Instituto Iberoamericano de
INNOVACIÓN PEDAGÓGICA MÓDULO: TASK BASED LEARNING
"Transforma tu visión en realidad
TASK BASED LEARNING
Learning by doing
What is TBL? How often do we as teachers ask our students to do something in class which they would do in everyday life using their own language? Probably not often enough. If we can make language in the classroom meaningful therefore memorable, students can process language which is being learned or recycled more naturally. Task-based learning offers the student an opportunity to do exactly this. The primary focus of classroom activity is the task and language is the instrument which the students use to complete it . The task is an activity in which students use language to achieve a specific outcome.
The activity reflects real life and learners focus on meaning, they are free to use any language they want. Playing a game, solving a problem or sharing information or experiences, can all be considered as relevant and authentic tasks. In TBL an activity in which students are given a list of words to use cannot be considered as a genuine task. Nor can a normal role play if it does not contain a problem-solving element or where students are not given a goal to reach. In many role plays students simply act out their restricted role. For instance, a role play where students have to act out roles as company directors but must come to an agreement or find the right solution within the given time limit can be considered a genuine task in TBL.
in the task-based lessons included below our aim is to create a need to learn and use language. The tasks will generate their own language and create an opportunity for language acquisition (Krashen). If we can take the focus away from form and structures we can develop our students’ ability to do things in English.
That is not to say that there will be no attention paid to accuracy, work on language is included in each task and feedback and language focus have their places in the lesson plans. We feel that teachers have a responsibility to enrich their students’ language when they see it is necessary but students should be given the opportunity to use English in the classroom as they use their own languages in everyday life.
WHAT IS A TASK? Before defining the notion of a pedagogic task in more theoretical terms, let me give you an example of a pedagogic task. I live in a small town north of London. So, I take the train to London to get to the university. I arrive at the train station called St. Pancras International.
There are usually a lot of tourists at the station and they often approach me with questions, like how to get to the British Museum or the British Library which are both close to the station, and actually the UCL IoE, where Amos, Myrrh, and I work. An example for a pedagogic task would be, if a second language learner were asked to give directions from St. Pancras International Train Station, To the British Museum.
Why would this activity constitute a pedagogic task?
• First pedagogic tasks are activities where meaning is primary. In other words, tasks are different from traditional language learning activities, which often involve the contextualized language used and are exclusively focused on a particular aspect of language. For example, grammar or vocabulary. • Clearly in the map task, the language learner's primary focus is on conveying meaning, as they need to explain the directions to the tourists. The second characteristic of tasks that Skehan mentions is that there is some communicative problem to solve • . In the case of the map task there's a clear information gap. One of the language user knows the directions to where is the British Museum. There is the other does not. The third task criteria says, that there is some sort of relationship with real world activities. In other words, tasks are similar to activities that people do in real life settings.
Finally, a fourth defining characteristic of tasks has to do with how it's assessed. Tasks are assessed in terms of the non-linguistic outcomes of the task. So, you're not only interested in the quality of language used during task performance, but also whether the actual communicative purpose of the task has been met. To continue the example of the map task, it's possible to give directions that are perfectly accurate in terms of language use, but send a listener to a wrong part of the town. In this situation, the communicative outcome of the task would not be met. * Note task based learning may involve any of the four skills, speaking, listening, writing, and reading. It's a misconception that tasks only refer to oral activities or activities that rely on the skill of speaking.
WHY THIS ACTIVITY WOULD NOT BE TBL Although this activity elicits language use that may occur in real life, it could not be categorized as a task, because all that learners need to do here is to find suitable language to convey the meaning, which is already given as part of the task input. Also, the activity doesn't lead to a non-realistic outcome. The only outcome is the language that's produced during task performance. Of course this is not to say that such cute role-play activities are not useful for language practice. They just don't constitute examples of tasks. Now have a quick look at this activity. This activity does not seem to meet any of the task criteria we highlighted. The focus is clearly on grammar rather than meaning. The aim of the activity is to practice the use of "there is" and "there are". There is no communicative problem to solve. The students have exactly the same information available. So, there is no information or opinion gap involved. Also the language is unlikely to be used in dialogues, like this in real life. .Finally, the task has no outcome other than the language produced.
MORE EXAMPLES
TBL MATERIALS
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