ING303 Teaching Language Skills

1. ING303TeachingLanguageSkills Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Görgülü Lecture 4: Thetask

2. Thingsto do in thischapter • Thelanguage-learningtask: A definitionandsomefeatures of goodclassroomtasks • Taskevaluation: Thefeaturesdescribed in theprevioussectionapplied as criteriafortheevaluation of theeffectiveness of tasks • Organizingtasks: Aspects of thepresentationandpracticalclassroommanagementtasks • Interests: Ideas on how tostimulateandmaintainstudentinterest in doingtasks • Homework: Differenthomeworktasksandways of checkingthem

3. What is a task? • A task is a learneractivitythat has two main objectives: • Learning of someaspect of thelanguage • An outcomethat can be discussedorevaluated • A grammarexercise, a problem-solvingactivityor a writtenassignmentcould be viewed as examples of a task. • Thisdefinitionexcludestestswhicharedesignedtoassesslearningratherthanproducelearning. • This is a widerdefinition of taskthan is used in themethodologycalled ‘task-basedinstruction’ (Skehan, 1998) where it referstocommunicativetasksonlyandexcludeslanguageexercises.

4. What is a task? (cont’d) • 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 use (Skehan 1996). • A communicative task is a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form(Nunan 1998).

5. Examples of a task: #1 • Four students – each has one picture and describes it to the rest of the class. • Students from the rest of the class ask the four students questions about their pictures. • One student from the class tries to tell the story. • If necessary Steps 2 and 3 are repeated

6. Examples of a task: #2 • Look at the e-mail message below. Listen to Mr. Görgülü’s instructions on the tape. Make notes if you want to. Then write a suitable reply to Obama. Dear Mr. Görgülü Please sendthe flight number, date and time of arrival and I will arrange for someone to meet you at the airport. Obama

7. You are the owner of a private language school and have advertised for a new English teacher. Below are summaries of the CVs of four applicants. Discuss each applicant and then decide which one to offer the job to.   • JACK, aged 30 B.A. in social studies. Has spent a year working his way round the world. Has spent six years teaching economics in state school. Has written a highly successful novel about teachers.Has been married twice - now divorced. Two children. Has been running local youth group for three years.   • BETTY, aged 45 Has been married for 24 years, three children. Has not worked most of that time. Has done evening courses in youth guidance. Has spent the last year teaching pupils privately for state – with good results. Has been constantly active in local government - has been elected to local council twice.

8. Whyaretasksimportant? • The concept taskhas become an important element in syllabusdesign, classroom teaching and learner assessment. • It underpins severalsignificant research agendas, and it has influenced educational policy-making in both ESL and EFL settings. • Pedagogically, task-based language teaching has strengthened the following principles and practices: • A needs-based approach to content selection. • An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in thetarget language. • The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation. • The linking of classroom language learning with language use outsidethe classroom. • An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences

9. Theprinciples of taskdesign • Validity: Thetaskshouldactivatestudentsprimarily in thelanguageitemsorskills it is oftenmeanttoteachorpractise. • Oral fluencytasks: Discussions in pairsorsmallgroupsarelikelyprovide far morespeakingpracticeandmorevalid as a vehicle. A caveat • Validitydoes not implythatthelanguageshould be usedforthereplication of real-life communication. • Pronunciationdrillsandvocabularyexercisesmay be alsovalidiftheyservetoimprovetheitemsrehearsed.

10. Thelanguage-learningtask (cont’d) • Quantity: Themore English thestudentsactuallyengagewithduringtheactivity, themoretheyarelikelytolearn. The time spentshould be filledwithmuch ‘volume’ of languageandlanguageactivity. • Weshouldactivate as manystudents as possiblesimultaneouslyratherthanonebyone, andto minimize time spent on fruitlessactivities. • Success-orientation: It is importanttoselect, designandadministertasks in such a waythatstudentsarelikelysucceed in doingthem • Theyshould not be difficult, requiremostlyknownlanguage. • Theyshouldinvolvesimpleandeasilyexplainedprocesses.

11. Thelanguage-learningtask (cont’d) • Heterogeneity (of demandandlevel): A goodtask is heterogeneous: it rovidesopportunitiesforstudentstoengagewith it at allthedifferentlevels of proficiencywithin a class. • Here is an item in an exercise on can/can’t • Jenny is a baby, Jenny (can / can’t) ride a bicycle. • Studentswho do not knowcanorthewordsride, bicyclemay not be ableto do theitem at all. Thosewhoaremoreadvancedget no usefulpracticeappropriatetotheirlevel. Let’strythisone! • Jenny is a baby. Jenny can smile but shecan’tride a bicycle. What else can orcan’tshe do?

12. Thelanguage-learningtask (cont’d) • Interest: Ifthetask is relativelyeasybecause of itssuccess-orientation, andthere is a lot of repretition of targetfroms, thenthere is a thatthetaskmight be boring. • Boredom is an unpleasantfeeling in itself • Itleadstostudentinattention, lowmotivationandlesslearning • Studentinterestshouldcomefromsuchaspects of theactivity as • An interestingtopic • Theneedtoconveymeaningfulinformation • A game-like ‘fun’ task • Attention-catchingmaterials

13. Taskevaluation • Theprinciple of validity, quantity, success-orientation, heterogeneityandinterest can serve as a useful set of criteriaforevaluatingtheeffectiveness of classroomtasks. (do thetask on page 45) • Scenario 1: Spelling / thegame ‘Hangman’ • Spendingmuch time tryingtoguesstheword, no learningtakesplace! • Word, meaning, example / how do youspelltheword ‘country’? • Scenario 2: Listeningcomprehension • Not muchlistening, hencelacksvalidity. Morereadingthanlistening • A longertextwithlessdenselygiveninformationwould be better

14. Taskevaluation • Scenario 3: Grammarexercise • It is intendedtopracticepresentperfect • Much time spentreadingthe ‘cue’ sentencewhichdoes not includethetargetfeature at all. Thereis littlequantity, withonlysixpossibleanswers. • Deletetheverbandcomeupwithotheranswers: She has forgottenthem at home, she has leftthem on thebus, her brother has takenthem • Scenario 4: Vocabulary • Thetask is based on elicitation of informationfromstudentswhichtheysimply do not have. A waste of time: no validity • Itwoud be betteriftheteacherprovidedcontextsandhintsthatwoudhelpstudentstosucceed.

15. Organizingtasks • It is importanttoknowhowtorun a task in theclassroom. It is worththinkingcarefullyaboutthewayyou: • Giveinstructions • Provideongoingsupportduringthetaskprocess • Givefeedback at theend Instructions • Classattention: Everyone has to be listeningwhenyougiveinstructions. Otherwise, thestudentsmay do thetaskwrong, orwaste time consultingeachother, orgettingyoutorepeatyourself.

16. Organizingtasks (cont’d) • Repetition: A repetitionoraddedparaphrase of theinstructionmaymakeallthedifference. It is importanttogivestudentsmorethanonechancetounderstandwhattheyaresupposedto do. • Brevity: Studentscannot listen totheteacherfor a verylong time. Makeyourinstructions as brief as you can. • Examples: An instruction is oftenprovidedalongwith an example. If it is a textbookexercise, do thefirstoneortwoitemswitthestudents. If it is a communicativetask, showhow it is done. • Checkingunderstanding: Make sure theyunderstandthetask. Ask themtoparapharsethetask in theirownwords, ortranslateinto L1.

17. Feedback • It is importanttoprovidefeedbackbyevaluatingresults, commenting on thework done andsignalling an andtotheactivity. • Showingappreciationforresults: A taskbased on grouporindividualwork has a clearoutcomewhich can be used as thebasisfor a full-classfeedbackstage. • Problem-solving: elicitanddiscussthesolutionsthatdifferentgroupshavecomeupwith. • Brain-storming: pooltheirideas on the board. • Discussion: comment on theirideas. • Summarizingandevaluating: Appreciationfortheworkaccomplished, singlingoutparticularstudentsforpraise.

18. PracticalTips • Giveinstructionsbeforematerials • Tellthemduringthepreliminaryinstructionshowandwhenthetaskwillend • Giveadvancewarningwhenyouaregoingto stop grouporindividualwork • Have a reserveactivityready (do actiontask on p. 51)

19. Interest • Thebestwaytoexplorethereasonswhysometasksarouseandmaintainstudentinterest is trytoanalyzethedifferences in interestbetweenthathavesimilarteachingaims. (do actiontask on p. 51) • Spelling: thespellingandpronunciationrule of thesuffix–(t)ion • Theteacherexplainstherule, andthen, • Task 1: Studentsaregiven a dictation as follows… • Task 2: Studentsareaskedtobrainstorm in groups as manywords as they can thatend in -(t)ion, andmake sure everyone in thegroupknowswhat it means. Theteacherthen ‘pools’ alltheideas on the board.

20. Homework • Homework is an importantfactor in learning, especiallywhenstudentsgetolderndmoreadvanced. It is a goodwaytoprovideextraopportunitiesforlanguagestudyoutsideteclassroom. • Routinereview • Previewsandpreparation • Creativeassignments • Preparingpresentations • Projects

21. Practicaltips • Take time toexplain: • Say why: • Makehomework a component of thegrade: • Limit homeworkby time ratherthanquantity: • Provideextras: • Don’tworrytoomuchaboutstudents ‘copying’ fromoneanother:

22. Comingup!! • TeachingVocabulary