TaskBased Language Teaching TBLT EDU 452 Methodologies Materials

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) EDU 452 Methodologies & Materials in the Teaching of ESL Professor Dr. Naomi Vega Nieves Methods Presentation By: Vanessa Sánchez-Negrón

WHAT IS TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING? �It is an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching. �It draws on multiple principles. • Activities that involve real communications are essential for language learning. • Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning. • Language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process.

Task-Based Language Teaching (continued) � Engaging learners in task work provides a better context for the activation of learning processes. � Language learning is believed to depend on immersing students not in “comprehensible input” but in tasks that require them to negotiate meaning and engage in natural and meaningful communication.

Key assumptions of task-based learning summarized by Feez (1998: 17) � The focus is on process rather than product. � Basic elements are purposeful activities and tasks that emphasize communication and meaning. � Learners learn language by interacting communicatively and purposefully while engaged in the activities and tasks. � Activities and tasks can be either: • those that learners might need to achieve in real life; • those that have pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom.

Key assumptions of task-based learning (continued) � Activities & tasks of a task-based syllabus are sequenced according to difficulty. � The difficulty of a task depends on a range of factors including the previous experience of the learner, the complexity of the task, the language required to undertake the task, and the degree of support available.

TBLT � Proposes the notion of “task” as a central unit of planning and teaching. � Task is defined as an activity or goal that is carried out using language. � “Tasks…are activities which have meaning as their primary focus. Success in tasks is evaluated in terms of achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally bear some resemblance to real-life language use. So taskbased instruction takes a fairly strong view of communicative language teaching” (Skehan 1996 b: 20)

Task-Based Training Identifies 1. 2. 3. 4. � Analysis of real-world task-use situations The translation of these into teaching task descriptions The detailed design of instructional tasks The sequencing of instructional tasks in classroom training/teaching These are several key areas of concern when approaching a TBLT curriculum.

Academic Tasks: Define four important dimensions � “The academic task is the mechanism through which the curriculum is enacted for students” (Doyle 1983: 161). 1. 2. 3. 4. the products students are asked to produce the operations they are required to use in order to produce these products the cognitive operations required & the resources available the accountability system involved

Team Performance Function: Four major categories ORIENTATION • distributing information for task accomplishment to team members ORGANIZATIONAL • members coordinate actions for task performance ADAPTATION • team members adapt their performance to complete the task MOTIVATIONAL • define team objectives & “energizing the group” to complete the task

TBLT Approach: � TBLT is motivated primarily by a theory of learning rather than a theory of language. Theory of Language � Multiple is primarily a means of making meaning models of language inform TBI � Lexical units are central in language use and language learning � “Conversation” is the central focus of language and the keystone of language acquisition

TBLT Approach: (continued) Theory of Learning � Tasks provide both the input and output processing necessary for language acquisition � Task activity and achievement are motivational � Learning difficulty can be negotiated and finetuned for particular pedagogical purposes

TBLT Syllabus � The aim is for the students to acquire language skills using real-world activities and complimenting them with pedagogical tasks. 1. real – world tasks – designed to practice or rehearse a needs analysis and important and useful in the real world. 2. pedagogical task – have a psycholinguistic basis in SLA (second language acquisition) , but do not necessarily reflect real-world tasks. Example: Using a telephone is an example of a real-world task, and informational-gap task is a pedagogical task.

Task-Based Designed Curriculum: Elementary (Primary Age) Diagrams & formations • Naming parts of a diagram with numbers & letters of the alphabet as instructed Drawing • Drawing geometrical figures/formations from sets of verbal instruction Clock faces • Positioning hands on a clock to show a given time Monthly calendar • Calculating duration in days and weeks in the context of travel, leave, and so on Maps • Constructing a floor plan of a house from a description Adapted from Prabhu and cited in Nunan 1989: 42 -44

Task-Based Designed Curriculum: Elementary (Primary Age) (continued) School timetables • Constructing timetables for teachers of particular subjects Programs & itineraries • Constructing itineraries from descriptions of travel Train timetables • Selecting trains appropriate to given needs Age & year of birth • Working out year of birth from age Money • Deciding on quantities to be bought given the money available Adapted from Prabhu and cited in Nunan 1989: 42 -44

What to consider when selecting tasks? 1. 2. 3. Procedures, or what the learners have to do to derive output from input Input text Output required a. Language items: vocabulary, structures, discourse b. c. d. structures, process ability, and so on Skills, both macro-skills and subskills Word knowledge or “topic content” Text handling or conversation strategies Considerations by Honeyfield (1993: 129)

What to consider when selecting tasks? (continued) 4. Amount and type of help given 5. Role of teachers and learners 6. Time allowed 7. Motivation 8. Confidence 9. Learning styles � The list demonstrates how to create operational tasks that will enrich the learning process of students. Considerations by Honeyfield (1993: 129)

Task design & categories listing creative tasks ordering and sorting comparing sharing personal experiences problem solving

Types of task accomplishment & interaction: � 1. Pica, Kanagy & Falodun (1993) classify tasks according to the type of interaction that occurs in task accomplishment and give the following classification: Jigsaw tasks: • 2. Involves learners combining different pieces of information to form a whole (three individuals or groups may have three different parts of the story and have to piece the story together). Information-gap tasks : • Individual student or a group has one set of information and another student or group has a complimentary set of information. They must negotiate and find out what the other party’s information.

Types of task accomplishment & interaction: (continued) 3. Problem-solving tasks: • 4. Decision-making tasks: • 5. Students are given a problem and a set of information. They must arrive at a solution to the problem. There is generally a single resolution to the outcome. Students are given a problem for which there are number of possible outcomes and they must choose one through negotiation and discussion. Opinion exchange tasks: • Learners engage in discussion and exchange of ideas. They do not need to reach agreement; they can agree to disagree

Other types of task characteristics one-way or twoway: • whether the task involves a one-way or two-way exchange of information convergent or divergent: • whether the students achieve a common goal or several different goals collaborative or competitive • whether the students collaborate to carry out or compete with each other on a task single or multiple outcomes: • whethere is a single outcome or many different outcomes are possible

Other types of task characteristics (continued) concrete or abstract language: • whether the task involves the use of concrete or abstract language simple or complex process: • whether the task requires relatively simple or complex cognitive process simple or complex language: • whether the linguistic demands of the tasks are relatively simple or complex reality-based or not reality based • whether the task mirrors a real-world activity or is a pedagogical activity not found in the real world

Learner Roles Group Participant • Many tasks will be done in pairs or small groups. Monitor • The tasks designed are a means to show students how language is used in communication. Risk-taker & Innovator • Many tasks will require learners to create and interpret messages without full linguistic resources and prior experience. The practice will involve restating, paraphrasing and using paralinguistic signals.

Teacher Roles SELECTOR & SEQUENCER OF TASKS • A central role of the teacher is in selecting , adapting, and/or creating the tasks themselves and then forming these into an instructional sequence in keeping with learner needs, interests, and language skill level. PREPARING LEARNERS FOR TASKS • Pre-task preparation or cuing is important, which could include topic introduction, clarifying task instructions, helping students learn or recall useful words and phrases to facilitate achieving a given task. • Employ a variety of form-focusing techniques, including attention- focusing pre-task activities, text exploration, guided exposure to parallel tasks, and used of highlighted material. CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING

The role of instructional materials � “Materials that can be exploited for instruction in TBLT are limited only to the imagination of the task designer” (Richards & Rodgers 2001: 236) Newspaper Television Internet Social media Museums & plays All types of music

Examples: Uses of instructional materials Newspaper Television Internet • Students examine it, determine its section, & suggest three new sections that could be in the paper. • Prepare a job-wanted ad using examples from the classified section. • They take notes during the weather report and prepare a map with weather symbols showing likely weather for the predicted period. • Watch an infomercial and students will identify and list “hype” words & then try to construct a parallel ad following the sequence of the hype words. • Given a book title, students conduct a comparative shopping analysis of three Internet booksellers, listing prices, mailing times, shipping charges, and choose a vendor, justifying their choice.

Procedure for TBLT � Needs analysis identify target tasks to be done in English. � A set of role-play activities is developed focusing on situations the students would encounter and the transactions they would have to carry out in English.

Procedure for TBLT (continued) Pre-task activities • Preliminary activity introduces the topic, the situation, & the script that will subsequently appear in the role-play task. • Activities such as brainstorming, ranking exercises, & problem solving tasks. • The focus is on thinking about a topic, generating vocabulary and related language, and developing expectations about the topic. Task activities • Learners perform role play. Students work in pairs with a task and cues needed to negotiate the task. Post-task activities • Learners then listen to recordings of native speakers performing the same role-play task they have just practiced and compare differences between the way they expressed particular functions and meanings and the way native speakers performed.

TBLT Conclusion The authors conclude that few would question the pedagogical value of utilizing tasks to promote communication and authentic language use in L 2 classrooms. Tasks have long been part of language teaching techniques. However, TBLT offers a different rational and criteria for the design and use of tasks. The dependence of tasks is the primary source of input teaching rather than the systematic grammatical or other types of syllabus in current versions of TBLT provides for a more effective basis for teaching than other language teaching approaches.

References � Hyltenstam, K. , & Pienemann, M. (1985). A role for instruction in second language acquisition: Task-based language teaching. Modelling and assessing second language acquisition (pp. 77 -97). San Diego, Calif. : College-Hill Press. � Nunan, D. (1989). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. � Resources. (n. d. ). U-System Unix Information. Retrieved July 29, 2011, from http: //www. u. arizona. edu/~sacosta 1/resources. html � Richards, J. C. , & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Task-Based Language Teaching. Approaches and methods in language teaching: a description and analysis (2 nd ed. , pp. 223 -241). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. � Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

References: Images � Microsoft Office. (n. d. ). Images. Retrieved July 29, 2011, from office. microsoft. com/en-us/images/academic-CM 079001901 � School of Informatics and Computing: Indiana University Bloomington. (n. d. ). School of Informatics and Computing: Indiana University Bloomington. Retrieved July 29, 2011, from http: //www. soic. indiana. edu/ � Students talking in classroom [BLD 079818] > Stock Photos | Royalty Free Photos > Visual. Photos. com. (n. d. ). Stock Photos | Royalty Free Photos > Visual. Photos. com. Retrieved July 29, 2011, from http: //www. visualphotos. com/image/2 x 4650195/students_talking_in_classr oom � Jeff Korha ” New Media and Small Business Marketing. (n. d. ). Jeff Korhan” New Media and Small Business Marketing. Retrieved May 28, 2011, from http: //www. jeffkorhan. com