Introduction
Coursedesignisconcernedwiththeselectionandsequencingofcontent̶the‘what’ofteaching. Assuch,itcontrastswith‘methodology’,whichaddressesthe‘how’ofteaching.Together,‘course design’and‘methodology’comprisethelanguagecurriculum.Ithasbeensuggested,however, thatthedistinctionbetween‘design’and‘methodology’isnotrelevantintask-basedteaching. Nunan(1989)arguedthatinthiskindofteachingthefocusshiftsfrom‘theoutcomesof instruction’(i.e.thelinguisticknowledgeorskillstobemastered)towardsthe‘processesof learning’(i.e.whatlearnersneedtodoinordertolearn).Thus,Nunanclaimed,the‘what’and the‘how’ofteachingaremerged.Similarly,Kumaravadivelu(1993)arguedthat‘methodology becomesthecentraltenetoftask-basedpedagogy’(p.73)sincethegoalistoallowlearnersto navigatetheirownpathsandroutestolearning.However,theseargumentsignorethefactthata task-basedcurriculumstillinvolvesmakingdecisionsaboutcontent(i.e.whattaskstoincludein thesyllabus)andmethodology(i.e.howthetaskswillbeusedintheclassroom).Thus,itis importanttomaintainthedistinctionindiscussionsoftask-basedteaching.
The purpose of this article is to consider the methodology of task-based instruction. Methodologyinvolvesofaconsiderationofproceduresoftwobasickinds.Firstly,therearethose proceduresthatspecifyhowtheactivitiesmentionedinthesyllabuscanbeconvertedintoactual lessons(i.e.lessondesign).Secondly,thereareproceduresrelatingtohowtheteacherand learners are to participate in the lessons(i.e.participatorystructure).Inthisarticle, however,Ishallonlyaddresslessondesign.Ishallconcludebyproposinganumberofgeneral principlestoguidethemethodologyoftask-basedinstruction.
RodEllis
ロッド・エリス
Lessondesign
Thedesignofatask-basedlessoninvolvesconsiderationofthestagesorcomponentsofalesson thathasataskasitsprincipalcomponent.Variousdesignshavebeenproposed(e.g.Estaireand Zanon1994;Lee2000;Prabhu1987;Skehan1996;Willis1996).Howevertheyallhavein common three principal phases, which are shown in Figure1. These phases reflect the chronologyofatask-basedlesson.Thus,thefirstphaseis‘pre-task’andconcernsthevarious activitiesthatteachersandstudentscanundertakebeforetheystartthetask,suchaswhether studentsaregiventimetoplantheperformanceofthetask.Thesecondphase,the‘duringtask’ phase,centresaroundthetaskitselfandaffordsvariousinstructionaloptions,includingwhether studentsarerequiredtooperateundertime-pressureornot.Thefinalphaseis‘post-task’and involvesproceduresforfollowing-uponthetaskperformance.Onlythe‘duringtask’phaseis obligatoryintask-basedteaching.Thus,minimally,atask-basedlessonconsistsofthestudents just performing a task. Options selected from the‘pre-task’or‘post-task’phases are non- obligatorybut,aswewillsee,canserveacrucialroleinensuringthatthetaskperformanceis maximallyeffectiveforlanguagedevelopment.
Phase Examplesofoptions
A.Pre-task *Framingtheactivity(e.g.establishingtheout comeofthetask)
*Planningtime
*Doingasimilartask B.Duringtask *Timepressure C.Post-task *Numberofparticipants
*Learnerreport
*Consciousness-raising
*Repeattask
Figure1:Aframeworkfordesigningtask-basedlessons
Accesstoaclearframeworkforatask-basedlessonisofobviousadvantagetobothteachers andlearners.Richards(1996)showshowmanyexperiencedteachersadheretoamaximof planning(‘Planyourteachingandtrytofollowyourplan’)whileNumrich(1996)reportsonhow noviceteachersfeelthe‘needtobecreativeandvariedinteaching’.Aframeworksuchasthe oneoutlinedinFigure1caterstobothneeds.Itprovidesaclearstructureforalessonanditalso allowsforcreativityandvarietyinthechoiceofoptionsineachphase.
Thepre-taskphase
Thepurposeofthepre-taskphaseistopreparestudentstoperformthetaskinwaysthatwill
promoteacquisition.Lee(2000)describestheimportanceof‘framing’thetasktobeperformed andsuggeststhatonewayofdoingthisistoprovideanadvanceorganizerofwhatthestudents will be required to do and the nature of the outcome they will arrive at. Dornyei(2001) emphasizestheimportanceofpresentingataskinawaythatmotivateslearners.LikeLee,he seesvalueinexplainingthepurposeandutilityofthetask.Thismaybeespeciallyimportantfor learnersfromtraditional‘studial’classrooms;theymayneedtobeconvincedofthevalueofa more‘experiential’approach. Dornyei also suggests that task preparation should involve strategiesforwhettingstudents’appetitestoperformthetask(e.g.byaskingthemtoguess whatthetaskwillinvolve)andforhelpingthemtoperformthetask.Strategiesinthislatter categoryarediscussedbelow.
Skehan(1996)referstotwobroadalternativesavailabletotheteacherduringthepre-task phase:
anemphasisonthegeneralcognitivedemandsofthetask,and/oranemphasisonlinguistic factors.Attentionalcapacityislimited,anditisneededtorespondtobothlinguisticand cognitivedemands...thenengaginginactivitieswhichreducecognitiveloadwillrelease attentionalcapacityforthelearnertoconcentratemoreonlinguisticfactors.(p.25).
Thesealternativescanbetackledprocedurallyinoneoffourways;(1)supportinglearnersin performingatasksimilartothetasktheywillperformintheduring-taskphaseofthelesson,(2) askingstudentstoobserveamodelofhowtoperformthetask,(3)engaginglearnersinnon-task activitiesdesignedtopreparethemtoperformthetaskor(4)strategicplanningofthemaintask performance.Wewillconsidereachinsomedetail.
Performingasimilartask
Theuseofa‘pre-task’wasakeyfeatureoftheCommunicationalTeachingProject(Prabhu 1987).Itwascarriedoutasawhole-classactivitywiththeteacherandinvolvedthelearnersin completingataskofthesamekindasandwithsimilarcontenttothemaintask.Thus,itserved asapreparationforperformingthemaintaskindividually.Forexample,ifthemaintaskinvolved workingoutaclasstimetablefromthetimetablesofindividualteachers,thenthepre-taskwould bethesamebutwithdifferentinformationintheteachers’timetables.
Prabhuexplainsthatthepre-taskwasconductedthroughinteractionofthequestion-and- answertype.Theteacherwasexpectedtoleadtheclassstep-by-steptotheexpectedoutcome, tobreakdownastepintosmallerstepsifthelearnersencountereddifficultyandtoofferoneor moreparallelstoastepinthereasoningprocesstoensurethatmixedabilitylearnerscould understandwhatwasrequired.Theteacherwasprovidedwithalessonplanthatincluded(1)
thepre-taskand(2)asetofgradedquestionsorinstructionstogetherwithparallelquestionsto be used as needed. When implemented in the classroom, the plan results in a‘pedagogic dialogue’.Prabhuemphasisesthatthepre-taskwasnota‘demonstration’but‘ataskinitsown right’.Itisclearfromthisaccountthatthe‘pre-task’servesasamediationaltoolforthekindof
‘instructionalconversation’thatsocioculturaltheoristsadvocate.Theteacher,asanexpert,uses thepre-tasktoscaffoldlearners’performanceofthetaskwiththeexpectancythatthis‘other- regulation’facilitatesthe‘self-regulation’learnerswillneedtoperformthemaintaskontheir own.
Providingamodel
Analternativeistoaskthestudentstoobserveamodelofhowthetaskcanbeperformed withoutrequiringthemtoundertakeatrialperformanceofthetask(seeAston(1982)foran earlyexampleofsuchanapproach).Minimallythisinvolvespresentingthemwithatext(oralor written)todemonstratean‘ideal’performanceofthetask.BothSkehan(1996)andWillis(1996) suggestthansimply‘observing’othersperformataskcanhelpreducethecognitiveloadonthe learner.However,themodelcanalsobeaccompaniedbyactivitiesdesignedtoraiselearners’ consciousnessaboutspecificfeaturesofthetaskperformance̶forexample,thestrategiesthat canbeemployedtoovercomecommunicationproblems,theconversationalgambitsforholding the floor during a discussion or the pragmalinguistic devices for performing key language functions.Suchactivitiesmightrequirethelearnerstoidentifyandanalyzethesefeaturesinthe modeltexts.Alternatively,theymightinvolvepre-trainingintheuseofspecificstrategies.Nunan
(1989)listsanumberoflearningstrategies(e.g.‘Learningtolivewithuncertainty’and‘Learning tomakeintelligentguesses’)thatstudentscanbetaughttohelpthembecome‘adaptable, creative,inventiveandaboveallindependent’(p.81)andthusmoreeffectiveperformersofa task.
However,theeffectivenessofsuchtrainingcannotbetakenforgranted.LamandWong
(2000)reportastudythatinvestigatedtheeffectsofteachingstudentstoseekandprovide clarificationwhencommunicationdifficultiesaroseinclassdiscussions.However,althoughthis resultedingreateruseofthesestrategiesinapost-trainingdiscussion,thestrategieswereoften notemployedeffectively(e.g.thestudentswereunabletoclarifysomethingtheyhadsaid) suggestingthatpre-tasktrainingintheuseofcommunicationstrategiesmaynotbeeffective unlessstudentsalsolearnhowtoscaffoldeachothercooperativelywhenperformingthetask. Thereisalsoadangerindirectingpre-tasktrainingbasedonamodelatspecificaspectsof languageorlanguageuse;learnersmayrespondbytreatingthetasktheyaresubsequentlyasked
toperformasan‘exercise’forpractisingthestrategies/featuresthathavebeentargeted.Akey question,then,istheextenttowhichstudentsaretobeprimedtoattendtospecificaspectsof themodel.Clearly,thereisaneedtoevaluatecarefullytheeffectsofanysuchprimingon subsequenttaskperformance.
Non-taskpreparationactivities
Thereareavarietyofnon-taskpreparationactivitiesthatteacherscanchoosefrom.Thesecan centreonreducingthecognitiveorthelinguisticdemandsplacedonthelearner.Activating learners’contentschemataorprovidingthemwithbackgroundinformationservesasameansof definingthetopicareaofatask.Willis(1996)providesalistofactivitiesforachievingthis(e.g. brainstormingandmind-maps).Whenlearnersknowwhattheyaregoingtotalkorwriteabout theyhavemoreprocessingspaceavailableforformulatingthelanguageneededtoexpresstheir ideaswiththeresultthatthequantityoftheoutputwillbeenhancedandalsofluencyand complexity.Recommendedactivitiesforaddressingthelinguisticdemandsofataskoftenfocus onvocabularyratherthangrammar,perhapsbecausevocabularyisseenasmorehelpfulforthe successfulperformanceofataskthangrammar.Newton(2001)suggeststhreewaysinwhich teacherscantargetunfamiliarvocabularyinthepre-taskphase;predicting(i.e.askinglearners tobrainstormalistofwordsrelatedtothetasktitleortopic),cooperativedictionarysearch(i.e. allocatingdifferentlearnerswordstolookupintheirdictionary),andwordsanddefinitions(i.e. learnersmatchalistofwordstotheirdefinitions).Newtonarguesthatsuchactivitieswill‘prevent the struggle with new words overtaking other important goals such as fluency or content- learning’whenlearnersperformthetask.However,thereisalwaysthedangerthatpre-teaching vocabularywillresultinlearnerstreatingthetaskasanopportunitytopractisepre-selected words.Inthecaseoftask-supportedteachingthiscanbeseenasdesirablebutinthecaseof task-basedteachingitcanthreatentheintegrityofthetask.
Strategicplanning
Finally,learnerscanbegiventimetoplanhowtheywillperformthetask.Thisinvolves‘strategic planning’andcontrastswiththe‘onlineplanning’thatcanoccurduringtheperformanceofthe task.Itcanbedistinguishedfromotherpre-taskoptionsinthatitdoesnotinvolvestudentsina trialperformanceofthetaskorinobservingamodel.However,itmayinvolvetheprovisionof linguisticforms/strategiesforperformingthetask.Adistinctioncanstillbedrawnbetweenthe non-taskpreparationproceduresdescribedaboveandstrategicplanning,however,astheformer occurwithoutthestudentshavingaccesstothetasktheywillbeaskedtoperformwhilestrategic
planninginvolvesthestudentsconsideringtheformstheywillneedtoexecutethetaskworkplan theyhavebeengiven.
Thereareanumberofmethodologicaloptionsavailabletoteacherswhooptforstrategic planning.Thefirstconcernswhetherthestudentsaresimplygiventhetaskworkplanandleftto decideforthemselveswhattoplan,whichtypicallyresultsinprioritybeinggiventocontentover form,orwhethertheyaregivenguidanceinwhattoplan.Inthecaseofthelatteroption,the guidancemayfocuslearners’attentiononformorcontentorformandcontenttogether.Skehan
(1996)suggeststhatlearnersneedtobemadeexplicitlyawareofwheretheyarefocussingtheir attention̶whetheronfluency,complexityoraccuracy.Theseplanningoptionsareillustratedin Figure2.Herethecontextisataskinvolvingaballoondebate(i.e.decidingwhoshouldbe ejectedfromaballoontokeepitafloat).Theguidancecanalsobe‘detailed’or‘undetailed’
(FosterandSkehan1996).TheexamplesinFigure2areoftheundetailedkind.Skehan(1998) givesanexampleofdetailedplanningforapersonaltaskinvolvingaskingsomeonetogotoyour housetoturnofftheoventhatyouhavelefton.Thisinvolvedinstructionsrelatingtoplanning content(e.g.‘thinkaboutwhatproblemsyourlistenercouldhaveandhowyoumighthelpher’) andlanguage(e.g.‘thinkwhatgrammaryouneedtodothetask’).Theseoptionsdonotjust provideforvarietyinplanningactivities;theyalsoenabletheteachertochannelthelearners’ attentionontodifferentaspectsoflanguageuse.Forexample,FosterandSkehan(1996)found thatwhenstudentsweregivendetailedguidancetheytendedtoprioritisecontentwithresulting gainsincomplexitywhentheyperformedthetask.
Anotheroptionconcernstheamountoftimestudentsaregiventocarryoutthepre-task planning.Mostoftheresearchstudieshaveallocatedbetween1and10minutes.Aneffecton
Strategicplanningoptions Description
1.Noplanning Thestudentswereintroducedtotheideaofa balloondebate,assignedrolesandthenaskedto debatewhoshouldbesacrificed.
2.Guidedplanninglanguagefocus Thestudentswereintroducedtotheideaofa balloon debate and then shown how to use modalverbsandconditionalsinthereasonsa doctormightgivefornotbeingthrownoutof theballoon(e.g.‘Itakecareofmanysickpeople
Ifyouthrowmeout,manypeoplemightdie’). 3.Guidedplanningcontentfocus The students were introduced the idea of a
balloondebate.Theteacherpresentsideasthat eachcharactermightusetodefendhisorher righttostayintheballoonandstudentswere encouragedtoaddideasoftheirown.
Figure2:Optionsforstrategicplanning (basedonFosterandSkehan1999).
fluencywasevidentwithveryshortperiodsofplanninginsomestudiesbutlongerwasneeded foraneffectoncomplexity(Skehan1998suggests10minutesisoptimal).
Summaryandfinalcomment
In these four ways, teachers can help to create conditions that will make tasks work for acquisition.AsSkehan(1998)pointsout,theyservetointroducenewlanguagethatthelearners canusewhileperformingthetask,tomobilizeexistinglinguisticresources,toeaseprocessing loadandtopushlearnerstointerprettasksinmoredemandingways.However,itisnotyet possibleto‘finetune’learners’performanceofataskthroughselectingspecificpre-taskoptions. Atbest,allthattheresearchtodatehasdemonstratedisthelikelyeffectsofsomeofthe proceduresreferredtoabove.Importantquestionsremainunanswered.Forexample,wedonot knowwhethertaskpreparationthatinvolvesanactualperformanceofthetaskismoreorless effectivethanpreparationthatinvolvesjustobservation.Norisitcleartowhatextentlinguistic primingsubvertsthe‘naturalness’ofataskresultinginteachingofthepresent-practice-produce
(PPP)kind.Onlyinthecaseofstrategicplanningdowehavesomeideaofhowthedifferent optionsaffecttaskperformance.
Theduring-taskphase
Themethodologicaloptionsavailabletotheteacherintheduring-taskphaseareoftwobasic kinds.First,therearevariousoptionsrelatingtohowthetaskistobeundertakenthatcanbe takenpriortotheactualperformanceofthetaskandthusplannedforbytheteacher.Thesewill becalled‘task-performanceoptions’.Second,thereareanumberof‘processoptions’thatinvolve theteacherandstudentsinon-linedecisionmakingabouthowtoperformthetaskasitisbeing completed.
Taskperformanceoptions
Wewillconsiderthreetaskperformanceoptions.Thefirstoftheseoptionsconcernswhetherto requirethestudentstoperformthetaskundertimepressure.Theteachercanelecttoallow studentstocompletethetaskintheirowntimeorcansetatimelimit.Lee(2000)strongly recommendsthatteacherssetstricttimelimits.Thisoptionisimportantbecauseitcaninfluence thenatureofthelanguagestudents’produce.YuanandEllis(2003)foundthatgivingstudents anunlimitedtimetoperformanarrativetaskresultedinlanguagethatwasbothmorecomplex andmoreaccurateincomparisontoacontrolgroupthatwasaskedtoperformthesametask undertimepressure.Thestudentsusedthetimeattheirdisposaltomonitorandreformulate
theirutterances.Interestingly,theopportunitytoplanon-lineproducedadifferenteffectfrom theopportunitytoengageinstrategicplanning,whichledtogreaterfluencyandcomplexityof language.Itseems,then,thatifteacherswanttoemphasizeaccuracyinataskperformance,they needtoensurethatthestudentscancompletethetaskintheirowntime.However,iftheywant toencouragefluencytheyneedtosetatimelimit.
Thesecondtaskperformanceoptioninvolvesdecidingwhethertoallowthestudentsaccess totheinputdatawhiletheyperformatask.Insometasksaccesstotheinputdataisbuiltinto thedesignofatask(e.g.inSpottheDifference,DescribeandDraw,ormanyinformationgap tasks).However,inothertasksitisoptional.Forexample,inastoryretelling/recalltaskthe studentscanbepermittedtokeepthepictures/textoraskedtoputthemononesideasthey narratethestory.Thiscaninfluencethecomplexityofthetask,astasksthataresupportedby picturesandtextsareeasierthantasksthatarenot.Joe(1998)reportsastudythatcompared learners’acquisitionofasetoftargetwords(whichtheydidnotknowpriortoperformingthe task)inanarrativerecalltaskundertwoconditions̶withandwithoutaccesstothetext.She foundthatthelearnerswhocouldseethetextusedthetargetwordsmorefrequently,although thedifferencewasevidentonlyinverbatimuseofthewordsnotingenerateduse(i.e.theydid notusethetargetwordsinoriginalsentences).Joe’sstudyraisesanimportantquestion.Does borrowingfromtheinputdataassistacquisition?Theterm‘borrowing’inthiscontextcomes fromPrabhu(1987).Hedefinesitas‘takingoveranavailableverbalformulationinorderto expresssomeself-initiatedmeaningcontent,insteadofgeneratingtheformulationfromone’s owncompetence’(p.60).Prabhudistinguishesborrowingfrom‘reproduction’wherethedecision to‘takeover’asampleofalanguageisnotmadebythelearnerbutbysomeexternalauthority
(i.e.theteacherofthetextbook).Borrowingiscompatiblewithtask-basedteachingbut reproductionisnot.Prabhuseesdefinitevalueinborrowingformaintainingatask-basedactivity andalsoprobablevalueinpromotingacquisition.
Thethirdtaskperformanceoptionconsistsofintroducingsomesurpriseelementintothe task.SkehanandFoster(1997)illustratethisoption.Theyaskedstudentstocompletea decision-makingtaskthatrequiredthemtodecidewhatpunishmentshouldbegiventofour criminalswhohadcommitteddifferentcrimes.Atthebeginningofthetasktheyweregiven informationabouteachcriminalandthecrimehe/shehadcommitted.Halfwaythroughthetask thestudentsweregivenfurtherinformationofasurprisingnatureabouteachcriminal.For example,theinitialinformationprovidedaboutoneofthecriminalswasasfollows:
Theaccusedisadoctor.Hegaveanoverdose(averyhighquantityofapainkillingdrug)toan 85-year-oldwomanbecauseshewasdyingpainfullyofcancer.Thedoctorsaysthatthewoman
hadaskedforanoverdose.Thewoman’sfamilyaccusethedoctorofmurder.
Aftertalkingforfiveminutes,thestudentsweregiventhefollowingadditionalinformation: Later,itwasdiscoveredthatsevenotheroldpeopleinthesamehospitalhaddiedinasimilar way,throughoverdoses.Thedoctorrefusestosayifhewasinvolved.
However,thisstudyfailedtofindthatintroducingsuchasurprisehadanyeffectonthe fluency,complexityoraccuracyofthelearners’language.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthisoptionis ofnopedagogicvalue,asrequiringlearnerstocopewithasurpriseservesasanobviouswayof extendingthetimelearnersspendonataskandthusincreasestheamountoftalk.Itmayalso helptoenhancestudents’intrinsicinterestinatask.
Processoptions
Processoptionsdifferfromtaskperformanceoptionsinthattheyconcernthewayinwhichthe discoursearisingfromthetaskisenactedratherthanpedagogicaldecisionsaboutthewaythe taskistobehandled.Whereasperformanceoptionscanbeselectedinadvanceoftheactual performance of the task, process options must be taken in flight while the task is being performed.
Theteacher’son-linedecisionabouthowtoconductthediscourseofataskreflecthis/her
‘theory-in-use’(Schön1983)and‘practicalknowledge’(Eraut1994).Onthelearners’part,they reflectthelanguagelearningbeliefs(Horwitz1987)theybringtotheclassroomand,more particularly,toaspecifictask.Howteachersandlearnersconductataskwillbeinfluenced,toa largeextent,bytheirpriorexperiencesofteachingandlearningandtheirpersonaldefinitionsof theparticularteaching-learningsituation.
Acommonassumptionoftask-basedteachingisthatthetexts,thediscursivepracticesand thesocialpracticesoftheclassroom(Breen1998)thatareconstructedbyandthroughatask resemblethosefoundinnon-pedagogicdiscourse.Toachievethis,however,isnomeanfeat, especiallyiftheteacherisdirectlyinvolvedintheperformanceofthetask.AsBreenpointsout the‘texts’of lessons(i.e.theactuallanguageproducedbytheparticipants)aretypically teacher-centredwithlearners‘notactuallyrequiredtodomuchovertorexplicitdiscursivework’
(p.123),whilethe‘discursivepractices’(i.e.themeansbywhichthetextareproduced)
‘constructlearnersasprimarilyresponsiveandseeminglyfairlypassiveparticipantsinthe discourse’(p. 124)and the‘social practices’(i. e. the organisational and institutional circumstancesthatshapethetextsanddiscursivepractices)aredirectedattheavoidanceof
‘socialtrouble’.Task-basedteaching,however,seekstheconversetextsthatarelearner- centred,discursivepracticesthatencouragethelearnertoactivelyengageinshapingand
controllingthediscourse,andsocialpracticesthatarecentredonallowingandresolvingsocial trouble.Thisposesaproblem,whichteachersneedtoaddress.
Figure 3 contrasts two sets of classroom processes. The first set corresponds to the classroombehavioursthataretypicalofatraditionalform-focussedpedagogywherelanguageis
treatedasanobjectandthestudentsarerequiredtoactas‘learners’.Thesecondsetreflectsthe behavioursthatcharacterizeatask-basedpedagogy,wherelanguageistreatedasatoolfor communicatingandtheteacherandstudentsfunctionprimarilyas‘languageusers’(Ellis2001). Thus,whichsetofbehavioursariseiscruciallydependentontheparticipants’orientationtothe classroomandtotheirmotivesforperforminganactivity.
Twoquestionsarise.Thefirstconcernswhattheparticipantsinataskneedtodotoensure thattheinteractionstheyengageinmanifesttheprocessesdescribedincolumnBinFigure3. Implicitinthisquestionisanacknowledgementoftheimportanceoftheseprocessesfortask- basedinstruction.Thesecondquestion,however,challengesthisassumptionbyaskingwhether infacttheseprocessesarecriterialoftask-basedpedagogyandwhether,minimally,theyneedto becomplementedbyprocessesfromcolumnA.
A B
Traditional form-focussed pedagogy Task-based pedagogy Rigid discourse structure consisting of IRF
(initiate-respond-feedback) exchanges
Loose discourse structure consisting of adjacencypairs
Teachercontrolstopicdevelopment Studentsabletocontroltopicdevelopment Turn-takingisregulatedbytheteacher. Turn-takingisregulatedbythesamerulesthat
govern everyday conversation(i.e.speakers canselfselect).
Display questions(i. e. questions that the questioneralreadyknowstheanswer)
Useofreferentialquestions(i.e.questionsthat thequestionerdoesnotknowtheanswerto) Studentsareplacedinarespondingroleand
consequently perform a limited range of languagefunctions.
Students function in both initiating and respondingrolesandthusperformawiderange oflanguagefunctions(e.g.askingandgiving information, agreeing and disagreeing, instructing).
Littleneedoropportunitytonegotiatemeaning. Opportunities to negotiate meaning when communicationproblemsarise
Scaffolding directed primarily at enabling studentstoproducecorrectsentences.
Scaffolding directed primarily at enabling studentstosaywhattheywanttosay.
Form-focussed feedback(i. e. the teacher responds implicitly or explicitly to the correctnessofstudents’utterances)
Content-focussed feedback(i.e.theteacher responds to the message content of the students’utterances).
Echoing(i. e. the teacher repeats what a studenthassaidforthebenefitofthewhole class)
Repetition(i. e. a student elects to repeat somethinganotherstudentortheteacherhas s a i d a s p r i v a t e s p e e c h o r t o e s t a b l i s h intersubjectivity).
Figure3:Stereotypicalclassroomprocessesintraditionalform-focussedpedagogyand task-basedpedagogy
Ithasoftenbeenpointedout(see,forexample,Gremmoetal1978;Kasper1986;Nunan 1987)thattheprocessesdescribedincolumnBareararityeveninclassroomswheretheteacher claimstobeteachingcommunicatively.Themainreasonforthisliesinthedifficultyteachers andstudentshaveinachievingtherequiredorientation.AsGoffman(1981)haspointedout, classroomsaregovernedbyan‘educationalimperative’whichdictatesthekindofdiscoursethat arises.Itisforthisreasonthatteachersandstudentsfinditdifficulttoconsistentlyorientto language as a tool and to adopt the role of language users when they both know that the raison-d’etrefortheirbeingtogetheristoteachandlearnthelanguage.Ineffect,task-based teachingcallsfortheclassroomparticipantstoforgetwheretheyareandwhytheyarethereand toactinthebeliefthattheycanlearnthelanguageindirectlythroughcommunicatinginitrather thandirectlythroughstudyingit.Thisisaskingalotofthem,especiallyifthesocialpractices theparticipantsbringtotheclassroombelongtoapedagogyoftransmissionratherthanof interpretation(Barnes1976).Itisprobablyeasiertoachievewhenstudentsareinteracting amongthemselves,withouttheteacherbeingpresent,asthegreatersymmetryofsocialroles this affords leads naturally to the kinds of risk-taking behaviour required of a task-based pedagogy(Pica1987).Thisisonereasonwhypairandgroupworkareseenascentraltotask- basedteaching.
However,evenwhentheparticipantsinataskareorientedtotreatlanguageasatoolandto function as language users, the text of the task may disappoint, manifesting few of the characteristics facilitative of acquisition. Seedhouse(1999)has pointed out that the characteristicsoftask-basedinteractiondonotalwaysmatchthosedescribedinFigure3.He illustrateshowinsometaskstheturn-takingsystemisconspicuouslyconstrained,thereisa tendencyforstudentstorelyontopic-commentconstructionswhereverbalelementsareomitted
(afeaturealsonotedinpidgins)andtoproducehighlyindexicalisedutterances.Anevengreater limitation in task-based interaction, according to Seedhouse, is the minimalization that characterizessometask-basedinteractions.Thisisillustratedintheextractbelowwherethe studentswererequiredtocompleteandlabelageometricfigure:
L1:What? L2:Stop. L3:Dot? L4:Dot? L5:Point? L6:Dot?
LL:Point,point,yeh.
L1:Point? L5:Smallpoint. L3:Dot
(FromLynch1989,p.124;citedinSeedhouse1999).
Herealltheutterancesbutoneconsistofasingleword.Clearly,suchinteractionsdonot helpthe‘stretch’learners’interlanguages,oneofthestatedgoalsoftask-basedpedagogy(Nunan 1989).Seedhousesuggeststhatsuchlimitedinteractionsarisebecause‘learnersappeartobeso concentratedoncompletingthetaskthatlinguisticformsaretreatedasavehicleofminor importance’(p.154).Inotherwords,theverynatureofatask(i.e.thefactitisdirectedat accomplishingaspecifiedoutcome)mayresultinarestrictedvarietyofcommunication.
Itseemstome,though,thatSeedhouseoverstatesthislimitationoftasks.First,itispossible toarguethattherestrictednatureofthetalkshownintheextractaboveiswellsuitedtothe students’purpose. Second, the nature of the interaction depends crucially on the design characteristics of tasks and procedures for implementing them. Thus, richer varieties of communicationcharacterizedbymorecomplexlanguageuse,areachievableif,forexample, studentsareaskedtoperformopentaskswithdivergentgoalsandaregiventheopportunityto plantheirperformancebeforehand.Nevertheless,Seedhouse’scritiqueneedstobeaddressed. Clearly,teachersneedtomonitortheirstudents’performanceofataskcarefully,examiningto whatextenttheprocessesdescribedinFigure3ariseand,crucially,whethertheinteractions manifesttheminimalizedandpidgin-likeusesoflanguageSeedhouseseesasendemic.The informationobtainedfromsuchmonitoringcanbeusedtoinformdecisionsaboutwhattasksand procedurestouseinsubsequenttasks.Inthisway,teacherscanbuildupafundofexperienceof thetaskcharacteristicsandmethodsofimplementationthatwillensurethekindsofinteractions hypothesizedtopromoteacquisition.Thus,thesolutiontotheproblemSeedhouseidentifieslies notinattemptingtomanipulateprocessoptionsdirectly,whichmaywellbeimpossiblewithout imperillingthe‘taskness’ofthetask,butthroughcarefulselectionfromthepre-taskoptionsand theperformanceoptionsdescribedabove.
Where Seedhouse questions whether the kinds of behaviours shown in Figure 3 are achievableintask-basedteaching,othershavechallengedwhethertheyconstituteappropriate goalsforinteractioninaclassroom.Cullen(1998),drawingonBreenandCandlin(1980),has pointedoutthattheclassroomcontextconstitutesacommunicativeenvironmentinitsownright thatisdistinctfromthecommunicativecontextsoftheworldoutsideandonthesegroundshas challengedthebasisforassessingthecommunicativenessofclassroomdiscourse.Ineffect,then, Cullendisputestheassumptionthatunderliestask-baskpedagogy̶thatclassroomsneedto
replicatethekindofcommunicativebehaviourfoundoutsidetheclassroom.Heillustrateshow
‘whatappearstobenon-communicativeteachertalkisnotnecessarilysointheclassroom context’(p.183)withanextractfromanEnglishlessoninEgypt.Thisinteractionisteacher-led, is full of display questions, includes feedback that is form-focussed and contains a lot of echoing̶allprocessesassociatedwithatraditionalform - focussedpedagogy.However,Cullen arguesthatinthecontextoftheclassroom,theinteractioncanbeconsidered‘communicative’in thattheentiresequencemanifestsafocusonmessagecontent,theteacher’squestionsare carefullystructured,thefeedbackisclearandtheuseofechoingservestoensurethatthe students’attentionisnotlost.Heclaimsthatthediscourseispedagogicallyeffectivebecausethe teacherhassuccessfullycombinedtheroleof‘instructor’and‘interlocutor’.Arguably,thisis whatatask-basedpedagogyneedstostrivefor.Howmightitbeachieved?
One way is by incorporating a focus on form into the performance of the task. Ellis, BasturkmenandLoewen(2001)reportthiscanbeachievedineitherrespondingfocus-on-form episodes,whereoneoftheparticipants,usuallytheteacher,respondstoastudentutterance containinganerror,orininitiatingepisodes,whereeithertheteacherorastudentelectstotake timeoutfromtheexchangeofmessagecontenttoattendbrieflytoform,usuallybymeansofa directqueryaboutaspecificform.Suchattentiontoformdiffersfromthatarisinginlessonsof thetraditional,focus-on-formskindbecause,for,asWilberg(1987)notes,‘thecontentisdictated bythestudent,theformonlybytheteacher’(p.27).Italsodiffersinanotherway.AsPrabhu
(1987)pointsout,correctionduringataskis‘incidental’ratherthan‘systematic’innature.In incidentalcorrection,only‘tokens’areaddressed(i.e.thereisnoattempttogeneralizethetype oferror),itisseenbytheparticipantsas‘apartofgettingonwiththeactivityinhand,notasa separateobjective’(p.63)and,crucially,itistransitory.Prabhuexcludespreventiveorpre- emptiveattentiontoformbut,asEllis,BasturkmenandLoewen’sstudyshows,thistoocanbe
‘incidental’.
Teacherscanemploybothimplicitandexplicittechniquestoachievethisfocusonform. Thesetechniquescanbeusedwhensomekindofcommunicationproblemarises(asoccursin thenegotiationofmeaning)ortheycanbeusedwhentheteacherchoosestoabandonhis/her roleasalanguageusermomentarilyinordertofunctionasaninstructor(i.e.tonegotiateform ratherthanmeaning).Teacherscanplayaverydirectrolebyinitiatingthisnegotiationbut,as Lynch(1997)illustrates,theycanalsointervenetosupportaprocessthatstudentshavestarted forthemselves,atechniquethathedescribesas‘nudging’thelearnerstowardsasolutionand viewsfavourably.Teacherscanalsoalloworevenencouragestudentstousethesametechniques themselves̶forexample,byacceptingandrespondingtostudents’queriesaboutform.
Figure 4 describes some of the techniques that can be used by the task participants. Evidencefromresearch(Ellis,BasturkmenandLoewen2001;LysterandRanta1997)indicates thattheuseofthesetechniques,evenwhenquitefrequent,neednotdetractfromtheprimary focusonmessage,whichisthedefiningcharacteristicofatask.Thus,theyserveasimportant processoptionsforreconcilingtherolesof‘instructor/learner’ontheonehandand‘interlocutor/ languageuser’ontheother.Furthermore,theypotentiallyenhancetheacquisitionalvalueofa taskbyinducingnoticingoflinguisticformsthatlieoutsideorattheedgesofstudents’current interlanguages.
Finally,wecanturntosocioculturaltheoryforinsightsastothekindsofprocessesthat characterizeasuccessfultask-performance.Thistheorystressestheneedforparticipantsto constructan‘activity’thatismeaningfultothemoutofthe‘task’.Itemphasisestheimportance oftheparticipantsachievingintersubjectivity.Inthisrespect,theL1canplayausefulroleasit enablesparticipantstoestablishthegoalsfortheactivityandtheproceduresforaccomplishing it.Thussocioculturaltheorycontradictstheadviceoftengiventoteachers,namelythatstudents shouldstrivetocompletethetaskentirelyintheL2.Mostimportantly,socioculturaltheory showshowthe‘scaffolding’thatanexpertcanaffordanoviceorthatnovicesconstructjointly amongthemselvescanresultintheproductionofnewlinguisticfeatures.Thispointstothe importanceofthetaskparticipantsworkingcollaboratively,showingsensitivitytotheneedsof
TypeofTechnique Interactionaldevice Description
Implicit 1.Requestforclarification Ataskparticipantseeksclarificationof somethinganotherparticipanthassaid, thus providing an opportunity for the firstparticipanttoreformulate.
2.Recast Ataskparticipantrephrasespartorthe wholeofanotherparticipant’sutterance. Explicit 1.Explicitcorrection Ataskparticipantdrawsexplicitattention
toanotherparticipant’sdeviantuseofa linguisticform.(e.g.‘Notxbuty.’) 2.Metalingualcomment/question Ataskparticipantusesmetalanguageto
drawattentiontoanotherparticipant’s deviantuseofalinguisticform(e.g.‘Past tensenotpresenttense.’)
3.Query Ataskparticipantasksaquestionabout aspecificlinguisticformthathasarisen inperformingthetask(e.g.‘Whyis‘can’ usedhere?’).
4.Advise Ataskparticipant(usuallytheteacher) advises or warns about the use of a specificlinguisticform(e.g.‘Remember youneedtousepasttense’).
Figure4:Implicitandexplicittechniquesforfocussingonformduringatask
theirinterlocutors,andbeingpreparedtoadapttheircontributionstotheseneeds.Through
‘instructional conversations’teachers can help students to construct zones of proximal developmentthatwillenablethemtoperformnewlinguisticfeatures.Insuchconversations, teacherscommunicatewithstudentsaspartnersbutshapethediscoursetowardsapedagogical goal;inCullen’stermstheycombinetherolesof‘instructor’andinterlocutor’.
Tosumup,itisclearthatprocessoptionscannotbeprescribed.Nevertheless,itispossible toidentify,inbroadterms,thekindsofprocessesthattheparticipantsinataskperformance needtostrivefor.Theseare:
1.Discoursethatisessentially‘conversational’innature(i.e.asdescribedincolumnBof Figure3).Suchdiscoursecaninclude‘instructionalconversations’.
2.Discoursethatencouragestheexplicitformulationofmessages. 3.Opportunitiesforstudentstotakelinguisticrisks.
4.Occasionswherethetaskparticipantsfocusimplicitlyand/orexplicitlyonspecificlinguistic forms.
5.Sharedgoalsforthetask(includingtheuseoftheL1toestablishthese). 6.Effectivescaffoldingoftheparticipants’effortstocommunicateintheL2.
Achievingtheseprocessesischallenging.Itdependsonhowtheparticipantsorientatetoa task and on their personal skills in navigating the roles of interlocutor/language user and instructor/learnerasthetaskisperformed.AsSkehan(1998)notes‘fine-tuningtaskswhilethey arerunningisnoteasy’(p.25).
Thepost-taskphase
Thepost-taskphaseaffordsanumberofoptions.Thesehavethreemajorpedagogicgoals;(1)to provideanopportunityforarepeatperformanceofthetask,(2)toencouragereflectiononhow thetaskwasperformed,and(3)toencourageattentiontoform,inparticulartothoseformsthat provedproblematictothelearnerswhentheyperformedthetask.
Repeatperformance
Researchhasshownthereisacaseforaskingstudentstorepeatatask(e.g.Bygate2001;Lynch andMaclean2000).Whenlearnersrepeatatasktheirproductionimprovesinanumberofways
(e.g.complexityincreases,propositionsareexpressedmoreclearly,andtheybecomemore fluent).Arepeatperformancecanbecarriedoutunderthesameconditionsasthefirst performance(i.e.insmallgroupsorindividually)ortheconditionscanbechanged.One interestingpossibilityexaminedbySkehanandFoster(1997)isthatofrequiringstudentsto
carryoutthesecondperformancepublicly.Astheirstudyexaminedthe‘threat’ofsucha requirementonlearners’initialperformanceofthetask,ittechnicallyconstitutedaduring-task option. However, if students are not told to repeat the task publicly until after they have completedthefirstperformance,itbecomesapost-taskoption.Therehasbeennoresearch comparingthelearnerproductionthatresultsfromasecondperformancecarriedoutunder
‘private’conditions,asintheinitialperformance,andpublicly.Clearly,performingataskinfront oftheclassincreasesthecommunicativestress(Candlin1987)placedonthelearnerandthus canbepredictedtoleadtoareductioninfluencyandcomplexity.However,itisnotwithout valueifstudentsneedexperienceinusingEnglishinfrontofanaudience,as,forexample,might be the case with foreign academics training to give oral presentations in the L2. Public performanceislikelytoencouragetheuseofamoreformalstyleandthusmaypushlearnersto usethegrammaticalisedresourcesassociatedwiththisstyle(Givon1979).
Reflectingonthetask
Willis(1996)recommendsaskingstudentstopresentareportonhowtheydidthetaskandon whattheydecidedordiscovered.Sheconsidersthis‘thenaturalconclusionofthetaskcycle’(p. 58).Theteacher’sroleistoactasachairpersonandtoencouragethestudents.Thereportscan beoralorwritten.Willis’examplesmakeitclearthatthereportsshouldprimarilyfocuson summarisingtheoutcomeofthetask.However,itwouldalsobepossibletoaskstudentsto reflectonandevaluatetheirownperformanceofthetask.Forexample,theycouldbeinvitedto commentonwhichaspectoflanguageuse(fluency,complexityoraccuracy)theygaveprimacy toandwhy,howtheydealtwithcommunicationproblems,boththeirownandothers,andeven whatlanguagetheylearnedfromthetask(i.e.toreportwhatAllwright(1984)hascalled‘uptake’
[1]).Studentscouldalsobeinvitedtoconsiderhowtheymightimprovetheirperformanceof thetask.Encouragingstudentstoreflectontheirperformanceinthesewaysmaycontributeto thedevelopmentofthemetacognitivestrategiesofplanning,monitoringandevaluating,which areseenasimportantforlanguagelearning(O’MalleyandChamot1990).
Thereisalsoacaseforaskingstudentstoevaluatethetaskitself.Suchinformationwillhelp theteachertodecidewhethertousesimilartasksinthefutureorlookforadifferenttype.I havesuggestedthatstudent-basedevaluationsoftaskscanbecarriedoutquicklyandeffectively usingsimplequestionnaires(seeEllis1997bforanexample).
Focussingonforms
Oncethetaskiscompleted,studentscanbeinvitedtofocusonforms,withnodangerthatinso
doingtheywillsubvertthe‘taskness’ofthetask.Itisforthisreasonthatsomemethodologists recommendreservingattentiontoformtothepost-taskphaseofthelesson.Willis(1996),for example, sees the primary goal of the‘task component’as that of developing fluency and promotingtheuseofcommunicationstrategies.Thepost-taskstageisneededtocounterthe dangerthatstudentswilldevelopfluencyattheexpenseofaccuracy.Inpart,thisismetby askingstudentstoreportontheirperformanceofthetask,asdiscussedabove,butitcanalsobe achievedbyadirectfocusonforms.Itshouldbenoted,however,thatthisisthenottheposition Ihavetaken.Ihaveemphasisedthatafocusonformconstitutesavaluableduring-taskoption andthatitisquitecompatiblewithaprimaryfocusonmessagecontent,whichisthehallmarkof atask.Furthermore,insometasks(e.g.consciousnessraisingtasks)alinguisticfeatureismade thetopicofthetask.Attentiontoform,onewayoranother,canoccurinany(orindeedall)of thephasesofatask-basedlesson.Inthepre-taskandpost-taskphasesthefocuswillbeonforms whileintheduring-taskphaseitwillbeonform,toinvokeLong’s(1991)distinction.
Twoobviousmethodologicalquestionsariseregardingattentiontoforminthepost-task phase.Thefirstconcernswhichformsshouldbeattendedto.Theanswerisfairlyobvious; teachersshouldselectformsthatthestudentsusedincorrectlywhileperformingthetaskor
‘useful’or‘natural’forms(LoshckyandBleyVroman1993)thattheyfailedtouseatall.Inother words, teachers should seek to address errors or gaps in the students’L2 knowledge. Considerationalsoneedstobegiventohowmanysuchformsateachershouldseektoaddress. Shouldthefocusbeplacedonasingleformthatistreatedintensivelyoranumberofformsthat aretreatedextensively?Bothapproachesarewarrantedandarereflectedinthevariousoptions describedbelow.
Thesecondquestionconcernshowthetargetformsshouldbedealtwith.Thereisawhole rangeofoptionsavailabletotheteacher.Itshouldbenotedhoweverthatinmanycasesthe effectivenessoftheseoptionshasnotbeeninvestigated.
1.Reviewoflearnererrors
Whilethestudentsareperformingataskingroups,teacherscanmovefromgrouptogroupto listeninandnotedownsomeoftheconspicuouserrorsthestudentsmaketogetherwithactual examples.Inthepost-taskphase,theteachercanaddresstheseerrorswiththewholeclass.A sentenceillustratingtheerrorcanbewrittenontheboard,studentscanbeinvitedtocorrectit, thecorrectedversioniswrittenup,andabriefexplanationprovided.Lynch(2001)offersan interestingwayofconductingapost-taskanalysis,whichhecalls‘proof-listening’.Thisinvolves threecyclesbasedonrepeatedplayingofarecordingofthetask.First,thestudentswhodidthe
taskreviewandedittheirownperformance.Second,therecordingisreplayedandotherstudents areinvitedtocomment,correctoraskquestions.Finally,theteachercommentsonanypoints thathavebeenmissed.
2.Consciousness-raisingtasks
CR-tasksconstitutetasksintheirownrightand,therefore,canbeusedasthemaintaskina lesson.Buttheycanalsobeusedasfollow-uptaskstodirectstudentstoattendexplicitlytoa specificformthattheyusedincorrectlyorfailedtouseatallinthemaintask.WillisandWillis
(1996)andEllis(1997a)offerdescriptionsofthevariousoptionsthatareavailableforthedesign andimplementationofCRtasks.Whenusedasfollow-uptasks,CRtaskscanprofitablytake theirdatafromrecordingsofthestudents’performanceofthetask.Forexample,studentsmight bepresentedwithanumberoftheirownutterancesallillustratingthesameerrorandaskedto identifytheerror,correctthesentencesandworkoutanexplanation.
3.Productionpracticeactivities
AnalternativeoradditiontoCRtasksistoprovidemoretraditionalpracticeofselectedforms. Traditionalexercisetypesincluderepetition,substitution,gappedsentences,jumbledsentences, transformationdrills,anddialogues.Willis(1996;pp.110)offersanumberofmorenovelideas. Thevalueofsuchproductionpracticeactivitieshasbeencalledintoquestion(see,forexample, VanPatten 1996)onthegroundsthattheyhavenodirecteffectonlearners’interlanguage systems.However,theymayhelplearnerstoautomatizeformsthattheyhavebeguntouseon theirownaccordbuthavenotyetgainedfullcontrolover.
4.Noticingactivities
Anumberofsuggestionshavebeenmadefordevelopingnoticingactivitiesasafollow-uptoa taskperformance.Fotos(1993)useddictationexercisesthathadbeenenrichedwiththetarget structuresthatstudentshadtackledinitiallyinCRtaskstoexaminewhetherthesubjectsinher studysubsequentlyattendedtothestructures.Shefoundthattheydidsoquiteconsistently. Lynch(2001)recommendsgettingstudentstomaketranscriptsofanextract(90–120seconds) fromtheirtaskperformanceasamethodforinducingnoticing.Aftertranscribing,theyare required to make any editing changes they wish. The teacher then takes away the word- processedtranscriptsandreformulatesthem.Thenextdaythestudentsareaskedtocompare theirowneditedtranscriptwiththeteacher’sreformulatedversion.Inastudythatinvestigated thisprocedure,Lynchfoundthatstudentscooperatedeffectivelyintranscribing,madeanumber
ofchanges(mostofwhichresultedinaccuratecorrectionsoflinguisticforms),andengagedin bothself-andother-correction.Lynchalsoanalysedthetypesofchangesthestudentsmade, noting that the majority involved grammatical corrections,‘editing’slips(i.e.removalof redundancies,literalrepetitionsanddysfluencies)and‘reformulation’(i.e.changesdirectedat morepreciseexpressions).Finally,Lynchcommentsthattherewasplentyleftfortheteacherto doafterthestudentshadmadetheirchanges.
Usingtheframeworkfordesigningalesson
Itshouldbenotedthatwhatconstitutesthemainactivityofalessonislargelyamatterof perceptionandtherefore,tosomeextentatleast,arbitrary.Forexample,Prabhu(1987)talksof a‘pre-task’anda‘task’.Theformeriscarriedoutbetweentheteacherandthewholeclass.The latterisperformedbythestudentsworkingindividually.But,suchasequenceofactivitiescould easilybedescribedintermsof‘task’and‘post-task’.Indeed,Prabhu’s‘pre-task’involvesthetype ofactivitythatmosttask-basedmethodologistswouldconsidertobelongtotheduring-task phaseofalesson.Similarly,asequenceofactivitiesconsistingof‘task’and‘post-task’wherethe latterinvolvesthekindoftranscribingactivityadvocatedbyLynchcouldalsobedescribedin termsof‘pre-task’and‘task’,ifthetranscribingactivityisviewedasthemainactivity.
However,thiscaveatdoesnotdetractfromtheusefulnessofthedesignframeworkdescribed aboveasabasisforplanningtask-basedlessons.Teachersneedtodecidefirstonthebasic formatofthelesson.Minimally,itwillconsistoftheduring-taskphasebutitcanalsoinclude eitherorbothofapre-taskandpost-taskphase.Oncethebasicstructureofthelessonhasbeen decided,thespecificoption(s)tobeincludedineachphaseofthelessoncanbeconsidered.The descriptionoftheprocessoptionsforimplementingtheduring-taskphaseofthelessonalso providesaguideforthenavigationoftheactualtaskandfortheteacher’songoingmonitoringof thetaskperformance.
Conclusion
Theoverallpurposeoftask-basedmethodologyistocreateopportunitiesforlanguagelearning andskill-developmentthroughcollaborativeknowledge-building.Thefollowingprinciplescanbe usedtoguidetheselectionofoptionsfordesigninglessons:
Principle1:Ensureanappropriateleveloftaskdifficulty.
Ensuringthatataskispitchedatanappropriatelevelofdifficultyisnotjustamatterofcourse design.Teacherscanadjustthedifficultyofataskmethodologically(e.g.byincorporatingapre-
taskphaseintothelesson).Teacherscanalsoensurethatstudentspossessthenecessary strategiestoengageintask-basedinteraction.
Principle2:Establishcleargoalsforeachtask-basedlesson
AsSkehan(1998)hasmadeclear,itisnotsufficienttoengagelearnerswithtasksonthebasis thattheywilldeveloptheirinterlanguagessimplyasaresultofusingtheL2.Methodological options(e.g.strategicvs.on-lineplanning)canbeselectedtohelpprioritisedifferentaspectsof languageuse(e.g.fluencyvs.accuracy).
Principle3:Developanappropriateorientationtoperformingthetaskinthestudents Studentsneedtobemadeawareofwhytheyarebeingaskedtoperformtasks.Theyneedto treatthemseriouslynotjustas‘fun’.Inthisrespectpost-taskoptionsmayplayacrucialroleas theydemonstratetothestudentsthattaskshaveaclearroletoplayindevelopingtheirL2 proficiencyandtheirabilitytomonitortheirownprogress.
Principle4:Ensurethatstudentsadoptanactiveroleintask-basedlessons.
Oneofthemajorgoalsoftask-basedteachingistoprovidelearnerswithanopportunityto participatefullybyplayinganinitiatingaswellasarespondingroleinclassroomdiscourse.A keyelementofbeing‘active’isnegotiatingmeaningwhencommunicativeproblemsarise.
Principle5:Encouragestudentstotakerisks
Whenstudentsperformtaskstheyneedto‘stretch’theirinterlanguageresources.Thisrequires studentsarepreparedtoexperimentwithlanguage.Methodologicalchoicesthatencouragethe useofprivatespeechwhenperformingatask,thatcreateopportunitiesfor‘pushedoutput’and thathelptocreateanappropriatelevelofchallengeinanaffectiveclimatethatissupportingof risk-takingwillassistthis.
Principle6:Ensurethatstudentsareprimarilyfocussedonmeaningwhentheyperforma task
Themainpurposeofataskistoprovideacontextforprocessinglanguagecommunicatively(i.e. bytreatinglanguageasatoolnotasanobject).Thus,whenstudentsperformatasktheymust beprimarilyconcernedwithachievinganoutcome,notwithdisplayinglanguage.Thiscanonly beachievediflearnersaremotivatedtodothetask.Onewayinwhichthiscanbeachievedisby varyingtask-basedlessonsintermsofdesignoptions.
Principle7:Provideopportunitiesforfocussingonform
BothWillisandSkehanemphasizetheneedtoattendtoforminatask-basedlesson.Inthis chapter,variousoptionsatthepre-task,during-taskandpost-taskphasesofalessonhavebeen proposedforachievingsuchafocus.Inparticular,ithasbeenemphasizedthatattentiontoform isbothpossibleandbeneficialintheduring-taskphaseandneednotconflictwithPrinciple6.