of a highly detailed set lvhich translate some of the more traditionallyconccivrd ‘features’ of language use into the strategic domain, and this is Ivhat we wouldlike hriefly to consider in this wction. What \z.c propose are a sct of strategy-headings thatcan act as a sort of filter lictn n the learning group antl its need and the specification oftasks. Each heading is follon.ctl by example qucstions that arc raised liy each onc and thesort of practical issues that arc likely to l x encountered in the detailed specification oftliscourscfiattrrcs that might bc encountcrcd in the subscquent tasks. We say ‘likely’ because\re cannot always guarantee what thc outcome of a task will lie. It will he noted that theglobal sct of strategy headings can subsume what has previously hen seen as a scparatediscourse ‘layer’ by some svllalius designers. Thc most gcncral heatlings are as follows.1 Genre-related strategiesWhat are the mctlia and modes that the learners \I ill encounter?What genres arc likclj to be most useful?What patterns of interaction arc most useful (c.g. narratix e, lirohlem-4olution),2 Coherence-related strategiesWhat aspects of topic managcment, turn-taking, ctc, \vi11 hc involvctl?What types of cohesion (c.g. stronger emphasis on across-turn lexical cohesion forintcractionally oriented tasks; tlil’fcrcnt types of ellipsis in tliffcrcnt media)?3 Politeness strategiesWhat aspects of facc \vi11 need to Iic atltlrcssctl?What forms of address will I>c itnolvctl (c.g. pronoun systems, mood systcms)?Holv important will reciprocity be (c.g. very important in interactional tasks)?4 Planning strategiesWhat sorts of anticipator! strategies will he idul (c.g. cnuniei-ativc labelling, cataphoricuses of articles)?Will special conditions for i-efcrcncc apply (c.g. anaphora across paragraph tiountlarics inwritten metli um) ?What scquences oftmsc, aspect and voicc arc likely to 1~ involvcd (c.g. con\rntions rclatcdto genre)?What degree of crccitiri~. antl risk-taking with language is fcasihlc antl appropriate?5 Convergence strategiesInformational or cogniti~e con\crgcntc: \I hat aspects of categories such as theme, moodand modalit! \I ill be in\ol\ctl?