Task based language

TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING AND LEARNNING
WHAT IS THE TASK?
A piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward. Task is meant the hundreds and one things people do in everyday life, at work, at play and in between.
( David Nunan, 1990: 5)
An activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language( i.e. as a response). Tasks may or may not involve the production of language.
( Richard et al, 1986: 289)
A task is really a special form of technique. e.g. problem-solving task/ technique. In other cases, several techniques may comprise a task. e.g. a problem-solving task includes grammatical explanation, teacher initiated questions and a specific turn-taking procedure. However, tasks are usually “bigger” in their ultimate ends than Techniques.
TASK COMPONENTS
1. Content- the subject matter to be taught.
2. Materials- the things that learners can observe or manipulate.
3. Activities- the things the learners and teacher will be doing during the lesson.
4. Goals- the teacher’s general aim for the task
5. Students- their abilities, needs and interests are important.
6. Social communities- the class as a whole and its sense of “groupness”.
( Shavelson and Stern, 1981,citedby Nunan,1990)

According to David Nunan (1989), TASK includes the following elements;

1. input data- verbal or non-verbal.
2. an activity- derived from input & what students are to do in relation to input.
3. goal- implicitly or explicitly.
4. teacher roles
5. learner roles.
6. settings
TASK TYPES
Diagrams and formations
Drawing
Clock faces
Monthly calendar
Maps
School timetables
Programmes and itineraries
Train timetables
Age and year of birth- working out year of birth from age; relating individuals’ age/ year of birth to given age requirement (e.g. school enrolment)
WHY TASK-BASED LEARNING?
The use of different kinds of tasks in language teaching is said to make language teaching more communicative.. since it provides a purpose for a classroom activity which goes beyond the practice of language for its own sake.
(Richard et al, 1986: 289)
Task is assumed to refer to a workplans which have the overall purpose of facilitating language learning- from simple and brief exercise type, to more complex and lengthy activities such as group problem- solving or simulations and decision- making.
TASK- BASED LEARNING FRAMEWORK
1. Pre- task
2. Task cycle
3. Language focus
HINTS FOR TEACHER DESIGNING TASKS

Do they ultimately point learner beyond the forms of language alone to real- world contexts?
Do they specifically contribute to communicative goals?
Are their elements carefully designed and not simply haphazardly or idiosyncratically thrown together?
Are their objectives well specified so that you can at some later point accurately determine the success of one technique over another?
Do they engage learners in some form of genuine problem- solving activity?
Breen (1987) suggests that the task designer needs to address four questions:

What is the objectives of the tasks?

What is the content of the task?

How is the task to be carried out?

In what situation is the task to be carried out?
CONTENT- BASED TEACHING AND LEARNING

Content-centered education is the integration of content learning with language teaching aims. More specifically, it refers to the concurrent study of language and subject matter with the form and sequence of language presentation dictated by content material.
( Brinton, Snow and Wesche, 1989)
Content refers to the information or subject matter that we learn or communicate through language rather than language used to convey it
Content- based teaching is based on the following assumptions about language learning:
1. People learn a language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself.
2. Content- based teaching better reflects people’s needs for learning a second language.
3. Content provides a coherent framework that can be used to link and develop all the language skills.
why content- based learning?
In content-based classroom you can expect an increase in intrinsic motivation and empowerment. Learners are pointed beyond transient extrinsic factors, like grades, to their own competence and autonomy as intelligent individuals capable of actually doing something with their new language.
Learning through contents provides opportunities for the learner to use and recycle the new language as he reads, discusses, and writes about the topic.( see example by Brinton,2003,p. 200)
Content helps to hold the lesson and exercises together.