A study of the organization of modern language curricula in Council of Europe member countries includes a discussion of theoretical aspects and problem areas in syllabus design, an analysis of syllabuses for school use, and a statement of the principles of syllabus construction. The discussion of syllabus design problems looks at the concept of foreign language syllabuses, syllabus typologies, the contributions of the Council of Europe's syllabus design project, and difficulties in applying the model. The analysis of syllabus content and distribution is based on three document types: national syllabuses, syllabuses constructed for pilot projects, and those devised for a modern language textbook or textbook series. A chapter is devoted to each syllabus type, analyzing aspects of the objectives, content, grading, and teacher's guidelines and assessment considerations. The chapter on pilot syllabuses looks at the United Kingdom's "graded objectives" program and Spain's Catalonian and French syllabuses. The section on syllabuses devised for textbooks examines separately some European countries' textbooks and British textbooks for English as a second language. The concluding chapter looks at the relationship between the concepts of grading and distribution, terminological confusion, and constancy of purpose within European diversity, and proposes a multifaceted approach to syllabus preparation. (MSE)