leading wnt E capes, ng Uage ieee ge 4 4 teachin oa best 3 =e aprac ctice § Ok: ‘explains > guide 2 g Stask 3 encourages producti Framework typical $ CA: book empete al saa h began g & g cesar if S focus natural & 3 5 aca & a es i lesson was 8 Batows -bpased Learning Jane Willis ae Intrinsic digital booksA Framework for Task-Based Learning Jane Willis© Jane Willis 1996, Intrinsic Books 2012 AI rights reserved: no part of this publication may be repraduced, stared i a ‘ariosal system, or rancid. in anfor or by any mean, electron ‘mechanical, phetocopving recoding. or ori, without the prior witon emission of Publishers "The Publisher grant permission for the photocaning of thove pages marked ‘photocopiable aeconding othe following conditions. Individual purchasers ‘may make copes forthe ono seo for ane by classes thy teach Schoo! purchasers may make copes for use By thir staan stuns, bu is per Imission docs no extend to additional schools or Branches. Under no cic ances mar any part ofthis Book be photocopied for resale Acknowledgements \We are grateful the fllowing for pemission to reproduce copyright materia ‘Cobuild Lt for exacts fom COBUILD ENGLISH COURSE, Student book eve & Teacher book levels 1.2 & 3 by 1&D Wallis: Guardian Media Group ple for text ale “Cold Str’; extacts ‘nadine fom "The boy who cane ou rom the colin THE GUARDIAN: ‘Thomas Nelson & Sons Ld for exacts fos TALKING TO LEARN: The ‘Stropshire Tak Project (1987) by Bain, Francis & Mathews. We have been unable to trace the copyright hole ofthe aie 'Spiders"in The Daly Telegraph 24194. and woul appreciate ny information which ‘would enable sto do so, Weare also grateful to The BNC. The Beth ‘ational Corus is colaborative inisative cari out by Oxford Univer= sity Press, Longman, Chanors Harap, Oxford Unversity Computing Services, Lancaster University’s Unit or Computer Research inthe English Language and the Brits Libary. The BNC project eeived funding fom the UK Departnest of Trae ad Industy ad the Science and Engineering Resarch Coil and was supported by additonal re Scarch rans fem the British Academy andthe Betis LibaryContents Acknowledgements Introduction PART A: STARTING POINTS 1 Language learning: creating the best environment 1.1 Beliefs about language learning 1.2 How leamers differ 1.3 Four conditions for language learning 1.4 Classrooms as learning environments 1.5 Summary Reflection/Observation/Further reading/Notes 2 Aspects of tasks 2.1 Defining tasks 2.2 Varieties of task 2.3 Language use in tasks 2.4 Learning from tasks 2.5 Summary Material appraisal/Observation/Further reading/Notes PART B: TASK-BASED LEARNING 3 The TBL framework: overview and pre-task phase 3.1 General overview 3.2 The pre-task phase 3.3 Managing learner talk 3.4. Summary Material appraisal/Planning/Observation/Further readingiNotes 10 17 19 19 23 26 30 35 36 36 39 40 42 46 50 51 vi4 The TBL framework: the task cycle 4.1 The task stage 4.2 After the task 4.3 The planning stage 4.4 The report stage 4.5 Writing in the task cyole 4.6 ESL and one-to-one: task cycle adaptations 4.7 Summary Reflection/Further reading/Notes 5 Tasks based on text 5.1 Defining text-based tasks 5.2 Selecting and balancing exposure 5.3 Reading and listening strategies 5.4 Designing text-based tasks 5.5 Planning a text-based task lesson 5.6 Summary Material appraisal/Further reading/Notes 6 Exposure to spontaneous speech using recordings 6.1 Spontaneous speech in the TBL framework 6.2 Using task recordings 6.3 Making your own task recordings 644 Interviews recorded by learners 6.5 Summary Material appraisal/Planning/Observation/Notes 7 The TBL framework: language focus 7.1 From meaning to form 7.2 Language analysis activities 7.3 Starting points for analysis ac 7.4 Language practice activities 53 53 8 61 63 65 67 67 72 75 81 a3 83 87 87 89 92 101 101 102 105 107.5 Creating a pedagogic corpus 7.7 Summary Material preparation/Further readingiNotes PART C: IMPLEMENTING TASK-BASED LEARNING 8 TBL for beginners and young learners 8.1 Using tasks with real beginners 8.2 Tasks for beginners 8.3 Language focus for beginners 8.4 Teaching non-Roman alphabet beginners 8.5 Teaching young learners 8.6 Summary Planning/Observation/Further reading/Notes 9 Adopting TBL: some practical issues 9.1 PPP and TBL 9.2 Introducing TBL 9.3 Assessment and TBL 9.4 Textbooks and TBL 9.5 Summary Further reading/Notes Appendices A Six types of task B Overview of the TBL framework C Sample task-based lesson outlines D Groupwork appraisal sheets E The most frequent words of English F Task-based examin ns Bibliography and References Index Key To tasks on pages 36, 38, 44, 51, 66, 83-84, 100, 102, 106-7 13 14 115 17 18 9 123 125 127 130 131 133 133 137 142 144 147 148 149 155 156 169 171 173 175 WT 179Acknowledgements Initial inspiration and support for task-based language learning came from Prabhu in Bangalore, John ‘lair in Birmingham and staff and students of many nationalities at the British Council Teaching Centre in Singapore under Dave Willis. There have been many people both inside and outside the Cobuild Project in Birmingham who have recorded, piloted and reported on tasks and task-based learning and to all these people | am truly grateful It was Arlene Gilpin who finally gave me the impetus to start writing this book, and Dave Wills, my husband, who, with patience and understanding, kept me going tight to the end, reading and ‘commenting on drafts of every chapter and suggesting revisions. Initial versions of seven chapters were piloted with future Spanish teachers of English at Leén University in northern Spain - my thanks to them, and to Professor Chamosa and the Departamento de Filologia Moderna. The book has greatly benefited from detailed feedback and enthusiastic ‘encouragement from those who read the complete manuscript: Melanie Butler, Jeremy Harmer and Seth Lindstromberg, and from those who have read and commented on individual chapters and helped with revisions and appendices: Margaret Allan, Paul Barnes, Brahim Bouattia, Charlie Brown, John Coston, Corony Edwards, Pauline Foster, Ronnie Holdsworth, Katie Jennings, Juares Lopes, Steve Mann, Nicki Marshall, Jaimis Silveira, Richard West and Sue Wharton, together with their colleagues, trainee teachers and students. Many of these people have had considerable experience of implementing and using TBL in the UK, USA, Australia, Ireland, Spain and Brazil, and | have both enjoyed their professional companionship and benefited greatly from their advice and feedback. Staff and students from Aston University Language Studies Unit have also contributed in many ways. Distance Learning Masters students, especially those in Turkey, together with teachers and trainers from the British Council Teaching Centres in Istanbul and lzmir have undertaken task-based learning projects, short and long term, and have kept me in touch with their findings and their progress. My greatest appreciation goes, as always, to my family, who have put up with my absences, my long week-ends of writing, and with whom | have resolved to spend far more time enjoying myself in the coming years. Jane WillisIntroduction The aim of communication tasks is to stimulate real communication in the target language. Many textbooks include tasks of this kind. There are also resource books full of imaginative tasks. But typically, such tasks are used at the end of a methodological cycle, rather than being central to that cycle, or are used as the basis for separate speaking skills lessons. This book on task-based learning (TBL) shows how tasks can be used as the central focus in a supportive methodological framework. The aim of the task is to create a real purpose for language use and provide a natural context for language study. Students prepare for the task, report back after the task and then study the language that arises naturally out of the task cycle and its accompanying materials. ‘The framework offers a rich but comprehensible exposure to language in use, through. listening and reading, and provides opportunities for both spontaneous and planned speaking and writing, It provides learners with the motivation to improve and build on whatever language they already have. This task-based framework takes into account what we know about how people learn languages. We know, for example, that practice of language forms does not necessarily make perfect. We know that people cannot learn a language without plenty of opportunities for real language use. It is also important that the language that they are exposed to and that they use reflects the kind of language they want to lear. For example, if this includes spontaneous spoken language (which is very different from planned written language), then that is what they need to hear and study. We also know that too much emphasis on small-group communication without any call for accuracy may result in learners’ grammar fossilising; some learners develop fluency at the expense of accuracy. The TBL framework is designed to resolve all these issues. Task-based learning combines the best insights from communicative language teaching with an organised focus on language form. Although the examples in this book are based on English, TBL is valid for the teaching of any target language, second or foreign.How to use this book Each chapter begins with a focus page which introduces two or three of the main themes and concepts. Its aim is to help readers reflect on relevant language-learning or teaching experience which they can draw on while reading the chapter. It can also be photocopied and used on teacher-training courses to stimulate discussion of these concepts. The questions on the focus page are exploratory - there are often no set answers ~ but the issues they raise are important ones and will be further developed in the chapter. Many chapters refer to the resources materials which have been gathered together in the Appendices for ease of use. These are also photocopiable. At the end of most chapters there are suggestions for activities to help develop specific teaching skills. There are also recommendations for further reading. | hope you and your learners enjoy working with task-based learning. | hope, too, that you gain professional satisfaction from overcoming initial difficulties (there are always some!) and seeing the difference that TBL can make in the language classroom. Jane Willis, Birmingham, March 1996_AFRAMEWORK FOR TASK-BASED LEARNING What are your views on language learning? Rate these statements A, B, C or D according to how far you agree with each of them. Note your reasons, and any evidence to support your decisions. Then share your views with a colleague and ty 10 reach agreement. ‘A Agree strongly _B Agree _C Donirealy agree D Di ‘You can leam to speak a foreign language quite well without lessons. ‘Many secondary students who have studied a foreign language leave ‘school unable to communicate init Leamers often go on making the ‘same error even after being corrected many times. It students learn the rules of (grammar they are quickly able to Use them, You must use the language freely to leam to speak it, even if you make a lot of errors. BY 6 Teachers should always correct, student errors. Reading widely is one of the best ways to learn another language. People of all intellectual abilties can successfully learn another language. ‘The younger you are the better you will learn another language. Extroverts make better language leamers, Po Maes lost of the world’ ple speak two, tings anguager in thelr {he maul wy of ‘oak oF Engi rryaay lives: ie for hundred over 300, of calions, = Peemcras) [graonamt wore | (2c ome ded mitten in English. or foreign language.4.4. Beliefs about language learning PART A: STARTING POINTS Language learning: creating the best environment 1.1. Beliefs about language learning 1.2 Howleamers differ 1.2.1 Leaming strategies 1.2.2 Analytic and holistic learners 4.3 Four conditions for language learning 1.3.1 Exposure 1.3.2 Use of language 1.3.3. Motivation 1.3.4 Instruction 1.4 Classrooms as learning environments 4.4.1 The power of the teacher 1.4.2 The constraints on the student 4.4.3. Changing the balance 1.5 Summary Reflection/Observation/ Further reading/Notes This chapter provides the rationale for task-based leaming, It explores how natural language learning processes can enhance learning in the classroom. We begin with a questionnaire which focuses on concepts and issues in foreign language learning, After discussing these, and the principles behind them, we consider different individual learning styles. We then identify three basic conditions for natural language learning which, combined ideally with a fourth, instruction, provide an optimum learning environment. Finally we show how the teacher-centred classroom tends to have fixed interaction patterns which inhibit natural learning, This underlines the need for alternative patterns of interaction which centre on the leaner rather than the teacher. We suggest that task-based learning can fulfil this need. ‘We all have strongly held beliefs about the ways that foreign or second languages are learnt — beliefs which are based on our own experience as language leamers and as language teachers. It is well worth examining those beliefs, together with the experience that lies behind them. This is what the questionnaire in Focus 1 is designed to help you do. Most teachers who do this questionnaire find they agree with six or seven statements and disagree with three or four. But your answers may well be different because they are based on different experiences.[A FRAMEWORK FOR TASK-BASED LEARNING. How does this examination of our beliefs help us to understand how people eam another language? Or, more importantly perhaps, to understand why people don’t learn one? We will now discuss each statement in turn, 1 You can learn to speak a foreign language quite well without lessons. “Most of us know or know of people who have leamt to speak a foreign language quite fluently without any teaching at all: people who travel and work abroad a lot; people who stay in their own country but ‘who mix with speakers of another language. Even quite young children, who drop out of school, often classed as ‘unteachable,’ become ‘unofficial tourist guides and end up managing to communicate in several foreign languages. They are not alway’ totally accurate, but they achieve a level of language ability that is entirely aclequate for their needs What is it that helps people like this to learn? For one thing, they are usually very motivated — they have a pressing desire to communicate and to get their meaning across. They receive a lot of exposure - they hear the language in use and pick up expressions they need. And they have ‘many opportunities to speak and experiment with the language. Their interlocutors do not expect them to be perfect, and will often support their attempts to communicate by suggesting words and phrases. Itis, then, quite possible for people to learn a lot without having lessons. Classroom instruction is not a necessary condition for leaming. 2 Many secondary students who have studied a foreign language leave school unable to communicate in it. Unfortunately this is often the case. In language schools all over the world the largest group of students consists of people who have studied English at school but who feel they know nothing and want to start again. Many British schoo! leavers have failed to learn French or German in much the same way. They have a small battery of formulaic phrases, but are unable or too shy to put them to use. Although many of them pass their examinations successfully, they find they cannot cope in conversation with a fluent speaker ‘One reason why this happens is because much of their exposure consists of written language at sentence level: they are used to reading, textbook exercises and hearing carefully-scripted dialogues. Many have been exposed to little eal spoken interaction other than instruction- focused teacher talk ‘We can say therefore that some people learn a language naturally ‘without classroom instruction. On the other hand, many people do not learn one in spite of being taught This is not to say that classroom instruction is useless; indeed there is evidence to suggest that instruction does help. For example, learners who have had formal instruction and who then spend time in the country concerned are likely to achieve a higher degree of accuracy than those ‘who have not had formal instruction. But language lessons on their own bring no guarantee of success. Formal instruction is rarely a sufficient condition for learning a language.41 LANGUAGE LEARNING: CREATING THE BEST ENVIRONMENT What is it that prevents students learning? Most teachers would say that lack of motivation is the main problem. Learners are often keen at the beginning of their course, but in the second and third years motivation drops. Students complain they find lessons boring, and get depressed when they lose marks because they make mistakes. In large classes itis difficult to give individuals enough chance to use the language naturally. Adulls feel shy about talking in front of the class. Speaking is rarely tested, and exams based on grammar often result in alot of direct grammar teaching with focus on form rather than meaning, ‘There are many more reasons, too, which will come to light gradually throughout this book. Learners often go on making the same error even after being corrected many times. ‘You don’t have to sit long in any staffroom before you hear the ery: ‘But I've taught them that so many times and they are still getting it wrong! ‘Sometimes students seem to master a grammar point successfully in a lesson, and get it right when doing an exercise on it; they even reproduce it ina test or exam. But they often fail to use it correctly when expressing themselves freely. In other words, this temporary mastery seems to happen when they are paying conscious attention to form (ie. the surface pattern), but not when they are trying to communicate and paying, attention to meaning, There is, then, a lot of evidence that practice activities, such as drilling a particular language pattern, do not necessarily ‘make perfect’, especially when it comes to communication. ‘The distinction that Stephen Krashen, an influential American linguist, made between acquisition and learning is @ useful one here. Acquisition is the subconscious process that happens naturally and leads to fluency; learning being the conscious process. In a situation like the ‘one above, you could say that students have learnt the target form, in that they can reproduce it in a controlled situation when consciously applying the rule, but that they have not yet acquired it, in that it has, rnot become part of their internalised language system. Few people ‘now accept Krashen’s claim that formally learnt knowledge will never become part of a leamner’s deployable language. But until a new item has been properly acquired, it will not be freely available for use. So until then, learners are likely to continue expressing their meanings in ways which are not in accordance with the grammar of the target language: ‘The proverb ‘Practice makes perfect, then, does not always apply to learning grammar. And this raises another question. Should we really be aiming at perfection in our learners? If their only aim is to pass a grammar test, then some exam practice, where conscious knowledge is applied, will probably pay off. But itis most unlikely to result in fluency. In other cases, instead of aiming at the unachievable goal of perfection and falling short, might it not be more realistic and useful to spend less time on practising isolated patterns and more on helping learners to increase their vocabulary (words and phrases being generally far easier to learn) and deploy the language they have?"[A FRAMEWORK FOR TASK-BASED LEARNING, 4 If students learn the rules of grammar they are quickly able to use them. ‘This depends partly on what we mean by the word ‘grammar’. There are many ways in which this word is used. We can say that children have normally acquired the basic grammar of their mother tongue by the age of four. Thisis grammar as an intemalised system, which is acquired subconsciously, and is difficult to describe in words even for adults. In fac, itis often impossible to explain precisely what the rules are. ASN Prabhu writes: ‘Developments in grammatical theory and description had shown clearly that the internal grammatical system operated subconsciously by fluent speakers was vastly more complex than was reflected by, or could be incorporated into, any grammatical syllabus...’ People who write leters to newspapers complaining about split infinitives (eg, ! want fo totally ban them rather than zoant to ban them totally) are basing their complaints on the prescriptive grammar rules they were taught at school. Grammarians, who set out to describe how a language system works by looking at how people actually use it, write descriptive grammars which are often used for reference purposes. Pedagogic grammars aim to classify language for teaching purposes, so the rules they give are attempts to simplify and generalise. These are the kinds of rules to which the statement above refers. There are often exceptions to the rules that are given in coursebooks and pedagogic grammars, as we shall see in Chapter 7 It also depends on what is meant by the word ‘learn’ (see Statement 3 above). Sometimes even rules that are easy to explain and practise take a long time to acquire and thus to become incorporated into language use. The rule that there must be an -s ending on the verb in the third person singular of the present simple tense in English is simple, but ‘even advanced learners sometimes say Sie toork, or overcompensate and. put -s endings where they are not needed. In English, the form of the possessive adjectives his and her relate to the gender of the possessor. In languages where nouns have genders they usually agree with the noun. Students quickly learn this rule but continue to say things like His husband for some time. Other rules are conceptually more difficult, like the uses of the present perfect tense in English, and learners require a lot of exposure before they begin to use such features comet planation of rules only hsipe ifthe learner hes sulficient experience of the target language to make sense of it, in which case there may be ro need for the explanation at all. Sometimes learners begin to use new language to which they have been exposed without having had any rule explained or even any practice of the pattern. They just acquire it naturally. What is interesting is that there are many common errors that all learners tend to make, no matter what their mother tongue is. Even more interesting is the evidence that shows that all learners seem to acquire grammatical features in a similar order regardless of the sequence in Which they have been taught. For example, ~ing forms come early on, ‘but the third person -s very late.1° LANGUAGE LEARNING: CREATING THE BEST ENVIRONMENT So, one thing seems quite clear ~ a rule will not become internalised until the learner’s developing language system can accommodate it. And, for individual learners, we have no way of knowing when that ight be. So once learners have leamt to recognise and pronounce the new pattern, there is little point in trying to speed up the learning process by extra practice, which is what most coursebooks seek to provide. Classroom time may be better spent in other ways: increasing exposure, (which will provide more examples of patterns that leamers ‘may recognise), expanding their repertoire of useful words and phrases and getting them to use language themselves. This is what task-based learning is all about. ‘You must use the language freely to learn to speak it, even if you make a lot of errors. Certainly this is how you learn to speak when acquiring another language naturally. Because you are in situations where meaning is paramount, you have to try to get it across, making use of whatever words and phrases you have at your disposal. In classrooms, many speaking activities involve ‘tucents in producing a given form or pattern, or expressing a given function, rather than saying what they feel or want to say. Free use involves a far broader range of language and gives learners richer opportunities for acquiring, They need chances to say what they think or feel, and to experiment in a supportive atmosphere with using language they have heard or seen without feeling threatened. They need chances to test the hypotheses they have formed about the way language works, to try things out, to see if they are understood. They are bound to get some things wrong at first. But they will gradually get more accurate as their repertoire of language increases. A task-based learning framework aims to provide opportunities for learners to experiment, both with spoken and written language, ‘Teachers should always correct student errors. Most teachers disagree with this. If you actually tried to correct every error, including those of stress and pronunciation, the lesson would come toa standstill and learners would become demotivated. Many students say they won't risk speaking in or out of class because they are afraid of ‘making mistakes or being corrected in public. So when will they ever get the chance to learn by speaking freely? When children are learning to speak their fist language, parents are ‘usually encouraging, or even ecstatic, if their child comes out with @ new expression, no matter how imperfect. Parents sometimes rephrase what children say but in a very positive way. They rarely respond by saying, “That was a good try but you made two mistakes, so say it again.” Few teachers correct students when they are doing an activity in pairs ‘or small groups aimed at confidence building and fluency. In those situations students rarely take in a correction anyway. In the privacy of a small group, with the teacher monitoring from a distance, learners are ‘more likely to experiment and take risks with new language if the atmosphere is supportive.AFRAMEWORK FOR TASK-BASED LEARNING ‘There are, however, times when students need to be accurate. Apart from the obvious requirements of examinations, learners feel the need for accuracy when they perform in public, that is, if what they say is going to be recorded, or if they are preparing an oral presentation, or a piece of writing for public display. Preparing drafts gives them a chance to check things they are not sure about, and time to work out new and better ways, of expressing what they mean. So it is important that leamers are challenged to be accurate at times, because this helps them to consolidate and improve their language. Ideally, the classroom should be managed so that opportunities for both kinds of language use — private and public - are available and distinct from each other. Students should know when they can use language freely without worrying about getting things wrong, and when they need to be accurate. 7 Reading widely is one of the best ways to learn another language. ‘Teachers often feel strongly that extensive reading does help, although students often say they don’t have time! Many successful learners find that reading is an excellent way of extending vocabulary, leaming new phrases and consolidating grammar, Like extensive listening, reading provides rich exposure to language in use. Both are valuable, but reading is more controllable than listening, and allows time for reflection. You can read fast or slowly; you can go back and read things again. Good students often treat texts as learning, opportunities and go back over the same pages several times, working out meanings and noting down new words and useful phrases. ‘Some people manage to gain an excellent reading knowledge of a language but never learn to speak it, This is usually because they either have no need or opportunity to speak, or do not hear the language used. Conversely, other people never leam to read atall, but speak quite fluently. This is often the case when languages have different alphabets and leamers rely on spoken input. The most successful learners make use of all the opportunities for exposure they are offered, and reading is usually one of them. 8 People of al intellectual abilities can successfully learn another language. Everyone is born with an innate ability to learn a language. As we saw in Focus 1, the majority of the world’s people have to lean two languages just to go about their daily life, Few fail in these circumstances. It is mainly in formal instruction (where the focus is on learning about the language rather than interacting in the language) that intellectual ability (aptitude) seems to matter. It is worth remembering that some stuclents are less sensitive to grammatical niceties but better at memorising, while others use more cognitive strategies. Either way of learning can be successful and some learners practise both. Research shows that high-quality teaching can nullify aptitude differences. So we can hope that if we re-create natural Tearing conditions in the classroom, all learners will learn. This is precisely what task-based learning aims to do.1.2 How learners differ | LANGUAGE LEARNING: CREATING THE BEST ENVIRONMENT 9 ‘The younger you are the better you will learn another language. ‘Some experts believe that there is a ‘critical period’: that children who begin to learn a new language before puberty will learn better; that after puberty itis more difficult to attain native-like fluency and pronunciation. In fact, it depends a lot on the circumstances.” Adults usually learn faster to begin with because they use more cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Children have better memories and rely less on cognitive strategies. They are even less likely than adults to ‘benefit from formal grammar teaching, though simple consciousness raising activities designed as games or puzzles to suit their stage of cognitive development seem to help. With children, teachers often use more active methods, reflecting their ability to imitate and rote-learn and to speak without being self-conscious. Both adults and children benefit from involvement in games and problem-solving activities, but obviously of different types. Exposure and involvement are critical for all age groups. 10 Extroverts make better language learners. Many people who write about second language leaming make the point that language is intimately bound up with human behaviour and personality." Language learning, therefore, requires investment of the whole person and positive attitudes to it are important. For the teacher, this means encouraging self-esteem, which in turn gives learers the conficlence to adopt beneficial risk-taking learning strategies Extroverts often appear to be more active learners, and more willing to take risks with language; however, introverts who are silent in class are often listening well, thinking hard and leaming as much — if not more. Other personality factors also come into play: people who are tolerant of ambiguities tend to do well, while shy or anxiety-prone students may do less well and will benefit from small group or pairwork, which is less threatening, In this section we have examined some commonly held beliefs about earning and explored evidence for those beliefs. Some is evidence we have noticed ourselves as learners or teachers, some has been noted by researchers into language acquisition, Both kinds of evidence contribute to the theories we hold about language-learning processes, We now turn from examining learning processes to examining individual learners and in particular how their ways of learning can be different. Factors such as previous learning experience, cognitive style and motivation, a well as aptitude, age and personality, which were discussed above, may all affect an individual's learning style and strategies. Motivation will be dealt with separately in 13.3, Research into these factors has produced conflicting findings and generated much controversy. It has not produced much in the way of clear guidelines for teachers.’ Most of these factors cannot be changed by the teacher, anyway, but it is important to recognise them, and we can often rough-tune classroom activities to suit as many people as possible.10 [A FRAMEWORK FOR TASK-BASED LEARNING 1.2.1 Leaming strategies 1.22 Analytic and holistic learners 1.3 Four conditions for language learning Different types of leamers adopt diferent strategies for learning successfully Good learners tend to have more strategies than weak ones, and they use them more regularly, It is generally agreed that good language learners have a strong reason for Jearning the language, and will: + seck out opportunities to use the target language and make maximum use of them, focusing on communication of meaning rather than on form; + supplement natural learning with conscious study, e.g, by keeping a notebook for new words; + respond positively to learning situations, avoiding anxiety and inhibitions; + beable to analyse, categorise and remember language forms and monitor + be prepared to experiment with language and be willing to take risks; * be flexible and capable of adapting to different learning conditions.” O'Malley and Chamot (1990) identified three main types of strategy: ‘metacognitive’ (eg. organising one’s learning, monitoring and evaluating one’s speech, et.) ‘cognitive’ (eg. advance preparation for a class, using a dictionary, listing/categorising new words, making comparisons with other known languages, ete.) and ‘social’ (eg. asking for help, interacting with native speakers, etc) Teachers can help by making students aware of such strategies, and encouraging their use. Previous educational experience may have resulted in learners having a very limited range of strategies. In cases such as these, students ‘may benefit from actual training in particular strategies. Certainly encouraging students to become self-reliant will raise the quality of their classroom learning and make it easier for them to carry on leaming after their course has finished. * Leamers’ cognitive styles may vary, too. A distinction is often made between analytic leamers who prefer a deductive approach (give them a rule and let them deduce other examples from it) and holistic learners, who prefer an inductive approach (give them examples, and let them induce the rule). However, much research on cognitive styles and second language success is, in the end, inconclusive, Indeed, it has been suggested that learners should be exposed to a variety of approaches in order to broaden their learning styles. ‘Task-based learning, with its holistic approach, would seem, in its purest form, to favour the styles of holistic learners. The broader framework suggested in this book tries to take all types of leamers into account. Chapter 9 will give advice on helping learners who have difficulties in adapting. Nomatter what strategies or styles your learners use, itis generally agreed that there are certain essential conditions to be met that are vital for all language learners, These are outlined in the next section, From now on I shall use the word ‘learn’ in its general sense, and not distinguish between acquiring and learning, unless otherwise stated, The many research studies into foreign language learning have, to some extent, produced conflicting results. It is often argued that we don’t yet know enough to be sure that one method is better than another. However, there are1.3.1 Exposure 1 + LANGUAGE LEARNING: CREATNG THE BEST ENVIRONMENT certain basic principles that can help us select and devise useful classroom activities that are most likely to stimulate learning. So under what conditions does effective language learning take place? Most researchers would agree that in order for anyone to learn a language with reasonable efficiency, three essential conditions must be met. These are basic enough to apply to all learners, regardless of their individual cognitive styles. ‘There is ako one additional condition that is desirable, though not essential ‘These conditions are summarised in the following diagram: Conditions for Language Learning jee el | — —__ Essential Desirable toarich but || ofthe language | | 10 isten and ead | | in language compretensibie || — to do things the language | | (ie. chances to input of real (ie.exchange || andto speak | | focus on form) spoken and meanings) and write it wtten language (ie. to process in use and use the exposure) All good language learners take full advantage of their exposure to the target language in use. This might involve listening, or reading, or both. It may be a conscious process, or largely subconscious. It involves grappling with meaning (trying to make sense of whatever they hear and read) and observing how others express the meanings that they want to be able to express. This leads on to noticing small chunks of language typically used in particular contexts, for example It doesn’t matter; I don’t know; What I think i... It involves isolating particular words and phrases, discovering what they mean and noting how they are used. It is only when such features are noticed, processed in the learner’s mind and understood that they are likely to become part of their intemnalised language system.” One important question is what sort of real language benefits leamers most? For beginners, rich input such as randomly chosen radio programmes will ust be noise. No matter how motivated, beginners are unlikely to be able to notice and pick out anything comprehensible, and therefore will not learn from them. However, if learners initiate a conversation, they are likely to use strategies to adjust the input to suit their level of comprehension. For example, simply looking blank will often cause the speaker to rephrase and try again. Knowing, what the topic and the purpose of the conversation are, the learner can make sensible predictions about meaning, and check anything they are not sure of having understood correctly. This modified exposure thus becomes comprehensible input and should help acquisition. If learners select a radio programme of a familiar type on a familiar topic and ‘can guess at the kinds of meanings that are likely to be expressed, and how the2 [A FRAMEWORK FOR TASK-2ASED LEARNING discourse will proceed, they will have a better chance of catching something they can understand and subsequently learn from. They are modifying their input by careful selection, similar kind of modifying can apply to reading too. By selecting a familiar genre and style of text on a familiar topic, and by reading, and re-reading, as we discussed in Statement 7 above, parts of the input become comprehensible. Deciphering instructions given in a foreign language is a good example of this, especially if they are relevant to some task in hand. ‘Teachers commonly modify their speech to suit their learners and help them ‘understand, Repeating, rephrasing, stopping to explain a vital new word are all part of the natural co-operative communication process. Non-native teachers are ‘generally much better at this than native speakers, because they have a greater appreciation of their learners’ difficulties. Often this modification is done quite “unconsciously, and itis beneficial so long as itis not carried too far. ‘There will, for example, be problems if everything is always said very slowly and clearly, for there are likely to be distortions of common intonation pattems, and learners will never get used to coping with natural speech. Some teachers, in their attempts to simplify, tend to address adult leamers as if they were children. Other native-speaker teachers have been known to converge their speech so far towards their learners’ systems that they produce ungrammatical and quite strange discourse ~ a kind of classroom pidgin. Obviously learners fed ‘on a diet of impoverished input are not going to acquire anything resembling a nationally or internationally acceptable version of the target language. Neither will they be able to understand the language when they hear it used outside the classroom. So as teachers we must be aware of how we modify our classroom language. ‘An internationally acceptable version of the target language does not have to be a native-speaker variety. Well over half the people in the world who speak English are nor-native speakers. Over half the world’s business is conducted in English between people whose first language is not English. What about the linguistic simplification of reading texts? This has been a controversial issue, and it depends very much on how the simplification is done. ‘There may be no overall advantage in simplifying texts. Systematic simplification removes certain features of a text, for example by rewriting complex noun groups or breaking up grammatically complex sentences into a series of two or more simple ones. Such simplification, by definition, deprives learners of the opportunity to become familiar with the original forms, which ‘may occur frequently in the target language. Nor does simplification necessarily rake the task of comprehension easier. Rewriting a complex sentence as a series of simple ones entails the omission of explicit markers like because, so and although. The price of grammatical simplicity, therefore, may be the obscuring of ‘meaning, Finally there is the risk of the text becoming a distorted sample of the target language one which leamers subsequently have to unlearn, It is essential that learners are ultimately exposed to the variety of language they will need to understand and use outside the classroom. This might be language they will need in order to study other subjects, to use at work, or for pleasure. If they need to write reports, they will need to read and study reports to find out how these are typically written. If they wish to become fluent in1.32 Use of language 1 LANGUAGE LEARNING: CREATING THE BEST ENVIRONMENT informal, spontaneous conversation, they will need to experience samples of spontaneous conversation. Some language students, especially younger learners, might not know what language they will need later. In this case it is best to select a range of materials that will give them a varied language experience, and to choose things they enjoy in order to sustain their motivation. {A final point is that in research on second language acquisition, the quality of the exposure has been found to be more important than the quantity. Quality does not just mean good pronunciation but a variety of types of language use, eg. informal chat as well as formal monologue, and a range of different kinds of writing, In other words, exposure to a restricted diet of simplified or specially written texts, sentence-level examples and scripted dialoguesis not enough. This is why the words ‘rich’ and ‘real’ appear in the diagram on page Il. In 14 and 23 we will explore further the issue of ‘quality’ exposure and look more closely at the differences between classroom and non-classroom interaction and between spontaneous and planned language. In Chapters 5 and 7 we shall look at ways to select and exploit reading and listening texts. As well as input, output is now generally considered essential for language development, especially if learners wish to speak and/or write in the target language. If learners know that in class they will be expected to make real use of the target language themselves, this leads them to pay more attention to what they hear and read, and to process the input more analytically, noticing, useful features of language. Thus output can encourage intake." Some teachers believe that real beginners need an initial silent period where they are not called upon to speak the language until they have had a certain amount of exposure to it. This gives them time to get the feel of it, and to acquire naturally, in an unpressured atmosphere, a stock of words and phrases they can then use when they do begin to speak. Some learners, however, feel frustrated by an imposed silent period and want to start speaking as soon as possible. Teachers should be sensitive, and accept but not force early contributions from their beginners (see Chapter 8). As we discussed in Statements 5 and 6 above, leamers need opportunities to communicate what they want to say and express what they feel or think. Using language for real purposes (for example to get things done, share experiences and socialise) gives leamers chances to recall and use the language they know already. It is important, especially with less confident learners, to create a positive, supportive, low stress atmosphere that encourages creativity and risk- taking. ‘Through interaction, learners have the chance to acquire the range of discourse skills they need in order to manage their own conversations, and to control the level and kind of input they receive. These discourse skills include: + opening and closing a conversation, ie. introducing a topic and saying how it is relevant and ‘winding down’ a topic to prepare for saying good- bye and leaving: + interacting and turn-taking, ie. recognising possible pause points and ensuring that people will listen; even interrupting politely, to clarify or challenge what someone has said; 13“4 [A FRAMEWORK FOR TASK-BASED LEARNING 1.3.3 Motivation * organising the discourse in advance in order to sustain a longer speaking tum, e.g. Wl, I think there are two things you ought fo think about. One is: + reaching agreement co-operatively and shifting the topic. Leamers also need the experience of communicating in a variety of situations, for example in different size groups and for different audiences, since different linguistic strategies are appropriate in different circumstances. ‘There is evidence, then, that learners who are encouraged to communicate are likely to acquire a language faster and more efficiently. Teachers have also noted ample evidence that leamers who are pushed or challenged to ‘go public’ will strive harder to improve and reach a higher level of accuracy.” However, practice activities that are not meaning-focused, such as acting out dialogues, where the main aim is to practise specific forms and functions, have been found inadequate ways of promoting learning by themselves. All too often students do them on automatic pilot without really having to think about what they mean, ‘The third essential condition students need is motivation to learn: motivation to process the exposure they receive, and motivation to use the target language as often as possible, in order to benefit from exposure and use. Learners’ motivation may be integrative (they may admire and identify with the target language and culture) or purely instrumental (they see the target language as a means to an end, such as further study or a good job) or it may be both. Other motivating factors include travel, seeking new friendships and simply acquiring knowledge." Even if language students have no personal long-term motivation, as is often the case in school, teachers can select topics and activities that serve to motivate them in the short term. If an activity can stimulate interest and involvement for, say, the next ten minutes of a lesson, students may learn something during that time, Success and satisfaction are key factors in sustaining motivation. If students feel they have achieved something worthwhile, through their own individual effort, they are more likely to participate the next time. Hence the need for teachers to set achievable goals, and to highlight students’ successes, Early on, or when confidence is low, teachers may select simple communicative activities that students can achieve with success, for example, exchanging phone numbers in order to make a class telephone directory. Praise and encouragement will help to raise motivation. As we discussed earlier, there is no point in expecting accuracy early on, and to correct more than is absolutely necessary only undermines confidence and reduces motivation, especially when the focus is on trying to communicate. Sometimes, though, students gain both confidence and satisfaction from activities ike repeating after the tape or the teacher. In this case, spend a little time each lesson doing such activities. Children especially enjoy learning songs, poems and even dialogues by heart. Adults sometimes feel this helps them to improve their pronunciation. It may help them to notice new sounds and intonation patterns, which could raise their awareness of phonological features. Later, learners will benefit from activities presenting a higher degree of challenge, both cognitive and linguistic.