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Task it up - IATEFL YLTSIG Webcon Feb 2017
- 1. 1 TASK IT UP! TOWARDSA TASK BASED APPROACH IN THE YOUNG LEARNER CLASSROOM Helen Legge
- 2. 2 - look atactivities often used in YL classes , particularly at productive activities. - focus on how integrating a more task-based approach can benefit learners Task it up!
- 3. 3Helen Legge Typical YLresources All focus on specific language items
- 4. 4Helen Legge Some examplesteachers tend to use: • Gap fills • Stem sentences • Role plays • Notes, letters and essays • Drawing dictations • Writing a story or a newspaper report • Describing pictures Some of these could become ‘tasks’ with right approach.
- 5. How do childrenmake sense of language? https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evide nce-rebuts-chomsky-s-theory-of-language- learning/ 5Helen Legge They aren’t ‘taught’ their L1. They learn through meaningful language acts. Why should it be different for L2? Are the activities we use in the ELT classroom meaningful?
- 6. 6Helen Legge What isa task? Samuda and Bygate (2008) define a pedagogical task as “a holistic activity which engages language use in order to achieve some non-linguistic outcomes … with the overall aim of promoting language learning” Meaning (the non-linguistic objective) over Form (language objective).
- 7. 7Helen Legge Jane Willis(2009) encourages us to consider the following questions to understand how task-like an activity is: - Does the activity engage learners’ interest? - Is there a primary focus on meaning? - Is there an outcome? - Is success judged in terms of outcome? Is completion a priority? - Does the activity relate to real world activities?
- 8. Helen Legge 8 •Are students motivated to do the task? • Is the attention on language or aim? • What do learners have to do? • ..or are we focusing on language used? • …what would my learners really do? • Does the activity engage learners’ interest? • Is there a primary focus on meaning? • Is there an outcome? • Is success judged in terms of outcome? Is completion a priority? • Does the activity relate to real world activities?
- 9. 9Helen Legge As wego through 2 activities, consider: What is the aim? What language are our learners likely to use? What other skills can learners apply?
- 10. MENU Starter: ________________ ________________ Main Course: ________________ ________________ Dessert: ________________ ________________ chicken burgersoup ice-cream salad cheese and crackers chocolate cake 10Helen Legge Students match vocab, use this to complete menu and roleplay ordering food.
- 11. 11Helen Legge Provide speaking practiceusing certain food vocabulary The target language plus I’ll have…/ Can I have…? Please/Thankyou. Some social skills: Politeness
- 12. 12Helen Legge Images frompixabay.com Compare, then brainstorm what they can eat here.
- 13. Plan a partymeal for a special occasion with your friends and family. How many different dishes will you include? Are there allergies/dislikes you need to think about to make this an enjoyable event for everyone? 13Helen Legge
- 14. 14Helen Legge Plan amenu/meal for friends and family. The language they know. Empathy, problem solving… Teacher/peers feed in what is relevant to the student as he/she considers task
- 15. Stories are tasksin themselves. Students cut up comic-strip story and classmate re-orders it.
- 16. Opportunities for meaningfullanguage practice. Platforms for language instruction. Platforms for practising other skills. Student-centred. Helpful in mixed ability classes as Ls can achieve task in a variety of ways. markers of progress for learners. Relevant to the real world and therefore, to learner needs. TASKS ARE 16Helen Legge
- 17. Is there aprimary focus on meaning? Is there an outcome? Is success judged in terms of outcome? - language-led or meaning-led? - criteria to evaluate success? - reason for students doing the task? - non-linguistic aim to what they are doing? Create a story plan a menu make a schedule convince other students to join a club 17Helen Legge
- 18. Does the activityrelate to real world activities? - Tasks can be closely linked to their lives: Inventing a game and explaining how to play it, making a model from instructions, deciding on a present for a friend… Or also imaginative (and therefore linked to their lives!): Imagine you discover a new planet: Write a survival guide to living there. Imagine there has been a natural disaster. Discuss an action plan for the first 3 days afterwards. 18Helen Legge Great opportunities to develop other skills: negotiating, decision-making, leadership…
- 19. • Is therea non-linguistic aim to my task? Is it meaning focused? • Is task achievement part of the evaluation criteria? Or am I still only focusing on language used? • Is the task relevant to my students’ lives? Will they be motivated to attempt the task? To start integrating tasks, start with productive activities and consider: 19Helen Legge
- 20. 20Helen Legge Helen Legge Twitter@ITlegge References and resources: Paul Ibbotson, Michael Tomasello: Evidence rebuts Chomsky’s theory of language learning, New Scientist (2016). https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/evidence-rebuts-chomsky-s-theory-of- language-learning/ V. Samuda and M. Bygate: Tasks in Second Language Learning. Palgrave Macmillan, (2008). Jane Willis: Criteria for Identifying Tasks, Teaching English (2009). http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/criteria-identifying-tasks-tbl English with Crosswords, ELI 2001 Primary Vocabulary Box, Nixon & Tomlinson, CUP (2003). Jet Primary Resources, DELTA, 1996 Timesavers Grammar Activities, Scholastic, 2002 All images from www.pixabay.com or my own. Join #TBLTchat on Twitter!
Editor's Notes
- #4 Typical activities for Yls – sometimes the end point of the lessons – to practise grammar and vocabulary studied.
- #5 These are typical activities – to rpactise language.But some of these could be tasks if we approach them with the right prespective. Tasks don’t have to be unfamiliar. But why make the shift from activities, exercises to tasks? Perspective?
- #6 Research shows that when we learn aour first language as children, we strive to make sense of things – heavily basing out language development in the meaning around its use.
- #7 Tasks allow us to learn language in meaningful context and to use language to achieve a meaningful outcome. We want to do something through the language we know. If we want to take a step tow<rds TBLT we need to move away from exercises which have the sole purpose of practising a piece of language or skill, towards activities which go beyond purely linguistic aims to include other objectives – primarily task achievement. ,meaningful acto fo communication using the linguistic resources we have.
- #8 If we can answer yes – we’ve got a task. But in an effort to move towards tasks, we can try to include some of these points as we plan our lessons – to get as close as we can. Not all or nothing, but its useful to work towards tb.
- #9 If we can answer yes – we’ve got a task. But in an effort to move towards tasks, we can try to include some of these points as we plan our lessons – to get as close as we can. Not all or nothing, but its useful to work towards tb.
- #10 We are going to have a look at an activity and a task. Ask yourselves these qs as we go throught htem. Show an activity and a task
- #11 Match vocabulary to pictures Use vocabulary to complete a menu. Role play ordering food off the menu
- #13 What can you see? Same or different? What kind of food could you eat here? Brainstorm food vocabulary
- #14 Is this likely to a be a ‘task’? How do we know? Collaboration,
- #15 Tasks need to be relevant and personalised to engage students.
- #16 Task: write a fairy story. Read other classmates’ stories and decide the best order for the class book. Chop up the story and classmate’s put it back in order. What did they use? – past tenses, vocabulary related to fairy tales. Other skills? Collaboration (group planning before writing and book organisiation after writing)
- #18 checklist?
- #20 Checklist – then deal with how to manage the language which comes up.
- #21 Add second example from primary class here