content based task based & participatory approaches ling 306 tefl methodology

CONTENT BASEDTASK BASED

&PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES

LING 306 TEFL METHODOLOGY

CONTENT-BASED, TASK-BASED, AND PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES

CONTENT BASED INSTRUCTION

For years, specialised language courses have included content relevant to a particular profession or academic discipline, e.g., for airline pilots, medical practitioners, lawyers

It integrates the learning of language with the learning of some other content, often academic subject matter – academic subjects provide natural content for language instruction

Motivated “language across the curriculum” movement for native speakers in England

Snow (1991) referred the approach as “a method with many faces”

CONTENT-BASED APPROACH - MODELSLANGUAGE IMMERSION PROGRAMADJUNCT MODELSHELTERED INSTRUCTIONCOMPETENCY-BASED INSTRUCTION

CONTENT BASED APPROACH In a second language environment, it offers

the significant advantage that second language students do not have to postpone their academic study until their language reaches a high level

Competency-based instruction – an effective form of content-based instruction for adult immigrants – offers an opportunity to develop their language skills and vital ‘life-coping’ skills

CONTENT-BASED APPROACH - PHILOSOPHYUses the WHOLE LANGUAGE APPROACH –

calls for language to be regarded holistically rather than by pieces

Claims that students learn best when they are working to understand the meaning of the whole text

Work from top-down – understand the overall text before work on the linguistics forms

CONTENT-BASED APPROACH - PHILOSOPHYWhole language educators provide content-

rich curriculum where language and thinking can be about interesting and significant content (Edelsky, Altweger, and Flores 1991)

Errors are seen as part of learning processEmbraces Vygotsky’s idea about social

nature of learning – learning is best served by collaboration between teacher and students and among students

CONTENT-BASED APPROACHGOALS OF TEACHERS give priority to process over

predetermined linguistic content

ROLES OF TEACHERS Assist learners in understanding subject matter

ROLES OF STUDENTS Study academic subject matters and learn a foreign language

CHARACTERISTICS OF TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS

Integrates the learning of language with the learning of some content. Language objectives are dictated by content. Students are engaged in purposeful use of language

NATURE OF STUDENT-TEACHER/STUDENT-STUDENT INTERACTION

While completing the academic tasks all interaction types are possible

CONTENT-BASED APPROACHFEELINGS OF STUDENTS No principles

VIEWS OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Since the purpose is content, it is easier to master the target language

LANGUAGE AREAS Dictated by texts that are used for content

LANGUAGE SKILLS All 4 skills

ROLE OF STUDENTS’ NATIVE LANGUAGE

No role for native language

EVALUATION Evaluated for the content

TASK-BASED APPROACHA task-based approach aims to provide

learners with a natural context for language use

As learners work to complete a task, they have abundant opportunity to interact Learning can be facilitated by the interaction in

which learners work to correctly understand others and make themselves understood

Learners will have opportunity to acquire language that beyond their current level and use them later

TASK-BASED APPROACHPrabhu (1987) identified 3 types of tasks: an

information-gap activity, an opinion-gap activity, and a reasoning-gap activity (p. 148) An information-gap activity involves the

exchange of information among participants in order to complete a task

An opinion-gap activity requires that students give their personal preferences, feelings, or attitudes in order to complete a task

A reasoning-gap activity requires students to derive some new information by inferring it from information they have been given

TASK-BASED APPROACH Prabhu feels that reasoning-gap tasks work best:

Information-gap tasks often require a single step transfer of information, rather than sustained negotiation

Opinion-gap tasks tend to be rather open-ended

Reasoning-gap tasks encourage a more sustained engagement with meaning, though they are still characterized by a somewhat predictable use of language

TASK-BASED APPROACHGOALS OF TEACHERS Provide learners with a natural

context for language use

ROLES OF TEACHERS Acts as counselors and consultants

ROLES OF STUDENTS Learning language both functionally and linguistically by solving problems with the help of knowledge that students have


Tasks practiced in the classroom have perceived purpose and clear outcome


All interaction types are possible – student-student when completing the task, student-teacher when counseling and consulting

FEELINGS OF STUDENTS Low anxiety and high motivation are vital

TASK-BASED APPROACHVIEWS OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Linguistic and cultural knowledge are of great importance

LANGUAGE AREAS Functional properties of language are stressed

LANGUAGE SKILLS All skills

ROLE OF NATIVE LANGUAGE Without simplifying the target language only foreign language is used

EVALUATION No formal tests but through in class observation and feed back

ERROR CORRECTION Reformulating and recasting what the students have said

TECHNIQUES Information, opinion and reasoning gap

PARTICIPATORY APPROACH In some ways the participatory approach is

similar to the content approach - It begins with content that is meaningful to the

students Any forms that are worked upon emerge from that

contentDifference – the nature of the content

It is not the content of subject matter texts, but rather content that is based on issues of concern to studen

PARTICIPATORY APPROACH - PHILOSOPHY

What happens in the classroom should be connected with what happens outside that has relevance to the students Education is most effective when it is experience-

centred, when it relates to students’ real needs A goal of the participatory approach is for students

to be evaluating their own learning to increasingly direct it themselves

Students are motivated by their personal involvement

Teachers are co-learners, asking questions of the students, who are the experts on their own lives

PARTICIPATORY APPROACH - PHILOSOPHY

The curriculum is not a predetermined product, but the result of an ongoing context-specific problem-posing process Students can create their own materials, which, in

turn, can become texts for other students Focus on linguistic form occurs within a focus on

content Language skills are taught in service of action for

change, rather than in isolation When knowledge is jointly constructed, it becomes a

tool to help students find voice and by finding their voices, students can act in the world

PARTICIPATORY APPROACH GOALS OF TEACHERS Expose language learners to the

target language through issues of concern to students

ROLES OF TEACHERS Conducts the flow of the lesson

ROLES OF STUDENTS Active participants


Content is determined by learners’ social, cultural and historical background


All types can be observed

FEELINGS OF STUDENTS Motivated by their personal involvement

VIEW OF LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Both go hand in hand

PARTICIPATORY APPROACHLANGUAGE AREAS Classroom experience and

the outside world should be connected

LANGUAGE SKILLS All skills

ROLE OF NATIVE LANGUAGE No need for mother tongue

EVALUATION No formal tests but students are evaluated in ongoing way in the classroom

ERROR CORRECTION Self-correction

TECHNIQUES Discussions, debates, and problems posed by the teacher

content based task based & participatory approaches ling 306 tefl methodology

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