1. CURRENT METHODS OF LEARNING AND
TEACHING: COOPERATIVE LEARNING AND
TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING
COOPERATIVE LEARNING
1. What is cooperative learning?
1.1 Aims of cooperative learning.
1.2 Five basic elements of cooperative learning.
1.3 Three types of cooperative learning groups.
2. Models of cooperative learning
3. Application of cooperative learning to English class
3.1 Basic principles of Kagan Structures.
3.2 Sample Kagan Structures
3.3 Advantages of Kagan Structur

2. CARLA DÍAZ DURÁN:
1. What is cooperative learning?
Cooperative learning is a strategy used to learn meaningfully. This strategy consists on
creating groups of students who have different levels of ability. Each member of a team
has to learn and help teammates to learn.
1.1 Aims of cooperative learning
Cooperative learning has three aims, which are going to be explained:
- The first aim is to promote cooperation in spite of promoting competitive so that children
can help each other.
- The second aim is to develop communicative competence through interaction activities.
- The last one and the main aim of cooperative learning is to create the conditions so that
students are able to work together since working together is easier, more interesting and
more affective.
1.2 Five basic elements of cooperative learning
Now, we are going to talk about five basic elements of cooperative learning:
1. The first and most important element of cooperative learning is positive
interdependence. That is, each member of group feels that all of them are linked with
each other in the same project and for this reason they have to do their bit to help. If
there is no positive interdependence, there is no cooperation.
2. The second basic element of cooperative learning is interaction, preferably face to face.
In this way, they argue about different topics and finally, they find a solution. But the
process is the most important thing because in this process they have to interact with
others and they feel that every student has someone who is committed to helping him or
her learn.
3. The third basic element is individual and group responsibility as each member of group
takes responsibility for contributing with his part of the work, and the group must be
accountable for achieving its goals.

3. 4. The fourth basic element of cooperative learning is learning interpersonal and small
group skills, which are social skills. It is a hard task since they have to face two
different tasks: To participate simultaneously in task work and team work. For this
reason, cooperative learning is a more difficult strategy than competitive or individual
learning.
5. The fifth and last element of cooperative learning is group processing or self
assessment. They have to analyze how members are working together and determining
how group effectiveness can be improved.
1.3 Three types of cooperative learning groups
There are three types of cooperative learning:
- Formal cooperative learning groups: This kind of group is created to achieve shared
learning goals for several weeks.
- Informal cooperative learning groups: This kind of group is created to focus student
attention for few minutes.
- Cooperative based groups: This kind of group is used to allow members to give each
other the help that they need to succeed for a long term.
2. Four Leading Models
We can stand out four mayor models of cooperative learning:
- Student Team Learning (STL): This model focuses on team goals and team success.
Students are rewarded when they improve their performances so team scores are
important incentives.
- Learning Together: This model focuses on team-building activities and regular
discussions about how the groups are working together.
- Jigsaw: Each member of the group studies a section of a subject. Then, members from
different teams who have studied the same sections meet in “expert groups” to discuss
their sections. Finally, pupils come back to their own groups and they try to explain
each section.
- Group investigation: Each group chooses a topic and then, they make a presentation,
which is shared with the entire class.

4. MARÍA SAÑUDO ORTIZ:
3. Application of cooperative learning to English class.
Doctor Spencer Kagan has adapted cooperative learning to Second Language learning
and he has designed some structures, knowns as Kagan Structures. These structures
have been developed to increase levels of participation by students, promoting second
language learning.
Kagan Structures are based on four basic principles:
• Positive Interdependence.
• Individual Accountability.
• Equal Participation.
• Simultaneous Interaction.
Now, I am going to explain each one:
Positive Interdependence means that the students are on the same site. The success of
the a student involve his partner gain and they can’t succeed without their partner’s
help.
Individual Accountability implies that every students must perform individually and
publicly, to at least one of their partners.
Equal participation means that all students must participate equally, while when other
methods are used, the students who perform are always the same.
Simultaneous Interaction implies that a high percentage of the class is acting
simultaneously.While with other methods, only one student is acting at a time. When
we work in pairs, fifty percent of the class is producing language.
There are over one hundred and fifty Kagan Structures, with different functions. I am
going to try to explain four of them:

5. • Timed Pair Share is that one student talks while his partner listens him for
specific time. Later, they exchange roles.
• Team Interview consist of each student on a team is interviewed by his mates.
• Numbered heads together involves that the teacher ask a question, students
write their answers individually; them, discuss their respective answers in
groups. Each member of the team will already have a set number. When the
teacher calls a number, the students than have this number will respond taking
into account the inputs from their mates.
• Mix-N-Match consists of students circulating in the room with cards and
examining their partners, they must find the person who has the pair card. For
example, the person who has the picture of a shoe searches for the one who has
the word “shoe”.
Finally, about Kagan Structures, we are going to indicate their advantages:
• It is understable information, as students adapt their discourse to the level of
their partners.
• It creates a natural context, because the language used is the language of real
life.
• It helps negotiation of meaning, students can adjust their language to ensure
that partners understand them.
• It lowers affective filter, while it is hard for them to speak in public, talking
with a supportive peer is easier for them.
• The student get peer support, students support each other.
• It increases motivation, because there are interaction sequences, and students
need understand their partners, there is high motivation to speak and listen.
• It is a method which helps greater language use. Students have more time to
individual production of language.

6. TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING
1. Background.
2.What is a task?
3. What is task-based language teaching?
4. TBLT Advocates.
5. Real World Task/ Pedagogical Task.
5.1. Some examples.
6. Types of tasks.
6.1. Some tasks examples.
7. Learners roles.
8. Teacher roles.
9. Pedagogical materials.
10. Advantages.
11. Procedure.
12. Conclusion.

7. PAULA INGELMO HIDALGO:
1. Background
Now, my partner and me are going to talk about “Task-based language teaching”. This
method has its
origins in Communicative Language Teaching. Two early applications of a task based
learning within a communicative framework for language teaching were:
- The Malaysian Communicational Syllabus (1975).
- The Bangalore Project Prabhu (1987).
2. What is a task?
First of all we need to know what a task is. There are many definitions but one of the
most used is David Nunan:
“It is a piece of the classroom which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating,
producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally
focused on meaning rather than form”.
3. What is task-based language teaching?
Also there are many definitions, one of which is the following:
“ Task- based language teaching is an approach to teaching a second foreign language
that seeks to engage learners in interactionally authentic language use by having them
perform a series of tasks”
The aim of this method is to promote learning through real use of language in the
classroom and not just by learning theory as was done traditionally.

8. 4. TBLT Advocates
Some of the main representatives of Task-based language teaching are:
- David Nunan: He is an Australian linguist who has focused on the teaching of
English.
- Rod Ellis: He is the deputy head of the Department of Applied Language Studies and
Linguistics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. He has published a number of
books on second language acquisition and teacher education. His main interest lies in
the application of second language theory and research to language teaching.
- C. Candlin: is Senior Research Professor Emeritus in the Department of Linguistics
at Macquarie University, Sydney. He is interested in researching and teaching
professional discourse, in the fields of language education, healthcare, management and
law.
5. Real-World Tasks/ Pedagogical tasks
According to David Nunan we can distinguish between two types of tasks:
- Real World Tasks: which are designed to emphasize those skills than learners need to
have so they can function in the real world.
- Pedagogical tasks: which are intended to act as a bridge between the classroom and
the real world in that they serve to prepare students for real-life language usage. This
type of task may also require the use of specific types of language as skills, grammar
and vocabulary.

9. 5.1. Some examples
Now I am going to show some examples that help us to understand.
First, an example of Pedagogical Task would be a task in which two students have to try
to find the number of differences between two similar pictures.The task itself is not
something that students would normally find in the real world. However the
interactional processes it requires provides useful input to language development.
On the other hand, an example of a Real World Task would be a role-play in which
students can practise different types of situations presents in the real world as job
interviews, how to sell a good job...
7. Types of tasks
According to Willis we can find six types of tasks:
1. Listening: Brainstorming and fact-finding. An example would be: make a list of
things that a student need to go camping.
2. Ordering and sorting: sequencing, ranking, categorising and classifying. An
example would be: Students work in pairs and make up a list of the most important
characteristics of an ideal holidays.
3. Comparing: matching, finding similarities and finding differences. An example
would be: Two students compare ads for two difference supermarket.
4. Problem solving: analysing real situations, analysing hypothetical situations,
reasoning and decision making. An example would be: Students read a letter to an
advice columnist un suggest a solution to the writter´s problem.

10. 5. Sharing personal experiences: narrating, describing, exploring and explaining
attitudes, opinions, reactions...An example would be: Students discuss their reactions to
an ethical or moral problem.
6. Creative tasks: brainstorming, fact-finding, ordering and sorting, comparing,
problem solving a many others. An example would be: Students prepare plans for
redecorating a house.

11. CARMEN ALONSO RUBÍN:
7. Learners roles
With the task-based approach a number of roles are assumed by the learners. Some of
these roles are:
· Group participant: some tasks are made in pairs, small or big groups, so the students
have to adapt to this type of working.
· Monitor: learners need to care not only to the message in the tasks, but also the form in
which these messages came to them.
· Risk-taker and innovator: many tasks require learners to create and interpret messages,
so they need to practice in restating, paraphrasing, and so on.
8. Teacher roles
What are the roles of the teacher in this approach?, some of them are:
· Selector and sequencer of tasks: the teacher must select, adapt, and create the tasks,
taking into account learners’ needs, interests, and language skill level.
· Preparing learners for tasks: teachers should suggest some pre-tasks in order to prepare
the students, and introduce them in the topic.
· Consciousness-raising: learners need to attend to the characteristics of the language that
they use and hear. It means that the teacher should use a variety of from-focusing
techniques, including attention-focusing pre-task activities, text exploration, and so on.
9. Pedagogical materials
The materials that can be exploited for instruction in Task-Based Language Teaching
are limited only by the imagination of the teacher or task designer.
Some proponents are in favor of the use of task supported by authentic materials
wherever possible. Of course, popular media provide rich resources for such materials.
Popular media include: Newspapers, television, Internet, etc.
With popular media, we are going to see some activities that we could do:

12. Newspaper: “Students examine a newspaper, determine its sections, and suggest three
new sections that might go in the newspaper”.
Television: “Students take notes during the weather report and prepare a map with
weather symbols showing likely weather for the predicted period”
“After watching an episode of an unknown soap opera, students list the characters and
their possible relationship to other characters in the episode”
Internet: “Given a book title to be acquired, students conduct a comparative shopping
analysis of three Internet booksellers, listening prices, mailing times, and shipping
charges, and choose a vendor, justifying their choice.
10. Advantages
Within this approach we can highlight some advantages:
- The students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their
language resources
rather than just practising one pre-selected item.
- A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is
personalised and relevant to them.
- The students will have a much more varied exposure to language. They will be
exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as
language forms.
- The language explored rises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be
covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
- It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time
communicating.
- It is enjoyable and motivating.

13. 11. Procedure
With all of that we are going to see and example Task-Based Language Teaching, there
are a lot of different examples but we have chosen one that comes from a language
program and it is include in our article.
This proposal includes:
Pre-task activities: Learner first take part in a preliminary activity that introduces the
topic, such activities include brainstorming, ranking exercises, etc. Then, learners read a
dialogue on a related topic.
Task activity: Learners perform a role play, in pairs with a task.
Post-task activities: Learners listen to recording of native speakers performing the same
role-play task they have just practiced and compare differences between the way they
expressed particular functions and meanings and the way native speakers performed.
12. Conclusion
In conclusion, this method is a vehicle for promoting communication skills in a second
language classroom, also the students work independently and in groups but always
constructing their own knowledge. Moreover, the Task-Based Language Teaching
approach permits us to use a lot of methodologies because we can use different types of
activities, materials, topics and groups-work.