TBL English 5 th10 th grade First session

TBL - English 5 th-10 th grade: First session

Task types: what do tasks look like? • Jigsaw task: put information together - e. g. piece picture, recipe, text together • Information gap: share information to solve task; e. g. find way on map • Problem solving: use information to solve problem; e. g. find cheapest phone or quickest way (everyone has the same text/information) • Decision making: use shared information to make common decision; e. g. make a dream holiday, travel brouchure… • Opinion cleft: use information to establish discussion/dialogue

Make your word – a language task Words can be changed, using prefixes and suffixes: • Prefixes: super- (super-human), un- (un-real)…. • Suffixes: -able (control-able), -ly (warm-ly), -ed (interest-ed)…. Try out how many pre- and suffixes you can find! (for help, try words like friend , interest, play, employ)

Task design: Lynne Cameron • Cameron’s model of Task design (2002) involves 3 phases (prewhile and post-task) • Her model also involves 4 key aspects: q. Learning goals q. Activities q. Demand q. Support

Lynne Cameron: Learning goals • Pre-phase: often centres on core vocabulary necessary for the Task, core language structures (questions/answers, key sentences, gambits) – and creating motivation for the Task. • While-phase: often same language goals as in pre-phase + using strategies to communicate in the foreign language in a situation • Post-phase: that learners become aware of the language they have used in the Task – e. g. checking core vocabulary, language structures and taking time to reflect on language points that came up. Appreciation of learner products/output also plays a part here

Lynne Cameron: Demand • Pre-phase: often involves learning new words and understanding the Task • While-phase: often the demands here are connected with communication – obstacles that stop learners from communicating during the core activity/Task • Post-phase: demands here often involves meta-language – knowing words to talk about language; recalling vocabulary and storing information.

Lynne Cameron: Support ‘Support’ includes pictures, handouts, glossaries, model texts, teacher advice – in short any help that can make learners meet the demands • Pre-phase: often flashcards, pictures, explaining meaning of words, saying words out loud, spelling them, providing examples. Activities here should be fun • While-phase: dictionaries, model texts, handouts with lines/dialogue, etc. Whatever helps learners stay active during the core activity/Task • Post-phase: Learning logs, exercises, crossword puzzles, classroom/pair reflection time

Task example: Superheroes • Pre-work: knowing the genre – knowing the task. Presentation and brainstorm • While-work: making the story of the character – presenting to others. • Post-work: focus on form: on-demand language support. Notes for ”My language diary” and summation

Pre-work: Superheroes as storytelling Creating a superhero character involves establishing the genre • Genre requirements: - The basic drive is Fairytale/Fantasy – the fight between good and evil • Character requirements: - Characters must obey the Magic Code (Nicolajeva 1988): supernatural elements have a limit; for every spell, there is a counterspell. Even Superman is weak in the face of kryptonite. - Superheroes as magic characters are defined by powers, mission and identity (Coogan, 2006)

Case in point: Batman • Powers: has no supernatural powers, but instead a lot of gadgets. His brains, money and physical training together make up his powers. • Mission: to fight crime in Gotham City – motivated by the murder of his parents when he was a boy. • Identity: Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman is masked and cloaked to conceal Bruce Wayne’s identity. Wayne deliberately cultivates a private identity as a superficial upperclass playboy far from Batman’s actions in back alleys.

While-work: create character • Start out by brainstorming your character: draw, act out - if it helps • Then make HERO CARD together: key words are OK – as long as you can remember and re-tell the character’s story later

While-work: present character • Carrousel feedback: Get feedback from others! • Feedback Criteria: - powers, mission and identity: do they make an interesting character?

Post-work: language focus • Take a moment to reflect with your partners: which langauge issues came up when making the HERO CARD and when presenting it? • Issues might involve: - spelling, pronunciation, grammar, - unknown words, words with new meaning, phrases you haven’t heard before • Write down notes on the back of HERO CARD

Issues that came up

Condition: a need for differentiation • Learners 5 th – 10 th grade in English have communicative competences in English that vary over a very wide spectrum. • Looking at the competence goals (both new FFM and former FM), there is a clear expectation that learners enter the Fluency Phase during the intermediate stage (5 th-7 th grade) and break into the Sophistication Phase during the advanced stage (8 th-10 th grade. A relatively small number of learners do not meet this expectation; most learners do. • The basic premise for 5 th-10 th grade English teachers is therefore that a) the goals are fairly ambitious; b) the learners’ competences vary greatly and c) expetancy and actual performance are both high

What does that mean for TBL? • That understanding and negotiation of meaning are often challenged by uneven relationships • That intensive training in tasks is often highly modelled at beginner/early intermediate stages, while there is an increasing focus on spontaneous use of language throughout late intermediate and advanced stages • That evaluation and post-task work often needs to be individualized