Enhancing Lessons Using TaskBased Language Teaching District 6

Enhancing Lessons Using Task-Based Language Teaching District 6 English Learner Summit June 6, 2008

District 6 Four Pillars Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) Guaranteed Viable Curriculum (GVC) Authentic Literacy Leadership

Session Objectives 1. To gain an awareness of the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach. 2. To identify areas of the curriculum where TBLT principles can be applied to lessons. 3. To practice enhancing lessons following the TBLT model.

Task-Based Language Teaching “TBLT is an approach which offers students material which they have to actively engage in the processing of in order to achieve a goal or complete a task. TBLT seeks to develop a students’ interlanguage through providing a task and using language to solve it. ” Peter Skehan, A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning (1998)

TBLT Lesson Sequence TBLT Goals 1. Set behavior and lesson objectives. 2. Access prior knowledge and link to new comprehensible input. 3. Use task-based activity to explicitly teach language forms & functions. 4. Practice communicatively through structured oral and written tasks. 5. Self-evaluate and reflect. 6. Practice acquired forms and functions outside the ELD block.

Applying TBLT Across the Curriculum

Tools to Use for Enhancing Lessons:

TBLT Elements to Add: Lesson Objectives (Language vs. Content) Thinking Maps® (consider 8 Thought Processes) ELD Strategies (Direct & Indirect) Student Talk Opportunities (Input/Output) Differentiation (consider ELD Levels) Additional Resources (materials, realia)

Lesson Objectives • What are the language objectives of the lesson? • Should be generated from content standards (ELD, ELA) • Written in studentfriendly language

Thinking Maps What thought process will students use in the lesson? • Brainstorming, Prior Knowledge • Classifying • Describing • Comparing/Contrasting • Sequencing • Cause & Effect • Whole-Part Relationships • Seeing Analogies

ELD Strategies What strategies can be incorporated into the lesson? • • • Backward Buildup Corrective Recasting RASP Think-Pair-Share Pull Out & Talk/Write Vocalized Reading • • Visuals/Realia Communication Guides Sentence Starters Affective/Memory Strategies, etc. • TPR • Etc. , etc.

Student Talk • Is there ample opportunity for student voice in the lesson? • What differentiated questions will the teacher ask the students? (Input) • What differentiated language forms will students use to answer those questions? (Output) • How will the practice of these oral language forms transfer to student’s writing? • Is there differentiation based on student’s ELD Levels? In what domains?

Differentiation • Simple (B) • Elaborated (EI, I) • Complex (EA, A)

Let’s Enhance! 35 - 40 minutes

Session Objectives 1. Did I gain an awareness of the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach? 2. Did I identify areas of the curriculum where TBLT principles can be applied to lessons? 3. Did I practice enhancing lessons following the TBLT model?

Reflection/Next Steps What are the benefits of teachers learning how to enhance lessons and apply strategies beyond the ELD block? What was challenging/helpful in the lesson enhancement process? What steps could your school take in order to facilitate/support lesson enhancement?

Professional Readings • Jack Richards and Theodore Rodgers (2001), Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, 2 nd Ed. • Rod Ellis (2003), Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching • Peter Skehan (1998), A Cognitive Approach to Language Learning • Kris van den Branden (2006), Task-Based Language Education: From Theory to Practice • David Nunan (1989), Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom • Dave & Jane Willis (2007), Doing Task-Based Teaching • Rebecca Oxford (1990), Language Learning Strategies: What Every Teacher Should Know

Contact Information Lenore Medina Elementary ELD Expert (323) 278 -3949 lenore. medina@lausd. net