Task-based in practice,绵阳.四川 Roamergarysohu.com July 2006,How would you react to these “English”?,Carefully slippery!,Waiter wake up you: Attend to slipping!,小心地滑！,Wet floor!,Implication:,English learning is more than just dismantling and reassembling, translating back and forth!,This presentation includes:,Teach to English Why task-based What task-based How task-based Teach to English tests Review Mock tests,Why task-based?,Does it really work in a Chinese context? In what way is it superior to other approaches, say Grammar-translation or PPP? Does it contribute to our immediate concern-the tests?,Findings from classroom observation,Two extremes Class still conducted in the old way,with complete neglect of new elements in Go For It, namely, functions, experiencing and interaction Tasks and activities all the way, with little language learning taking place. Many students fail to respond successfully to the demands from the assignments,Findings from test analysis,Listen and respond Why not go to the seaside for your holiday? A. Sounds great. B. I dont know. C. Because Im busy. The majority chose C, WHY?,New insight into language and language learning,learning language v.s. learning about language Language for study v.s. language for use Linguistic knowledge v.s.communicative competence Accuracy to fluency v.s. fluency to accuracy Meaning v.s. form Teacher dominance v.s. student autonomy,Words & grammar alone do not entail correct comprehension,If you can read this, then you havent spent enough money,New insight into language and language learning,Language learning contains Formulaic chunks of language, e.g. ready made expressions such as “Can I have a _? and I would be grateful if you would _. Generative rules such as ed for past events Language and culture,Example-based learning in tests, Universal Ticket Office,_? Id like to book two tickets for 9:00 show tonight. No problem. A. Whats up B. How may we help you C. What to do D. Are you going to buy tickets,New insight into language and language learning,declarative knowledge (facts) procedural knowledge (know-how) skill,New insight into language and language learning,People dont learn in the same way Visual Learners: learn through seeing. Auditory Learners: learn through listening. Tactile/Kinesthetic Learners: learn through , moving, doing and touching,of what we discuss with others of what we hear of what we experience directly or practise of what we see of what we both see and hear,We learn & remember,40%,10%,10% 15% 20% 40% 60%,60%,15%,20%,New insight into language and language learning,New insight into language and language learning,Languages are learned/gradually acquired, not fed/crammed into Negotiating meaning, not just matching and translating E.g. What he must not do is to sit around at home feeling sorry for himself. Please keep the aisle free of luggage.,From PPP to TBL,where present refers to the provision of explicit information about a grammatical structure (directed at declarative knowledge), practise refers to the use of exercises that involve controlled production of the target structure and produce involves the performance of tasks designed to engage learners in real-life behaviour and to complete automatisation (Rod Ellis),From PPP to TBL,Present individual language item(explanation and exemplification) Practice in spoken or written form(pattern drills) Use the language in less controlled speaking or writing activities,From PPP to TBL,apparent arbitrariness of the selected grammar point, which may or may not meet the linguistic needs of the learners often based on a rather inauthentic emphasis on the chosen structure. Tim Bowen,From PPP to TBL,needs to go beyond language-like behaviour by including opportunities for learners to engage in activities that emphasize form-meaning mappings and that replicate the kinds of conditions of use found in everyday communication. DeKeyser (1998),From PPP to TBL),makes no attempt to stipulate the language forms (and associated meanings) to be taught. Instead the content is specified holistically in terms of tasks (Rod Ellis) 教学内容的选择取决于完成任务的需要,From PPP to TBL,Skehan (1996) defines a task as an activity in which: meaning is primary; there is some sort of relationship to the real world; task completion has some priority; and the assessment of task performance is in terms of task outcome.,From PPP to TBL,information-gap tasks (e.g. Listen-and-Draw) and opinion-gap tasks (e.g. Balloon Debates). Tasks need to be distinguished from exercises. The latter require a primary focus on form rather than meaning and typically ask learners to manipulate language given to them rather than to attempt to communicate using their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources.,任务型教学与语言知识,they are forced to consider language form in general rather than concentrating on a single form (as in the PPP model) (Tim Bowen) 任务中学生对语言形式的关注更宽泛、全面,任务型教学与语言知识,task-based tea