JALT Hokkaido 2006

1
JALT Hokkaido 2006

• Pedagogic tasks for university EFL classes
  design, implementation, and evaluation
• Michael J. Crawford, Hokkaido University of
• Education, Hakodate Campus

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Conceptualizing false beginners

• Declarative (DEC) knowledge vs. Procedural (PRO)
  knowledge (Anderson, 1983)
• Applying Andersons model to language teaching
  (Johnson, 1996)
• Grammar translation DEC(PRO)
• Audiolingualism DECPRODEC
• Communicative language teaching DECPRO
• Task-based language teaching (strong form) PRO
• Teaching false beginners in Japan DECPRO-PRO

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DECPRO vs. DECPRO-PRO

• DECPRO
• Teach grammar pt. -gt Practice grammar pt.
  (PP_)
• Standard procedure at JHSs (and some SHSs) in
  Japan
• Also used occasionally at universities, BUT
• It wastes precious time
• It can be insulting to students
• It can restrict free expression and student
  creativity

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DECPRO vs. DECPRO-PRO

• DECPRO-PRO
• Minimal grammar teaching, no grammar syllabus, no
  lexical syllabus
• Best option for university-level communication
  classes
• Maximizes time for language use
• Doesnt insult students
• Gives students freedom to draw on their
  repertoire of knowledge and also to be creative.
• Is flexible and easy to adapt to different
  student needs, levels, and preferences

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 1 Dispel the 6 years myth
• Step 2 Understand your students needs, levels,
  and preferences
• Step 3 Design tasks that meet your students
  needs, levels, and preferences
• Step 4 Implement the tasks and get feedback on
  them
• Step 5 Use feedback to evaluate tasks and modify
  as necessary
• Step 6 Repeat steps 2-5 as necessary

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 1 Dispel the 6 years myth.
• S ?gt T Ive studied English for 6 years, but I
  cant speak it!
• T ?gt S How long have you really studied
  English?
• Have Ss get out a calculator and add it all up
• Answer 1000 to 2000 hours
• 1000-2000 hours is quantitatively equivalent to
  studying abroad for about 4 to 8 months, but
  there are important qualitative differences

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 2 Understand your students needs, levels,
  and preferences.
• My context
• School Hokkaido University of Education,
  Hakodate Campus
• Class English Communication
• Students 56 students (15 English majors, 10
  kokusai rikai majors, plus other assorted
  majors)
• Needs Course is required for students who want
  to get a license to teach English. English
  teacher trainees need to develop both
  interactional and transactional listening and
  speaking skills.
• Levels Varies anywhere from about 430 to 500
  TOEFL (PBT)
• Preferences Uncertain

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 3 Design tasks that meet your students
  needs, levels, and preferences.
• What makes a task a task?
• 1. A task is a workplan.
• 2. A task involves a primary focus on meaning.
• 3. A task involves real-world processes of
  language use.
• 4. A task can involve all of the four language
  skills.
• 5. A task engages cognitive processes.
• 6. A task has a clearly defined communicative
  outcome.
• (Ellis, 2003, pp.9-10)

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 3 Design tasks that meet your students
  needs, levels, and preferences.
• Ellis (2003 p.21) framework for describing
  tasks
• Design feature Description
• Goal The general purpose of the task
• Input The verbal or non-verbal information
  supplied by the task, e.g. pictures a map
  written text
• Conditions The way in which information is
  presented, e.g. split vs. shared
  information, or the way in which it is to
  be used, e.g. converging vs. diverging
• Procedures The methodological procedures to be
  followed in performing the task, e.g. group
  vs. pair work planning vs. no planning
  time
• Predicted outcomes
• Product The product that results from
  completing the task, e.g. a completed
  table, etc.
• Process The linguistic and cognitive
  processes the task is hypothesized to
  generate

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 3 Design tasks that meet your students
  needs, levels, and preferences.
• Task 1 An in-class survey
• Task 2 4 / 3 / 2
• Task 3 Discussion circle
• Task 4 Alphabet speeches
• Task 5 Improving HUEH
• Task 6 Short speeches
• Task 7 Make your own task!
• Task 8 Fiction or non-fiction?
• Task 9 Me too!
• Task 10 Tonys Qs (small-group discussion)
• Task 11 Comparing N. American and Japanese
  universities
• Note Tasks can be downloaded in both Word and
  PDF formats from my homepage
  www.eltworkshop.org

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 1 An in-class survey (1strongly agree
  5strongly disagree) N51

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 1
• Positive
• Liked having freedom to choose own topic
• Good for practicing both writing and speaking
• Could speak with classmates whom I havent spoken
  to before
• Good for developing practical language skills
• Felt like I was improving my English
• Negative
• Purpose unclear
• Not enough time
• Too much time
• Hard to find people to ask questions to
• Dont know if own English is correct or not
• Only 3 questions is not enough to really
  understand partners opinions

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 2 4 / 3 / 2 (1strongly agree 5strongly
  disagree) N41

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 2
• Positive
• Heard some interesting stories
• Allowed me to think in English
• Was able to speak to new people
• Helped developed my ability to speak on the
  spot
• Good for improving communication ability
• Negative
• Not enough preparation time
• Too much time left over when telling story
• Didnt know how well my partner was understanding
  me
• Didnt know if my English was correct
• Wanted to know how much time had elapsed

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 3 Discussion circle (1strongly agree
  5strongly disagree) N32

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 3
• Positive
• Had good discussions and debates
• There were lots of responses and questions so it
  was fun
• Topics were personally relevant and easy to talk
  about
• Could use a lot of English
• Liked freedom to choose own topics
• Negative
• Should have set a time limit for discussions
• It was difficult to record the conversations,
  especially ohs and ahs, etc.
• Couldnt understand meaning of recording the
  conversations
• Recorder should be able to participate in the
  discussions

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 4 Alphabet speeches (1strongly agree
  5strongly disagree) N30

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 4
• Positive
• Spoke a lot, so it was fun
• Was able to express myself in English
• Good practice for speaking in English ad lib
• Was fun, like a game
• Negative
• Needed more time only got to the letter G
• Some people gave more talks than others
• Lack of balance in number of speeches given
• Would be a good idea to do a short presentation
  at the end

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 5 Improving HUEH (1strongly agree
  5strongly disagree) N13

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 5
• Positive
• Interesting to hear different opinions from
  classmates
• Important to be able to talk about serious issues
  in English
• Good for practicing speaking
• Negative
• The topic was too hard, even for discussion in
  Japanese
• The groups were too big
• It was hard to hear my partners
• We spoke a lot in Japanese in my group
• It was hard to think of solutions to the problems
  we identified

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 8 Fiction or non-fiction (1strongly agree
  5strongly disagree) N30

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 8
• Positive
• Good listening practice because I had to listen
  carefully to my partners to figure out if they
  were telling the truth or not
• It was a lot of fun
• I heard some interesting stories and learned some
  interesting things about my classmates
• Negative
• Topics should be pre-determined by the teacher
• I wasnt sure if a fictional story had to be ALL
  fiction, or just PART fiction
• Needed more thinking time before telling story

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 9 Me too! (1strongly agree 5strongly
  disagree) N44

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 9
• Positive
• Everyone listened carefully to each other
• It was fun, especially when other people said Me
  too!
• Allowed us to think of some good and interesting
  questions
• Negative
• The task is too simplistic
• Couldnt use English much in the task
• The questions people asked were too simple
• Ended up speaking in Japanese after questions
  were asked
• Too many Me too!s and not enough real
  conversation

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Task 11 Comparing N. American and Japanese
  universities
• (1strongly agree 5strongly
  disagree) N22

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Comments about Task 11
• Positive
• Good opportunity for communicating with people
  from outside Japan
• Was very fun
• I tried hard to communicate
• I learned a lot about other cultures and ways of
  thinking
• We spoke a lot of English in my group
• Negative
• It was too noisy
• The topic was too serious
• The exchange students spoke in Japanese
• Needed more time
• Wanted to talk with more than one exchange
  student

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 5 Use feedback to evaluate tasks and modify
  as necessary.
• Task 1 An in-class survey
• Have Ss submit their questions as homework so
  that I can check them. This will allow for longer
  discussions between students.
• Make sure Ss understand purpose of the task.
• Make the task a little more challenging?
• Task 2 4 / 3 / 2
• Give Ss more preparation time.
• If there is extra time, have the listeners ask
  questions.
• Have Ss rate each others stories?
• Task 3
• Set a time limit for discussion on any one topic.
• Make sure Ss understand the purpose of having a
  recorder.
• Eliminate recording of exclamations?

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 5 Use feedback to evaluate tasks and modify
  as necessary.
• Task 4 Alphabet speeches
• Instead of using dice to decide who will speak,
  use cards with Ss names or numbers
  (corresponding to specific students).
• Make sure students know that they dont have to
  get all the way through the alphabet.
• Task 5 Improving HUEH
• Rethink the whole task!
• Task 8 Fiction or non-fiction?
• Make it so that only part of story needs to be
  fiction. Listeners can try to guess which part
  isnt true
• Give Ss more preparation time?

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Applying DECPRO-PRO to university communication
classes

• Step 5 Use feedback to evaluate tasks and modify
  as necessary.
• Task 9 Me too!
• Needs major reworking.
• Task 11 Comparing N. American and Japanese
  universities
• Use two classrooms if necessary.
• Make it even clearer to exchange students that I
  want them to speak in English.
• Have exchange students rotate among groups?

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References

• Anderson, J. (1983). The architecture of
  cognition. Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University
  Press.
• Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning
  and teaching. Oxford Oxford University Press.
• Johnson, K. (1996). Language teaching and skill
  learning. Oxford Blackwell.