FLED 224 METHODS

MODULE 1
PRESENTATION

Dr. Nur Yigitoglu Aptoula

FLED Program @ Bogazici
[email protected]
Method and Post-Method FLT
MODULE 1
METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
“Historical” Methods: Contemporary Methods:

Grammar-Translation Method Communicative Language Teaching

Audio-Lingual Method TPRS / Comprehensible Input
Direct Method Content-Based Instruction
Silent Way Task-Based Language Teaching
Desuggestopedia Participatory Approach
Community Language Learning Postmethod Pedagogy
 GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

• Techniques & Principles Ch 2 Grammar-Translation

(Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011)

• Methods Video Series – Grammar-Translation

(Bateman & Lago, 2011)
 GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD
▪ How did Grammar-Translation emerge, and why? Latin
▪ History of teaching Latin, classical Greek, Hebrew, etc. – associated with
Greek
Hebrew
training the mind, preparing scholars
Arabic
▪ Prominent in the history of instructed language learning – but most language Sanskrit
learning takes place outside instructed settings

▪ Is it supported by SLA research?

▪ Not supported by research on second language acquisition – IF the goal is to
produce L2 users with communicative competence Is GT really
a thing of
▪ When does it make the most sense? the past?
▪ Classical languages, languages for religious and scholarly purposes
▪ Intensive focus for translators – complement to more communicative courses
GT Method

In the 19th century with the introduction of modern foreign languages in the state school
system, the so-called grammar-translation method was widespread.

Language was formally taught according to the teaching of classical languages; the aim
was accuracy (i. e. formal correctness) in understanding and the focus was on the
construction of sentences and texts. In this context, the curriculum was organized
according to linguistic sub-systems—profound knowledge of words and grammar.

Within the grammar-translation method great importance was placed on the written word
and analytical language learning expressed in the most precise translation into or from the
foreign language.

The grammar-translation method was the leading method in textbooks for both French (cf.
Meidinger 1811) and English (cf. Fick 1800), the two most widely learned foreign
languages in the frst half of the 19th century.
 Borg (2004)
Key Concepts:
“The apprenticeship of observation”
 Borg (2004) Apprenticeship of observation

▪ How many hours have you spent

in other teachers’ classrooms?

▪ How does your teaching compare

to theirs?

▪ What have you learned about what

goes on “backstage” in teaching?

Lortie (1975) originated

the phrase
Lortie, D. (1975). Schoolteacher: A sociological study.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
 TEACHER COGNITION IN CONTEXT

Teacher Engagement with Research

PROFESSIONAL “remains a minority activity in our field”

SCHOOLING
COURSEWORK (Borg, 2010, p. 391)

“enhancing the impact of published

TEACHER
COGNITION research on teachers is not simply a
matter of making it more accessible to
them; teachers also need opportunities
CONTEXTUAL CLASSROOM to reconcile and meld research
knowledge with their own practical
FACTORS PRACTICE
knowledge” (Borg, 2010, p. 414)
METHOD AND POSTMETHOD

INPUT • Krashen,
Interaction contributes to
Hypothesis etc.
development because it is the
means by which the learner is
able to crack the code…
OUTPUT • Merrill (Rod Ellis, 1984, p. 95)
Hypothesis Swain

INTERACTION • Michael
Hypothesis Long
 Kumaravadivelu (2001)
Toward a Post-method
Pedagogy
METHOD AND POSTMETHOD
This book is about language teaching in a postmethod era. It reflects the
heightened awareness that the L2 profession witnessed during the waning years
of the twentieth century:
 an awareness that there is no best method out there ready and waiting to
be discovered;
 an awareness that the artificially created dichotomy between theory and
practice has been more harmful than helpful for teachers;
 an awareness that teacher education models that merely transmit a body of
interested knowledge do not produce effective teaching professionals; and
 an awareness that teacher beliefs, teacher reasoning, and teacher cognition
play a crucial role in shaping and reshaping the content and character of
the practice of everyday teaching.
(Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 1-2)
Kumaravadivelu (2001)
▪ Grammar-Translation Method

▪ Direct Method

▪ Audio-Lingual Method

▪ Silent Way

▪ Desuggestopedia

▪ Community Language Learning

▪ Total Physical Response

▪ TPR Storytelling

▪ Natural Approach

▪ Communicative Language Teaching

▪ Task-Based Language Teaching

▪ Content-Based Instruction
Kumaravadivelu (2001)
▪ Grammar-Translation Method

▪ Direct Method

▪ Audio-Lingual Method

▪ Silent Way

▪ Desuggestopedia

▪ Community Language Learning Post-Method

▪ Total Physical Response Pedagogy
▪ TPR Storytelling

▪ Natural Approach

▪ Communicative Language Teaching

▪ Task-Based Language Teaching

▪ Content-Based Instruction
Kumaravadivelu (2001)

▪ Particularity

Post-Method
▪ Practicality Pedagogy

▪ Possibility
Kumaravadivelu (2001)
What he wants to strive for now:
▪ Learners: Greater autonomy

What went before: ▪ Teachers: Greater autonomy

through teacher research &
▪ Language teaching = only features reflection
of the language system –
grammar, vocab, functions ▪ Teacher educators: Dialogic
relationship between teacher-
▪ Transmission model of teacher learners and educators
education

▪ Pedagogy driven by “expert- How he plans to get there:

generated professional theories”
not “teacher-generated personal ▪ Pedagogic exploration
theories”
▪ Systematic and sustained
inquiry-based practice
Kumaravadivelu (2001) “Systematic and sustained
inquiry-based practice”

Learner Autonomy
Teacher Autonomy
Greater
autonomy Teacher Educators
Greater
through autonomy
strategies and Less autonomy,
through teacher more dialogue
self-evaluation research & with teachers and
reflection researchers
 Discussion Questions

▪ Have you experienced grammar-translation instruction yourself ? How was your experience? Were there any aspects of it that you
enjoyed or thought were useful for your own teaching? What were your impressions and what is your assesment of the effectiveness of
grammar translation method?

▪ What are the methods and approaches that language teacheres have used over the years to teach foreign or second languages?

▪ What are the current methodological trends and challenges?

▪ Where does language teaching methodology appear to be heading?

▪ Can you think of situations where the use of translation and a heavy reliance on the learners first language can be fruitful?

▪ What are some ways in which first and second language learning are similar? In what ways arc they different?

▪ What do you think is the value of studying approaches and methods, including older and more current ones? What factors contributed
to the development of the methods era? Do you perceive a Western bias in current approaches and methods that you are familiar with?
FLED 224 METHODS

MODULE 2
PRESENTATION

Dr. Nur Yigitoglu Aptoula

FLED Program @ Boğaziçi University
[email protected]
METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
“Historical” Methods: Contemporary Methods:

Grammar-Translation Method Communicative Language Teaching

Audio-Lingual Method TPRS / Comprehensible Input
Direct Method Content-Based Instruction
Silent Way Task-Based Language Teaching
Desuggestopedia Participatory Approach
Community Language Learning Postmethod Pedagogy
 METHODS SO FAR:

GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION

▪ Students learn “about” the language

▪ They can read, maybe write, translate back and forth, use conjugation
and declension accurately

▪ Do they learn to communicate? How will they use what they know?
 AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

▪ Students memorize and rehearse phrases that can be used to

communicate

▪ Do they learn to make meaning?

▪ Do they learn how the language works?

 AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

There is a lot of focus on the language laboratory

Similar to the direct method, there is no use of mother tongue in this method
either.

It is highly teacher-dominated as the teacher plays an important role.

memorization and pattern practice.

The drilling and memorization of pronunciation is the key activity for

language teaching
 AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD

▪ (1) Students listen to a dialogue and repeat its lines.

▪ (2) The dialogue is adapted to the students’ interests through changing

certain keywords or phrases.

▪ (3) Certain key structures from the dialogue are selected and used as the
basis for pattern drills of different kinds.

▪ (4) The students refer to their textbook, and follow-up reading, writing or
vocabulary activities based on the dialogue are introduced. As proficiency
increases, students may write compositions on given topics.
 Techniques & Principles Ch 3 Direct Method
DIRECT METHOD (Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011)

▪ How did the Direct Method emerge, and why?

▪ Response to Grammar-Translation – too much L1, so now exclusively L2

▪ Recognition that learners were unable to communicate in TL

deductive = learn rules
▪ Is it supported by SLA research? explicitly and apply

▪ Yes – but other methods have superseded this one inductive = infer
rules from input
▪ Focus on inductive learning, not deductive

▪ Focus on input – rich input in TL supported by “realia, pictures, or pantomime” (p. 30)

▪ Emphasis on vocabulary before or instead of grammar

100% target
▪ When does it make the most sense? language?
90% target
▪ Is it a good idea to forbid L1 use completely? language?
▪ Will learners learn the structure of the language this way (i.e., rules)?
 DIRECT METHOD

▪ It is the method of teaching English where it is taught directly using the target
language.

▪ A teacher doesn’t use the mother tongue in the class and the students are
not allowed to use it either.

▪ It is the opposite of the Translation Method.

▪ This method emphasizes aural-oral words and students are encouraged to

think in English allowing them to speak fluently and confidently in English.

▪ If the surrounding environment is not speaking English, it can be hard for the
learners to learn English as they may not have a suitable learning
environment.
 DIRECT METHOD

▪ 1. Question-answer. The teacher asks questions and rephrases students’

answers so that they can self-correct.

▪ 2. Dictation. The teacher chooses a graded text and reads it aloud.

▪ 3. Reading aloud. Students take turns reading a passage or dialogue

aloud.

▪ 4. Conversation practice. Students ask questions to the teacher or other

students.

▪ 5. Writing. Students write a paragraph in their own words.

Innovations in Language Teaching (1960’s-80’s)
Noam Chomsky proposed the theory that there is a Language Acquisition Device
in our brains that allows us to process input and produce novel output:

Source: BBC Radio 4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cgpfw4z8cw)

 COGNITIVE APPROACH

▪ Noam Chomsky and the “Language Acquisition Device”

▪ Based on Chomsky’s “transformational-generative” view of language

▪ https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/language-acquisition-device

▪ Active process for learners – not habit formation but hypothesis testing

▪ Learners form an “interlanguage” – a working model of the language – and

then modify it based on new rules and input they receive → restructuring

▪ Rules taught explicitly – deductively or inductively

▪ Learners need extensive language exposure and extensive practice

New factors to consider:

Role of the Emotions and Accuracy vs.

teacher – sage experience of fluency, building
on the stage? the learner proficiency

Use of new Planning

resources - principles –
manipulatives, realia, more “natural”
imagery, music, etc. sequences
Discussion Question: 1

To translate or not to translate…

Imagine that you have two job opportunities. Few schools today use curricula that follow one and only one
method, but let’s say you have found two schools that do. One strongly adheres to – and expects you to train in
and use – Grammar-Translation (GT). The students are expected to score well on a final exam that includes
many questions on grammar and a large number of vocabulary items.

The other school uses the Audio-Lingual Method (ALM). This school has a large computer lab where learners
have access to Berlitz software and other tools that ask them to listen and repeat phrases, and teachers are
forbidden to discuss grammar rules, conjugation, agreement, etc. There is also a very strict policy about
maintaining 100% target language in class. Last year, a world language teacher was asked to leave after the
principal caught her speaking to her students in English.

In order to keep your job, you will need to maintain high fidelity to the school's chosen approach. Other features
of these jobs, such as location, pay, teaching load, student population, etc. are more or less equal. Which job
would you choose and why? What would you miss in each setting? In your answer, explain which school you
would choose and why you would make that decision.
Discussion Question 2
In Chapter 2, Larsen-Freeman and Anderson (2011) offer this prompt: «It has been said that the Grammar-Translation Method
teaches students about the target language, but not how to use it. Explain the difference in your own words.» (p. 23)

However, students can benefit from learning how the target language (TL) works. For example, researchers have shown that
learners of Polish benefited from a “crash course” in Polish linguistics before the communicative language lessons began. In
fact, many adult learners get very frustrated if the features of the language are not explained to them.

Meanwhile, Kumaravadivelu (2001) believes that we should promote learner autonomy. Language learners should not be
dependent on their teachers to tell them “about” the TL or “how to use” the TL.

Let’s try to put those two ideas together. Imagine that you are working with novice learners who are about to spend a month in a
country where your TL is spoken. You have one day to prepare them for language learning while they are abroad.

First, what do you think they need to know “about” the language? What would you tell them?

Second, they will be on their own with their language learning while they are there. What advice
would you give them so that they could keep learning autonomously while they are abroad?
Actually, this isn’t an imaginary situation at all. It is based on a real request that came in just this week!

TL = target language (whatever language you teach)

FLED 224 METHODS

MODULE 3
PRESENTATION

Dr. Nur Yigitoglu Aptoula

FLED Program @ Bogazici
[email protected]
METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
“Historical” Methods: Contemporary Methods:

Grammar-Translation Method Communicative Language Teaching

Audio-Lingual Method TPRS / Comprehensible Input
Direct Method Content-Based Instruction
Silent Way Task-Based Language Teaching
Desuggestopedia Participatory Approach
Community Language Learning Postmethod Pedagogy
 METHODS SO FAR
“
▪ What do we remember from
Grammar- these methods?
Translation Method
▪ Any questions from the
videos?
Audio-Lingual
Method

Direct Method
 (Krashen & Terrell, 1983;
NATURAL APPROACH Krashen, 1985)

1 The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis

• The gist: Learning leads only to knowledge; acquisition leads to communication
The Monitor Model

• If we take it too far: Never discuss how the language works?

2 The Natural Order Hypothesis

• The gist: Linguistic features are acquired in a certain order, regardless of instruction
• If we take it too far: Just let learning happen whenever it happens? No sequence?

3 The Monitor Model

• The gist: The “monitor” in the mind focuses on explicit knowledge and inhibits
confident use of the language
• If we take it too far: Only fluency and confidence are important, not accracy?

4 The Input Hypothesis

• The gist: Input should be a little more complex than learners’ current level
• If we take it too far: We can never exactly pin down the next level, so we guess?
i+1
5 The Affective Filter Hypothesis
• The gist: Anxiety gets in the way of effective learning
• If we take it too far: Focus on learners’ emotions over achievements?
 SILENT WAY

DESUGGESTOPEDIA
OR SUGGESTOPEDIA

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING

• Techniques & Principles Ch 5, 6, 7

(Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011)

• Supplemental Videos
 Founded by
SILENT WAY Caleb Gattegno

Teacher resists “The teacher works with the student;

talking at all the student works on the language”

Aims for self-reliance,

self-correction Uses nonverbal systems
(color charts, Cuisinaire rods,
etc.) to convey various sounds,
words, patterns
May be no formal tests –
errors seen as necessary
 SILENT WAY
Fidel Chart for English

Spellings in
categories
by sounds
they make
Students working together on the
spelling chart (Fidel)
 SILENT WAY

▪ The emphasis is on the student’s learning rather than the teacher’s teaching.

▪ In fact, it is not uncommon for the teacher to remain silent for parts of a lesson.

▪ The role of the teacher is to direct students’ focus, facilitate self-reflection and provide verbal and
nonverbal feedback when necessary.

▪ Students are encouraged to speak as much as possible.

▪ The learner needs to discover or create.

▪ It may helps reading skills and dvelop vocabulary knowledge

▪ It may promote interaction between students.

▪ The Silent Way aims for quality rather than quantity. In other words, it may feel like students spend a lot of
time learning the basics of vocabulary and pronunciation rather than progressing quickly through these
topics, but remember that learning a language means developing many skills simultaneously.
Aims to remove psychological
barriers to learning “Indirect positive suggestions” used to
encourage – value student’s sense of
security and confidence

DESUGGESTOPEDIA Founded by
OR SUGGESTOPEDIA Georgi Lozanov

Students often create Makes use of music, games, other fine arts
alternate personas “to reach the subconscious”

Uses receptive and active phases

– flows toward communication Teachers believe “infantilization”
will help students learn like a child
 DESUGGESTOPEDIA
OR SUGGESTOPEDIA
▪ Suggestopedia is a teaching method that was developed in Bulgaria from the 1960s to the
1990s. The method was derived from Suggestology, a medical study of suggestion in
human communications and its role in the development of personality.
▪ People use 5-10% of their mental capacity. In order to make better use of our mental reserves,
limitations need to be desuggested. Students should eliminate the feelings that they cannot be
successful and thus, to help them overcome the barriers to learning. Psychological barriers should
be removed.

▪ The method is developed because of the argument that students naturally face
psychological barriers to learning.

▪ The suggestive atmosphere takes place with soft lights, baroque music, cheerful room
decorations, comfortable seating and dramatic techniques used by the teacher in the
presentation of material.

▪ The teacher is the authority in the classroom. The students will retain information better from
someone in whom they have confidence since they will be more responsive to her
‘desuggesting’ their limitations and suggesting how easy it will be for them to succeed.
 The techniques and materials in Suggestopedia
▪ Organising classroom (background music, comfortable seats, dim lights),

▪ Motivating comments from the teacher,

▪ Peripheral learning (learning by seeing),

▪ Visualisation,

▪ Choosing a new identity

▪ First concert (reading aloud a text with the classical music, listening activities)

▪ Second concert (this time by emphasising content)

▪ Primary activation (reading dialogues in groups and adapt them to emotions such as
reading angrily, amorously etc.)

▪ Secondary activation (focusing learners on communicative activities)

 Formerly known as SAARRD Sequence:
“Counseling-Learning” • Security
• Aggression
• Attention
• Reflection
Record & transcribe • Retention
student-driven dialogues • Discrimination

Native language use – Stages I-V

need bilingual teacher? → More skill
→ More security
→ More independence

COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING

Developed by Charles A. Curran

 COMMUNITY LANGUAGE LEARNING

▪ The CLL method is based on principles that reinforce the communication between learners rather
than the production of ‘correct’ language. As communication requires ease and security, learners’
needs and feelings are addressed with due regard in every aspect of the teaching process.

▪ Learners appreciate the autonomy CLL offers them and thrive on analysing their own
conversations.

▪ CLL works especially well with lower levels who are struggling to produce spoken English.

▪ The class often becomes a real community, not just when using CLL but all of the time. Students
become much more aware of their peers, their strengths and weaknesses and want to work as a
team.

▪ The instructional practices adopted in the CLL method highly emphasize as well as encourage the
aspect of communication among students. Usually, communication in the classroom is generally
promoted through learners’ efforts and materials. That is to say, there are no visible textbook,
prepared lesson plan, or even sometimes defined objectives. Rather, there is a group of learners,
sitting in a circle, who themselves initiate oral communication mostly in the native or the target
language.
LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING

▪ Learners do not necessarily learn what teachers teach

▪ They learn what they are ready to learn, when they are
ready to learn it, if teachers provide the right opportunities,
guidance, environment, and feedback

No more
“sage on the
So what does that mean for the role of the stage”!
teacher and for teacher development?
Discussion Questions

▪ What are your reactions to these methods?

▪ What is the underlying logic of each method? What are they

trying to achieve?

▪ What doesn’t make sense about these methods? Why do they

seem dated? Where do they fall short?

▪ Do you think you could make use of them at all? What

techniques or ideas might influence your teaching?
Discussion: Time warp techniques?

The methods we are learning about this week are sometimes considered "designer" methods in that
they are specifically associated with their founders and have mostly passed out of favor. However, I
think that each of them puts forward some important ideas about learners' needs in the learning
process and suggests intriguing - and sometimes baffling - ways of addressing those needs. They are
more like exotic species that have gone extinct (apologies to their proponents) than evolutionary
ancestors of current approaches, but perhaps some strengths have been lost with those extinctions.

One of those strengths, in my mind, is that these methods focus directly on the students' experience of
learning. They aim to lower anxiety and increase self-reliance among the learners. Did learning about
these methods impact your view of the language learning process or the role of the teacher?

Look at these three methods and identify two or three ways that they seek to enhance the learning
experience and reduce what we call affective (emotional) barriers to learning. Which techniques from
these methods, including those you have already mentioned or others, could you see yourself
incorporating in your classroom, and how?
FLED 224 METHODS

MODULE 4
PRESENTATION

Dr. Nur Yigitoglu Aptoula

FLED Program @ Bogazici
[email protected]
 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR)

• Techniques & Principles Ch 8

(Larsen-Freeman & Anderson, 2011)

• Methods Video Series – TPR

(Bateman & Lago, 2011)
 All commands - Language
Instant evaluation based
forms all based on imperative
on nonverbal response

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR)

Developed by James Asher

Allows for
kinesthetic learning
Long silent period at the beginning
– can be weeks or months

Should be a little “zany”

Method or technique?
 Communicative Methods & Modes

• CLT and Compatible Methods

• Communicative Modes
• Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
 Module 4.1
Communicative Language Teaching
and Compatible Methods
METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
“Historical” Methods: Contemporary Methods:

Grammar-Translation Method Communicative Language Teaching

Audio-Lingual Method TPRS / Comprehensible Input
Direct Method Content-Based Instruction
Silent Way Task-Based Language Teaching
Desuggestopedia Participatory Approach
Community Language Learning Postmethod Pedagogy
CLT-Compatible Approaches

Communicative Language Teaching

TBLT CBI
Content-Based
Task-Based Language Teaching
Instruction

PBI LSP
Service Language for
Project-Based Learning Specific Purposes
Instruction (EAP / ESP)
 Define language as
Communicative communication
competence

• Grammatical Hallmarks of CLT:

• Sociolinguistic ➢ Pairs and small groups
• Discourse ➢ Authentic texts
• Strategic ➢ Emphasis on culture

CLT Many different founders and proponents - review Savignon (1991)

COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING

Input - Krashen
Output - Swain
Interaction - Long
Negotiation of Notional-Functional
Approach
meaning
Define key terms:
Criteria for Communicative Activities

Negotiation of Effort to make sure intended message has been

conveyed
meaning
Feedback Response to message – understand, don’t
understand, confused, reply
(not just teacher evaluation!)

Choice Flexibility in message – not pre-planned dialogues,

but spontaneous interaction

Information gap One interlocutor holds info that other does not have,
and vice versa – real need to send message

Authentic task Procedure, language, and goals resemble real-world

situations
Language forms expanded –
narratives, descriptions Still “natural” approach

Value of teaching through

stories
Developed by Blaine Ray

TPRS
Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling

Stories vary in complexity, form basis

for other activities Students develop the stories –
CLL and Paolo Freire’s
critical pedagogy
 Questions to think about:

▪ How does CLT handle…

▪ The four skills? How do you know
it’s really
▪ Grammar teaching?
CLT?
▪ Error correction?
▪ Classroom interaction?
▪ Native language use?

▪ What really distinguishes CLT from other methods we’ve discussed?

 Proficiency
and Proficiency-Based Instruction

Characteristics of Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction

Proficiency-oriented language instruction is a general framework for organizing
instruction, curriculum, and assessment, rather than a method or a theory. Within this
framework, language learners practice the four modalities (listening, speaking, reading,
and writing) in order to communicate meaningfully, effectively, and creatively in their target
language for real-life purposes.

A proficiency orientation promotes intercultural communication by exploring the mosaic of

language and culture, so that students can communicate appropriately and accurately in
authentic contexts in the foreign language.

Proficiency-based instruction is student-centered and builds upon what students need,

already know, and can do, and it respects diverse learning styles, while encouraging the
development of a wide range of skills and learning strategies.

http://carla.umn.edu/articulation/MNAP_polia.html www.languagetesting.com
ACTFL Guidelines Docs
ACTFL National Standards – the 5 C’s
Interpersonal
▪ Communication Interpretive
Presentational
▪ Cultures

▪ Connections

▪ Comparisons
Common European
▪ Communities Framework of Reference
• At Council of Europe
• At Cambridge ESL
ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines
▪ What do they tell us?
▪ What a given learner can do at a given level in
spontaneous performance
▪ NOT after how long, at what age, or in what context

▪ How are they intended to be used?

▪ Primarily as a basis for assessment
▪ Gives a meaningful way to describe level
▪ Communicates across institutions

▪ How do they work in outcomes-based approaches?

▪ Almost no data on how long it takes to reach each
level
▪ Can be used as targets – also see Performance
Descriptors and Can-Do Statements
ACTFL Global Can-Do Benchmarks

ACTFL (2017): http://www.actfl.org/global_statements

INTERPRETIVE PRESENTATIONAL

Reading Writing

Listening Speaking

INTERPERSONAL

Module 4.2
Communicative Modes
 Communicative Modes
ACTFL Global Standards for Communication
Standards Performance Descriptors
www.actfl.org

Interpretive Presentational Interpersonal

Proficiency
Guidelines Interpersonal
Reading Writing Speaking
Traditional
“4 Skills” Interpersonal
Presentational
Listening Speaking Writing?
 Communicative Modes
CEFR
Common European
Framework of Reference
www.coe.int

Spoken Interaction

Spoken Production

Listening

ILR Reading
Interagency
Language Writing
Roundtable
www.govtilr.org
Reading Writing
Reading Instruction
Listening Speaking
 Reading Instruction
Knowledge of the
world
▪ How does reading really work?
Top
▪ What are the component skills of Down

reading?
Meaning

▪ How can we address learner needs from

Bottom
both directions? Up

Language knowledge
(letters, letter-sound correspondence,
word recognition, chunking

From Anderson (2014) in Apple book

Reading Instruction
▪ “A balanced reading curriculum”:

Intensive vs.
Extensive
Reading as
the core?

Narrative vs.
Expository

From Anderson (2014) in Apple book

Reading Instruction

▪ Fluent Reading
▪ What is it?

▪ Why is it so important?

▪ How do we promote it?

Reading at 200 words per minute
at 70% comprehension
with level-appropriate texts

From Anderson (2014) in Apple book

Reading Instruction

▪ Engaged L2 Reading:
▪ Why is motivation so important in regard to reading?

▪ How can we promote it in learners?

Expectation of reward

MOTIVATION =
Effort required

From Anderson (2014) in Apple book

Reading Instruction
Engaged readers…

▪ Read widely with different purposes

Learning to read
▪ Pleasure, information, to learn something new
vs. Reading to learn
▪ Narrative texts vs. Expository texts

▪ Read fluently and use their cognitive capacity focus on the meaning of what they read
▪ Novice and intermediate: aim for 200 wpm with > 70% comprehension on level-appropriate texts
▪ Work to build speed and automaticity

▪ Develop their comprehension by using what they read “The fourth-grade slump” →
“the intermediate-level slump”
▪ Connect reading to other tasks, communicative modes

▪ Are metacognitively aware as they use a variety of reading strategies

▪ Planning, predicting, monitoring, evaluating

▪ Are motivated readers

▪ Effort balances reward From Anderson (2014) in Apple book
Reading Instruction – Academic Reading
Goals for teaching academic reading:

Word Large
Comprehension
recognition recognition
skills practice
efficiency vocab

Discourse-
Strategic
structure Reading fluency
readers
awareness

Extensive Integrated
reading Motivation content &
opportunities language goals

From Grabe & Stoller (2014) in Apple book

 Reading Writing
Listening Instruction

Listening Speaking
Listening Instruction
▪ Standard Approach:

Preset
Extensive Intensive
Prelistening Questions Language Final Play
Listening Listening
or Task

1st Listen 2nd Listen 3rd Listen

▪ Critique of the standard approach:

▪ Focuses on product but not processes
▪ Emphasizes right answers over “adequate interpretation” (Brown, 1995)

▪ Augmenting the standard approach:

▪ Microlistening
▪ Subskills – listing for gist, listening for key info, inferring words from context
▪ Text analysis – recurring chunks, intonation patterns, turn-taking, linking, patterns of
argument
From Field (2012) in Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching
 More strategies:
Listening Strategies  Planning
 Focusing attention
 Monitoring
Six core skills:
Text
 Evaluation
▪ Listen for details.  Inferencing
▪ Listen selectively.  Elaboration
 Prediction
▪ Listen for global understanding. Task
 Contextualization
▪ Listen for main ideas.
 Reorganizing
▪ Listen and infer.
 Using linguistic and
▪ Listen and predict. learning resources
 Cooperation
Transcript?
 Managing emotions

Vandergrift, L., & Goh, C. (2012). Teaching and learning second language listening:
Metacognition in action. New York, NY: Routledge.
Analyzing Texts for Reading and Listening
▪ Both Reading and Listening:  Reading only:
▪ Length  Font
▪ Lexis – frequency, familiarity, cognates  Visual organization – headers,
paragraphing
▪ Syntactic complexity / formality
 Input enhancement – bold, italics
▪ Organization of information
▪ Genre of the text – description < instruction <  Listening only:
storytelling < opinion-expressing
 Speed of delivery
▪ Number and complexity of elements – number
 Accent of the speaker (familiar?)
of characters, complexity of process described
 Number of speakers?
▪ Content – especially necessary background
knowledge
▪ Visual support One-way communication

▪ Task required based on the text Two-way communication

Reading Writing
Speaking Instruction
Listening Speaking
 Speaking Instruction
▪ What it means to “speak” a language:

WORKING KNOWLEDGE
of grammar, vocabulary, and phonology

From Thornbury (2012) in

Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching
Interpersonal Speaking Spontaneous
At least two-way

Social, academic, &

Initiate, maintain, & work related topics
Formulaic end a conversation
questions
Unexpected
complication

ACTFL Performance Descriptors

 Presentational Speaking Planned
Usually one-way

ACTFL Performance Descriptors

Formulaic language Narrations and

Familiar topics… in descriptions Emerging… well-
present time supported argument
 Strategic Competence

▪ Coping with limited proficiency and miscommunication:

Speaking Instruction
▪ Communicative competence does not require perfect pronunciation
▪ Most learners will never lose their L1 accent
Intelligible ▪ Emphasize features that interfere with intelligibility
Pronunciation
▪ Spoken language differs from written language
▪ Lexicon varies – less formal, more colloquial

Spoken ▪ Syntactic complexity is lower – also includes verbal pauses,

Grammar repetition, etc.

▪ Most languages have many varieties

▪ Region, social class, age, even gender lead to different language use
Variation ▪ Make principled decisions about which variety – most widely
Regional, Social, intelligible, probably – then expose learners to other varieties
etc.

From Thornbury (2012) in

Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching
 Speaking Instruction
▪ What is fluency?
▪ Speed – 150 words per minute?

▪ Spacing of pauses – placement of pauses

▪ Relies on formulaic language

Possible approaches:
▪ How do we promote fluency? • The situational approach
• The speech act approach
▪ Use activities that drive communication,
• The skills and strategies approach
allow for negotiation of meaning • The genre approach
▪ Learners develop through assisted • The corpus-informed approach
performance (Lantolf, 2000) ->
instructional conversation (van Lier, 1996)

From Thornbury (2012) in

Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching
Speaking Activities
Give the audience
Not just memorized responsibilities – not
dialogues! just the presenters

Picture
Role Plays Presentations
Descriptions

Video/Audio
Interviews Debates
Production

What is the authentic purpose?

How would this take place in the real world?
 Multi-Purpose Zero-Prep Speaking Activities
▪ Concentric Circles / Fluency Circles:
▪ Half of group in inside circle, half of group in outside circle, face each other. Rotate to a new partner
every minute or so. Variations: change topic with each rotation, reduce time for telling same info with
each rotation, report on prior partner’s input then listen to new partner.
▪ Picture Description / Human Frames:
▪ Provide photos with groups of people; students act out the picture. “Audience” speculates about what
is going on. “Actors” let them know if they are right or wrong based on their interpretation.
▪ Telephone:
▪ Students stand in line or circle. Teacher whispers a sentence in first student’s ear. Ss pass the
message around the room to the end. How has it changed? Debrief to find out where it changed and
how.
▪ Speed Friends:
▪ Similar to speed dating. Half class sits down around the room. Other half moves around. Talk to each
“date” for 3 minutes, then switch. Allow time to plan questions and answers and to debrief, possibly
rank “dates”.
▪ Chain Stories:
▪ Create a story as a group. First student comes up with a sentence, then each S after that has to add
one sentence to the story. Variations: Provide words to include in each sentence (draw from hat, etc.)
Reading Writing

Writing Instruction
Listening Speaking
Writing Instruction
Types of writing – mentioned in the ACTFL standards:
• Writing for publication, e.g.
Superior academic articles
• Creative writing, e.g. scripts
• Essays, letters, articles
Advanced • Work plans, meeting notes
• Research papers
• Descriptions
Intermediate • Instructions
• Short reports, articles
• Words or phrases
Novice • Lists ~ Labels
• Simple messages
Influence of Technology
How have computers and the internet affected L2 writing?

▪ CMC communication
▪ synchronous and asynchronous

▪ Multimedia authoring
Changes in:
▪ Corpus-based references • what we write
• how we write
▪ Automated error identification • who reads it
• resources we use
▪ Automated scoring? • how we can assess
writing
▪ Plagiarism detection
 Writing Instruction

▪ Needs analysis for L2 writers

▪ Proficiency: Diagnostic writing assignment, diagnostic grammar quiz

▪ Student backgrounds and interests: Questionnaires

▪ Target situation analysis: Analyze writing types they will need to produce

▪ Syllabus design for L2 writers

▪ Thematic approach – maintain one theme – builds depth and confidence

▪ General approach – focuses on task types and strategies

▪ Disciplinary approach – aligns course goals with needs of academic major or

professional field

From Ferris (2012) in Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching

Process-Oriented Approaches

Response
Writing
Pre- (Draft 1)
Writing Post-
Editing Writing
Revising (Draft 3)
(Draft 2) Evaluation
 Writing Instruction
▪ Designing a Writing Syllabus
▪ Culminating tasks: What tasks do I want my learners to be able to do by the
end of the semester?
▪ Developmental tasks: What smaller tasks do they need to do in preparation?
▪ Ask for each task you assign:
▪ Why is this task important for this group? Objectives:
1) a description of the
▪ What are my objectives for each of these tasks? performance itself;
2) the conditions under which
▪ How many times will they do each one?
the writing will be done;
▪ What sorts of feedback will I provide 3) the level of performance that
on each one, at each stage? will be deemed acceptable
(criteria)
▪ How will I assess each one?
(Weigle, 2014, p. 229)

From Weigle (2014) in the Apple book

 Writing Instruction

▪ Responding to L2 writing
Is it okay to
▪ Aim to promote long-term development
ignore errors?
▪ Balance fluency and accuracy, structure and content

▪ Target some error types, not everything

▪ Use terms and comment types that Ss understand

▪ Justify peer response How much should

you focus on
▪ Give incentives for revision
grammar and vocab?

From Ferris (2012) in Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching

Options for Writing Response
Teacher-student writing
Multiple drafts (often 3) conferences

Written feedback
(in the margins, at the end)

Recorded oral comments

Peer feedback

Coding systems

Student accountability:
Worksheets, checklists Mini-lesson on particular
grammar points
Assessment in Different Modes

What are our options for assessment in each mode?

How do we make good assessment decisions in the classroom?

Receptive Skills Productive Skills

Reading Speaking
Listening Writing
 Assessment in Different Modes
Linking Assessment to Learning

Learning • Students
will be Performance verb
Objectives able to …
Linguistic target

Classroom • Actual Not just

Activities activities quizzes and tests!

• Performance > rubric

• Completed task
• Self-evaluation
• Evidence
• Observation &
Assessment CAN DO checklist, etc.
objective
Assessment in Different Modes
Designing Assessments
Decisions about Item Types and Prompts Decisions about Scoring Performances

Selected-response Formats
Checklist Rating Scale

Constructed-response Formats
Brief Performance-
Rubric
constructed based
response assessment Holistic Analytic

Grading is another story!

Assessing Speaking

Rating scale

Analytic rubric

Holistic rating
 Assessment in Different Modes
Alternative Forms of Assessment
All kinds of assessment

Teacher
Portfolios Teacher Self- Feedback
• Ongoing Observations Assessment • How will you
collection of • Planning • Journals, logs, give it?
performances • On what
performance inventories aspects?
• Needs clear • Keeping • Raise • Who will give
criteria records awareness, feedback?
autonomy • When will you
give it?
Richards & Lockhart (1996) Ch 7 Module 4.3
Interaction in the Communicative
Classroom
What does a language classroom look like?

source

source

source
 Managing the Classroom
▪ Time and space
▪ What are your physical surroundings?
▪ What are your resources?
▪ What are your constraints?

▪ Engagement
▪ How do your learners feel?
▪ How do you manage the classroom atmosphere?

▪ Participation
▪ Are your learners taking fully advantage of the learning opportunity?
▪ How do you want your learners to participate?
▪ Do they know what “good participation” is for you?

From Wright (2012) in Cambridge Guide to Pedagogy & Practice in L2 Teaching

Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
▪ Teachers interact with students
▪ Action zone

▪ Types of interaction

▪ Students interact with the teacher and each other

▪ Grouping arrangements
Interactional Competence
▪ Interactional patterns
Knowing…
▪ Interactional competence
• Etiquette of classroom interaction
• Rules for individual and collaborative work
• When to ask and answer questions
• How and when to get assistance or
feedback on completing a task
• Appropriate rules for displaying knowledge
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom

“Sage on the
T Stage”

S S S S S

S S S S S

S S S S S

S S S S S
 Interaction in the Communicative Classroom

Whole Class STILL

T “Sage on the
Grouping Stage”

S S S S S

S S S S S
Teacher
Action Zone
S S S S S

S S S S S
 Interaction in the Communicative Classroom

Individual
Work S S S S S

S S S S S

S S S S S
Monitoring
Teacher moves around
S S S S S
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom

Pair Work T

“Think Pair Share”

Who chooses pairs? S S S S S

Do partners have
different roles? S S S S S
What communicative
tasks promote
interaction in pairs? S S S S S

AVOID VAGUE GOALS: S S S S S

“Turn to your neighbor
and discuss…
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Hallmarks of CLT:
➢ Pairs and small groups
➢ Authentic texts
S S ➢ Emphasis on culture
S S
S
S S
S S S
Group Work
T
S S
S S
S
S
S S S S
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Hallmarks of CLT:
➢ Pairs and small groups
➢ Authentic texts
S S ➢ Emphasis on culture
S S
S
S S
S S S
Group Work
T Teacher
Action Zone
S S
S S
S
S
S S S S
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Jigsaw
Time 1 Activity Time 2
Work on the material together Present or teach the material to peers

S S
S S S S S
S S
S S S S S S
S S S S S
S S
T T
S S S S
S S S S S
S
S S S S
S S S S
Mixed Roles
Same Roles
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom

S S S S S

S S S S S

S S S S S

S S S S S
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom

Reflect:
Students are all
individuals, but…
S S
S S
1 S
S 2
S S What categories
S S
Student do you have in
Types T your head?

S S
S S
4 S
S 3
S S S S Is it good or bad
to have those
categories?
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Which ones are really
Social Task-Oriented
engaged?
S S
S S
1 S
2
S S S
Student S S
Phantom
Types
T
S
S
S S
S Isolated
4 S 3
S S
Alienated S Dependent S
R&L Ch 7: Interaction in the L2 Classroom
Troubleshooting Interaction in the Classroom

• Are you dominating too much? Question patterns and types need to vary more?
• Do you need to guide more – e.g, manage pair/group selection?
You? • Could your task design be more engaging / interactive / goal-oriented / clear?

• Are their learning styles conflicting with the demands of the task?
• Are they distracted? Disoriented? Resistant?
Them? • Are they (not) prepared for the demands of the task – proficiency / maturity?

• Is there a disconnect between your understanding and their understanding of the

objectives and goals?
• Are difficulties snowballing – i.e. Frustration → resistance → more control → more
Both? dependence?

Most challenges are complex and co-constructed.

Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Teacher Inquiry: What is happening in my classroom? Why?
What data can I collect to help me document and understand?

Teacher Reflection Peer Observation Student Input

• Track student • Ask one peer to come in • Whole-class discussion

participation during or form a peer (focus group interview)
class (checklist, field observation group • Interview a sample
notes) • General observation group (3-4 Ss?)
• Record teacher talk notes (field notes) • Informal survey (index
during class (checklist, • Observation scheme cards, “exit ticket”)
audio recording) (chart, categories) • More formal
• Reflective journal after questionnaires
class

Not research (yet), but the data collection resembles

classroom research methods.
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Teacher Inquiry: What is happening in my classroom? Why?
What data can I collect to help me document and understand?

Keep systematic records:

Teacher
Teacher Reflection Teacher Actions: Action Zone

• Track student TL = T Lectures

participation during TQ = T Questions
class (checklist, field
notes) TR = T Responds
• Record teacher talk
during class (checklist,
audio recording) Learner Actions:
• Reflective journal after
class
PR = Pupils respond
PV = Pupils volunteer
S = Silence
What would your
coding scheme include?
Interaction in the Communicative Classroom
Teacher Inquiry: What is happening in my classroom? Why?
What data can I collect to help me document and understand?

More on reflective teaching

and teacher inquiry and
classroom-based research
later in the course!
 Discussion:
Meaningful, Effective, and Creative CLT
These days CLT is more of a category of methods than a method in and of itself, but all of those methods
support and develop authentic communication skills. Based on your experience, your current or hypothetical
learners, and what you have read this week, describe an activity that you think clearly demonstrates a
communicative approach to one of the communicative modes we have discussed. You might begin by
identifying one type of input or one type of output that you want learns to work with.
Your activity should meet the 5 criteria listed in each item if the self-assessment: Is this CLT? (Slide 9) It might
take up an entire class meeting, but it will probably be shorter than that. Remember that we should avoid
teaching the communicative modes in isolation.
Many, many activities can be appropriate for a wide range of ages, contexts, course aims, and so on. In this
discussion post, focus on describing the following components of the activity effectively. The following
components are the same elements that I ask you to include in almost all activity design or lesson plan
assignments. Keep the length under control - just give us a sense of what would happen and why.
● Context: Provide the context. Who are the target learners, what is their age and proficiency level,
what kind of course is this, etc.
● Objectives: List the main objectives of the activity. Objectives can be phrased as, "Students will be
able to..." or just "SWBAT..." You may also use "can-do" statements, as in "I can introduce myself to a peer."
Your objectives should focus on proficiency, not grammatical competence. See the slide summarizing my
acronym: SOAR = Specific, Observable, Achievable, and Relevant.
● Procedure: Explain the procedure. Briefly, what will the students do during the activity? You don't
have to script every word, but do include the main steps.
● Rationale: After that, give us a brief rationale for the activity that explains how it demonstrates the
criteria of a communicative activity. Would it allow for meaningful and effective communication?
FLED 224 METHODS

MODULE 5
PRESENTATION

Dr. Nur Yigitoglu Aptoula

FLED Program @ Bogazici
[email protected]
METHODS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING
“Historical” Methods: Contemporary Methods:

Grammar-Translation Method Communicative Language Teaching

Audio-Lingual Method TPRS / Comprehensible Input
Direct Method Content-Based Instruction
Silent Way Task-Based Language Teaching
Desuggestopedia Participatory Approach
Community Language Learning Postmethod Pedagogy
CLT-Compatible Approaches

Communicative Language Teaching

TBLT CBI
Content-Based
Task-Based Language Teaching
Instruction

PBI LSP
Service Language for
Project-Based Learning Specific Purposes
Instruction (EAP / ESP)
 < Add up features
Language users not Synthetic
one by one
language learners syllabus
Analytic
Teach features as
needed, in context > syllabus
Scope ranges from
a few minutes to a
lengthy project
Task completion is the goal –
not mastering language
Learn in order to communicate features
AND by communicating

Prabhu, Candlin, Nunan, Ellis, etc.

TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING

Focus on Form: Tasks are selected and language

is taught based on thorough
Input enhancement
Input flooding needs analysis
WHAT MAKES A GOOD TASK?
▪ Designing tasks for the classroom:
➢ Each interactant holds a ▪ Real-world implications and applications
different portion of
information ▪ Clear objectives for teacher

▪ Clear goals for students – non-linguistic

➢ Interactants must exchange
& manipulate this info to ▪ Level-appropriate
complete task
▪ Supported (scaffolded) – pre-tasks,
➢ Same or convergent goals breaking into steps

➢ Only one acceptable EXERCISE TASK

outcome • Focus is on • Focus is on
language use meaningful
(Pica, Kanagy, & Falodun, 1993, p. 17,
• Only makes sense communication
cited in Bateman & Lago, 2011)
in a classroom • Makes sense in
the real world
SOME TYPES OF TASKS
• In pairs: A has a picture, chart, menu,
Information gap map, etc. – B needs that info.

• Everyone has the same info, maybe, but

Problem solving they have to find a solution together.

• Same, but they have to make a decision

Decision making together.

• Task involves asking others real

Opinion gap questions about ideas, preferences, etc.

• Group members have different info – like

Jigsaw a multi-directional info gap.
TBLT Task Features
• The primary focus should be on ‘meaning’ (i.e. learners should be
Meaning mainly concerned with encoding and decoding messages, not with
focusing on linguistic form).
• There should be some kind of ‘gap’ (i.e. a need to convey
Gap
information, to express an opinion or to infer meaning).
• Learners should largely rely on their own resources (linguistic and
non-linguistic) in order to complete the activity. That is, learners are
Language not ‘taught’ the language they will need to perform the task, although
they may be able to ‘borrow’ from the input the task provides to
help them perform it.
• There is a clearly defined outcome other than the use of
language (i.e. the language serves as the means for achieving the
Goal outcome, not as an end in its own right). Thus, when performing a
task, learners are not primarily concerned with using language
correctly but rather with achieving the goal stipulated by the task.

Ellis & Shintani (2013, p. 135), as cited in Erlam (2015)

TBLT Task Criteria
Do your tasks RING?

R RELEVANT to real world

I INPUT scaffolds language

N NEGOTIATION of meaning is required

G GOAL is non-linguistic and convergent

This is my acronym, but you can cite Nunan

(2014) or Erlam (2015) or others
 LANGUAGE LEARNING IN TBLT AND CBI
We don’t learn… (Long & Crookes, 1992)

One grammatical • “Where morphosyntax is concerned, research shows that people do not learn
isolated items one at a time, in additive, linear fashion, but as parts of complex
mappings” and “learners rarely, if ever, move from zero to targetlike mastery of new
feature at a time items in one step” (p. 31).

• “Studies of interlanguage development provide no more support for the idea that
One notion or learners acquire one notion or function at a time” (p. 31).
• Maybe “words or collocations” are “learnable separately and completely at one
function at a time time” but we can’t build a syllabus around lexical items (p. 32).

One task • Instead, “tasks provide a vehicle for the presentation of appropriate target language
samples to learners—input which they will inevitably reshape via application of
general cognitive processing capacities—and for the delivery of comprehension
at a time and production opportunities” (p. 43)

The definitions of task and task type used by Long and Crookes
always focus on something that is done, not something that is said. (p. 43)
NCSSFL-ACTFL CAN-DO STATEMENTS

Use these to
inspire your
task designs

They are designed

to focus on
communication,
not linguistic forms

NCSSFL-ACTFL (2017) https://www.actfl.org/publications/guidelines-and-manuals/ncssfl-actfl-can-do-statements

Technology for Task‐based Language Teaching
González-Lloret (2017)

▪ the approach to curriculum design known as task‐based language

teaching (TBLT) is ideal for informing and fully realizing the potential of
technological innovations for language learning

▪ Adding technology in a curriculum brings about a whole new set of

real‐world tasks which in and of themselves should become target tasks
and part of the curriculum.

▪ Second, the relationships of technology and tasks to a full curriculum

must be articulated clearly. Technology must become part of the full
programmatic cycle that shapes a TBLT curriculum, from needs analysis
all the way to explicit learning outcomes for assessment and evaluation.
Think about this and prepare for next week:
LEARNING FROM THE TBLT VIDEO
▪ What is the task?
▪ Inviting someone to an event (e.g., a Valentine’s Day dance)

Scaffolding ▪ How does she scaffold the task and control the complexity?
▪ Contextualizes it in the real world – a real upcoming event

Accuracy ▪ Creates a series of smaller activities that build up to the main task

▪ Controls complexity (reduces cognitive load) by pre-selecting the

events, defining whether Ss accept or reject role, limiting time, etc..
Strategies ▪ How does she manage the task to build communicative
competence?
Local norms ▪ Comments on cultural practices and local norms

▪ Emphasizes pragmatic skills – what do you do when rejected?

▪ Accepts imperfect language that fulfills the task

▪ Teaches Ss (or reminds them of) strategies for completing activities

 Discussion is on forum:
In this module, we have looked at multiple definitions for tasks, features of activities that do and do not qualify as tasks, various types of tasks, ways of sequencing instruction based on tasks, and constructing technology-
mediated tasks. Gonzalez-Lloret (2017), the most recent of the sources, provides what I think is the clearest definition of a task:

Tasks are goal‐oriented and should be as authentic as possible, incorporating real contextualized language with application outside of the activity itself. Second, the learner is considered to have succeeded on a task if he
or she succeeds in doing the task and achieving something with the language rather than by mastering a particular linguistic piece. This idea of doing something with the language, rather than simply knowing something
about the language, is an essential principle of TBLT. (p. 235)

For this discussion thread, you are going to describe tasks and write rationales for tasks - but the trick is that you are going to describe a task that you have used or want to use and then write the rationale for someone
else’s task.

In your main post:

Describe a technology-mediated task.. In your description, explain the following:

● The main task

● The objectives - including the primary communicative mode(s)

● The goals for the learners

● The input and materials

● The pre-task activities that scaffold the task●

The outcomes that will show the learners have achieved the task

In your reply to a peer’s post:

▪ Choose a peer’s task design. Write a rationale for it that explains how it meets the criteria for a task. Use the RING acronym from the instructor presentation. Also look at the criteria on p. 10 of Erlam (2015).

▪ If all of the main posts already have their rationales when you are ready to write your reply post, you can respond to one of the existing threads and discuss how you might extend from this task into a related task
that would develop other communicative modes.