Transcript Using the Task-Based Approach

Using Task-Based
Language Teaching:
Engaging Your Students
By Brad Tipka
Brad’s Guitar Learning Experiences
• Three Teachers: 2 Korean, I American
• Three Methods
• One Successful: Why?
How have students changed?
• More Responsibility
• Quick access to information
• Are used to seeing constant images (video
games, TV, advertising, etc.)
• Immediacy of communication
• Globalization
How does this photo demonstrate the Task-Based Approach?
Task-Based Teaching and Learning
– Lesson Outline
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Introduction
Hands-On Activities
Role of the Teacher
Role of the Students
Management
Self-Access Activities
Applications for Elementary School Students in
Korea
• Conclusion
Task-Based Demo Lesson
• Groups of four
• Choose any of the tasks on the board and
work on them
• Work at your own pace
• You can do one or all of the activities
• Practice English Conversation!!!!
What specific things did the teacher
do in this exercise?
• Introduced new vocabulary
• Provided instruction clarification
• Provided background knowledge especially
regarding culture
• Listened
• Talked freely about topics not on the worksheet
• Demonstrated the activity – Charades
• Worked with the groups equally
What specific things did the
students do?
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Cooperated with each other
Decided what tasks to work on
Decided when to try a new task
Corrected each other
Monitored each other
Listened
Laughed!!
TBLT should use real world tasks..
• Call the airline and reconfirm a reservation
you have. Check other details, such as
time of departure, and time you have to be
at the airport.
• Write your resume and exchange it with
another student. Study the positions
available advertisements in the newspaper
and find a job that would be suitable for
your partner.
Language Exercise
• Fill in the blanks with these words:
boring, romance, Annie McDowell,
chocolate and roses
• _______ is a terrible actress. Her new
movie is _______. It’s a ______, but it’s
also extremely ________.
Enabling Skills
Teach vocabulary
– Comedies, horror films, action movies,
romances, thrillers, dramas
Teach structures
– What kind of movies do you like?
– I like_____________.
– Do you like__________?
– Yes, I do.
– No, I don’t.
Communicative Activities
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Find Someone who
Group Charades
Information Gap
Interactive homework
Investigative Tasks: Creating Projects,
Korean CSI
• Interviews
Scenarios
• Work with three other students. You are on
a ship that is sinking. You have to swim to
a nearby island. You have a waterproof
container, but can only carry 20 kilos of
items in it. Decide which of the following
items you will take. (Remember, you can’t
take more than 20 kilos with you.)
Scenario Task continued
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Waterproof sheets of fabric (3 kilos each.)
Notebook computer (3.5 kilos)
Rope (6 kilos).
Firelighting kits (500 grams each)
Portable CD player and CDs (4 kilos.)
Short-wave radio (12 kilos)
Medical kit (2 kilos.)
Bottles of water (1.5 kilos each)
Packets of sugar, flour, rice, powdered milk, coffee, tea. (Each
packet weighs 500 grams)
• Cans of food (500 grams each)
• Box of novels and magazines (3 kilos)
• Axe (8 kilos)
Analyzing Self-Access Worksheets
• Groups of four
• Choose two worksheets that you used
during the class
• Complete the ‘Analyzing Worksheets’
study guide
• Present one analysis to the class
Concluding Thoughts
• Task-Based Language Teaching addresses
some of the ways students are changing
• Any curriculum content can be taught through
tasks – the key point is that the teachers usually
will have to create their own worksheets!
• The teacher must stay very active during a taskbased lesson assisting students individually or
as a group!
• Task-Based Language Teaching is another
tool for your teaching arsenal – use it
when it works for you!
• Adapt this approach to your classroom
where you are the expert!
The Sky’s the Limit!!