Task-based Learning At A Glance

Non-orthodox task-based learning at a glance

Important features

Purpose

Lead in and Diagnosis

Exposure to text or dialogue Comprehension Noticing (meaning) (form)

 Activate sts’ relevant schemata and arouse their interest in the theme (lead-in).  Assess how well sts. can use the target language in communication and help them notice gaps in their own English (which will make them more “open” to the subsequent input) (diagnosis).  To act as a sort of “benchmark” against which sts.’ performance in the final task can be measured.

 Enable sts. to understand the content of the dialogue and/or text containing examples of the target language.

 Teacher must set a clear, motivating, natural and relevant context.  Important to diagnose how well sts. can use the target language in realistic situations rather than simply whether they know the underlying rules (declarative vs. procedural knowledge)

 Pre reading/listening questions should help sts. read/listen with a clear purpose in mind.  While reading/listening questions should help sts. understand both global and specific information.

 Enable students to move from meaning (i.e., understand what message the dialogue/text is trying to convey) to form (i.e., notice how certain ideas are expressed in the dialogue/text). Luiz Otavio Barros. Task-based learning.

Enabling tasks Discovery  Enable sts. to discover and analyse language rules by themselves.  Long-term objective: to help sts. become “good language detectives” and make the most of the input they are exposed to outside the classroom (i.e., process it for both meaning and form)

Practice Enable sts. to accomplish the final task successfully by helping them:  automatise the new language (esp. formulaic chunks).  get their tongues round longer chunks of language using correct intonation and pronunciation.

Final task  To give sts. the opportunity to use the new language in realistic situations under realistic operating conditions through unscripted, meaning-focused work.  To provide the teacher with evidence that the sts. are in the process of acquiring the target forms.

 Make it easier for the teacher to spot trouble areas and correct relevant errors on the spot (but not mid-sentence!) .  Left to their own devices, learners are believed to process input for meaning rather than form, so noticing activities should help them notice how certain ideas are expressed in the text/dialogue they previously read for meaning. Luiz Otavio Barros. Task-based learning.

 Sts. should be encouraged to discover use, meaning and form through simple and straight-forward questions.

Within a TBL framework, controlled practice should as far as possible:  Allow at least some degree of linguistic choice.  Be meaningful (i.e., sts. should always know what they’re saying).  Be fully contextualised.  For some language areas, chorus repetition, individual repetition and backchaining are extremely important and must be done. But the pace should be brisk and to be kept on their toes sts. should always be called at random.

A TBL final task should ideally look like something the sts. would be expected to do in real life in relation to the theme chosen. There should always be:  A clear, non-linguistic purpose (i.e., “talk to each other to find out whether…” rather than “talk to each other to practice these sentences”)  A realistic (and as far as possible relevant) context.

Exposure to text or dialogue Comprehension Noticing (meaning) (form)

Length and place

Correction

Degree of control

Interact ion

T’s roles

Typical activities

Lead in and diagnosis  Meaning-focused communicative or semicommunicative activities such as discussions, roleplays and simulations.  It is sometimes useful to diagnose sts’ use of language through meaning-oriented written activities too.

Comprehension questions in the moulds of:  “Listen and check your predictions”  “Listen and decide which statement best describes the woman’s attitude”  “Read the article again and fill in the missing details”

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Organiser Evaluator

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Organiser Consultant

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T Ss SS Ss  Ss

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S  text T Ss SS

Consciousness-raising questions in the moulds of:  “Listen and write down what the speaker says to express X idea”  “Read the text and underline examples of how the writer expresses X idea…” Task-based learning.

Enabling tasks Final task

Discovery

Practice

Grammar analysis questions in the moulds of:  “How is the negative formed?”  “Why did the speaker say I’ve been there but I went there in 1988?”  “Look at the examples. When do we use some and any?”

 Chorus and individual repetition (particularly useful for formulaic chunks)  Sentence transformation based on cue words/visual stimuli etc  “Semi-communicative” activities.  Gap-filling type exercises.

 Meaning-focused activities such as problemsolving, discussions, roleplays and simulations.  A final task could be a written task, of course, as long as it is something students could be expected to produce in real life (e.g., a memo or e-mail rather than isolated sentences)

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Conductor Corrector

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Organiser Evaluator Consultant

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T Ss S  S (open pairs)

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SS Ss  Ss

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T Ss SS

 Teacher should not attempt to control sts.’ output at this stage, otherwise he/she may not have enough evidence of how well they can actually use the language.

 Difficult to predict the range of structures and lexis produced by the sts. in this phase of the lesson. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for the teacher to try and control students’ oral production here. Luiz Otávio Barros.

 Only phase of a TBL lesson in which the teacher actually tries to control sts.’ output, particularly their choice of language. Luiz Otavio Barros. Task-based learning.

 Teacher should not try to control sts’ output at this stage. The final task, however, must be designed to make the use of the target structure as useful as possible.

 Since in this phase of the lesson the aim is to diagnose what sts. can do, the best policy here is probably to write down examples of their production for subsequent feedback.

Just as it is difficult to predict what language sts. will use in these phases of a TBL lesson, there are no hard and fast rules for error correction. The teacher’s decision whether or not to intervene will depend on at least two factors:  Sts’. profile (Shy? Easily discouraged? Fluent but inaccurate? Accurate but not fluent?)  The error in question (Recurrent? Serious for the level? Worth correcting at all?)

 It is probably sensible to correct sts. on the spot here (but not midsentence!)

 The best policy here is probably to make a note of relevant mistakes and point them out to sts. afterwards. Further controlled practice should follow if necessary.

 Short  Usually at the beginning

 It depends on the amount of importance you want to attach to skills development in any given lesson.

 Depends on the sts’. needs, but as a rule shorter than the final task.  Before and, if necessary, after the final task.

 As a rule, longer than other phases (i.e., sts. should spend more time using the language communicatively than manipulating or analysing it )

 Short (sts. just have to find out how, say, speaker X expressed idea Y)  After sts. have understood the content of the text or dialogue.

 Depends on the students’ needs. But as a rule, the longer it lasts the more likely sts. are to overanalyse and make mountains out of anthills.

©Luiz Otávio Barros. All rights reserved. [email protected]