Tasks

NAARY CORRAL

ABIGAIL GUERRERO

KARELY SANCHEZ

KARINA SANCHEZ

Task-Based Language Teaching

The aim of TBLT is to integrate all four skills and to

provide opportunities for the learners to experiment

with and explore both spoken and written language

through learning activities which are designed to

engage learners in the authentic, practical and

functional use of language for meaningful purposes,

to cultivate the learners’ communicative

competence, while the range of tasks available offers

a great of flexibility and the teachers should design

communicative tasks as well as lead to more

motivating activities for the learners.

Why to use a task-based approach?

Students are free of language control.

A natural context is developed from students´experiences.

It is a strong communicative approach wherestudents spend a lot of time communicating.

Some creative tasks that can be used in thisapproach are interviews, projects, portfolios, role plays, presentations, etc.

What is task?

Any structural language learning endeavour

which has a particular objective, appropriate

content, a specified working procedure, and a

range of outcomes for those who undertake the

task.

Task-based learning focuses on the use of

authentic language through meaningful tasks

such as visiting the doctor or a telephone

call. This method encourages meaningful

communication and is student-centred.

Characteristics

Students are encouraged to use language creatively and spontaneously through tasks and problem solving

Students focus on a relationship that is comparable to real world activities

The conveyance of some sort of meaning is central to this method

Assessment is primarily based on task outcome

TBLT is student-centered

Framework for Analyzing

Communicative Tasks

TASK

Goals

Input

Activities

Teacher role

Learner role

Settings

Goals: are the general intentions behind any given

learning task.

Input: refers to the data that form the point of

departure for the task.

Activities: specify what learners will actually do with

the input which forms the point of departure for the

learning task.

Learner roles:

o Passive recipient of outside stimuli;

o Interactor and nogotiator who is capable of giving as well as

taking;

o Listener and performer who has Little control over the contentof learning;

o Involved in a process of personal growth;

o Involved in a social activity;

o Responsable for their own learning, developing autonomy

and skills in learning-how-to-learn.

Teachers role:

o Facilitator of the communicative process

o Participant

o Observer and learner

Settings: refers to the classroom arrangements specified orimplied in the task, and it also requires consideration of wheterthe task is to be carried out wholly or partly outside theclassroom.

Checklist for Evaluating

Communicative Tasks

Goals and rationale

To what extent is the goal or goals of the task

obvious a) to you b) to your students?

Is the task appropriate to the learners

proficiency level?

To what extent does the task reflect a real-

world or pedagogic rationale? Is this

appropriate?

Does the task encourage learners to apply classroom

learning to the real world?

What beliefs about the nature of language and learning are

inherent in the task?

Is the task likely to be interesting and motivating to the

students?

Input

What form does the input take?

It is authentic?

If not, is it appropriate to the goal of the task?

Activities

Are the activities appropriate to the communicative goals

of the task? If not, can they be modified to make them

more appropriate?

Is the task designed to stimulate students to use bottom-up

or top-down processing skills?

Are the activities appropriate to the input data?

Are the activities designed in a way which will allow learners to communicate and cooperate in groups?

Roles and settings

What learner and teacher roles are inherent in the task?

Are they appropriate?

What levels of complexity are there in the classroom

organization implicit in the task?

Is the setting confined to the classroom?

Implementation

Does the task actually engage the learners´ interests?

Do the activities prompt genuine communicative interaction

among students?

To what extent are learners encouraged to negotiate meaning?

Does anything unexpected occur as the task is being carried

out?

What type of language is actually stimulated by the task?

Grading and integration

Is the task at the appropriate level o difficulty for the students?

Is the task so structured that it can be undertaken at different

levels of difficulty?

What are the principles upon which the tasks are sequenced?

Are a range of macroskills integrated into the sequence of

tasks?

Do the tasks incorporate exercises in learning-how-to-learn?

Assessment and evaluation

What means exist for the teacher to determine how

successfully the learners have performed?

Does the task have built into it some means whereby learners

might judge how well they had performed?

Is the task realistic in terms of the resources and teacher-

expertise it demands?

References

Nunan, D. (1989). Designing task for the communicative classroom. NY, United States: Cambridge University Press

Pozzi, D.C. (2004). Forms and functions in language: Morphology, syntax. Retrieved March 10, 2005, from University of Houston, College of Education http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/standards/elp/files/langfunc.pdf

Universidad Americana. (2009). Task based approach. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/rchaviano/task-based-approach

Wang, C. (2006). Designing Communicative Tasks for College English English Courses. Retrieved from: http://www.asian-efl-journal.com/thesis_Wang_Cheng_jun.pdf

Bilash, O. (2009). Task-based language teaching. Retrieved from: http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/best%20of%20bilash/taskbasedlanguageteaching.html