Using TaskBased Language Teaching Engaging Your Students By

Using Task-Based Language Teaching: Engaging Your Students By Brad Tipka

Brad’s Guitar Learning Experiences • Three Teachers: 2 Korean, I American • Three Methods • One Successful: Why?

How have students changed? • More Responsibility • Quick access to information • Are used to seeing constant images (video games, TV, advertising, etc. ) • Immediacy of communication • Globalization

How does this photo demonstrate the Task-Based Approach?

Task-Based Teaching and Learning – Lesson Outline • • Introduction Hands-On Activities Role of the Teacher Role of the Students Management Self-Access Activities Applications for Elementary School Students in Korea • Conclusion

Task-Based Demo Lesson • Groups of four • Choose any of the tasks on the board and work on them • Work at your own pace • You can do one or all of the activities • Practice English Conversation!!!!

What specific things did the teacher do in this exercise? • Introduced new vocabulary • Provided instruction clarification • Provided background knowledge especially regarding culture • Listened • Talked freely about topics not on the worksheet • Demonstrated the activity – Charades • Worked with the groups equally

What specific things did the students do? • • Cooperated with each other Decided what tasks to work on Decided when to try a new task Corrected each other Monitored each other Listened Laughed!!

TBLT should use real world tasks. . • Call the airline and reconfirm a reservation you have. Check other details, such as time of departure, and time you have to be at the airport. • Write your resume and exchange it with another student. Study the positions available advertisements in the newspaper and find a job that would be suitable for your partner.

Language Exercise • Fill in the blanks with these words: boring, romance, Annie Mc. Dowell, chocolate and roses • _______ is a terrible actress. Her new movie is _______. It’s a ______, but it’s also extremely ____.

Enabling Skills Teach vocabulary – Comedies, horror films, action movies, romances, thrillers, dramas Teach structures – What kind of movies do you like? – I like_______. – Do you like_____? – Yes, I do. – No, I don’t.

Communicative Activities • • • Find Someone who Group Charades Information Gap Interactive homework Investigative Tasks: Creating Projects, Korean CSI • Interviews

Scenarios • Work with three other students. You are on a ship that is sinking. You have to swim to a nearby island. You have a waterproof container, but can only carry 20 kilos of items in it. Decide which of the following items you will take. (Remember, you can’t take more than 20 kilos with you. )

Scenario Task continued • • • Waterproof sheets of fabric (3 kilos each. ) Notebook computer (3. 5 kilos) Rope (6 kilos). Firelighting kits (500 grams each) Portable CD player and CDs (4 kilos. ) Short-wave radio (12 kilos) Medical kit (2 kilos. ) Bottles of water (1. 5 kilos each) Packets of sugar, flour, rice, powdered milk, coffee, tea. (Each packet weighs 500 grams) • Cans of food (500 grams each) • Box of novels and magazines (3 kilos) • Axe (8 kilos)

Analyzing Self-Access Worksheets • Groups of four • Choose two worksheets that you used during the class • Complete the ‘Analyzing Worksheets’ study guide • Present one analysis to the class

Concluding Thoughts • Task-Based Language Teaching addresses some of the ways students are changing • Any curriculum content can be taught through tasks – the key point is that the teachers usually will have to create their own worksheets! • The teacher must stay very active during a taskbased lesson assisting students individually or as a group!

• Task-Based Language Teaching is another tool for your teaching arsenal – use it when it works for you! • Adapt this approach to your classroom where you are the expert!

The Sky’s the Limit!!