1. Toth Sandor
DIFFER IN THIS
Drills ASPECT Tasks
usually one SKILLS all
no IN CONTEXT yes
no CONNUNICATIVE Yes
usually no AUTHENTIC Yes, most of them are.
meaningless LANGUAGE USE meaningful
Basically communicative but tasks also create
form FOCUS ON
opportunities for focusing on form.
immediate CORRECTION At the end of the activity.
strict CONTROL Relaxed
Advantages Disadvantages
2. It favors the group rather than the
individual.
Individual Ss do not have the
chance to say anything on their
It is suitable for activities where the teacher own.
Whole-class is acting as a controller. It’s not the best way to organize
grouping It reinforces the sense of belonging. communicative language teaching.
It’s ideal for presenting material. Whole class teaching favors the
transmission of knowledge from
teacher to Ss rather than having Ss
discover things for themselves.
It dramatically increases the number of
talking opportunities for individual It is likely to be noisy. Teachers
students. might loose control over the
Group work It promotes learner autonomy by allowing students.
students to make their own decisions. Groups can take longer to
It encourages broader skills of cooperation organize.
and negotiation. Not all students enjoy it since they
would prefer to be the focus of the
teacher’s attention rather than
working with their peers.
3. Some students may remain passive
and others may dominate in the
activity.
Maximizes the amount of speaking time .
It allows students to interact inedpendently
with a purpose with little or no guidance on It’s rather noisy.
the part of the teacher. Students may use their first
It is realtively quick and easy to organize. language.
Pair work It promotes cooperation. The chances of misbehaviour are
It allows teachers time to get preoccupied greater than is whole class setting.
and give necessary guidance to one or two The choice in the paired students
pairs while the other students continue can be problematic.
working.
Teacher can respont to individual students It does not encourage cooperation.
and their needs. It does not help the class develop a
4. It can promote learner authonomy and sense of belonging.
Solo work promote self-reliance. It does not encourage cooperation.
It is likely to be less stressful for students
than performing in a whole class setting.
