Write a reflection paper on the task-based teaching by making references to the following points in the articles by Caress (2004) and Littlewood (2004):
a) the ways of applicability and integration of task-based teaching into instruction in the teaching of EFL at various levels of proficiency and with students from different age groups in Turkey and in the teaching of various language skills
b) the possible advantages challenges, difficulties and obstacles in relation to the implementation of the task-based approach to young learners and the ways to cope with them
c) the impact of the implementation of the task-based approach on the rate of learner involvement and the rate and quality of learning in the EFL atmosphere
In a task-based lesson, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson follows certain stages suc as pre-task, planning, report and after task.
ReplyDeleteAdvantages: The students are free of language control rather than practising one pre-selected item. The students have a much more varied exposure to language. It is enjoyable and motivating.
Disadvantages: Task-based learning may not be appropriate as the foundation of a class for beginning students. The major disadvantage for beginning students is that the focus of task-based language learning is on output, when beginning language learners often go through a silent period requiring massive amounts of comprehensible input. Others claim that students are only exposed to certain forms of language, and are being neglected of others, such as discussion or debate.
task based learning is the type of learning which is constructed around the completion of a task. students will start a task and while completing it, they will use the language and at the same time, students will learn the structures.
ReplyDeletein this type of learning, we can use different task which is leading students to use the language to complete a task.
advantages of task based learnming is students will feel free to use the language without any boundaries. this will be more motivating for the students because they will feel the need to use the language to complete the tash with is leading them to the end of the lesson. this will be a varied activity for them.
disadvantages of the task based learning will be the time limitation, we can have trouble in controlling the students, while waiting them to complete their task.
also, as melek said, at the initial levels, this task based learning will not be helpful. because students wont have the language to start and proceed the task necessary to complete the lesson.
Merve Önder
In task-based learning, pre-task phrase, the task cycle, language focus and after task parts are important part of the lesson. In the lesson focus on forms and focus on meaning combined. I think that task-based learning is highly very related with communicative approach. Because both of them try to combine the form with meaning. they both try to provide students with task which can raise their attention to activity and learn the forms while interested with activity. And William littlewood thinks in this way, too. he asks the question 'Is the term task-based approach really useful?' and he answers that it is like communicative approach and he uses 'communication-oriented language teaching' for task-based learning.
ReplyDeleteOne of the advantages of the task-based learning is students' involvement to lessons. Because the more students involve in the classroom activities, the more they can learn. Their attention to lesson can be more than when they just listen to their teachers. other than this, task based approach provide students with wide variety of oppotunities in the classroom. Students can interact with their peers and their students as well. In my opinion, this makes them more involved in the lesson.
While task-based approach has some advatages, it has some disadvantages, too. One of them is, as Caress said, the noise and indisipline in the classroom environment. While students do their tasks, they need to interact with teacher and also students and for this reason it creates noise and it is hard for teacher to accomodate discipline. and other than this, it is time consuming,too. It requires teacher to tell the task, provide all students to understand and do it in an appropriate way. These all requires a lot of time. For these reasons it is hard for teachers to make a task-based lesson but I think that if it can be done it is good way of teaching.
F. Özge Maviş
The articles generally deal with the definition of task and its roles in language pedagogy. Also, they discuss whether it is really the most appropriate term at all for describing the developments in language pedagogy.
ReplyDeleteAccording to its dictionary meaning, task is something done unwillingly or with difficulty. However, nowadays, language teachers are being told by curriculum leaders that this is how they should teach and the publishers almost everywhere are describing their new textbooks as task-based approach, which means that task is a good thing actually, in contrast to its dictionary definition. Yet, still, there are many questions unanswered related to task-based approach. Before looking for answers to these questions, we should look at the definition of task in language learning pedagogy firstly. There are many definitions of task according to the extent to which they insist on communicative purpose as an essential criterion. For some writers, it is an activity that learners engage in to further the process of learning a language. For some writers who do not go so far to define task, it’s realistic language use. And for some writers who go further, it’s the activity where target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose in order to achieve an outcome.
Because of these different perspectives, we should think in terms of dimensions within tasks. The first one is focus on form and focus on meaning. Under this dimension, there are five sections in which students may operate with differing degrees of focus o form and meaning. The continuum goes through focus on meaning from focus on forms or from exercises to tasks or from enabling tasks to communicative tasks. These five sections are; non-communicative learning (substitution exercises), pre-communicative language practice (question and answer), communicative language practice (information gap), structured communication (role-plays), authentic communication (problem solving).
The second dimension is the learners’ active personal involvement with the task, whatever the nature of that task maybe. Actually, this dimension is not specific to language learning and can be applied to other courses. And we should aim at as high a level of task involvement as possible. In that sense, I totally agree with the writer because more involvement brings more motivation and more success.
When we combine these two dimensions, we see that high task involvement and high focus on meaning will bring low focus on form or vice versa. In that situation, we come to conclusion that these dimensions are not properties of tasks themselves; they are properties of the learners as they engage in the tasks. When it comes to how to apply these tasks into methodology, we come across with the hierarchy from module-unit-task, provides the interface with students’ experience. At the classroom interface, to participate effectively in the communication, including vocabulary and grammatical structures, the syllabus suggests a range of elements. These elements could be taught before or after the task.
In that, the sequence could be presentation-practice-production or vice versa. In my opinion, modeling is very important in language learning. Before asking the students to carry out the task, they should be taught how to do.
Conclusively, the task-based approach may arouse enthusiasm in the classroom, because as human beings, we need to make sense of our world. To manage this, we need a more flexible framework of principles and produces. So, instead of sticking to one approach (task-based or communicative approach), we can orient them such as communication oriented language teaching as the writer suggests.
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ReplyDeleteIn order to learn about the task based learning we should learn the definition of it, because if we do not know it we could not understand the articles.
ReplyDeleteTask-based language learning (TBLL), also known as task-based language teaching (TBLT) or task-based instruction (TBI) focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcome (in other words the appropriate completion of tasks) rather than on accuracy of language forms. This makes TBLL especially popular for developing target language fluency and student confidence
there are 6 steps in task based learning. they are:
1. pre- task
2. task
3. planning
4. report
5. analyst
6. practice
these steps are really beneficial for the students. they do not jump from one to another. they go step by step and practices everything that they have learned at the end.
Task-based approach is a learner-centered approach. An the aim of the lesson is not practise and learn a structurewhich is pre-determined by the teacher, but the completion of the task in the class time. Actually this approach teach students how to learn. So they do not be the students who are dependent on the teachers. By exploring and thinking critically they induct the grammar rules. So they gain sef-esteem. They see their real potentials. Also in this approach the learner plays active role in the learning procees.This approach can develops students' different intelligences. For example; if the task is a roleplay it develops their interpersoanal, bodily-and kinesthetic and linguistic intelligences. And we can say that this approach make students motivate for the lesson. Because it includes entertaining activities such as role-play and game. The role of the teacher in this approach is a facilitator. This approach have three stages:
ReplyDeletePre-task
In this pert teacher introduces the task to the students. S/he tells them how to do the task. So in this part using a video which shows the people who do the tack can give the students clear examplw
Task
In this part, the turn is the students. It is wanted from students to complete given task in the given time.
Post Task
In this part another task is given the student. But this is do not take much time and it is generally entertainig suc as roleplays and games.
In task approach students do not only practise some predetermined items as in the PPP, but also they must use all their language sources to induct the grammar rules.It involves students in the lesson. Students learn inductively and by exploring the rules. So this approach can develop both their logic and critical thinking. But this approach cannot be applied in the classrooms where there are low level students and young learners. Because I think that approach needs some language background and cognitive development to make an induction.
As we all know in a task-based lesson, there is a particular task to be completed by the students.Everything in the lesson is related to the main task. The lesson follows this line of course: pre-task, planning, report and after task.
ReplyDeleteThe advantage of it is that students expose to many activities rather than only one. Students have a much more varied exposure to language. It is enjoyable and motivating.
The disadvantage of this approach is that it may not be suitable for every language level. For example if we consider beginners, we can not apply it on them because in their level they just do what is told. They can not give an output seperately. What is more, they do not know how to communicate in that particilar language.
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ReplyDeleteFatma Kaya
ReplyDeleteI think that task based method is appropriate for high levels like advanced students. Because task based learning is mainly based on a task completition, students need to have some knowledge to complete the tasks. In lower levels till elementary level, the students do not have enough knowledge to complete tasks and they need some explanation. This may cause problems in the application of this method with these students.
One of the advantages of task based learning is that the method will be more motivating for students because they are free to use the language while doing the task. This can help them to use language and lower their anxiety based on production.
A task based lesson is simply based on students' completing certain tasks by using language. It is also a inductive learning method and the students are active participants of the lesson. It is an advantage that students have the chance to use the language freely, without limitations. Creativity is an important aspect of learning language and task based lessons help students be creative. One drawback of the task based lesson is that it is hard to apply in beginner level students because they don't have necessary background to use the language in a wide scale.
ReplyDeleteIn task based learning the aim is to complete a task. It comprises of six step: pre- task, task, planning, report, analysis and practice. As I notice in the Littlewood’s article, task based approach resembles to communicative approach. It uses the “communication orianted language teaching”. In our demonstration we also made emphasis on the communication, we encouraged our students to talk by asking them a lot of questions related to task. I think this is really useful for students whose levels above beginner. They are learning by talking and writing. However, we can not expect beginners to talk. They do not have enough input to talk. This is one of the disadvantages of task based. Moreover, task based approach makes emphasis on cooperative learning. This is really important and helps students learn from their peers. While doing something individually some students may feel themselves under pressure and they are not aware of their mistakes. Thanks to group work, they can work without fear and when someone make mistakes the other group member can correct them. However, some students may not like working in groups and they can just sit and watch the other members’ doing something without contribution. Therefore, this is the other disadvantage of task-based. Furhermore, as Caress stated that providing discipline and preventing noise are difficult. To complete the task, students are intractive with their teacher and their group members so this will led to noise. This is the another disadvantage of the task-based.
ReplyDeleteTask-based learning focuses on completing a task rather than the language itself. Even though it is said to be problematic and that is why should not be used on the lower levels, i still think that it can be applied. It is true that task-based learning, in very simple terms, is about making the students do something by giving instructions in the target language. Especially with young learners, there may be problems in terms of comprehension, however, simplified instructions can still be given at lower levels. Yet, i agree that it can be 'more appropriate' to use it in the higher levels. It is, however, a very free way to both teach and to learn a language because it has absolutely no limits. The only thing required is the background knowledge, so the higher the level is, the more creative the works will be. Littlewood (2004) also mentions that task-based learning is much like communicative approach and i couldn't agree more. In my opinion, this method enables students to get more input from the teacher and it is more beneficial in terms of practice. As well as being creative, as Caress (2004) also mentions, it will cause a chaotic and noisy environment, especially in groupwork, since students need to interact with each other and share ideas. It is also time-consuming considering that the teacher needs to give instructions and the students need to pair up/form groups and do the task - it will possibly take more than one class hour. It is beneficial because students are fully active and they get more input, however it may take more than necessary time to teach the realated topic, which may take even less than one class hour. But as a prospective teacher, i would definitely want to execute task-based learning in my own class, since i give communication a great deal of importance.
ReplyDeleteCeren Korkmaz
Task based learning focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language. Applicabilty of it is easy to some degree. If you're teaching to young learners, you should really try to make use of task based learning. If you try to teach children some grammatical rules directly, it is probably unreasonable.They like colouring, cutting, drawing and even drama Teacher should use this feature of children.They will learn the language by doing the activities which they do in their free time time for fun. On the other hand, if you're teaching to adults, you should use some real-life tasks or role-plays. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Of course applying these tasks may be hard sometimes. Beginner students can have difficulties during performing tasks and teacher may feel the need to teach the grammar directly.In terms of students' involvement, task based teaching is a really outstanding way of teaching language. Students use their creativity and they paticipate voluntarily if the task is an interesting one. Students are evaluated according to the outcomes of task, rather than accuracy of language.
ReplyDeleteIt is really hard to use tasked based learning in the class with young learners, because these students can make a lot of noise when they need to do somrthing as a group. Apart from that some of the schools are very crowded in Tukrkey and this may lead to another difficulty. Teacher may not deal with the problems of each group. There may be some misunderstandings among students. They may lose their interest to lesson . Teacher may not even notice this. As the activities are done as a group some of the students may be dominant in the group. Because of that teacher should be careful while constructing groups. It can work with advanced level students better, because they know almost all the grammar structures. Speaking activities can be done for advanced level students to make them more confident while talking in the target language. So far noise and crowded classes mentioned as difficulties. Apart from them there are other reasons. These could be indiscipline, using mother tongue in the group, inexperienced teacher, teachers who do not know the method very well, inadequate pupil involvement and not wanting to talk infront of the class after group work activities. When it comes to student involovement, this is both an advantage and disadvantage in task based learning. Sometimes some students may not be willing to talk in the target language. This may lead only particular students to participate to the lesson. Some of the students may feel safer i n the group. With group activities they can learn better with the help of their friends. In crowded and noisy classes rate of learning decrease.
ReplyDeleteTask based lessons include certain teaching stages and the main purpose of it is to combine form and meaning just like communicative approach. As we all know the main purpose of a language is to be able to communicate and task based learning is quite good at it. It is stiil a debate whether task based is actually cammunicative approach or not, namely we can, maybe, call it as communicative approach as William Littlewood states in his article. With the help of this approach, we see that stusents learn how to learn, they are not dependent on the teacher they can develop themselves on their own.
ReplyDeleteAdvantages: Task based learning helps students to think freely and thus to be creative. They are also encouraged to speak, they can communictae on their own without any problems.Also there is a great interaction among the students because they usually work as pairs or as a group.Students can also be involved in the class actively, this is also an advantage.
When we come to disadvantages, First of all it is really difficult to apply it to the young learners because we may not be able to control the whole class, there may be lots of noise in the class instead of interactions. Another disadvantage is that, task based learning is centered around the output and this may lead to some difficulty since young learners are at the silent period. They are shy and they may not want to talk or interact with others. Also, if the task isn't an intersting for the whole class, it is really difficult to apply it. We should be able to appealto the all of the students at the same time.Also, while some of the students like group or pair works, some of them may not like these works so it is also a difficulty.
Sedef KONUK
ReplyDeletetask based language learning is based on completion of a task. this task is completed by the students step by step. therefore, there are six steps forming the lesson. they are useful in the way they make smooth transitions during the lesson. task based langugae learning is beneficial for all language skills. ıt can be used to practise grammar, writing, speaking, reading and listening. a teacher may make use of various activities based on these skills. moreover, students have the chance to use the language more flexibly. in that way it is motivating. as a disadvantage, task based learning is not suitable for the beginner level. as they don't have enough competence in the language, the tasks may be hard for them. finally, a structure can be taught in a few lesson applying the task based learning while it takes only one hour to teach the structure with deductivde teaching. ın that way, it is time consuming in comparison to deductive teaching.
Task based learning is finding more and more place in textbooks in English Teaching. Depending on our point of view every activity may be classified as tasks. However according to some definitions the activities that are done in order to study a particular grammar rule or activities such as drills, in sum activities that don’t include communication are practice and the others that enables and encourages communication are tasks. Task based learning has a lot of advantages such as kids can use language in order to accomplish another task which is challenging thus motivating and most of the time requiring gaining social skills which is another thing that the children should get besides English learning. However when applying them in the classroom environments especially in Turkey where the task based learning is not fully established, there may be some problems. For example the teachers who are not sufficient in applying the task based activities may have great problems because unlike classical models TBL enables children talk and actively involve in activities such as role plays games contests. Especially in crowded classrooms which are abundant in Turkey there may be some disciplinary problems. The use of mother tongue should be controlled otherwise it can inhibit the use of target language in activities. The children should be motivated to involve in the activities and the activities should be neither too simple nor too hard in order to prevent off task activities. There may be some problems in beginner students because the students need basic knowledge of language in order to produce something by using their language. In order to prevent frustration thinking the students don’t have the prerequisite knowledge to carry on and complete the task, the tasks should be simpler and instead of planning the entire lesson as task based some activities can be task based at initial levels.
ReplyDeleteBy task-based teaching I think teachers can teach a foreign language successfully if they are trained in task-based teaching methodology and if they have a good proficiency level. And the student’s level and profile is also important to make task-based teaching important because student’s participation, their willingness to communicate in target language and cooperation in group-works will make the task-based teaching method applicable. As Littlewood stated in his article task-based teaching method has two categories: first, communication task in which learners attention is focused on meaning; second, enabling task in which learners focus is on form (grammar, vocabulary). Like CLT grammar is given implicitly so I think students can comprehend the rules easier, but differently from CLT, in task-based approach learners have a task to do after the meaning based communication part to cover grammar that the teacher wants to teach. Students can use their mother language if necessary, but Carless sais in his article that “the more linguistically complex and open-ended the task, the more use seemed to be made of the mother tongue” so the task should be clear and appropriate with the students level.
ReplyDeleteThere might be some disadvantages of task-based teaching method for example; Carless mentions; sometimes it is unavoidable to have noise when students are playing games, or when they are talking, and children walk around. So to minimize the noise the rationale for pair-work, group work, or activities, needs to be indicated clearly to students. Secondly, some pupils may have roles which require them to speak quite a lot, while others have more limited roles. Carless states that to maximize the involvement of pupils, teachers might develop more inclusivity in the classroom, whereby all students, and not just the more able ones, are encouraged and supported to make oral contributions during lessons and teachers may like to monitor pupil contributions by encouraging the more silent ones. If groups have a leader it may be desirable for this role to circulate amongst the pupils, rather than be restricted to one student for an extended period. There could be flexibility in timing and grouping, with alternative roles being assigned to students at different times, and groups being rearranged in different ways, to provide more opportunities for pupils to do different roles.
Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is an approach which offers students material which they have to actively engage in the processing of in order to achieve a goal or complete a task. Much like regular tasks that we perform everyday such as making the tea, writing an essay, talking to someone on the phone, TBLT seeks to develop students’ interlanguage through providing a task and then using language to solve it.
ReplyDeleteIn task based teaching,meaning is primary,there is some communication problem to solve or some sort of relationship to comparable real world activities. In addition, task completion has some priority and the assessment is done in terms of outcomes.
On the other hand, tasks do not give learners other people’s meanings to regurgitate and do not embed language in materials so that specific structures can be focused on.
For example, the tasks can be completing one another’s family tree, agreeing on advice to give the writer of a letter to an agony aunt
solving a riddle or leaving a message on someone’s answering machine.
In short, TBLT is an approach which seeks to allow students to work somewhat at their own pace and within their own level and area of interest to process and restructure their interlanguage. It moves away from a prescribed developmental sequence and introduces learner freedom and autonomy into the learning process. The teacher’s role is also modified to that of helper.
İlknur Kaya
ReplyDeleteTask Based Language Teaching focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcome rather than on accuracy of language forms. This makes TBLL especially popular for developing target language fluency and student confidence.
Task-based learning is advantageous to the student because it is more student-centered, allows for more meaningful communication, and often provides for practical extra-linguistic skill building. There have been criticisms that task-based learning is not appropriate for the beginner students. And also students are only exposed to certain forms of language, and are being neglected of others, such as discussion or debate. Teachers may want to keep these in mind when designing a task-based learning lesson plan.
As we all know, task based language learning focuses on a given task. The students work on to the completition of the task. With the help of the tasks, the students have more authentic output and they can have a chance to produce sentences in the target language. Advantage of this method is that the students can apply what they have learned into practice because the given tasks are about daily life issues. The students encounter variety of examples in target language. However, this method has also some disadvantages. I think task based language learning is suitable to the advanced level students. If we try to apply this methos in beginner level classes, it causes more problems rather than help. For example: the students do not want to speak in the target language in the very beginning of the lessons because they have not enough knowledge to speak. If they are forced to speak at that early stage, they can be discouraged. Also they can provide wrong input to each other at the beginner level.
ReplyDeleteTask Based Learning mainly focuses on teaching language skills using completion of a task in classroom environment. The students starts doing a task, while completing it , they also use target language.
ReplyDeleteAdvantages of it, task based learning is very student-centered and the students will both feel themselves free while completing the task and also have to use the target language .
Disadvantages of it,firstly task based learning doesn't seem to be very suitable to use while teaching English to young learners because as we know during the activities, young learners are a bit difficult to control. Lastly, it can be a bit difficult to find interesting task to take the attention of all students to it.
the task based learning mainly depends on the completion of the task by students. ıt is students centered İtgives impoptance to the production of the students. The activity reflects real life and learners focus on meaning, they are free to use any language they want. Playing a game, solving a problem or sharing information or experiences can be done during the lessons. The teacher use authentic topics or materials in classroom. I think the task based approach can sometimes be used in classroom. Students can have fun and learn language at the same time. They feel themselves deppressed when they do not do a real practice in the classroom but in task based learning they can feel relax. they are not forced to use whatver they want during the lesson. but using task based leraning at the beginner levels could be difiicult because they do not have enoulgh language knowledge to complete the task
ReplyDeleteThe applicability and integration of task based teaching in elementary and high schools in Turkey cannot be very high in my opinion because especially state schools are very crowded fort his method. Besides I think that there is a huge tendency to traditional practices in schools. The teachers, who are older in age, prefer the old methods and techniques. Therefore they do not want the young teachers to use TBT. On the other hand, according to Carless (2004) TBT with young learners demands more tolerance to noise and indisciplined behaviour than the traditional methods. This can also be challenging for the teachers sometimes, especially in crowded classes. One more point is that TBT can be a very difficult method to use in teaching the speaking skill because it demands group work and again a chaos can occur at such a case, especially with young learners. As a result, TBT can only be used in private schools as they have less population in classes and as their educational point of view is much more visional.
ReplyDeleteOne of the disadvantages of the task-based learning with young learners can be about maintaining the discipline in class. The students tendency to talk among themselves while doing the task given to them may be a serious challenge, especially fort he inexperienced teachers. The teachers can cope with this problem by giving clear instructions about the aim of pair or group works. By this approach students can understand that doing a task does not mean “taking a break” (Carless, 2004)
Another point is that the enjoyable, playful environment of TBL can be both an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. In such an atmosphere the young learners may feel highly free in speaking in their mother tongue, which is a disadvantage but also they may put forward all their creativity in language use and feel free for speaking without any limitations. In order to avoid the usage of mother tongue teachers should ALWAYS speak in the target language and be a good model for their students (Carless, 2004)
The impact of the implementation of the TB approach on the rate of learner involvement is controversial because it is not very clear whether the students involve in the task or focus on target language use. Seedhouse (1999) points out that students mostl involve in completing the task. To cope with this problem the teachers should be more attentive and monitor their students more than usual to detect the ones, who only focuses on the task only, even not speaking a word with others. Especially the tasks, which requires drawing or colouring needs almost no talk. In order to avoid the time spend on the “non-linguistic elements” in such tasks teachers should be completed towards the end of the lesson and try to maket he students do the written part of the task previously.
The core of the lesson is, as the name suggests, the task. All parts of the language used are deemphasized during the activity itself, in order to get students to focus on the task. Although there may be several effective frameworks for creating a task-based learning lesson, here is a rather comprehensive one suggested by Jane Willis.During the task phase,There have been criticisms that task-based learning is not appropriate as the foundation of a class for beginning students. The major disadvantage for beginning students is that the focus of task-based language learning is on output, when beginning language learners often go through a silent period requiring massive amounts of comprehensible input. Others claim that students are only exposed to certain forms of language, and are being neglected of others, such as discussion or debate. Teachers may want to keep these in mind when designing a task-based learning lesson plan
ReplyDeletethe students perform the task, typically in small groups, although this is dependent on the type of activity. And unless the teacher plays a particular role in the task, then the teacher's role is typically limited to one of an observer or counselor—thus the reason for it being a more student-centered methodology.
Task Based Language Teaching focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcome rather than on accuracy of language forms. This makes TBLL especially popular for developing target language fluency and student confidence
ReplyDeleteTask-based learning is advantageous to the student because it is more student-centered, allows for more meaningful communication, and often provides for practical extra-linguistic skill building.
on the other hand TBT can be a very difficult method to use in teaching the speaking skill because it demands group work and again a chaos can occur at such a case, especially with young learners.One of the disadvantages of the task-based learning with young learners can be about maintaining the discipline in class. The students tendency to talk among themselves while doing the task given to them may be a serious challenge, especially fort he inexperienced teachers. The teachers can cope with this problem by giving clear instructions about the aim of pair or group works.
task based learning composes of tasks which should be copmleted by stuudents. ın task based learning there is free production of students. the major advantage of task based learning i,s students are not forced and the classroom environment are appropriate for adnanced level students. this approach is stuent centered. The students are free to talk whatver they want to talk. The task based learning have some disadvantages also. According to cririts teachers cannot put task based learning into practice in beginner levels because students do not have enough language knowledge to complete the task. they also say that if the classroom enviroment is too free, students may not be able to learn something. because the students can talk in their native language. so they do not practice target language.
ReplyDeleteTBL is a method aiming in involving students into the subject/or the lesson by dealing with a special task. The method has several different phases - pre-task phrase, the task cycle, language focus and after task. Sometimes this method is related with ‘communicative approach’ as during the task students’ main issue it to communicate and solve problems in L2. Littlewood agrees that this method has “communication oriented teaching” style. Important to notice that through the end of the lesson, form should be matched with meaning – students start from talking without strict grammar patterns and than in grammar focus part they are encouraged to make their speech more grammatical.
ReplyDeleteDuring our lectures we have discussed that this method is pretty difficult to be used with lower level students such as elementary and beginners as they do not possess enough command of L2. However when applied to higher level students, it may be very beneficial as students feel free to chose grammar patterns to express themselves. Similarly students may become interested as they can take risks and express themselves as they want to and become more motivated and encouraged in the lesson. In the end, as teachers we may see an improvement in their command of L2. Unfortunately, the biggest disadvantage is the noise level in the classroom and difficulty in maintaining discipline. It is almost clear that this method may not be very suitable for big classes and some administrative practices. The teachers have to believe in the usability of TBL and be enough creative to construct tasks that are both interesting to the teacher and to the students.
In a task-based lesson, the main focus is completion of a main task. It is important that the activity should be explained clearly, be understood by all students and then should be completed by the students. The stages of the task-based language learning is pre-task, planning, report and after task. Focusing on forms and meaning is important in task-based language learning.
ReplyDeleteAs for the advantages of the task-based language learning, it supports the interaction between students, students expose the language more actively and intensively, it is student-centered.
There are some disadvantages of the task-based language learning. In task-based language learning, discipline is the most important factor to be dealt with. As the activity is student-centered and there is interaction between students, there may be noise in the classroom and teacher should be control of the class. Teacher should indirectly control the classroom.
In the articles, writers defends and criticize these points of TBL.
n a task-based lesson, the main focus on the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and during the process of this completion, the language used is determined by the students. There are 6 steps in task-based learning;
ReplyDelete1. pre- task
2. task
3. planning
4. report
5. analyst
6. practice
Advantages of this method:
-- Because task-based language learning is student-centered, students will feel more comfortable to use and produce language.
-- They can work in pairs usually, and this improves their interaction.
-- They can use daily issues in the completion of the tasks and this also good for their feeling comfortable and contributes to their creativity.
As for the disadvantages ;
-- Because students need to interact with each other during the process of competion, there is a lof of noise in the classroom and teacher may find it difficult to take control of them all; discipline declines.
-- The teacher needs to give all the instructions in a detailed and clear way which can take a lot of time and effort.
-- Although this method can be applicable for advanced level (and some others) but definitely not to beginner level students because they dont have necessary background to use the language effectively. :))
Reflections on Task-based Learning
ReplyDeleteThe term “task” is taken up with different definitions, different dimensions, and different categorizations by writers. Estaire and Zanon’s categorization fits best to table of “continuum from focus on form to focus on meaning” because I think structure based activities that focus on form are better be named as tasks rather than exercises. And also I think the term “task” is a more comprehensive than exercises. Focus on form of meaning is a controversial aspect of task based learning but about students’ involvement it is all agreed that the highest level of involvement is aimed though it is hard to achieve this in heterogeneous classroom environments.
Task based learning serves well for the needs of students at all levels and all ages I think and it is applicable for all languages skills. However, preferably, I would use reading and listening before writing and speaking in order to follow the sequence of presentationpracticeproduct. The continuum of focus on form and meaning can be very well used in EFL classes in Turkey with suitable activities.
Task based learning has its’ problems and difficulties like all the other approaches. First problem encountered is noise and discipline problem. It is nearly impossible to avoid noise during communicative tasks as Carless stated;
“Teachers found it difficult to achieve a balance between carrying out communicative tasks and maintaining good behaviour.”
There are several reasons established for undisciplined behaviours or noise observed. “Firstly, when students were not clear what to do, animated discussions or arguments broke out, and the teacher was often deluged with queries. Secondly, the task was too easy or too difficult, so students become ‘off-task’, due to finishing too quickly, not knowing what to do, or becoming frustrated by the difficulty. Thirdly, the characteristics of the task itself may provoke excessive noise” among the solutions used by teachers, I found appointing group leaders to maintain discipline and rewarding the best-behaved group very practical for the disciple and noise problem.
Another problem is mother tongue usage. I agree with Carless’ claim that “The more linguistically complex and open-ended the task, the more use seemed to be made of the mother tongue.” In order to solve this problem, teachers should be good models by using the target language and state the expectations for language use and monitor them.
Making all of the students involved in the lesson equally and at a maximum level requires some techniques like, monitoring pupil contributions during group works. Flexibility in group leaders, timing and group members another factor provide student involvement and equal contributions.
Kübra Şahiboğlu
Task based learning type helps students learn the language with a task as grammar learning; what is useful about it is the way that it follows such as focusing on a specific goal and all the suitable grammar topics and vocabularies which are stated as keywods in units is placed and students learn the taget language with the help of the target as facilitator. Therefore, students are easy to use various kind of grammmatical expressions.When I think about task based learning, what is first to come to my mind is the comprehensible and authentic way of giving input which is I think very important in serving the context.
ReplyDeleteThe aim of a task based learning is to complete a task. It comprises of six step:
ReplyDelete1- pre- task
2- task
3- planning
4- report
5- analysis
6- practice.
As I notice in the Littlewood’s article, task based approach resembles to communicative approach. It uses the “communication orianted language teaching”. In our demonstration we also made emphasis on the communication, we encouraged our students to talk by asking them a lot of questions related to task. I think this is really useful for students whose levels above beginner. They are learning by talking and writing. Furthermore,task-based learning is advantageous to the student because it is more student-centered, allows for more meaningful communication(as I said before) and often provides for practical extra-linguistic skill building.Unfortunately, the biggest disadvantage is the noise level in the classroom and difficulty in maintaining discipline. It is almost clear that this method may not be very suitable for big classes and some administrative practices. The teachers have to believe in the usability of TBL and be enough creative to construct tasks that are both interesting to the teacher and to the students.