What is the impact of this research on

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• What is the impact of this research on
• teaching methodology?

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Communicative Language Teaching

• aimed to develop learners ability to use
  language in real communication
• Interactional function
• Transactional function
• It draws on
• a functional model of language (Hallidays)
• theory of communicative competence (Hymes)

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Weak and strong version of CLT

• Weak version based on a linguistic content
  (grammar or notions and function)
• Teaching follows the methodological procedure
  PPP (Gower and Walters, 1983)
• But this view of language learning was
  criticized (theoretically and practically)

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Distinction between syllabus and methodology in
this version

• Syllabus may be communicative (list of notions
  and functions)
• Methodology is traditional and non-communicative
  PPP

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Strong version of CLT TBL

• Tasks provide the basis for an entire language
  curriculum
• Task-based approach blurs the traditional
  distinction between syllabus and methodology

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Is CLT the same as TBL?

• CLT a broad, philosophical approach to the
  language curriculum that draws on theory and
  research in linguistics, anthropology, psychology
  and sociology
• TBL a realization of this philosophy at the
  levels of syllabus design and methodology.
• Other realizations of CLT content-based
  instruction, problem-based learning, etc.

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Early 1980s switch to Task-based Instruction

• Prabhu Bangalore Project in India (1979)
• Most language learners taught by methods
  emphasizing mastery of grammar do not achieve a
  good level of competency
• Language is a meaning system
• Learners want to mean while trying to
  communicate, their language develops

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Based on theory of learning

• TBL is based on a theory of language learning
  rather than a theory of language structure
• It proposes the use of tasks as a central
  component in the language classroom they provide
  better contexts for activating learner
  acquisition processes

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Rationale for task-based teaching

• The focus of instruction is on process rather
  than on product
• Learners learn by interacting communicatively
  purposefully
• Initially,focus is on fluency at the expense of
  accuracy (arguments against an explicit focus on
  grammar)
• However, it was found that for achieving the
  level of accuracy some focus on grammar was
  needed (Nunan 1989)

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Second Language Acquisition Research

• Practice makes perfect does not always apply to
  learning grammar.
• Students often fail to use it correctly when
  expressing themselves freely. This temporary
  mastery seems to happen when they are paying
  conscious attention to form, but not when they
  are trying to communicate and paying attention to
  meaning.
• 
  Jane Willis

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• Knowledge of grammatical rules was no guarantee
  of being able to use those rules for
  communication. Learners who were able to identify
  instances of rule violation, and who could even
  state the rule, frequently violated the rules
  when using language for communication.
• David Nunan
  (1999)

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Traditional versus Task-based course planning

• Traditional Begin by breaking down the
  phonological, lexical and grammatical systems
  into their individual components, and teach these
  separately (synthetic approach).
• Task-based Begin by listing the learning targets
  and objectives of learners. Present learners with
  holistic chunks of language in context and ask
  them to break them down into their parts
  (analytical approach).

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What is a task?

• Pedagogical task classroom work that involves
  learners in comprehending, manipulating,
  producing in the TL while their attention is on
  using their grammatical knowledge in order to
  express meaning.
• Nunan, 2004

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Tasks vs. exercises

• Tasks are activities that call for primarily
  meaning-focused language use.
• In contrast, exercises are activities that call
  for primarily form-focused language use.
• However, we need to recognize that the overall
  purpose of tasks is the same as exercises
  learning a language the difference lying in the
  means by which this purpose is achieved (Ellis
  2003 3)

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Tasks vs. grammar exercises

• Tasks differ from grammatical exercises learners
  are free to use a range of language structures to
  achieve the task the forms are not specified in
  advance.
• Willis and Willis, 2001

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Characteristics of tasks

• goal-directed activity
• involves a primary focus on meaning
• the participants choose the linguistic resources
  needed to complete the task.
• has a clearly defined outcome
• should have a non-linguistic outcome.
• success in the task is evaluated in terms of
  achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally
  bear some resemblance to real-life language use.

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Aim vs. outcome

• Outcome refers to what learners arrive at when
  they have completed the task, e.g., a story, a
  list of differences, etc.
• aim refers to the pedagogic purpose of the
  task to elicit meaning-focused language use.
• It is possible to achieve a successful outcome
  without achieving the aim of a task.

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Why Use Tasks?

• Tasks
• provide for natural learning in the language
  classroom.
• are primarily focused on meaning, but can also
  be used to teach form.
• are learner centered, call for a high degree of
  interaction, and are highly communicative.
• can be used with more traditional approaches.

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Tasks in the language classroom

• A task is used primarily to build communicative
  competency and fluency skills.
• A task can also enhance linguistic (grammar)
  skills, but this is not the main purpose of using
  a task.
• Teaching approaches based on linguistic structure
  can use tasks to support structural teaching.

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Parameters in Task Design

• Open vs. Closed Tasks
• Closed tasks have only one right answer or
  solution (eg. Spot the differences game)
• Open tasks include experience-sharing tasks
• SLA research favours closed tasks they generate
  more interaction and negotiation of meaning
  (Ellis, 2003)

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One Way vs. Two-Way tasks

• One way task Only one participant controls the
  flow of information (listening and arranging a
  sequence of pictures)
• Two-way tasks interaction between two or more
  learners to achieve the task

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Focused vs. Unfocused tasks

• Unfocused task encourages the learner to use any
  language s/he wants
• A focused task is a consciousness-raising
  activity and focuses on samples of language to
  explore particular features of it (classify the
  uses of a verb -ing forms that appear in a
  reading text)

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Real-world target tasks vs. pedagogic tasks

• Real-world tasks tasks that simulate situations
  that can take place in the real world (e.g.
  booking an airticket)
• Pedagogic tasks a structured language learning
  task designed for classroom purposes

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The theoretical principles underlying task-based
learning

• The interaction-hypothesis perspective
• The output hypothesis perspective
• The cognitive perspective
• The socio-cultural perspective

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The Interaction hypothesis

• Negotiation of meaning provides opportunities for
  (a) provision of comprehensible input and (b)
  production of modified input
• Negotiation draws learner attention to linguistic
  form
• This attention to lgc form necessary for L2
  learning as it creates a favourable context for
  negotiation of meaning (Ellis 2000)

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The interaction hypothesis

• Noticing is very important.
• R. Schmidt what we learn has to be consciously
  noticed first.
• no difference between acquisition and learning.
  (Schmidt vs. Krashen)

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The output hypothesis

• Learner output must be considered as a sign
• of acquired knowledge (Krashen 1985)
• of learning at work (Izumi, 2002, Swain, 1998,
  2000).
• Output forces learners to move from a semantic
  analysis of the TL to a more syntactic analysis
• Learners notice a gap and stretch their
  interlanguage capacity in order to fill it
  pushed output

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The cognitive perspective

• Skehan (1998) distinguishes between three aspects
  of learner performance
• fluency
• accuracy
• complexity
• These can be influenced by involving learners in
  different types of production and comprehension
• fluency engagement in meaning-oriented tasks
• accuracy or complexity involvement in more
  form-focused tasks

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The socio-cultural perspective

• Learners collaborative construction of knowledge
  engages them in cognitive processes and L2
  learning (Lantolf, 1996)
• Dialogic interaction is necessary for language
  learning (Vygotsky, 1987)
• In collaborative dialogues learners are able to
  achieve what none of them was able to do
  individually (Swain 1997) scaffolding

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Tasks in Communicative Approach Language Teaching

• From an interactionist perspective, a task is a
  work plan that provides the opportunity for
  students to negotiate meaning (Long 1989)
• From a sociocultural perspective, a task is a
  framework for learning by problem solving in a
  social event (the Vygotskian model).
• From both perspectives, a task is the main
  framework for cooperative and collaborative
  learning.

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Seven types of task

• Listing
• Ordering Sorting (sequencing, ranking,
  classifying)
• Matching
• Comparing
• Problem-solving
• Sharing personal experiences
• Projects and creative tasks.

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A Framework for TBLT

• Real-world / target tasks

• Pedagogical tasks

Enabling skills
Rehearsal tasks
Activation tasks
Language exercises
Communicative activities
Nunan, D. 1999. Second Language Teaching and
Learning. Boston Heinle / Thomson Learning
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Examples

• Real world task
• Call the airline and reconfirm a reservation you
  have. Check other details, such as time of
  departure, and time you have to be at the
  airport.

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Examples

• Rehearsal task
• Write your resume and exchange it with another
  student. Study the positions available in
  advertisements in the newspaper and find a job
  that would be suitable for your partner.

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Examples

• Activation task
• Work with three other students. You are on a ship
  that is sinking. You have to swim to a nearby
  island. You have a waterproof container, but can
  only carry 20 kilos of items in it. Decide which
  of the following items you will take. (Remember,
  you cant take more than 20 kilos with you.)
• (cont)

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Examples

• Activation task (cont)

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Examples

• Enabling skills
• Teach vocabulary
• Comedies, horror films, action movies, romances,
  thrillers, dramas
• Teach structures
• What kind of movies do you like?
• I like_____________.
• Do you like__________?
• Yes, I do.
• No, I dont.

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Examples

• Language exercise
• Fill in the blanks with these words
• boring, romance, Annie McDowell, Chocolate and
  Roses
• _______ is a terrible actress. Her new movie
  is _______. Its a ______, but its also
  extremely ________.

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Examples

• Communicative activity
• Find someone who .