TASK BASED by LANGUAGE TEACHING
Introduction
The
emerging reality of English as an international language has brought with it
varied implications both for its development and its teaching. The most
important of which is that most communication in English now occurs among L2 of
language pedagogy. Having a larger linguistic repertoire, the English learners
will naturally reflect the characteristics of the linguistic competence of
their L1 and this would be better considered as a natural language transfer
much in the case of code mixing and code switching. The same is true of the
pragmatic and discourse competences. Thus the concept of competence holds an
important place within the discussions of English as an international language
pedagogy. This issue, necessitate a
re-examination in the common assumptions of one of the most commonly discussed
English language teaching traditions, namely task based language teaching and
learning. The issues that would be discussed are what is task based in language teaching, what should
be the place of tasks within the curriculum, should tasks be viewed as a center
of the syllabus or as methodological procedures, six types of task based
learning teaching and the task based language teaching framework.
Task Based in Language Teaching
There are many point of views about and
definition of task. Initially the definitions involved a text, piece of work, everyday
activity, job responsibility, or general activity for learners. In L2 teaching
and learning, task is now often viewed as an outcome oriented instructional
segment or as a behavioral framework for research or classroom learning. According
to Ellis, cited in Brown (Brown, 2007
: 50) “task
based in language
teaching is at the very heart of communicative language teaching”. Task activity from Skehan (1998), cited in Brown (Brown, 2007 : 50), drawing
on a number of other writers, put forward five key characteristics of a task :
- meaning is primary;
- there is some communication problem to solve;
- there is some sort of relationship to comparable real world activities;
- task completion has some priority; and
- the assessment of the task is in terms of outcome.
Task based learning teaching makes an
important distinction between target tasks, which students must accomplish
beyond the classroom, and pedagogical tasks, which form the nucleus of the
classroom activity. Target tasks are
unlike the functions of language that are listed in Notional-Functional
Syllabuses; however, they are much more specific and more explicitly related to
classroom instruction. If, for example, “giving personal information” is a
communicative function for language, then an appropriately stated target task
might be “giving personal information in a job interview.” Notice that the task
specifies a context.
Pedagogical tasks include any of a
series of techniques designed ultimately to teach students to perform the
target task; the climactic pedagogical task actually involves students in some
form of simulation of the target itself (through a role play simulation).
The place of task based learning teaching within the
curriculum
A task based curriculum, then,
specifies what a learner needs to do with the English language in terms of
target tasks and organizes a series of pedagogical tasks intended to reach
those goals. In fact, a distinguishing feature of task based curricula is their
insistence on pedagogical soundness in the development and sequencing tasks.
The teacher and curriculum planner are called upon to consider communicative
dimensions such as goal, input from the teacher, interaction, teacher and
learner roles, and assessment.
Tasks be viewed as a center of the syllabus or as
methodological procedures
Task based language teaching is
generally characterized as a development within the communicative approach. It
takes tasks defined in a variety of ways as central elements in syllabus design
and teaching, in other words, task based language teaching advocates the view
that syllabus content might be specified in terms of learning tasks. Thus, the
focus is on the process rather than product. “However processes belong to the
domain of methodology”(Nunan, 1989: 12), cited in Ellis (2006).
The most important characteristics
of a task is its communicative purpose in which the focus is on meaning and form. Communicative approach is meaning approach.
Communicative Language Teaching itself involves different kinds of approach.
There are notional functional, need analysis and task based. Then, task based
is defined as procedural by Prabhu (1984), as process by Breen & Candlin
(1987) andas task based language
teaching itself by Long, Crookes, Nunan (1989), cited in Nunan (2004). However, some researchers, such as Estaire and Zanon (1994 :
13-20), cited in Ellis (2006) distinguished between two main
categories of task; “communication tasks,” in which the learner’s attention is
focused on meaning rather than form, and “enabling tasks,” in which the main
focus is on linguistic aspects (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, function,
and discourse).
Six types of task based learning teaching
- Listing (outcome : completed list or draft mind map).
- Ordering and sorting (outcome : set of information ordered and sorted according to specified criteria).
- Comparing (outcome : could be items appropriately matched or assembled, or the identification of similarities and /or differences).
- Problem solving (outcome : solutions to the problem, which can then be evaluated).
- Sharing personal experiences (outcome: largely social).
- Creative tasks (outcome: end product which can be appreciated by a wider audience).
The task based language
teaching framework
|
Phase
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Examples of
options
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A. Pre-Task
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B. During Task
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C. Post-Task
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The
first phase is “pre-task” and concerns the various activities that teachers and
students can undertake before they start the task, such as whether students are
given time to plan the performance of the task. The second phase, the “during
task” phase, centres around the task itself and affords various instructional options,
including whether students are required to operate under time-pressure or not.
The final phase is “post-task” and involves procedures for following-up on the
task performance. Only the “during task” phase is obligatory in task based teaching. Thus,
minimally, a task based lesson consists of the students just performing a task.
Options selected from the “pre-task” or “post-task” phases are non-obligatory
but, as we will see, can serve a crucial role ensuring that the task
performance is maximally effective for language development.
Conclusion
Task is a piece of classroom work that
involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in
the target language while their attention is focused on meaning and form. Many definitions
emphasize the fact that tasks involve communicative language teaching. We also can see task as structuralist approach. Meaning and form are highly interrelated, and that grammar exists to
enable the language user to express different communicative meanings. Tasks
differ from grammatical exercises in that learners are free to use a range of
language structures to achieve task outcomes while the forms are not specified
in advance.
References
:
Brown, H.D. 2007. Teaching by Principles : An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy
(3rd ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Nunan, D. 2004. Task-Based Language Teaching (1st ed.). Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R. 2006. The Methodology of
Task-Based Teaching. Asian EFL
Journal Volume 8 Number 3 : 20 ,
(Online), (http://www.asian_efl_journal.com/Sept_06_dn.php),
Retrieved on Desember 1, 2011
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