Task-Based Language Learning
An effective strategy for promoting collaborative dialogue and opportunities for output within the classroom is assigning a “task” in which students must work together to complete.
According to Ellis (2009), task based language learning has these key precepts:
1. The primary focus should be on ‘meaning.’
2. There should be some kind of ‘gap’ (need to convey information, to express an opinion, or to infer meaning).
3. Learners should largely have to rely on their own resources in order to complete the activity.
4. There is a clearly defined outcome other than the use of language (language serves as the means for achieving the outcome, not as an end in its own right). (p. 223).
In order for an activity to be deemed a ‘task,’ the focus should be on communicating information where there is a “gap” that the interlocutors must fill with information, opinions, or reasoning; the students choose the resources they must use to complete the activity and the task has a non-linguistic outcome such as completing a table, creating a script, or retelling a story. Presenting language learners with activities that meet the requirement for a ‘task’ put forth by Ellis can lead to collaborative dialogue concentrated on said task. These tasks provide opportunities for interlocutors to move through the functions of the Output Hypothesis. Learners are given opportunities to communicate around a common goal and to notice the gap that they have in their ability to relay the information they wish to impart or their inability to comprehend their partners’ communication. The learners can also use the task as an opportunity to test their hypotheses about how to use the language with their interlocutors, receive feedback, and reflect upon their use of the language through metalanguage.
Examples of activities that meet the precepts of a ‘task,’ and that can foster collaborative dialogue within the classroom, include role playing or simulation exercises Role playing activities give the students opportunities to use authentic language that they would encounter in a legitimate context of the target culture. Students can practice acting as a customer and waiter at a restaurant or customer and sales person at a local store. Another task would be to assign students the mission of planning a trip and navigating public transit in an unknown city.
Two of the units in this project culminate in student-developed projects. In the Alutiiq Story unit, the students work in groups to produce a podcast of the group reading the story. At the end of the Family unit, individual students create a digital story introducing themselves and their families. These projects meet three out of the four task precepts. The focus of the activities is on meaning. There is a need for the students to convey information- in the family unit, each student is informing about themselves and their family members. The resulting podcasts or digital stories are the defined outcomes of the units. I would like to continue to develop my own Alutiiq language and teaching skills to design activities that meet all of the criteria of a “task.”
According to Ellis (2009), task based language learning has these key precepts:
1. The primary focus should be on ‘meaning.’
2. There should be some kind of ‘gap’ (need to convey information, to express an opinion, or to infer meaning).
3. Learners should largely have to rely on their own resources in order to complete the activity.
4. There is a clearly defined outcome other than the use of language (language serves as the means for achieving the outcome, not as an end in its own right). (p. 223).
In order for an activity to be deemed a ‘task,’ the focus should be on communicating information where there is a “gap” that the interlocutors must fill with information, opinions, or reasoning; the students choose the resources they must use to complete the activity and the task has a non-linguistic outcome such as completing a table, creating a script, or retelling a story. Presenting language learners with activities that meet the requirement for a ‘task’ put forth by Ellis can lead to collaborative dialogue concentrated on said task. These tasks provide opportunities for interlocutors to move through the functions of the Output Hypothesis. Learners are given opportunities to communicate around a common goal and to notice the gap that they have in their ability to relay the information they wish to impart or their inability to comprehend their partners’ communication. The learners can also use the task as an opportunity to test their hypotheses about how to use the language with their interlocutors, receive feedback, and reflect upon their use of the language through metalanguage.
Examples of activities that meet the precepts of a ‘task,’ and that can foster collaborative dialogue within the classroom, include role playing or simulation exercises Role playing activities give the students opportunities to use authentic language that they would encounter in a legitimate context of the target culture. Students can practice acting as a customer and waiter at a restaurant or customer and sales person at a local store. Another task would be to assign students the mission of planning a trip and navigating public transit in an unknown city.
Two of the units in this project culminate in student-developed projects. In the Alutiiq Story unit, the students work in groups to produce a podcast of the group reading the story. At the end of the Family unit, individual students create a digital story introducing themselves and their families. These projects meet three out of the four task precepts. The focus of the activities is on meaning. There is a need for the students to convey information- in the family unit, each student is informing about themselves and their family members. The resulting podcasts or digital stories are the defined outcomes of the units. I would like to continue to develop my own Alutiiq language and teaching skills to design activities that meet all of the criteria of a “task.”