to be frank, the current syllabus is actually based on the right ideals, just covered with a layer of bullshit
english is about developing the skills required to look at real world texts (comedy, satire, serious news, ads, literature, reports... whatever) and to have the mental ability to compute all aspects of their meaning - so that you subconsciously pick up techniques used and realise how they contribute to the text
while teachers going through texts and demonstrating the use of language may teach these skills, the only way to properly examine a student's developed ability is via completely new texts or creative writing which demonstrates they can apply what they have learnt to the creation of meaning
hence at the moment i believe the only legitimate parts of the english exam are section 1 and 2 of paper 1 - while the rest can be done by applying the above skills, it is much more easily done through reliance on teaching and memorisation
grammar etc is already taught extensively enough... at the end of the day the people who want to become scholars in english are far fewer than those who rely on their powers of interpretation to negotiate the real world
