methodolog in learning kit

8/10/2019 Methodolog in Learning Kit

1/77

Methodologyin Language Learning

T-kit


2/77

Methodologyin language learning

T-Kit

Coordination T-kit series:

Silvi o Martinelli

Editors of this T-kit:Anne Dussap, Phi lip Curran

Authors of this T-kit: (see al so l ast pa ge) Phil ip Cur ranSandrine DeguentSian Wi lli ams Lun dHeather Mi lettoCarla Van der Straeten

Other contributorsJohn OReganJohn Waterm ann

Editorial CommitteeBernard Abrignani

In sti tu t Na ti ona l d e la Jeun esse et de lEdu cati on Popul ai re

Elisabeth HardtEurop ean Federat ion for Intercultural Learni ng

Esth er HookwayLin gua Franca

Carol-Ann M orrisEuropean Youth Foru m

Heather RoyWorld Associati on of Gi rl Gui des and Gir l Scouts

SecretariatSabine Van M igem (Admi ni stra tive suppor t) Genevieve Woods (Librarian)

Cover Page and Spiffy Character

The Big Famil y

A special thank is also due to:Patrick Penni nckx for having co-ordinatedthe launch of T-kit series, provided continuoussupport and ensured the link wi th the otherprojects of the Partnership Agreement.Anne Cosgrove and Lena Kalibataite for th econtribu tion given in t he rst phase of theproject.

All the publ ishers and auth ors that havegiven permission to reproduce theircopyrighted material.

Last, but not least, all t he people that i ndif ferent capacit ies, at di fferent momentsand i n di fferent ways have contri but ed tomake all t hi s possibl e!

European Youth Centre Strasbourg30 Rue Pierre de CoubertinF-67000 Strasbourg, France

Tel: +33-3-8841 2300 Fax: +33-3-8841 2777

European Yout h Centre BudapestZivatar ucta 1-3

H-1024 Budapest, HungaryTel: +36-1-2124078 Fax: +36-1-2124076

Council of EuropeDirectorate of Youth and Sport

European CommissionDG Education and Culture

Unit D5: Youth Policy and Programme

Rue de la Loi, 200B-1049 Brussels, Belgium

Tel: +32-2-295 1100 Fax: +32-2-299 4158


3/77


T-Kit

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7

1. Reections on language learning ................................................................................. 9

1.1 Language learning and language teaching ....................................................................... 10

1.2 Roles of learners and facilitators ....................................................................................... 13

1.3 What are learning styles? ....................................................................................................15

1.4 Correction of error s ............................................................................................................ 16

2. Task-Based Learning ......................................................................................................... 21

2.1 Intr oduction and clari cation of terms ............................................................................. 21

2.2 Task-Based Language Learning ......................................................................................... 21

2.2.1 Backgroun d t o Task-Based Lan guage Lear ni ng .......................................................... 212.2.2 Task-Based La ngu age Lear ni ng ................................................................................... 222.2.3 Task- Based m ethod ology .............................................................................................. 232.2.4 Lan guage abi li ty and learn in g styles .......................................................................... 27

2.3 Factors to consider ............................................................................................................. 27

2.3.1 L ear ners prole ............................................................................................................ 272.3.2 N egoti ati ng the course content ..................................................................................... 282.3.3 Locati on of cour se an d r esour ces avai labl e ................................................................. 282.3.4 The in tercultu ral di mension ......................................................................................... 28

2.4 Concrete example of a task: Preparing a meal ................................................................. 30

3. Examples of Task-Based Learning ............................................................................... 33

3.1 Task from No M aterials ...................................................................................................... 33

3.2 Exploi tation of a photograph ............................................................................................. 35

3.3 Exploi tation of a newspaper arti cle ................................................................................... 44

4. Selecting and using materials ...................................................................................... 55

4.1 General considerations ...................................................................................................... 55

4.2 Various sources of materials .............................................................................................. 56

4.2.1 M ateri als from the learn ers .......................................................................................... 564.2.2 M ateri als from television .............................................................................................. 564.2.3 Pi ctures ......................................................................................................................... 574.2.4 O bjects as ma teri al s ..................................................................................................... 574.2.5 Leaets .......................................................................................................................... 584.2.6 Ga mes ........................................................................................................................... 58

4.2.7 Songs an d sound s ......................................................................................................... 584.2.8 Th e locali ty of t he cour se .............................................................................................. 584.2.9 In form ati on technology ................................................................................................ 58


4/77


T-Kit

Contents

5. DIY Section and feedback .............................................................................................. 61

5.1 Introdu ction ........................................................................................................................ 61

5.2 Material ............................................................................................................................... 62

5.3 Blank planning sheet ......................................................................................................... 63

5.4 Materials exploi tation : 101 ways of making the most of w hat you ve got . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . 65

APPENDIX 1: Methodology in language learning T-Kit Evaluation form . . .. . .. 67

APPENDIX 2: References and further reading ............................................................ 69

APPENDIX 3: Feedback to DIY section ........................................................................... 71


5/77


T-Kit

All teachers and learners bring with them aphilosophy of what teaching and learning is.This philosophy is more likely to be implicitlyrather than explicitly held, especially by lear-ners, and so taken for granted. Such phi loso-phies are formed by our own experiences of education and learni ng from th e earli est daysof childhood onwards. We all accept as beingthe norm t hose educational experiences whichare part of our socio-cultural context. Onlywhen we are able to experience other approa-ches, are we able to question and evalu ate ourown.

Pedagogic principles and practice are instilledin trainee teachers and they carry these intothe classroom with them. Very rarely are theroles of teachers and learners examined andquestioned. In spite of efforts to encouragelearner development, learner independenceand even autonomous learning, most class-room situations are sti ll teacher-cent red. Thi sis not a crit icism, simply a reporting of reali ty

from several observational studies. Its notsurprising. Traditional approaches providesecur ity for all concerned. However, th e richestlearning environment will be created byteachers with the range of knowledge andskil ls to vary th eir approach to sui t individualsand speci c groups and cont exts.

It is also difcult to measure language lear-ning qualitatively. Language is not a body of knowledge, a set of facts, which can be me-mori sed and regurgit ated for the purposes of testsand examinations. It i s an in nate human abil ity

and as such organic. It grows and develops infavourable environm ents, shri vels with neglectand i s affected by emot ional factors. There arevarious levels of competencies which can bemeasured bu t each perform ance of languagewil l be different from th e next. Spoken com-petence is the most immediate but also themost fragile and volatile. We all know how arti-culate, erudite and focussed we can be whensit ting in a relaxed group of fr iends and putt ingthe world to rights. But can we do the samein f ront of an audience? Or at a job interview?Or in the courtroom? Or when were tired,unwell, in or ou t of love? Every hum an factoraffects our ability to use even our mothertongue competently and all these factors arecarri ed over in to second language context s.

So, what to do about it? It is paramount t o bearin mind t he aims and pu rposes of any teachingsituation. Why are people learning the language?By and large, most people learn a second andsubsequent languages for one of the followin gbroad purposes:

Work Leisure Social Integration

Academic Pur posesIn the context of European you th work , needswil l probably cover all th ese aspects but wit hless emphasis on academi c pu rposes.

We would guess that many qualied languageteachers started their careers as non-experts.Finding themselves abroad and being askedto teach someone their l anguage they just di dit and enjoyed it ! Sometim es simply wh il eon holiday, in the bar, at the disco any-where! They would be asked How do you say this in your lan guage? Tell m e what your nam e

i s i n ..? What does thi s expr ession mean ? etc. Some of the best teaching and learninghas taken place in such non-formal contexts.

Anoth er level of non-formal learning contextsis where youth workers need to prepare them-selves or others for int ernational work, or whenthey have to go into a situation where theyneed anoth er language to parti cipate in localyouth projects.

Mor eover, th ere wil l always be many l earni ngcontexts wh ere trained teachers are not avail -able, and teaching and learning wi ll be carriedout m uch more natu ralistically. We woul d sug-gest t hat m ost people would manage to teachtheir native language to a willing and moti-vated learner. The purpose of th is T-Kit is togive such non-teachers both t he tools and thecondence to maximise the situation.

Here we would l ike to describe the example of a new tr i-lateral programme involving Sweden-Italy-U K. The programme is called Work Away(in t he UK) and Breakin g Barriers in Swedenand It aly. The project managers in th e UK areth e Princes Trust, a chari table organisation setup in 1976 by Prince Charles to help youngpeople who have not had th e usual pathwaysto follow in life or who have screwed up inone way or another (crim e, dru gs, disastrou s

9

1. Reections on language learning1


6/77


T-Kit

relationships etc). The Scheme is targeted at18-24 year olds at ri sk of being exclu ded from long-term employment . The project identi-fi es such young people locally, provides workexperience pre-departure, a pre-departuretrain ing week (usually r esidenti al); on-arrivaltraining for two weeks; job placements inth ose countri es before retur nin g home wit henhanced employment possibilities. An inte-resting project in its pilot year (1999/2000)and run nin g as a demonstration project.

Edwards Language School i s th e training part-ner in Britain and provides both pre-departu re

training for outgoing UK young people andon-arriv al t raining for in coming people fromSweden and It aly.

During the pre-departure training, there areactivities to raise awareness of the reality of liv ing and working abroad, int ercul tural aware-ness workshops, and language input.

For the language input, native speaker infor-mants in their mid to late 20s were chosenprecisely because they were not trained teachers.These informants were briefed about t heir roleby a qualied and experienced language teacher.They were provided with frameworks for f ourinput sessions, broadly covering t he Waystage level * of language. They h ad tim etabled in putsessions but everyth ing was negotiable. It wasobserved that the learners themselves choseto make these sessions qui te school- li ke, eventhou gh th ey took pl ace in rooms which werenot classroom s. Each was offered a learner leand most of th em used them dili gently and inth e manner of real student s. They asked for,and were provided with , the language they feltthey needed. Punctu ality and attendance wereexcellent.

As the course was residenti al, the in formantsspent social time with participants and soinput and learnin g continued at all tim es.

Although the pre-departure training took placeover only five or six days, with many otherissues to be addressed apart from language,we felt it was an excellent example of howlearning takes place in a non-formal context.Learners needs and interests were paramount;teachers were not authority gures; and fear,which i s th e most negative emot ion for a lan-guage classroom, was totall y absent .

An essential ingredient, when using non-qualied informant s, however, is th e backgroun dpreparation of a professional and experi encedteacher, who prepares worksheets, providesframeworks and suggestions of functionaltasks and is there in the background to mo-ni tor t he learni ng process.

This publication is intended to be the back-ground teacher for the many native speakerin formants or facilit ators who nd themselvescalled upon to teach their own language innon- formal con texts. Section 1.2 on t he rolesof learners and facilitators gives more infor-

mation for furt her reection.

1.1 Language learningand language teaching

A background to modern language learningThe roots of modern language teaching andlearni ng grew and developed in th e twentiethcentury. The century saw travel by land, seaand air become ever more accessible to greaternumbers of people, ini tially in Europe and NorthAmerica but eventually on a global levelencompassing all continents. No longer wasforeign travel the domain of pious pilgrims andmissionaries, intr epid explorers and conquerors,and the rich and leisured who travelled with anentourage of servants. Increasingly, foreigntravel became accessible to the majority inthe developed world. Alongside this, the dis-covery of electricity and the birt h of th e ageof wire-less communication enabled peoples tohave contact with each other, wherever theylived or worked.

In previous centuries only the classical lan-guages of Latin and Greek had been studiedas foreign languages by th e minor ity who hadaccess to formal education. Later, French, whichhad been t he language of th e upper classes in ,for example, Russia and England, was inclu-ded. Native speaker nann ies and teachers wereemployed to tutor children in th eir own home.

In the 20th Century, Europe was the arena fortwo world wars. In addition, and maybe as aresul t, other sociological phenomena took place.Women became more equal ci ti zens, claimi ng

10

1

Waystage level (Threshold level Vantage level) corresponds to a scaling of communication skills in a target foreign languageset u p by t he Modern Language Project fr om t he Council of Europe. The waystage level corresponds to th e basic commu-nication skill s.


7/77


T-Kit

their right to education and suffrage; the needfor peacefu l co-habit ation i nstead of barbaricterritorial batt les became paramount. By the endof the century most countries in Europe haddeveloped democratic systems of governm ent.

Provision of universal basic education becamea reality. Working conditions were improvedalongside social benets for the poor, sick andunderprivileged. By the second h alf of the cen-tury, widespread tr avel for work and leisurebecame the norm. With greater life expectancy,even people in the third-age were able to travelin a way that h ad been denied them i n th eiryouth.

In th e wake of th ese sociological, polit ical andeconomic changes, education policies developedto include modern languages in state schoolcurr icul a. The transit ion of language teachingand learning from classic, dead languages (whichhad been studied as a means to enter highereducation and the professions) to modern vivant languages is set out in th e overvi ew below.

Grammar translation methodIn Europe, the 16th century saw the foundationof gramm ar schools, where pupil s were givena rigorous int roduction to Latin grammar rules,stu dy of declensions and conju gati ons, trans-lation and practice in writ ing model sentences,mainly by using parallel bilingual texts and di a-logue.After a grasp of th e basics of the languagepupi ls went on to study advanced grammar andrhetoric. This discipline was seen as the ne-cessary mental gymnastics to equip pupils withthe mental agili ty for all forms of higher edu-cation. No wonder, then, that when modernlanguages entered th e curriculu m of Europeanschools from the 18th Century onwards they

followed the same method of teaching andlearning.

This grammar-translation approach to mo-dern language teaching remained the only onein use well into the 20th century and is stillprevalent in modi ed forms in m any contextsaround the world. This approach works wellenough when th e purpose of knowledge of th elanguage is to have access to literary texts,whi ch need to be discussed only in m othertongue. However, in th e main, what worked forth e stu dy of a dead l anguage, where no or alinteraction was needed, imposed severe limi-tations for modern language learning. Pupilsacquired a knowledge of the syntax andrhetoric of t he target language and u nti l t he

20th centu ry w ere hardly ever called u pon toactually use it for spoken in teraction. The focusof learning was on reading and writing, withlitt le or no attention given to listening andspeaking. Critics of this method believe thatlearners nish up kn owing about the languagerather than knowing the language itself; inother words, the old argum ent about th eoryand practice.

The direct methodThis method evolved around the end of the19th and beginning of t he 20th centu ries andfollowed on from the ideas of the ReformMovement l ed by French and German l inguistsin th e mid 1800s. The approach also becameknown as the Natural M ethod and its princi-ples were to use only the target language, tospeak slowly and clearly to learners, to seelearni ng as th e four ski ll s of listening, speak-ing, reading and writing; language should beheard rst and seen later; grammar rul es weregiven only after practice of them; translationshou ld be avoided.

This method is still widely used today, mostnotably by the worldwide Berlitz Schools. Cri ti cs

of the method say th at it is too limi tin g, boringfor teachers and learners, and can only workwell for those whose learning style exactlymatches th is approach. It also leaves lit tl e spacefor meaningful exchanges, or going off at atangent, whi ch happens all the time in naturallanguage interaction.

The situational approachThis method contains elements of the DirectMethod and evolved from i t. Language is taughtin situations at the stati on, in the restaur ant and so on. New language is drilled orally in

sentence patterns. Vocabulary needed for thesituation is taught and tested. Most modernlanguage textbooks for secondary schools stil lcontain elements of thi s approach. It uses thetried and tested PPP methodology (Presenta-ti on, Practice, Production). The teacher presentsnew language, learners try it out in cont roll edpractice, such as mechanical drills, followedby so-called free production, when learnersproduce th eir own sentences using t he modelinitially presented. This will be the approachand methodology most recognised by teach-ers and learners of modern languages.

The audio lingual methodThis method was developed for military purpo-ses by the USA during World War II. It consists

11

1


8/77


9/77


T-Kit

with the teacher for all facets of the learningprocess. Learner in dependence is encou ragedand successful task achievement the onlyreward.

Topic-Driven approachesWith this approach, the topic is paramount.Learners select (or t he t eacher of fers) a rangeof topi cs which are of int erest and relevant tothem. The language around this topic is provi-ded by th e teacher. This would in clude stru c-tur es and lexis, consideration of style andregister as appropriate. The essence of topic-driven approaches is that they contextualiselanguage. In additi on, if l earners have a choiceof topi cs, learni ng is more moti vated.

Intercultural Language Learning (ICLL)This approach believes that language lear-ning and intercultural learning are integral partsof a whol e. It i s im possibl e to learn a languagethoroughly without being aware of intercul-tural issues. Conversely, it is impossible to beaware of intercultural issues without beingaware of the intrinsic linguistic elements atplay. These ideas are supported by the chicken and egg arguments about concepts and lan-

guage. Does a concept produce the languageor does language spur the concept? It isundoubtedly true that although all humanscome with th e innate power of language, con-cepts are by no means universal. So we cannever assume that wh at I mean by a word thatI use will match what you mean by a wordwhen you use it !

Intercultural language learning explores lan-guage interculturally. The approach involvesexploration of cu ltural concepts, stereotypes,generalisations, assumptions and the murkydepths beneath sur face language. It inv olves

confrontation, and the aim is to clear the airinterculturally so that we can truly live tole-rant ly, contentedly, and constructively in a vive la d i fference Europe!

This T-Kit concentrates on the latter threeapproaches, as they are the most appropriatefor non -formal contexts. However, as wit h allapproaches to teaching and learning, thesehave grown organically from those that havegone before. The emphasis is on the learnerand learning, rather than the teacher andteaching. Thu s, we are able to go forw ard in tothe 21st century using the skills and know-ledge of past centuries, choosing eclecticallyth e approaches most suit able for our time andplace.

1.2 Roles of learnersand facilitators

This section wil l consider th e roles of t eachersand learners and how each side of the teach-ing/learning equation may need to examineand re-evaluate their roles and behaviourin order t o maximi se learning opportuni ties.This is particularly relevant in the context of non-formal education.

Dur ing the Seminar on ICL in Language Learn-ing held in Strasbourg in November 1998 thi ssubject was examined and four broad class-room cultures were dened. These were theul tra-didactic, didactic, learner-centred, ultr a-in form al. Pages 47-49 in th e Report [CEJ/TCICLL (98) 2] of the Workshop summarise theactivities and the chart below describes themain featu res of fou r classroom cult ures.

13

1

Classroom 1: Ultra-didactic

Forma l classroo m layout ; auth oritarian tea cher,strict hierarchical system, no opportunity forlearner initiatives; learners as empty-vessels;tea cher as source of a ll know ledge ; passive lear-nersessential ; all pow er resides with the tea cher.

Classroom 2: Didactic

Tea cher-centred classroom layo ut ; tea cher incont rol ; lip-service only to lea rner participa tion ;fa irly rigid hierarchical system ; cont rol lies w iththe t eacher ; passive lea rners preferred.

Classroom 3: Learner-centred

Task-ba sed learning ; classroo m layout exible tea cher to set up classroom a ccording t o t heta sk in hand ; learners encouraged t o w ork col-labora t ive ly ; learners encourag ed to nd outfor themselves rst a nd use the tea cher as a na larb iter ; varied activities to suit a ll learning styles;active learners preferred ; relaxed hierarchicalsystem.

Classroom 4: Ultra-informal

Haphazard approach ; anything go es; teacher asfellow -sufferer in life ; lea rners usually dicta teclassroo m practice ; tea cher needs studen ts to

boost ow n morale ; a ffec ted f r iendships ; nohierarchical systems; anarchy rules OK?!


10/77


T-Kit

The classroom cu lture that is requi red for thecontext of non-formal education necessit atesa collaborative approach to teaching and lear-ning. The teacher has the role of facilitator hel-ping and encouraging learning to happen. He/shewill not feel that learning can only happen asand when speci c items are taught .

Learners, too, must acknowledge that theirsis the more active role; they have to do thelearni ng! They need to be aware of their own

learning style and be willing to adapt andexpand th eir l earni ng strategies.

There are as many teaching styles as thereare teachers and likewise as many learningstyles as there are learners! The most impor tantresource that t eachers and learners bri ng in toth e language learni ng environ ment i s th em-selves. From now onwards we shall refer tofacilitators and learners as this best describestheir roles in ou r context.

14

1

The Facilitators Role

To ra ise a w a reness of d ifferent lea rningstyles

To supply accura te a nd a ppropriate m od -els of the langua ge as needed for theactivities a nd t a sks in ha nd

To en courag e learners to ad opt ad ven-turous learn ing st ra teg ies

To he lp crea t e a go od learn ing envi-ronment , w ithout fea r o r inh ib i t ion

To mo nitor learners use o f t he lang ua gean d correct errors w hen a ppropriat e

To be po sit ive and en courag ing a bo utout comes an d see al l outcomes as suc-cesses

To see lea rning a s a colla bo rat ive processw i t h c o n s t a n t n e g o t i a t i o n b e t w e e nfac ilit a tors and learners to d e ne a imsand w orking methods

The Learners Role

To be come a w a re of learning styles an dbe w illing t o try new lea rning strate gies

To b e a n adventurous learne r, w illing tota ke risks, be a go od guesser , and ta keevery oppo rtunity to learn, using the fa cil-itator an d a l l ot her sources availab le.

To w ork both independent ly and col-labo ra t ive ly to ach ieve good lang uag eand task ou tcomes

To mo nitor their ow n a nd oth ers lan-gua ge progress and b ecome aw are ofcommon errors

To keep records of learning a nd review t h e m co n st a n t l y

To a cknow ledge their act ive role a sle a r n e r a n d b e w illin g t o n e g o t i a t ea ims and working methods wi th thefaci l i tator

Roles of facilitat ors and learners mig ht b e considered as follow s:


11/77


T-Kit

1.3 What are learningstyles?

Learning styles are partly innate and partlylearnt . We are all born w it h abil it ies and apti-tu des and then w e are exposed to educati onin all its forms, at home, in society, in formaleducation and in non-formal education. Thebiggest in uences wil l probably be hom e andformal education. In the family we are pat-

terned into the childhood role assigned to us eld est youn gest only late dif cult wi lfu l beau ti fu l ugly spor ti ng gi fted lazyand soon. In school we imbi be the learni ng norm s of our cultural context. We will learn to respect,obey, fear, hate, question or rebel against autho-rity. Authority comes in the form of t eachers andSchool hierarchies. During these formativeyears we will learn to be more or less com-petitive; to think in terms of success and fai-lure; to experience fear in the classroom; toknow wh at we can and cant do; to accept ourlimitations; to try to reach our potential; toenjoy or hate tests and exams (depending onour ability to do well or badly in them!) tolearn h ow to cheat the system; to avoid doingthi ngs we dislike or nd di fcult ; to shin e and

be a star; to work with or against our peers thisis the process of formal education. The roots of the word education seem so often to be forgot-ten. They are the Latin ex and ducare whichmeans to lead ou t not to cram in!

When we nish with this stage of life, as wereach of cial adulthood, we can take control of what and how we learn. Non-formal learningcontexts provide us with opportun iti es for li fe-lon g l earning. Long ago, Freire (The Pedagogyof the Oppressed 1972) spoke about de-

schooling . His seminal work still has value. Amor e recent seri es of essays on these th emescan be foun d in Power, Pedagogy and Practice(ed. Hodge and Wh it ing, 1996). But th e mes-sage is optimistic we can empower our selvesas learners, take responsibility and stop bla-mi ng other people, systems and circum stancesfor our lacks.

The graphic below shows the Learning StyleSpectrum with an explanation of styles. We canreect on w here we t along that line at themoment and know th at the best l earner is onewho converges towards the middle, combiningabili ties to learn studi ally with abili ties to learnexperientially, and the exibili ty to adapt styleto situ ation.

15

1

From this we can perhaps draw up a list of dos and donts for facilitators and learners innon-formal contexts. We have indicated who

we think these dos and donts are for, using L forthe Learner; F for the Facilitator. Most of the timethey apply to both sides of the learning equation.

DO: Acknow ledge your role in t he

learning a dvent ure (L &F)

See your role as expedit ion guide and leader or the personw h o h a s t h e language map (F)

Be w ill ing to experiment w ithnew learning strat eg ies (L &F)

Work as a t ea m, using ea chpersons strengths and helpingthe m w ith th eir we a knesses (L &F)

Encourag e your leaderto g ive of the ir best (L)

Recognise t hat everyone lea rnsdifferen tly at diffe rent ra te s (L &F)

Be patient a nd let learningha ppen ! (L &F)

Enjoy the a dvent ure ! (L &F)

DONT:

Put previous negativelearning experiences in you rrucksack w hen yo u packfo r this journey ! (L)

Think t ea chersa nd lea rners (L &F)

Blame t he fa cil ita torif you dont lea rn ! (L)

Blame yo urselfif you get i t w rong ! (L &F)

Be competi t ive abo uta chieveme nt s (L &F)

Fee l supe rior or infe rior ! (L &F)

Pan ic a nd g ive up ! (L &F)


12/77


T-Kit

Obviou sly, those are th e two extremes and th ebest learner, of languages or anything else, isth e one who can experim ent wit h styles from

both ends of the spectrum and reach a stylesomewhere in the middle to maximise theirlearning.

1.4 Errors!

Accuracy an d uen cy in spoken language Most learning situations (that is, any contextwith teachers and learners) include a clear con-cept of errors and error-correction. At it s mostextreme errors can be seen as crimes and error-correction as punishment !

Teachers are trained to monitor l earni ng andapply correctional procedures. Teachers know,learners dont so th ey make mistakes and haveto be corrected! Error correction in languagelearning has a long history of debate withclearly dened and ju stied pedagogical r ea-sons for one methodology or another. How-ever, for th e purposes of th is publ ication, lets

create our own approach to errors and correc-tions. (See also Bartram & Walton 1991) forfu rth er comm onsense procedures.

Error s will always occur in l anguage learni ng.Learning is done by trial and error. You trysomething, if it achieves the outcome you n eed,it is considered correct and i f i t doesnt, its obvi -ously incorrect! If you ask for a newspaperwhen you need a ticket, you will get a news-paper. You wil l t hen r eali se your mistake andtry to remedy it. If you are lucky, th ere will besomeone around who can tell you that theword you need is ticket. In the process youwil l also have learnt h ow to buy a newspaper!

This tr ial and error approach, being adventu -rous, not being afraid to take ri sks and appearstu pid are essential ingredients for l anguagelearning in a non-formal context. The role of the learner is to behave as above; to learn frommistakes made; to share this learning withothers; to m onitor their own and oth ers mis-takes; and t o enjoy th e adventu re.

The role of a facilitator in error correction isto observe mistakes being made and to correctthem at t he appropriate time and in the appro-priate way. Thats the tricky bit! If the aim of learning is to achieve communication, errorcorrection must keep a low prole and onlybe seen by both sides as a means to negoti atemeaning.

16

1

The Learning Style SpectrumExperiental Studial

Experiential language learners learnbest when they can learn by doing ;can ask ques t ions and ge t qu icka n s w e r s ; a r e n o t re q u ire d t o d i s-play their knowledge in tests andexams ; do no t ha ve to record the i rlearning ; can t ake r isks an d g o a ttheir ow n pace ; are not expected t o

learn grammar ru les or read andw r it e t h e la n g u a g e t o o m uch ; ca npract ise speaking the language asmuch as possible ; are no t t oo w orriedabout their mistakes and achievetheir aims of uency.

Studial language learners learn bestwhen they are presented w ith lan-gua ge in wr i t t en form; a re g ivenrules for everything ; ca n w rite e very-thing dow n to record their learning ;a re g iven reg ular t es t s to conf i rmt h e ir p ro g re ss ; d o n o t n e ed t ospeak the lang uag e in unrehearsed

sit u a t i o ns ; a r e re q u ir e d t o re a dt h e la n g u a g e a n d w r it e a n s w e rs t oques t ions abo ut the text ; a re con-sta ntly corrected a nd achieve theira ims of a ccuracy.


13/77


T-Kit

The facili tator h elped th e learner to negotiatea successful outcome. The learner took risks,carried on until he/she achieved the suc-cessful outcome he/she had in mind. Errorsoccurred on both sides and were dealt withimplicitly . In a learning context, it would pro-bably be benecial to deal w ith th e learnersspecic errors explicitly at a separate ti me. This

can be done by rehearsing conversations inthe form of contextualised role-plays so thatthe learner pre-plans and pre-learns languagenecessary for the exchange. This is pre-emp-tive error correction or avoidance.

If we reect on ou r language learning experi-ences, error correcting by teachers has usuallyoccurred during tests which usually reveal howmuch w e havent learnt during lessons, which

ju st show s us how sil ly we are.

In non-formal contexts learners are encou-raged to monitor and self-correct or peer-correctwh enever t hey can. The best learni ng t akesplace when th e learner i s aware that t he errorhas been made.

When asked, most language learners put cor- rectin g my mi stakes as one of the most impor-tant attri but es for a good teacher. However, if we followed this through, we would do littleelse in li fe!

In any case, wh en the main aim of u sing lan-guage is for spoken commu nication, constantinterruptions to correct errors, great and small,wil l simply create a barrier to commu nication,rather th an facili tate it . Statesmen and spokes-people representing various int ernationalorganisations are often int erviewed i n Englishon radio and television. I am always full of admiration for the uency with which mostof them manage to communicate their mes-sages. If I w anted to be pedantic, I could nderrors in almost every u tt erance, either errorsof pronunciation, stress or usage. However, theonly errors that would need to be dealt withwould be those which create a barrier tocommu nication which are usually very few.Communication of ideas and information isalso a two-sided affair. If you do not want tounderstand, you wont and if you do, youwill! The English saying theres none so d eaf as he who doesnt w ish to hear encapsulates thisphenomenon . (Do you have such a saying inyour language?)

The facilitator in our non-formal contextsshould always correct sensitively, clarifyingmeaning and providing correct forms only asnecessary; monitoring and noting commonerrors and dealing with them in a group at alater stage; monitorin g and not ing errors spe-cic to an ind ividu al and enlisting the help of the group in assisting that learner to use thecorrect forms; fluency will always be para-mount but accuracy must not be neglected.

The im po rt ance of accuracy in w r i t ten language Error correction for written English is diffe-rent. Writi ng is a hi gher form of l anguage anda more advanced, academically learnt ski ll . Allhu man beings use spoken form s of languagebut globally, only a minority achieve literacy,that is the skills to read and write. Writingrequires higher levels of accuracy. It is neces-sary to think of purpose and audience whenwrit in g. Reasons for writ ing are, broadly speak-ing, for

Work Study Pleasure

17

1

Look at t he follow ing dialogue and then reect on t he error- correction L = learner an d F = facilitato r.

L. One pa per plea se.

F. One piece of pa per ? ( Offer ing a shee t o f paper to w r i te on .)

L. No, o ne pa per for Lond on.

F. The Times ? ( Offer ing t he newspaper. )

L. No, no, no.. One pa per go Lond on.

F. Oh ! You nee d a n ap plicat ion formto a pply for a visa t o go to London !

L. Yes, tha nk you !


14/77


T-Kit

Those who write for pleasure are authors,dramatistsand poets, although sometimes thisoverlaps with work!

Work and study purposes are the main rea-sons for writing. Writing tasks around workinclude l ling in forms, applyin g for jobs, wri t-ten communications in th e form of letters,mem os, reports, proposals and, increasingly,all of t hese in e-mail format. Writ ing t asks forstudy include form lling, note taking, sum-mary writ ing, essay wri ting and di ssertations.

The main dif ference between wri tt en and spo-ken communication is that the former requires

a much h igher degree of accuracy to be trulyeffective. Spoken language is ephemeral and,un less it i s recorded and analysed, mistakes inspoken language pass unnot iced mu ch of t hetime. Written language is a permanent formand there in black and white for everyone tosee. You cannot retract the written word, ordeny having said it or use any of the otherdisclaimers wh ich we rely on wh en we simplyspeak.

When communication is spoken th ere is alwaysthe possibility that the hearer got it wrong,or simply misun derstood, and nobody can do

anythin g about i t. That is why, for legal pur -poses, you are asked to put it in wri ting!

18

1

Spoken language

Spontaneous and unrehearsed(unless a pre-plann ed speech or lecture,w hich is usually rea ding a w ritt en fo rmo f la n g u a g e )

Ephem era l (unless recorded ! )

Full of false star ts and uncompletedsenten ces, ha lf-said a llusion s etc so noneed to think and spea k synta ct ical ly

No problems with spell ing an d ha nd-w r it in g !

Meaning conveyed w i th vo ice qua l ity(pi tch, intona tion, volume etc)

If fa ce-to-fa ce, has ad vanta ges of bo dylangua ge, eye-conta ct and ot her paralin-guistic feat ures to a id communication(this is w hy telepho ne conversa tions areusually mo re dif cult)

Needs no specia l mat erials

Betrays emotions

Needs to be a w are of pronunciat ion a ndprosodic fea tures of spoken lang uag e

Written language

Plan ned a nd a ble to be revised before use

A perma nent record (unless destroyed ! )

Needs aw are ness of style, register an drhe tor ica l pa t te rns of w r it t en commu-nication

Can encou nte r problems of spelling

Has the a dd ed d imension of leg ibility ifhandwri t ten

Req uires know ledge o f synta x and i t saccurate use

Needs more t ime and effort to produce

Needs w rit ing ma terials (pen, pa per orcomputer and printer)

Can only be effect ive in a context ofliteracy

Can mask emotions

Som e cont rasting features of spoken and w r i t ten language are show n below :


15/77


T-Kit

A corollary to this table would be to say thatuency is more important in spoken languageand accuracy is paramount in written language,therefore more error-correction is necessaryfor written language. But in non-formal con-texts we certainly do not want th e red-penapproach to correcting written forms of thelanguage.

Formal writ ten comm unications are generallyqui te formu laic. Thi s means that model exam-ples can be adapted for speci c use. Form l-ling is usually standard; lett er-writi ng has cer-tain conventions form s of address, set phrases,closing sentences and salu tati ons and so on and can be learnt as a set of possible sentences.Report writing can also follow a formulaicstru ctur e using headings to divide it int o sec-tions. Minu tes of a meetin g are very formu laicin Engli sh and can be learnt th is way.

The facili tators role shou ld be to produce modelexamples of these standard wri tt en commun i-cation s and th en assist l earners to personaliseth em for their speci c needs.

The planning stage is the most important wh enwriting. At this stage, the facilitator will helpwri ters nd t he language for th eir ideas; helpwith put tin g ideas int o logical order; help wit hsuggestions for overall form, e.g. introduc-tion, main ideas, summary/conclusion/ recom-mendations check spelli ng or encourage useof dict ionaries if available.

The facilitator needs to be around to answerqueries dur ing the drafting stage too in orderto produce immediate assistance.

Then n ally, the facilitator wi ll check th e rstdraft, make suggestions for im provement andensure th at the nal form is accurate, succinctand ready for the reader.

A good way to deal with wr iti ng is to bui ld upa bank of commonly needed writt en commu -ni cations to use as models. This task wi ll belongto th e facilitator, who should rely on their ownnative speaker skills to produce simple andaccurate pieces of writing. In time, theseexamples of good practice will become a use-fu l resource for the learning context concernedand can be added to by subsequent learnersand facilitators.

Inform al types of writ ing do not u sually causeprob lems. These include letters and postcardsto f riends and so on. Here, the rul es of form alwriting simply do not apply as they are justwr i te-as-you speak communications. The reci-pient or reader will forgive you all transgres-sions, which makes them more manageableand pleasurable for the wri ter to produce!

We would add a note about e-mail commu ni-cation. This form of written communicationseems to be liberating us from the conventionsof writing inasmuch as it tolerates inaccura-cies. In its electronic wisdom it allows evenquite formal communications to be deliveredin informal style, without causing offence.

This can only be a good thing and shouldencourage people to wr it e more fr eely. How-ever, it wou ld be a pity t o lose the richn ess of traditional written forms, which are able toin fluence, persuade and inspire the reader.

19

1


16/77


17/77


T-Kit

This section provides the theoretical back-ground to Task-Based Language Learning(TBLL); a framework for TBLL with explana-tions; factors to consider when impl ementingtask-based language learning; and nally, aconcrete example of a task.

It shows how adapted versions of task-basedapproaches to language learning are wellsuit ed to th e non-formal context of learnin g

in the framework of European languageprogrammes. This method relies heavily onlearners involvement and t heir worl d k now-ledge. It places emphasis on the value of theinformation and experiences which partici-pants bring to the language learning sessions.As parti cipants share th eir k nowledge, expe-rience and opinions, they will also be usingtheir existing language, be exposed to newlanguage and develop a variety of strategiesfor improving their language skills.

TBLL also allows the facili tator to use authent ictopic material, whi ch is relevant to th e parti ci-pants needs and encourages th e developmentof skills necessary for the successful comple-tion of real-l ife tasks.

Claricatio n of t erms Linguistic j argon is notoriou s for it s ambigui ty.Different terms mean different things to dif-ferent people. So for clari cation, some of th ekey terms used in this publication are listedbelow, together with an explanation.

Activity Doing something which can beseen as a step towards achieving t he task;one part of the process; work in progress.

Collaborative learning Working togetherand supporting each other to maximiselearning and task outcomes. It is the oppo-site of competiti ve learning wh ere eachlearner is tryi ng to be better than his com-panions.

Language facilitator The person who hasa native speaker competence in the lan-guage being learnt and can provide all th enecessary linguistic input to facilitate theactivi ti es and t ask achi evement.

Learnercentred Describes an approach toclassroom methodology which puts lear-ners needs and interests at th e centre of thelearning programme.

Learning styles/strategies A range of waysof studying and learning, along the spec-trum from experiential to studial. (SeeSection 1.2 Roles of learners and facilita-tors).

Materials Anyth ing wh ich is used to formthe basis of a language learning activity ortask.

Task The end product to a planned process;a completed piece of wor k

Topic Any subject which provides contex-tu alised l anguage learni ng.

2.2 Task-Based LanguageLearning (TBLL)

2.2.1 Backg roun d t o Task-Based

Langu age Learnin g Language acquisition and learning: How isit done?There is no denitive model for learning alanguage or in deed for the acqui sit ion of lan-guage by children. Research has suggested thathuman beings are born with a device whichenables them to organise the language theyare exposed to (their moth er tongue) and formrules which can be used to generate morelanguage and be applied in different situa-tions (LAD: language acquisition device and

Universal Grammar, Chomsky 1965). Yet thereis also research to show that even without th estimuli of exposure to a language, deaf chil-dren develop language which displays simi-lar features of a formal language structure(Goldin-Meadow 1990). This has also beenshown t hrou gh th e study of Pidgin languages languages that are formed by people whohave no common mother tongue but whoneed to commun icate among th emselves andso form another language. The rst intrepidexplorers and international traders relied onpidgin commu nication. When pidgins are usedas a native language by th e next generation,they develop into a Creole language (Bickerton1984) and a new language is formed by peo-ple who were exposed to a language which

21

2. Task-Based Learning (TBL)

2.1 Introductionand clarication of terms

2


18/77


T-Kit

did not di splay a ful l range of stru ctu res. Thi sis known as povert y of stim ulu s (Gleason andRatner 1998). Some theories also relate thecognitive development of children to theirlanguage acquisition. This is anoth er major di f-ference between mother-tongue acquisitionand learning a second language which is usu-ally undertaken after childhood cognitive deve-lopment is compl ete. (Bates 1979, Piaget 1926).

This is a very cursory dip into this area todemonstratet hat noth ing is n ite in languagelearning or acquisition theory. Also, it must

be remembered that we are attempting todevelop ideas for language learning not lan-guage acqui sit ion. It i s th erefore impor tant t obear in m ind the difference between languageacqui sit ion of m oth er tongue and second lan-guage learning later in life. As mentioned inSection 1.1 Language learning and languageteaching, there have also been many th eoriesof language learni ng, which have been re ect-ed in approaches and methodol ogies in l an-guage teachi ng.

Learner-centred approachesLearner-centred approaches draw knowledgefrom the learner, working th rough t heir needsand interests and selecting materials, activi-ti es and t asks accordingly. At all stages, nego-tiation between facilitators and learners isencouraged. Learning is seen as a collabora-tive enterprise. Any approach must considerthe context in w hich it i s to be used and con-sequently th e possibl e reaction of l earners toth e methodology. Are learners going t o acceptthe choice of methodology with open arms?If t he proposed methodology is unfamil iar or

greeted wit h foreboding, facili tators will needto negotiate wit h l earners to ensure that th eyare mot ivated and happy to learn in t hat way.The learners will then be stakeholders in theapproach. Of primary concern th erefore is thatfacilitators take into account the learning envi-ronment they are working in and manage newapproaches sensitively. (See Section 1.2 Rolesof learners and f acil it ators.)

2.2.2 Task-Based Langu age Learnin g

In Task-Based Language Learning (TBLL), lear-ning is fostered throu gh performing a series of

activities as steps towards successful task rea-li sation. The focus is away from learni ng lan-guage it ems in a non-contextu alised vacuumto using language as a vehicle for authentic,real-world needs. By working towards taskreali sation, th e language is used im mediatelyin the real-world context of the learner, ma-ki ng learni ng auth entic. In a TBLL frameworkthe language needed is not pre-selected andgiven to the learners who then practise it butrather it i s drawn fr om th e learners with h elpfrom the facilitator, to meet the demands of th e activ it ies and task.

TBLL relies heavily on learners actively expe-rim enti ng with their store of knowl edge andusing skills of deduction and independentlanguage analysis to exploit the situ ation ful ly.(See Section 2.4 Concrete example of task Preparing a meal.) In this example, the aim of the session is to work together to prepare ameal where everyone can contribute. Bydoing this, a great deal of language will beactivated under the th eme of food. As can beseen by the example, menus have to be dis-cussed, food h as to be bough t and jobs allo-cated. The participants are prepared for thetask, so th at they wil l be aware of the languageth ey need in order to carry it out successful ly.

In thi s approach, motivation for commun ica-tion becomes the primary driv ing force. Itplaces the emphasis on communi cativ e u-ency rather than the hesitancy borne of thepressure in more di dactic approaches to pro-duce unflawed utterances. Exposure to thetarget language should be in a naturallyoccurring context. This means that, if mate-ri als are used, th ey are not prepared especiallyfor the language classroom, but are selec-ted and adapted from authentic sources. (SeeSection 4 Selectin g and u sing m aterials.)

The Task-Based Learning Framework shownbelow has been adapted from the Willi s frame-work (1996). In the adapted framework, thefocus of attention i s upon a n al task. This taskis de ned as an undert aking th at is auth enticto th e needs of th e learners.

In the case of European youth work pro-grammes, these tasks will relate to the workof participants and will reect the tasks andsituations they nd themselves involved in.An explanation of th is framework follows thediagram.

22

2


19/77


T-Kit

23

2

Task-Based Methodology Framework

(Adapted fr om Wi lli s, Jane 199 6 A Framework for Task-Based Learn ing,Oxford : Longman)

DEFINITION OF THE TASK

2.2.3 Task-Based M eth od olo gy

PRE-TASK

Willis suggests that the teacher (faci l i tator)explores th e topic w ith t he group and high lights usefu l w ord s and phr ases . For f a cilita to rs wish-ing to exploit mat erials, it is at this sta ge tha t t hechosen ma terial w ill need t o relat e to t he ta sk.In preparing for the ta sk ful lment the f aci li ta-to r w ill need to consider how the chosen p ieceof mat erial w ill be exploited. Exploring the topicw ith the group could be by exploitat ion of a pic-ture (see Section 3.2), by w a tching a video clip,

(see Section 4) or by looking a t a te xt (see Sec-tion 3.3). The ma terial to be e xploited can b eused for topic content as a springboard or tohighlight useful w ords and phrases. It is up tothe fa cilita tor to de cide how much lang uag e w orkhe/she thinks w ill be nee de d b y the learners buti t is necessary to remember tha t t he purpose ofusing a piece of ma te ria l is as a pre-ta sk lead -in.

e .g . :

ma terial exploita tion : using a picture/text etc.to lead in to the t op ic

brainstorming : making a list ; compa ring idea s;sharing e xperiences

activat ing lan gua ge : elici t ing a nd providingvocabulary

PRE-TASK

TASKPREPARATION

TASKREALISATION

POST-TASK


20/77


T-Kit

24

2

TASK PREPARATION

This ha s been sepa rat ed from th e Pre-Ta sk pha seused by Will is to highlight the importance ofpreparing learners thoroughly, where necessaryrehearsing the ta sk in order to recycle the lan-gua ge a nd fa miliar ise lea rners w ith the contexta s much as po ssible. If the previous stag e involvedbrainsto rming w ords connected w ith the to pic,this sta ge could involve lea rners in a d iscussion oftheir at titudes to it, an d preparing t heir arg umentsfor a deb a te , o r the i r idea s for a l ea e t to draw peoples at tent ion to t he issue

Lea rners prepare ow n input fo r ta sks

e .g .

planning a report

practising role-play

w rit ing a q uest ionna ire to be a dministered

thinking of issues in a deba te

brainstorming n ecessary lan gua ge

a ctivat ing lang uag e : eliciting a nd providing t henecessary lang uag e

PRE-TASK

TASKPREPARATION

TASKREALISATION

POST-TASK


21/77


22/77


T-Kit

26

2

POST TASK

Post-Task options

Language focusWhile t he t ask is being carr ied out , the fa cil ita tor ma y w ish t omake notes on the lang uag e : could any vocabulary be add ed ?Were there a ny structures tha t caused misunderstand ing o rconfusion ? Were there a ny phrases w hich could have b eenexpressed differently? Could any of the language have beenused to b ett er effect e.g. ma de less ab rupt, more persuasive etc.?After the ta sk has been completed , part icipants may w ish tolook at the mat erial ag ain to g ain a bet ter understanding of thelang ua ge : to look a t structures, dif cult/unusual vocab ulary etc.

Feedback and evaluationThe f acilitat or ma y w ish to conduct a fee dba ck session to discussthe success of t he t a sk an d consider sug ge stions fo r improvingit. Participa nts ma y w ish to discuss such issues a s w orking t og e-ther, performing in a g roup, rea ct ions to th e topic, am ount o flang uag e input , thing s they enjoyed doing , things they didntenjoy and so on. Evaluation o f t he t ask wil l provide usefulinformation f or fa cil ita tors wh en planning f urther tasks.

Reection upon task realisation Wa s it useful ?

Was i t enjoyable ?

Language reection , possible fu rther input

Further exploita t ion of ma terial for lang uag e

Error correctio n

Re ection by learners

Peer suggestions: could you explain? could you r epeat?

PRE-TASK

TASKPREPARATION

TASKREALISATION

POST-TASK


23/77


T-Kit

2.2.4 Langu age abilit y and learning styles When asked to use all the language they canmuster to express themselves (Willis 1996),participants who are unfamiliar with this lear-nin g context may not feel comfor table or pro-ductiv e in th is learning environment. This isnot to say that it shou ld be rejected if th is is th ecase, but th at facilit ators must be aware thatthey may need to allow time for adjustment,encouragement and condence building. Someparticipants may feel they are being thrownin at the deep end and may nd they are un ableto swim, especially if they are working withpeople much more condent than th emselves.The psychological dyn amics of th e group wil lhave a great inuence on the success of wor-king groups in thi s respect. If a hesitant parti-cipant is working with a supportive grouphe/she wi ll gain considerable experience evenif h e/she is not ready to fu l l hi s/h er potenti alto th e full. As was stated in the in troducti on,(Section 1.2) these approaches require adven-turous learners, prepared to take risks, so aspiri t of adventu re must be fostered by facil i-tators.

In cases where the part icipant s language leveldoes not enable them to carry out the taskpreparation , adaptations wil l h ave to be madewhere more langu age is fed in as th e sit uati ondemands. In keeping with the ethos of theseapproaches to language learning, however, itmu st be remembered th at the language inputshould be related to the task. A functionalapproach to language learning would ensureth at th e learners are aware of the contextualuse of the language and th at th ey are going touse it for real-world situations. It is essentialthat materials developed on a task-based fr ame-work should include variations to meet theneeds of beginner and lower level learners.

The TBLL approach can be adapted to suitbeginner level language learners as long asfacilitators are aware of learners needs andable to adapt. The language input during thepre-task and t ask preparation stages will haveto be sui tably adapted. At hi s level, there maybe more call from the participants for stop and explain sessions with further examplesof the language structures being used. Thefocus, however, remain s the same: th e overallaim is on the accomplishment of a real-l ife taskand real-l ife activ it ies leadin g to th is.

2.3 Factors to consider

When using TBLL approaches many dif ferentfactors have to be taken into considerationand some of these are explored below.

2.3.1 Learne rs p ro le If you are preparing materials before yourgroup arrives, it is advisable to draw up a likelyprole of the group. Even if the prole is notexact i t wi ll be a framework to start f rom. It ishelpful to aim your materials at a denedgroup and ne tune later as necessary. You wil lrarely be faced with a homogeneous group evenif t he participant s are of th e same nati onality.

Although participants will all be involved inEuropean youth work and may have similarconcerns and interests, their learning back-grounds are likely to have been very d ifferent.It i s important to be aware that there may well

be as many dif ferent learni ng backgroun ds asth ere are participants. Each person wil l comewit h t heir own experiences, feelings and att i-tudes, which are likely to surface during acourse. Some participant s may not be wil lingor u sed to di scussing i ssues. People may h avecome from a learning environment which isvery didacti c where they are not asked to pro-vide the information, but to absorb it. They maynot be used to giving a controversial opinionor exercising self-expression in a mi xed group.An appropriate course of action will need tobe negoti ated if a task speci cally requir ing acertain m ethod is to succeed. Participants maynot want to practise their language with otherparticipants, having been used to giving answersonly to a teacher. Some learners may expect

27

2


24/77


T-Kit

the facilitator to provide all the answers andmay be unused to i nteracting wit h ot her par-ti cipants dur ing language lessons.

A key element in any language course is astrong learning to learn component. This couldinclude discussions and even demonstrationsof dif ferent learning styles and explanations of the methods. This is important in the deve-lopm ent of participants learning strategies and,if employed near the beginning of a course,can ease the way for the introduction of newmethodologies such as task-based learning.

Some factors for facilitators to consider: par-ticipants ages and any special requirements;their r oles in European y outh work; t heir rea-son for learni ng t he language; variou s socialreali ties; how participants are used to learning;their previous language learning experiences;ways of encouraging partici pants to be con -dent and adventu rou s learners. (See 1.2 Rolesof l earners and facili tators).

2.3.2 Negot iatin g cou rse con ten t

An over-riding inu ence in choosing your taskswil l be th e wishes of the participant s. There islittle point in pursuing a course of action if parti cipants are unwil lin g to carry i t out . Theymay each have a different agenda: this willneed to be managed and n egotiated as a group.If participants are asked about th eir expecta-tions, requirements and wishes, a course canbe negotiated wh ich can address most plausi-ble requirements of the participants. In thechoice of methodology, it must be rememberedthat an unfamiliar methodology cannot befoisted upon a group without negotiation.Facilitators may need to adapt decisions andmethodologies accordin g to th e wishes of th egroup and in response to on-going evaluationdur ing a course. If however, the facil itator feelsit necessary to int rodu ce th e parti cipants to anew methodology, this will have to be discussedwi th them. Participants are sometimes surprised,however, at how much they enjoy methodswhi ch were previously unf amiliar to th em.

2.3.3 Location of cour se and resou rces available

The location of th e course wil l inevitably affectth e availabil ity and choice of t asks and m ate-rials. The following points need to be consi-dered: wil l materials to suppor t activi ti es and

tasks be freely available? If not, what can youdo in advance to obtain suit able material? Wil lyou have to adapt or change planned tasks inthis location? Will participants contribute mate-rials? How can you manage with mini malmateri als? How can you use other resources aswell as language-based materials? (See Section4 Selecting and using materials.)

You may be in a situation wh ere you and theparticipants are the only resources available:this might seem a daunting challenge, but isa stimu latin g call for you r resourcefu lness! Incase you nd yourself in such a situation, wehave provided an example to inspire you!. If th ere are few conventi onal teachi ng m aterialsavailable, look within and around you, drawon th e experiences/feelings/observations... etcof t he parti cipants. Once your task has beendecided upon, the materials can be createdfrom what is available: people, geography,buildings and so on. (See Section 3.1 Tasksfrom No Materials).

2.3.4 The in tercult ural dimension

When considering suggestions for languagecourse activities and materials, the desire toincrease participants cultural awareness isparamount. Rather than provide a platformto expound the glories of high culture, it ishoped that by learning the language, partici-pants will also be encouraged to consideraspects of daily livin g which may be differentto wh at they are famili ar with . In th is way, it i shoped to provoke participants self-awarenessand awareness of others, and to examine cer-tain cultural aspects which may have beentaken for granted. Activit ies and tasks shou ld

attempt to challenge pre-conceived stereo-typesand stim ulate enquiry, which it i s hopedwill lead to better mu tual u nderstanding.

The cultural and linguistic make-up of thegroup will also need to be considered. If it isa mono-cultu ral group in the target l anguagecountry, will the intercultural dimension be

ju st tw o way between th e host count ry andcountry of origin? Will there be a micro-inter-cultural dimension between one nationalitywhich is seemingly homogenous? This canbe a very rewarding exercise in self-awarenessamong participants, especially in breakingdown stereotypes: even with in a mono-natio-nal group, people can be asked to consider di f-ferent experiences, lif esty les or social reali ti es

28

2


25/77


T-Kit

and beliefs. Participants will be encouragedto see themselves and those around them asindiv iduals with their own values and b eliefs.Intercultural understanding can be very enri-ching when bonds are formed th rough beliefsand attitudes rather than only national boun-daries. If it is a multi -cultu ral group, there maybe one nationality which is conspicuouslylarger than others; will this have any bearingon activi ti es and group dynamics? Might someparticipants feel exclu ded if t hey are not partof the dominant language sub-group? (Con-sideration of th is may need to be given wh enorganising sub-groups.) Wil l participants them-

selves decide who they form sub-groups with ,or will th e facilitator form t he groups with anintercultural balance? Facilitators may alsoneed to consider any tensions which mayalready exist or arise between nationaliti es andto be aware of possible sensitivities.

The material you nd may not seem to havean intercul tu ral perspective to it , yet you m aybe able to create intercultural tasks from it.Often, something very specic to a certainenvironment can lead very well into compa-risons and reections about th e differences in

experiences. For example even an article abou tsometh ing as seemi ngly banal as dogwalkingmay lead to reections on animals: the waypeople treat th em, peoples att itudes to them,vivisection, animal rights groups, workinganimals and so on. An art icle was recent ly u sedabout a strand of Bill Clintons hair w hi ch wasauctioned for almost 500! As you can ima-gine, th e re ections upon th is can take manypaths. Even shopping receipts picked up off thefloor can lead to tasks on shopping habi ts/foodconsumption/consumerism. Observing the waydifferent countries organise addresses can alsolead to interesting comparisons of peoplesviews of housing and civ ic matt ers.

This Section ends with a concrete example of aworked through task. The task is preparing andeating a meal together. The only materials arethe participants, facilitator and course locali-ty. This means it is a task from no materials.(See also 3.1 Task from No Materials.) At eachstage of the framework there are step-by-stepguidelines indi catin g what to do and how todo it . Successful r eali sati on of thi s task shou ldbe a most enjoyable experience!

29

2


26/77


T-Kit

30

2 Context: with a multicultural group youdecide to prepare a meal andto u se this activit y t o learn t helanguage.

TASK: preparing a meal

2.4 Concrete example of a task

What to do

Discuss:

Po ssible me nu s/dishe s Fo o d like s/d islikes Availab le budg et Available ingredients

Available utensils

How to do it

Expla in specialities from d ifferent count ries ;gather promotional material from diffe-rent s tores ; s tudy special offers; examineava ilab le budget ; check available ingre-dients , utensils , etc ; put toget her a menu.Important lang uag e points: vocabulary of

cooking a nd fo od, numb ers, etc

PRE-TASK

What to do

Select th e menu to be prepared Divide i t into stag es Find out w ha t ea ch person is ab le to do Decide ea ch person s

responsibility Collect money Go shopping

How to do it

Express likes and dislikes ; de cide w ho is tod o w h a t ; d e cid e w h e re t o sh o p ; g o s h o p-ping ; make a list of things to be bought w iththeir prices; check receipts; Importa ntlanguage poin ts : making compar i sons ,neg ot iat ing , decision-ma king, communi-cat ion activities (buying thing s, a sking forinforma tion, prices, et c).

TASK PREPARATION


27/77


T-Kit

31

2 What to do

Cook the mea l Set a nd decora t e the ta b le Resolve a ny disputes Eat and cha t Wash up

How to do it

Decide w here everyone is to s it ; set t le an ydisputes ; ta lk ab out individua l preferences,the role of w omen and men, eat ing ha bitsin different countries, etc ; w rite o ut menus ;Impor tan t l angua ge poin ts : negot ia t ing ,conversat ion g amb its, giving command s,requesting things, prepositions of place etc.

TASK REALISATION

What to do

Comment o n an d discuss the me al and itspreparat ion, human relat ionships, anydisputes tha t ma y have a risen

Excha ng e recipes, etc

Write a let ter to a fr iend describing t heevening, et c

Invent a new (intercultura l ?) recipe ......

How to do it

Share view s, feeling s and sensations; org a-nise a deb at e on different food ha bits (vege-tarian/non-vegeta rian ); put tog ether aninternationa l menu ; wri te an account inthe pas t t ense ; e tc Importa nt lang uag e points: expressing thepas t , expressing subt le t ies, a gree ing an ddisag reeing, etc .

POST-TASK


28/77


29/77


T-Kit

This Section contains furth er concrete examplesof TBLL. Firstly, there is a task from no-mate-rials; secondly, six different tasks generatedfrom one piece of material, a photograph; andth ird ly, six dif ferent tasks using a newspaperarti cle as materi al in put (See also 101 ways of making th e most of w hat you ve got Section5.4.) Each task demonstrates th e exibil ity of TBLL. Focus is always on th e acti vi ti es at eachstage of the framework (the process) withlanguage being elicited and supplied at theappropriate times to facilitate successful taskreali sation (the end produ ct). In th is way, lan-guage used should be aut hent ic to t he needsof the learners, in their quest to realise the task.

The choice of task wi ll be dictated by the prole of parti cipants. Some indications of levelsand group sizes are given as guidelines for

certain t asks, but facili tators will learn to m o-dify and adapt activ iti es and tasks to sui t in di-viduals and groups. TBLL is not prescript iveand most tasks can be adapted for all levels,mixed levels, mono-l ingu al groups and mu lti -lingual grou ps. The essential point is to focuson the task, the activi ties needed to r ealise thetask and provide language as it is needed. A well-chosen piece of material wil l h elp th is process,but tasks from n o-materials are equally valid.(See Section 4 Selecting and u sing m ateri als.)

All th e examples given in th is Section shoul dwork if followed to the letter, but we hopefacilit ators will experiment wi th them, ndin gdifferent activities, cutting out parts whichseem less auth entic to a speci c context andso on. Above all , we hope you wil l enjoy faci-litating TBLL!

33

3. Examples of Task-Based Learning

3

This task demonstrates th at it is possibl e to create meaningfu l activ it ies and tasksusing on ly th e context and people as resources.

Context: Im a language facilitator working wit h a monolingual group in Romania.I h ave no m aterials! What can I do? Youve just arrived; you know noth ing aboutRomania, so ask th e group to produ ce a leaet t o help you whil e youre here!

Materials : None (apart fr om Stationery)Group Size : Any (if very large numbers, divide into working groups of 4/6)Level : Lower levels

Task: Producing a poster with useful information for a rst-time visitor to Romania

3.1 Task from No Materials

Wha t d o yo ur senses tel l you ?What d o w e have to do ? Ident i fythings which might be strang e toa visi tor. How do w e do i t ? Useyour senses an d commo n sense !

In the g roup. Close your eyes andlisten. What can you hea r ? Openyour eyes and compare w ith others( d r a w w h a t y o u h e a r d a n d t h efa cili tato r w ill give the w ords).

Walk around the local i ty and useyour nose ! Wha t smells can youidentify? Find the words fromthe fa cili tato r.

Sta nd st i ll and look around. Iden-t ify ve things w hich mea n h o m e to you (for the visitor ve thingsw hich are n o t home).

PRE-TASK


30/77


T-Kit

34

3

What sha l l w e put on the pos te r?

Selecting, sharing, compa ring , neg ot ia-t ing, deciding (can be done in motherton gue if appropriat e).

What w ill we need to ma ke the poste r?

This pha se should gene rat e lang ua gearound the a reas se lected for the poste rand w ill proba bly include mo des of t rans-port , t imes and prices, w ords for shopsand services, designing a poster layout,spa t ia l lang uag e and so on .

TASK PREPARATION

Ga ther th e ma terials necessary to producethe poster(s). (This shou ld g enera te thelangua ge of stat ionery and craft ma terials)

Produce the poster anddisplay

Comment o n the po ste r

TASK REALISATION

The fa cilita to r loo ks a t t he po ster andta lks a bo ut it s usef ulness. The f a cili-tator s role at this s tage is to be thevisito r and help pa rticipant s to expressth emselves as they present t heir com-p le t e d t a sk . So m e p r a c t ic e o f t h eta rge t l angua ge can occur wi th smal lconversa tions a round the informa tionon t he poster.

In addit ion some exchange oflanguage can take p lace , fo rexample in my language w e sayand in your language you say These exchang es mayident ify linguistic simila rities o rdifferences, for exam ple: a gree-ment of ad ject ives, w ord o rder,use of a rticles, ca pita l let ters an dso on.

POST-TASK

Comments A follow-up task could be for the facilitator to produce a poster for visitors to hi s/her country.

This could be used t o re-enforce the language and encourage fur th er in tercult ural awareness. The same task used wit h intermediate and higher levels would be equally valid. It would

generate more advanced language and lead to more in-depth exchanges in th e target language.It cou ld also be very u seful for mixed level groups.

NB. The task i n Secti on 2.4 Preparin g a meal i s a fu rth er example of a task from noth ing.


31/77


T-Kit

35

4

3.2 Exploitation of a Photograph


32/77


T-Kit

36

3

Material: Copies of th e photograph of th e elderly personOther Material: Old magazines and newspapers; stationeryGroup: Four +Level: Intermediate and Higher

Show par t icipants the phot o a ndask them to brainstorm a ll the w ordstha t come in to the i r heads w henthey look a t the photo someonew rites al l the w ords up in one co-lumn.

The g roup t hen t hinks of a ll theoppos i tes they can to the wordsthey ha ve written someone w ritesthis up in a secon d column.

Make sure the w ords young andold a re clea rly displayed .

PRE-TASK

Task 1 : Prod ucing po st ers fo r an exhib it ion on t he theme of Youth and old age

Divide the group into two sub-groups ( no t accord ing to ages! )a n d l a b e l t h e m e i t h e r o l d o ryoung.

Give the groups a selection of ma-ga z ines and new spapers.

Ask the pa rticipant s to pick out apicture w hich t hey t hink relatesto their topic, i .e . old o r young.

Encourage them to discuss w itheach o ther w hy they ha ve chosenthe pictures.

TASK PREPARATION

Participants put their pictureso n t o a p o s t e r a n d d i sp la y t h eposters.

Half the pa rticipan ts wa lk aroundthe exhibition w hile the o ther ha lf

sta y by th eir posters and explainw hy the y chose the pictures.

After a while, swap the groupsover so t he othe r half has a chance

to w alk around t he exhibition.

TASK REALISATION

The g roup can reect upon t he w ordsthey chose a t the beginning anddiscuss w ha t t hey fe el are prejudices

surrounding the young a nd old : dopeople ha ve any rst-han d experi-ences of th ese prejudices?

POST-TASK

CommentsThis can be adapted to lower levels where the language input would be more in the nature of single items of vocabul ary and sim ple constru ction s.


33/77


T-Kit

37

3

Material: Copies of th e photograph of th e elderly personOther Material: StationeryGroup: Eight +Level: All l evels including m ixed

Either as a w ho le group, or in sma llersub-g roups : Describe th e person inthe pho to ; give him/her a nam e,socia l situa tion, a profession , typica lda ily activities, prefe rred diet e tc.

Write up the suggest ions in noteform fo r everyone to see, or, af t era bo ut 5 10 minutes, ask som eon ein the g roup to make notes on thedescription.

PRE-TASK

Task 2 : Present ing a case histor y of a person t o Social Services

Tell the gro ups tha t this personhas just been referred to SocialServices. He/she ne ed s to be re-

housed in an old peoples home.The co mm unit y he/she is g oing intois differen t f rom t he o ne h e/she isleaving.

In the ir presenta tion, th ey shou ldma ke Social Services a w are o f w ha tw ill be different fo r the personenter ing the new s i tua t ion and

give a ny a dvice o n h elping him/hert o a d a p t .

Each g roup is go ing to ma ke a pre-sent a tio n to Social Services descri-bing this persons situation (wa y oflife, including any religious con-victions, diet etc.).

In th e sub-g roups, participa nt s plantheir presentat ion, making notesonly.

TASK PREPARATION

Groups give t heir presentat ionsto t he rest of t he part icipant s

This could be a rrang ed a s if t herest of the part icipants were acommitt ee from Socia l Services.

TASK REALISATION

CommentsThis could be done with a lower group if more language was provided during the preparationstage: e.g.: he lik es/h e doesnt li ke etc. She is Jewish/Chr isti an/Musli m etc.


34/77


T-Kit

38

3

Material: Copies of the phot ograph of the elderly personOther Material: Role-cards (see task preparation)Group: AnyLevel: Intermediate - Higher

Brainstorm possible housingoptions for this person, assu-ming he/she could no long erlive indepen de ntly.

Make comparisons betweendi ffe ren t count r ies : w hat a re

th e po ssibilities/comm on pra c-t ices for elderly people in thissitua t ion ?

Display th e list of a lterna tives.

PRE-TASK

Task 3 : Role-play : sugg estin g h ousing op tion s fo r th e elderly person

Divide participants into sub-groups one group for eachrole-card. (See role cards below.)

Distribut e t he ro le-cards so tha tthe members of each grouphave t he same roles, e .g. d oc-to rs, social w orkers etc.

Tell the pa rticipant s tha t t heyare go ing to take par t in ameet ing w ith o t her people todecide t he best housing o ptionfor the elderly person.

The g roups who ha ve to g ivean opin ion bra ins torm the

arg uments fo r their case. Eachgroup may wa nt to make notes.

Groups of chairpersons candecide ho w they w ill cha ir themeet ing , and how they wi l lma ke a d ecision. Do t hey ha veany cri teria w hich might affe cttheir decision ? E.g. how w illt h e id e a b e n a n ce d ?

The f a cil ita to r provide s la n-gua ge for persuas ive a rguing .

After 10 15 minut es, sto p th egroups a nd divide the part ici-pa nts into new groups of mixedcharacters.

TASK PREPARATION


35/77


T-Kit

39

3

Each of the groups has theirdiscussion.

The f acilitat or mo nitors, butdoe s not interact at t his sta ge.

TASK REALISATION

Participants come to ge ther intoon e g roup. The cha irpersonscome to the front of the g roupa nd discuss th eir de cisions. Theothers may wish to comment,but t he chair people w ill be ab le

to compa re th eir discussions andthe group can discuss the mainarguments.The f acilitat or g ives feed ba ck onlangua ge used a nd its effective-ness.

POST-TASK

ROLE CARDS

A A

A A

B B

B B

C C

C C

D D

D D

E E

E E

F F

F F

You a rethe chairman

a t a mee t ing o fpeople decidingthe best housing

opt ion for theelderly person.

You a re a relat iveof t he elderly

person w ho thinksth a t h e/she should

come a nd livewith you.

You are a relat iveof the elderly person

w ho thinks tha the/she sho uld rema inin his/her o w n h ou se

but should beprovided w ith

a full-time carer bySocial Services.

You are the elderlypersons doctor.

You th ink th at he/sheshould be put in anold peo ples home,paid fo r par t ly by

Social Services andpartly by th e fa mily.

You are the elderlypersons social

w orker. You t hinkhe /she w ou ldprefer to livealone, with a

part-time carervisiting da ily.

Other?


36/77


T-Kit

40

3

Material: Copies of th e photograph of th e elderly personOther Material: (elderly people to int erview!); station eryGroup: Six +Level: Intermediate - Higher

Show the pa r t icipants the photo ,an d a sk them t o d escribe t he per-son : w hat kind of character do they

think he/she might ha ve ? Wha t kindof life d o t hey t hink he/she mightle a d ?

PRE-TASK

Task 4 : Presenting a sum mary of int erview s w ith elderly people

Ask the pa rticipant s: if you w erego ing to interview this person, w hat

w ould yo u like to a sk him/her ? The pa rticipan ts individua lly inte r-

view some elderly people. If the

course is not taking place in theta rget lang uage country, the inter-views can be done in the loca llanguage , and the presen ta t ionsin the ta rge t l anguag e .

TASK PREPARATION

Participants presenta summary of theirinterviews to the rest

o f t h e g ro u p.

TASK REALISATION Ask the participant s wha t t hey learnt

from this: wha t w ere their react ionsto the e lderly peoples answers?

POST-TASK

Comments Lower level participants can be involved by interviewing people together with someone of a

slightly higher level: the questions could be decided upon together.

If th ere are no elderly people available to be int erviewed, some participants can pl ay th e partof an elderly person: invent t hi ngs the person has done; the ki nd of li fe he/she has led etc.

This can be a fun activity regardless of whether the interviews are carried out with real elderlypeople, especially if th e grou p is creative: they can th ink u p adventu res th e person has had etc.

The task would then be the conducting of interviews, which could be video taped.


37/77


T-Kit

41

3

Material: Copies of th e photograph of th e elderly personOther Material: A Poli ce From to com pleteGroup: Four +Level: Al l

Elicit physica l descript ions of peo plein the group.

With higher levels, make sure thede scriptions a re in-dep th.

PRE-TASK

Task 5 : Givin g a descript ion of a person t o t he police

Give pa rt icipant s the phot o.

Tell pa rticipan ts tha t t his personhas gone missing and they aregoing to have to g ive a de ta i led

descript ion of him/her t o t he

po lice. They cou ld invent m a n-nerisms e.g. t he w ay he/she w alks.

Participan ts w ork in pa irs and ma kenotes a round the photo about

w hat they w ill say to the po lice.

TASK PREPARATION

Part icipan ts w ork in differentpairs.

The Police m a n/w oma n interview sthe person giving the descrip-tion a nd lls in h is/her f orm.

One person has the photo, theot her has the po lice form.

Par t ic ipants swap ro les andpartners, and repeat the inter-view s.

TASK REALISATION

CommentsThis can be extended to a more literarydescript ion of someone they k now, where th ephysical description leads on to a detailedstory of this persons life in narrative form.This can be very interesting when partici-

pants share information about people

methodolog in learning kit

Documents