Van Den Branden

8/3/2019 Van Den Branden

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Task-based language education:Fromtheory to practice and back again

Kris Van den Branden

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

[email protected]


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TBLT on Google

Task: 275.000.000 hits Task-based: 1.320.000 hits

Task-based language: 607.000 hits

Task-based language teaching: 311.000

Task-based language education: 320.000


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Task as a crucial concept in

Theories of language learning SLA research

The theory and practice of language education

The assessment of language proficiency/skills

Real life


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Defining task

by task is meant the hundred and one thingspeople doin everyday life, at work, at play, andin between. Tasks are the things people will tell

you they do if you ask them and they are not

applied linguists (Long, 1985: 89)


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Target tasks and pedagogic tasks

Pedagogic tasks as increasingly complexapproximations of target tasks (Long, 1996;Long and Norris, 2000)

Example: Following street directions

Listen to fragments of elaborated descriptionswhile tracing them on a very simple 2-D map.

Virtual reality map task. Using video from the

target location and audio of the target discourse,complete a simulation of the target task.

(Long, 2007: 129)


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Tasks should result in a kind of language usethat resembles that in the outside world (Ellis,2003)

Work with three other students. You are on a

ship that is sinking. You have to swim to anearby 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 kiloswith you)


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Tasks should give rise to a number ofinteractional and cognitive processes, believedto enhance language learning

Interaction Hypothesis (Long, 1996: 451-452):

... negotiation for meaning, and especially negotiation

work that triggers interactional adjustments by the NS

or the more competent interlocutor, facilitates

acquisition because it connects input, internal learner

capacities, particularly selective attention, and output

in productive ways

---- Jigsaw tasks/Information gap tasks


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Output Hypothesis (Swain, 1985, 1995):production of L2 output --- collaborative speakingand writing tasks, group work/pair work

Cognitive psychology (e.g. DeKeyser, 2001;

Schmidt, 1998; Robinson, 2001; Skehan, 1998;Doughty and Williams, 1998): conscious noticingand analyzing L2 forms ----- input enhancement,

focus on form, error correction, explicit teaching


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Methodological principles for TBLT

1 Use tasks, not texts, as the unit of analysis2 Promote learning by doing

3 Elaborate input

4 Provide rich input

5 Encourage inductive learning6 Focus on form

7 Provide negative feedback

8 Respect learner syllabuses/develop-mental processes

9 Promote collaborative learning

10 Individualize instruction

(Doughty and Long, 2003)


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Two questions

1 To what extent can we expect these cleverlydesigned tasks to elicit the same kind ofinteractional work and cognitive processing inauthentic classrooms?

2 To what extent do these cleverly designedtasks really promote the students ability to use

the target language outside the classroom?


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Teachers working with tasks

Language teachers are active, thinking decision-makers who make instructional choices bydrawing on complex, practically-oriented,

personalized, and context-sensitive networks ofknowledge, thoughts and beliefs (Borg, 2003:

81)


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Putting principles to work

3 Elaborate input4 Provide rich input

Teachers reducing task complexity, avoiding to confront

learners with challenges, with things they havent fullyacquired yet

In task-supported teaching, tasks are seen not as a

means by which learners acquire new knowledge orrestructure their interlanguages but simply as a way bywhich learners can activate their existing knowledge ofthe L2 by developing fluency (Ellis, 2003: 30)


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2 Promote learning by doing8 Respect learner syllabuses/developmental

processes

9 Promote cooperative/collaborative learning

Teachers need to maintain control

An example: Radio Tika task (cf. Berben, Van denBranden & Van Gorp, 2007)


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Radio Tika

- Create a radio news bulletin, using Dutch(main medium of instruction) and otherlanguages

- 3 primary school teachers werevideotaped

- Grade 6, children aged 12, multilingual

classes- Result: three different activities


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L1? Topiccontrol?

Explicitteaching?

Freedomfor

students

Teacher 1 No +++ No +/-

Teacher 2 No ++ Yes +

Teacher 3 Yes + No +++

Radio Tika: 3 versions


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6 Focus on form7 Provide negative feedback

Poor integration of focus on form in meaningfulactivity

Inconsistent feedback and error correctionbehaviour


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The same task?

Teachers reconstruct a given task, based onTheir cognitions on language education

Their personal needs, skills, and teaching style

The context in which they operate

Their perceptions of their students

= Turning tasks into personal task intentions

(intended tasks)


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Task motivation (Drnyei, 2002)

Task motivation is influenced by:Learner characteristics

Features of the task

Learning environment

Learners task-related beliefs

Expectancy of successful task completion(expected task)

Personal goal setting (intended task)


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A process-oriented model of task motivation

Preactional stage- setting goals that are worthwhile to pursue

- perceiving the task as a reasonable challenge (goalcan be reached, gap can be bridged)

Actional stage:-maintaining task motivation through action-controlprocesses

Postactional stage:

- evaluating past experiences- determining future activities

(Drnyei, 2002)


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School effectiveness research

Teachers tailor their instructional practices to their perception of the

academic level of the group of students.

This refers to the concept ofdidacticfit: adjustment of curriculum,learning materials, method of instruction, effective learning time,

assessment, etc. to the ability level of the class (Dar & Resh, 1986,

1994). In most classes, the content and pace of teaching are geared to

the middle level of ability in that class. In lower classes, there is a

more limited academic focus, poor use of instructional time and areduced opportunity to learn ( De Fraine et al., 2002: 424)


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Overt and covert task activity

Underneath the actual verbal exchange lies aparticularly strong current of highly personalised non-verbal mental activity: task intentions and assessmentsinfluence task activity, and vice versa

Task intentions, expectations and actions are fed byprevious experiences and beliefs

One persons task perceptions and actions can have a

strong impact on interlocutors task perceptions and

actions, and on the earning potential of the task

The need for classroom-based, process-orientedresearch to explore these issues

Teachers crucial role in TBLT


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High-quality interaction

Interactional support Integrated in functional

tasks

In line with students

task intentions

Linked with students

current behaviour,needs and level

Assigning active role to

student and promotingactive thinking

Differentiated

Learning is

Situated

Goal-directed

Cumulative

Constructive

Cognitive

Individually different

(De Corte et al, 2003)


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Making interactional decisions

Teacher intuition estimating effect sizes:If learner(s) exhibit behaviour X, and my reaction

is Y, what will be the effect on:

- the process of task performance (estimate

based on analysis of ongoing process)- the product(s) coming out of task performance(based on comparison between task goals andcurrent product)

- language learning (based on knowledge ofcurriculum goals (target tasks) and knowledgeof how language learning comes about)


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Training teachers

Explicit teaching wont suffice

A need for intensive and sustained support

Communication and support networks

Providing teacher aids

Creating favourable conditions

Promoting and supporting teachers professional

development


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Teacher training

Task-based as well

Training in real operating conditions

Alernating action and reflection

Cf. Van den Branden, 2006


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Cycle of reflection (Korthagen, 1993)

Classroom experience

Reflection (detailed analysis)

Raising essential aspects of current andprevious classroom experiences toconsciousness

Searching for alternatives

Trying new ideas out in new classroom

experiences


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Different worlds?

Lack of empirical research

Task-based language assessment

Studies of SLA/FLA in naturalistic settings

Second language studies

Study abroad (foreign language students)


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Integrating the two worlds

Creating favourable conditions for real-world L2use in the classroom and for building self-confidence

Training communication strategies

Assignments with native speakers

Integrated language learning, e.g.:

Vocational training

School-based trainingThrough the use of multimedia


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Conclusions

If task-based teaching is to make the shift fromtheory to practice it will be necessary to go beyond

the psycholinguistic rationale () and to address the

contextual factors that ultimately determine what

materials and procedures teachers choose. (Ellis,2003: 337).

Towards a process-oriented approach to classroom-

based research and teacher training

Focus on people, on how they interact during task

performance, rather than on tasks alone


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References

Berben, M., Van den Branden, K., & Van Gorp, K. (2007). Well see what happens. Tasks on paper and tasks ina multilingual classroom. In K. Van den Branden, K. Van Gorp & M. Verhelst (Eds.), Tasks in Action. Task-based

language education from a classroom-based perspective(pp. 32-67). Cambridge: Cambridge ScholarsPublishing.

Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think,know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36, 81-109.

De Corte, E., Verschaffel, L., Entwhistle, N., & Van Merrinboer, J. (eds.) (2003). Powerful learningenvironments: Unravelling basic components and dimensions. Oxford: Pergamon.

De Fraine, B., J. Van Damme, & P. Onghena, (2002). Accountability of schools and teachers: what should betaken into account? In: European Educational Research Journal, 1. 403-428.

DeKeyser, R. (2001). Automaticity and automatization. In P. Robinson (ed.), Cognition and second languageinstruction(pp. 125-51). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Drnyei, Z. (2002). The motivational basis of language learning tasks. In P. Robinson (ed.), Individual Differencesand Instructed Language Learning(pp. 137-158). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Doughty, C., & Long, M. (2003). Optimal psycholinguistic environments for distance foreign language learning.Language Learning & Technology, 7, 50-80.

Doughty, C., & Williams, J. (1998). Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Korthagen, F. (1993). Het logboek als middel om reflectie door a.s. leraren te bevorderen. VELON Tijdschrift, 15,

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Long, M. (1985). A role for instruction in second language acquisition: Task-based language teaching. In K.Hylstenstam & M. Pienemann (eds.), Modelling and assessing second language acquisition(pp. 77-99).Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Long, M. (1996), The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition, in W. Ritchie & T. Bhatia(eds.), Handbook of Language Acquisition. Vol. 2: Second Language Acquisition(pp. 413-468). New York:Academic Press.

Long, M. (2007). Problems in SLA. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Long, M., & Norris, J. (2000). Task-based teaching and assessment. In M. Byram (ed.), Encyclopedia of

language teaching(pp. 597-603). London: Routledge.


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References (continued)

Robinson, P. (ed.) (2001). Cognition and second language instruction.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schmidt, R. (1998). The centrality of attention in SLA. In J. Brown (ed.),

University of Hawaii Working Papers in ESL, 16, 1-34. Honolulu: Universityof Hawaii.

Schmidt, R. (2001). Attention. In P. Robinson (ed.), Cognition and secondlanguage instruction(pp. 3-32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford:Oxford University Press.

Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: some roles ofcomprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S.Gass & C. Madden (eds.), Input in Second Language Acquisition(pp. 235-256). Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning.

In: G. Cook & B. Seidlhofer (eds.), Principle and Practice in AppliedLinguistics: Studies in Honour of H.G. Widdowson. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 125-144.

Van den Branden, K. (2006). Task-based language teaching: from theoryto practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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