Teaching language through task & activities

TEACHING LANGUAGE THROUGH
TASK and ACTIVITY
By:
Eka Hardiyanti Bugis (NIM: TAR 136002)
Department: Tarbiyah
Study Program: English Education
Semester: IV
Lecturer:
Suharmoko ,S.Pd., M.Pd.
STATE COLLEGE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES
SORONG – WEST PAPUA

i
PREFACE
All praise and thanks be to Allah may we all always in His protection.
Overwhelming peace and blessings may effused to the Prophet Muhammad and
his entire family, friends, and all his people until the end of time.
Thank God for the blessings of His grace and guidance, we can finally complete
the preparation of a paper with the title "Teaching Language Through Task and
Activity". Writing this paper is one of the tasks subjects given in English for
Young Learner at the State Islamic Institute of Sorong.
In this occasion we would like to thank profusely to all those who have helped in
the preparation of this paper and to colleagues who have provided the motivation,
both morally and materially.
Finally we realized that in the preparation of this paper is far from perfect.
Therefore we apologize profusely to all parties if the paper is not as expected.
Criticisms and suggestions that are built so we expect the sake toward better in the
writing of this paper.
Hopefully, this paper gets the blessing of God and beneficial for us all. Amen.
Sorong, March 20, 2015
Writer

ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE .................................................................................................................i
TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................................ii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1
A. Background ...................................................................................................1
B. Formulation Of The Problem........................................................................1
CHAPTER II DISCUSSION ...................................................................................2
A. Young Learner...............................................................................................2
a) Young learner definition............................................................................2
b) The role young learner’s teacher ...............................................................2
c) What do children like and unlike?.............................................................3
B. Introducing to Teaching Language Through Task and Activity ...................3
a) Task definition...........................................................................................3
b) Task characteristics ...................................................................................5
c) Types of task..............................................................................................5
d) Difficulties in using tasks ..........................................................................7
C. The Example of Teaching Language Through Task and Activity ................7
a) Good advice...............................................................................................7
b) Task: Getting to know your resources.......................................................8
c) Adverb Action...........................................................................................9
d) Art Gallery.................................................................................................9
CHAPER III CONCLUSION ................................................................................10
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................11

1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background
On entry to pre-school or the early years of primary education, children
whose mother tongue is not English do not differ greatly from their English-
speaking peers. They may suffer from shyness and some fear at being removed
from the safety of the home environment. Like other small children experiencing
these feelings, they will require plenty of support. Most language learning at this
stage will take place through play and interaction with peers and teacher. Their
formal language learning needs will not differ greatly from those of English-
speaking peers. At this stage they must develop the repertoire of language
required for socialisation and engagement with classroom learning and activities.
Teaching young learners can be a fascinating job because generally
children are very enthusiastic and willing to learn. They are warm, spontaneous
and have great admiration for their teacher. Every day is like a new experience.
When planning a class for Young Learners the teacher has to take into account
many different factors such as age and ability. In this paper we will give an
explain how you can best plan a class for your Young Learners through task and
activity.
B. Formulation Of The Problem
1) Who is young learner?
2) Introducing to teaching language through task and activity?
3) What is the example of teaching language through task and activity?

2
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION
A. Young Learner
a) Young learner definition
Before we begin, let’s define what we mean by a young learner. In the
EFL (English as a Foreign Language) world, young learners are children between
the ages of 3 and 18 years old who are learning English. They can be broken into
two groups.
Very young learners are generally considered to be children aged between
3 and 5 years old. They study at a preschool or kindergarten. Perhaps they have 1
hour of English a week. Perhaps there is an English assistant helping the teacher
in the class. They are introduced to English through games and songs and rhymes.
Young learners are generally considered to be children who are between 6
and 13 years old. In some countries, Young Learners may go up to 16 or even 18
years old. They generally study English for 4-5 hours per week. They generally
follow a course book and they are assessed on their ability. This group has the
biggest difference in age and ability.
There are many differences between very young learner and young learner.
You will have to be very careful when you plan your lessons for each group.
Think about what children in each age group are interested in and what can they
do. For example, very young Learners probably can’t write or even hold a pencil.
b) The role young learner’s teacher
As a young learner teacher, you have a very important role. You are
responsible for activating learning. Children will learn if they understand what
they are doing. They must understand the message in order to develop a new
language. Consequently, when you are planning your classes, you must use
materials that are appropriate for the children’s age and reality. Experience is very
important. For example, if you try to teach 6 year olds language for ordering food
in a restaurant they will have trouble. This is because the language is not related to
their lives. The best example would be games. It is essential that you include
games and fun in the classroom to help young learners learn in an environment
appropriate for their age.
Also, we must remember that learning is cyclical. What children know
today, they may forget tomorrow, and then remember again next week. As the

3
teacher are in charge of recycling the content of each class. Don’t think that
because you taught some words today your young learners will remember them
easily.
You are fundamental in the child’s development. You will help and guide
the child in every class. You will ask them to talk to their partners, to work in
groups, to speak to other teachers. This is the social function of language, since
language is for communication.
c) What do children like and unlike?
Many children like to make a noise and move around. Don’t worry, simply
do activities where you can utilize this noise and movement. Children like
learning ‘by doing’ or learning through experience. Many children love listening
to stories and songs. They are very good at imitating sounds. Give them lots of
songs, rhymes and poems. Sing to them, tell them stories! They will soon join in
and sing with you. Children are very spontaneous. They like to use their
imaginations. Children are very competitive. Make sure you give them lots of
games. Divide them into groups. Make sure they know who the winner was.
Of course it is also important to think about what many children don’t
really like. Children don’t like structured classes. Repetition of the same concept
over and over again may lead to bored students. If students are not paying
attention, they can’t learn. Children don’t like boring classes. Make sure you give
them a variety of activities. Change the order of activities as much as you can to
ensure that they don’t begin to feel bored. Children don’t like to listen to the
teacher all the time. Let them participate and get involved. Children’s attention
span is relatively short and varies according to age. Generally, the younger child
the short their concentration. If you are working with 6-7 year olds for example
try to change activities after 5-10 minutes. This doesn’t mean change the language
focus. You can still practice the same language but use a different activity or game
to do it.
B. Introducing to Teaching Language Through Task and Activity
In foreign language teaching, there is an onus on the teacher to provide
exposure to the language and to provide opportunities for learning through
classroom tasks and activities.
a) Task definition
Tasks are important in language learning because they create a meaningful
context for language use. They require students to work with language input, to

4
process the meaning of some language in some way, and to produce an outcome.
Task learning offers the student an opportunity to do exactly this. The primary
focus of classroom activity is the task and language is the instrument which the
students use to complete it. The task is an activity in which students use language
to achieve a specific outcome. The activity reflects real life and learners focus on
meaning, they are free to use any language they want.
How children learn?
Effective Scaffolding.
Parents who scaffolded effectively:
 created interest in the task;
 broke the task down into smaller steps;
 kept child “on task” by reminding him of the purpose or goal;
 pointed out the important parts of the task;
 controlled the child’s frustration during the task;
 modeled the task, including different ways to do the task.
Children are
active learners
and thinkers.
Children construct knowledge from actively interacting with the physical
environment in developmental stages. They learn through their own
individual actions and exploration.
Children learn
through social
interaction.
Children construct knowledge through other people, through interaction
with adults. Adults/teachers work actively with children in the Zone of
Proximal Development (ZPD).
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
=
difference between the child's capacity to solve problems on his own and
his capacity to solve them with assistance
Children learn
effectively
through
scaffolding by
adults.
The adult’s role is very important in a child’s learning process. Like
Vygotsky, Bruner focused on the importance of language in a child’s
cognitive development. He shows how the adult uses “scaffolding” to
guide a child’s language learning through finely-tuned talk.

5
b) Task characteristics
According to Rod Ellis, a task has four main characteristics:
 A task involves a primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning.
 A task has some kind of ‘gap’ (Prabhu identified the three main types as
information gap, reasoning gap, and opinion gap).
 The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.
 A task has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.
Other characteristics of task are:
 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
 Task is student-centered
Tasks might be described as purposeful and contextualised instances of
language use. They include:
 a purpose: an underlying reason for undertaking the task (beyond the mere
display of subject knowledge)
 a context: the thematic, situational, and interactive circumstances in which the
task is undertaken. The context may be real, simulated or imaginary.
Considering context includes knowing where the task is taking place, when,
who are involved, what previous experiences they share and what relationships
they have.
 a process: a mode or process of inquiry, thinking, problem-solving, performing,
creating
 a product: the result of completing a task
c) Types of task
According to N. S. Prabhu, there are three main categories of task;
information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap.
 Information-gap activity, which involves a transfer of given information from
one person to another – or from one form to another, or from one place to
another – generally calling for the decoding or encoding of information from or
into language. One example is pair work in which each member of the pair has
a part of the total information (for example an incomplete picture) and attempts
to convey it verbally to the other. Another example is completing a tabular
representation with information available in a given piece of text. The activity

6
often involves selection of relevant information as well, and learners may have
to meet criteria of completeness and correctness in making the transfer.
 Reasoning gap Reasoning-gap activity, which involves deriving some new
information from given information through processes of inference, deduction,
practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns. One example is
working out a teacher’s timetable on the basis of given class timetables.
Another is deciding what course of action is best (for example cheapest or
quickest) for a given purpose and within given constraints. The activity
necessarily involves comprehending and conveying information, as in
information-gap activity, but the information to be conveyed is not identical
with that initially comprehended. There is a piece of reasoning which connects
the two.
 Opinion gap Opinion-gap activity, which involves identifying and articulating
a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation. One
example is story completion; another is taking part in the discussion of a social
issue. The activity may involve using factual information and formulating
arguments to justify one’s opinion, but there is no objective procedure for
demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no reason to expect the same
outcome from different individuals or on different occasions.
The value of tasks resides in the fact that they represent a worthwhile,
integrative, purposeful, contextualised piece of work. Building on this value, tasks
may be grouped in different ways to ensure a comprehensive range and variety of
experiences for learners. These groupings are called task-types. The most
frequently used way of categorising tasks is according to the four macro-skills:
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Another way was developed in the six
activity-types of the Australian Language Levels Guidelines. These include:
 interacting and discussion
 interacting and deciding/transacting
 obtaining information and using it
 giving information
 personal response
 personal expression.
Another system of task-types focuses on higher order thinking skills:
 enquiring, interpreting
 presenting
 problem-solving
 performing
 creating, designing, composing

7
 judging, evaluating, responding
The task-type categories provide a means for ensuring that students engage
with a range of learning experiences, participate in a range of language use in
different contexts and through this, learn increasingly to manage the variability of
context.
d) Difficulties in using tasks
Tasks can be seen as a ‘one-off’ experience. There is a danger, then, that
the task, no matter how engaging, becomes an end in itself, rather than a
meaningful experience that leads to further learning in a conceptually, well-
sequenced program. From an assessment point of view, teachers may be tempted
to ‘teach to the task’, which again is not necessarily conducive to developing
language learning over time. Another difficulty is sequencing. While principles
can be offered to provide a basis for sequencing tasks (eg extendedness,
complexity, application) the way in which these are used is not obvious.
C. The Example of Teaching Language Through Task and Activity
There is some examples of teaching language through tasks and activities
below:
a) Good advice
 Use the foreign language as much as possible.
 Use only mother tongue when necessary for explanation of exercises.
 The pre-task is meant to help create a good atmosphere for learning without
anxiety. Give words and supporting sentences for students to use.
 The pre-task must supply words, phrases, ideas to support the individual
student in the main task.
 Remember that a pre-task can be anything from for example:
o audio text
o a video clip
o a brainstorm activity
o a small exercise ( cloze, cross word etc. )
o photos (what do you see?)
o webpage ( what do you see?)
Anything that will promote the foreign language and set the minds of
the students into a certain context and atmosphere.
 The main task must facilitate a process where each student can activate
and use his/her own strategies.

8
 Teacher role in the main task: monitoring the processes of the students
working with the main task.
 Remember the importance of the last step, the consciousness raising activities:
o Students repeat their process and their work with the main task –
must be performed in class – the process will make students realize
that language is diverse and that many different structures and words
give meaning and can be used for communication.
o The teacher must pick up and draw attention to relevant grammatical
and semantic points in this last phase of the Task based learning-
cycle.
b) Task: Getting to know your resources
o Level: Pre-intermediate and above.
It is assumed in this lesson that your school has the following student
resources; books (graded readers), video, magazines and Internet. Don’t
worry if it doesn’t, the lesson can be adjusted accordingly.
o Pre-task preparation: One of the tasks is a video exercise which
involves viewing a movie clip with the sound turned off. This can be
any movie depending on availability, but the clip has to involve a
conversation between two people.
o Pre-task activity: In pairs students discuss the following questions:
 Do you use English outside the classroom?
 How?
 What ways can you practise English outside the classroom?
o Stage one - Running dictation
Put the text from worksheet one on the wall either inside or outside the
classroom. Organize your students into pairs. One student will then go
to the text, read the text and then go back to her partner and relay the
information to her. The partner who stays at the desk writes this
information. When teams have finished check for accuracy. You can
make this competitive should you wish.
o Stage two
In pairs students then read the Getting To Know Your Resources task
sheet (worksheet two). Check any problem vocabulary at this stage.
This worksheet can be adapted according to the resource room at your
school.
o Stage three
Depending on how the resources are organized in your centre, students
then go, in pairs, to the resource room or wherever the resources are
kept and complete the tasks on the task sheet.

9
o Stage four
Working with a different partner students now compare and share their
experience.
o Stage five – Feedback
Having monitored the activity and the final stage, use this opportunity
to make comments on your students’ performance. This may take form
of a correction slot on errors or pronunciation, providing a self-
correction slot.
c) Adverb Action
Teacher writes on the board an activity like "brush your teeth." Teacher
picks one student, they come to the front of the class. The Teacher then
shows the Student a card with an adverb written on it, such as "slowly".
The chosen student then does the activity in the way of the adverb. The
other Studetns have to guess the adverb. The one who guesses right gets a
point and mimes the next action which the teacher writes on the board. To
help them you can give them a list of options, if you think they need some
help.
d) Art Gallery
This is a great activity for reviewing vocab. Draw enough squares on the
board for each Student to be able to draw in. Have the Students write their
names above their squares. Teacher calls out a word and the Students draw
it (could be simple nouns e.g. "dog, bookcase, train", verb structures e.g.
"draw a man running, eating cake, sleeping") or adjectives ("draw a big
elephant, an angry lion, an expensive diamond ring"). For each Student
give a score for his/her picture, and then move on to the next picture. The
Student with the highest score at the end is the winner.

10
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
In the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) world, young learners are
children between the ages of 3 and 18 years old who are learning English. As a
young learner teacher, you have a very important role. You are responsible for
activating learning. Children will learn if they understand what they are doing.
They must understand the message in order to develop a new language. Children
like learning ‘by doing’ or learning through experience. Children don’t like
structured classes. Repetition of the same concept over and over again may lead to
bored students.
The primary focus of classroom activity is the task and language is the
instrument which the students use to complete it. The task is an activity in which
students use language to achieve a specific outcome. The activity reflects real life
and learners focus on meaning, they are free to use any language they want.
According to Rod Ellis, a task has four main characteristics:
 A task involves a primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning.
 A task has some kind of ‘gap’ (Prabhu identified the three main types as
information gap, reasoning gap, and opinion gap).
 The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.
 A task has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.
According to N. S. Prabhu, there are three main categories of task;
information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap. Tasks can be seen as a ‘one-off’
experience. There is a danger, then, that the task, no matter how engaging,
becomes an end in itself, rather than a meaningful experience that leads to further
learning in a conceptually, well-sequenced program.There is one example of
teaching language through tasks and activities:
 Adverb Action
Teacher writes on the board an activity like "brush your teeth." Teacher picks
one student, they come to the front of the class. The Teacher then shows the
Student a card with an adverb written on it, such as "slowly". The chosen
student then does the activity in the way of the adverb. The other Studetns have
to guess the adverb. The one who guesses right gets a point and mimes the next
action which the teacher writes on the board. To help them you can give them a
list of options, if you think they need some help.

11
REFERENCES
English as a Second Language; Integrate Ireland Language and Training 2005;
pdf.
Teaching and Learning Languages: A Guide; pdf.
Teaching English to Young Learners, Joan Kang Shin (English Language Center;
University of Maryland, Baltimore County) pdf.
http://www.ESL-Kids-Classroom-Games&Activities.html
http://www.languages.dk/-task-based-learning.html
http://www.leap.com/How-language-learning-tasks-can-help-language-
development_Curriculum-and-language-development_Supporting-language-
development_Language-Enhancing-the-Achievement-of-Pasifika.html
http://www.onestopenglish.com/teaching-approaches-task-based-learning.html
http://www.task-based-language-teaching.html
http://www.wikipedia.com/task-based-language-learning.html

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