Transcript Task sequencing in academic writing
Task sequencing in academic writing
TBLT September 2005 Leuven P Gaye Tolunguc Middle East Technical University Ankara Turkey [email protected]
TBLT The rationale ?
Developing implicit knowledge – learners can only develop implicit knowledge of a second language incidentally as a result of the effort to communicate.
Automatization – learners can only gain in fluency by attempting to use the L2 in real operating conditions.
Ellis, R. (n.d.) Task-Based Language Teaching. Slide presentation. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www.tki.org.nz/r/esol/esolonline/teachers/prof_read/taskbased.ppt
“teaching does not & cannot determine the way the learner’s language will develop” “teachers & learners cannot simply choose what is to be learned” “the elements of the target language do not simply slot into place in a predictable order” The Basque team. (2003) Task Based Learning. Best Practice: Best Language Teaching Methods, Leonardo II Project. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www.languages.dk/ methods/documents/tbl-nl_01.pdf.
TBLT…… “offers the opportunity for ‘natural’ learning inside the classroom” “emphasizes meaning over form but can also cater for learning form” “is intrinsically motivating” “is compatible with a learner-centered educational philosophy” “can be used alongside a more traditional approach” Ellis, R. (n.d.) Task-Based Language Teaching. Slide presentation. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www.tki.org.nz/r/esol/esolonline/teachers/ prof read/taskbased.ppt
A task?
“an activity in which the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose in order to achieve an outcome” Goal oriented activity with a clear purpose Meaning-negotiation involved Communicative Context-based Learner-centered (concerning learners’ needs) Achieving an outcome
Willis J. (1996). A framework for TBL. Harlow, U.K: Longman Addison-Wesley.
"a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form"
Nunan, D. (n.d.) What is task-based language teaching? Retrieved June, 2005, from http:// www.nunan.info/presentations/TBLT_files/frame.htm
“a task is an activity which requires learners to use language, with emphasis on meaning, to attain an objective”
Skehan, P. (2003) Task-based instruction. Language Teacher 36, 1–14. DOI: 10.1017/ S026144480200188X printed in the UK c_ 2003 CUP. Retrieved June, 2005, from http:// journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type= 1&fid= 146424&jid= LTA&volumeId=36&issueId=01&aid=146423
form VERSUS message focus ?
Prabhu’s dictum: “form is best learned when the main focus is on meaning”
Prabhu N S. (1987). Second Language Pedagogy. Oxford, OUP.
sequences combining a task with pre- and post-task work ways of injecting a degree of form focus into a message focused activity
Johnson, K. (2003) From communicative activity to task: a short but significant journey. Asia TEFL 2003 International Conference. TEFL in Asia: Emerging Issues. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www.asiatefl.org/ conference/down/Schedule_of_Presentations.pdf
a “negotiation of meaning” justification VERSUS the concept of a “focus on form” ?
(a) interaction, in itself, is not enough & (b) insinuation of a focus on form into interactions is vital
Skehan, P. (2003) Task-based instruction. Language Teacher 36, 1–14. DOI: 10.1017/ S026144480200188X printed in the UK c_ 2003 CUP. Retrieved June, 2005, from http:// journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=146424&jid= LTA&volumeId=36&issueId=01&aid=146423
“focus on form (not forms)” ?
“focus on form refers to how attentional resources are allocated, and involves briefly drawing students' attention to linguistic elements (words, collocations, grammatical structures, pragmatic patterns, and so on), in context, as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding focus is on meaning, or communication…” “focus on form … is learner- centred in a radical, psycholinguistic sense: it respects the learner's internal syllabus...
Long, M. H. (1997) Focus on form in TBLT. Fourth Annual McGraw-Hill Satellite Teleconference. The McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www. mhhe.com/socscience/foreignlang/top.htm
* role for the teacher: monitors from a
distance ready to provide the unpredictable help that will be required
Skehan, P. (2003) Task-based instruction. Language Teacher 36, 1–14. DOI: 10.1017/ S026144480200188X printed in the UK c_ 2003 CUP. Retrieved June, 2005, from http:// journals.cambridge.org/action/ displayFulltext? type= 1&fid=146424&jid=LTA&volumeId=36&issueId=01&aid=146423
** role for the learner: experiments with
the language & takes risks in an independent spontaneous fashion
Willis J. (1996). A framework for TBL. Harlow, U.K: Longman Addison-Wesley.
A framework for TBLT Real-world / target tasks
ie. group work discussion & decision making task
Pedagogical tasks
Rehearsal tasks Activation tasks
Enabling skills
Language exercises Communicative activities
Nunan, D. (2001) Aspects of Task-BasedSyllabus Design. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/syllabusdesign.html
the relationship of the task to the real world ?
“things people do in everyday life” “bears a resemblance, direct or indirect, to the way language is used… an emphasis on “the nature of the response by the learner” “the reaction of the learner or the research subject which is key, rather than the fact that a particular task may have, at some time, been used by native speakers (possibly in a different context)” “genuineness rather than a form of authenticity defined only in relation to the real world occurrence of an activity”
Skehan, P. (2003) Task-based instruction. Language Teacher 36, 1–14. DOI: 10.1017/ S026144480200188X printed in the UK c_ 2003 CUP. Retrieved June, 2005, from http:/ journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=146424&jid=LTA&vol meId=36&issueId=01&aid=146423
planning ?
“…pre-task planning can have beneficial effects upon the nature of task performance, consistently leading to greater fluency and complexity and, less dependably, greater accuracy”
“…a post-task activity (such as the need to re-do a task publicly after the task has been done ‘privately’, or the requirement that learners transcribe one minute of their own task performance subsequent to the task itself ) leads to significantly greater accuracy” Foster, P. & Skehan, P. (1999) The influence of source of planning and focus of planning on TB performance. Language Teaching Research, Volume3, Number 3, 1 September 1999, pp. 215-247(33). Hodder Arnold Journals. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www.ingentaconnect
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com/content/arn/ltr/1999/00000003/00000003/art 00003
components of the framework ? Pre-task
Introduction to topic and task
Task cycle
Task Planning Report
Language focus
Analysis Practice
Willis, J. (1998) Task-Based Learning: What Kind of Adventure? The Language Teacher Online 22.07. Retrieved June, 2005, from http://www.jaltpublications.org/tlt/files/ 98/jul/willis.html
PREPARING FOR ACADEMIC WRITING (PAW)
Oniz S & Tolunguc G. (2003) Middle East Technical University Press. Ankara
Samples from academic writing materials for post-beginner level students at The Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
STEP 1 PRE-TASK: INTRODUCING THE TOPIC What trends are indicated in these graphs? Briefly discuss.
Graph 1: World cellular subscriber growth 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Years 35 56 88 136 204 307 474 722 1300 934 1027 Graph 2: GSM subscriber growth 1000 800 705 790 628 600 457 400 200 1 5 13 33 71 138 258 0 Years 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
The two body paragraphs on the next page respond to the following question by incorporating the data in the graphs.
Question:
Innovations in cell phone technology are increasing. Discuss the reasons.
Discuss the possible answers to the question with the person sitting next to you and note down your ideas.
Read the paragraphs and compare your ideas with the writer’s. Any similarities/differences? Discuss how far the writer answered the question. Discuss his conclusions.
Question: Innovations in cell phone technology are increasing. Discuss the reasons.
Innovations in cell phone technology are increasing as a result of the soaring number of cell phone users all over the world. This growth can be detected in the ever-increasing numbers of cell phone subscribers and GSM subscribers. First of all, global figures indicate an enormous increase in the number of subscribers using cell phones. According to statistics provided by the EMC World Cellular Database, in the period between 1993 and 2002, the number of cell phone subscribers increased from 35 million to over a billion. The figure reached 1.3 billion in 2003, which shows how great the demand is for cellular technology. Secondly, worldwide figures
also display .......................................
STEP 2 TASK CYCLE: RESPONDING TO A QUESTION Purpose: To write an answer to a question paying special attention to paragraph endings and considering the criteria covered so far
This task is about cell phones and their effects on users. The question that you will answer later in this task is as follows. Read the question so that you have a general idea about what you will be doing and follow the instructions below: Question: How have cell phones changed the users’ behavior?
A. Brief discussion
As a cell phone user, think back to the time when you first started to use a cell phone.
You may not be a cell phone user: Think back to the time when someone you know well first started to use a cell phone.
How did the cell phone affect your/their behavior and relationships? Are there any behaviors that specifically only mobile phone users display?
What are these? What do others think about them?
B. Mini class survey
Prepare two questions about how cell phone use has changed your classmates’ behavior. Word your questions so that the answers are only one or two words. You will have to group all the answers in the end so formulate questions with short and clear answers.
Example:
(Before you started using a cell phone), how often did you used to talk to your best friend (on a regular phone)?
Go around the class collecting answers to your questions. Include the name of your classmate while noting down the responses in the mini survey.
Group the answers in such a way that you can generalize about frequencies or girls’ preferences versus boys’, and so on.
Write down your findings/generalizations.
Form groups with four other classmates who have at least one similar question as you do. Exchange your findings.
C. The question How have cell phones changed the users’ behavior?
In your group, analyze the question and plan your answer using the Answer Layout Form.
Answer Layout
Key words:
Write about: From what aspect: Stance: Organization:
D. Collecting data & planning You have conducted a mini survey and collected some data about your classmates’ behavior. Now imagine you have gone to the library, surfed the net and compiled all the info in section F (The Data Sheet) as your notes and photocopies. In your group, share the info on the next pages and read it in order to select supporting ideas for your answer. Decide how to outline the info in your answer.
How many points will there be in your group report? What will each point be about? How much of the survey findings can you incorporate?
Do you have enough info (i.e. explanations and examples)?
Present your ideas to the class and get feedback.
E. Writing & editing the answer
At home write your answer on a piece of paper.
Using the criteria at the end of the task, evaluate your work. Hand in your work for feedback to another the next day.
After you get your paper back, read the feedback, rewrite parts if there are suggestions and hand in your work to the teacher.
F. Data Sheet: Behavioral effects of mobile phones
Fingers and thumbs:
Sadie Plant, founder of the Cybernetic Culture Research Unit at Warwick University, collected data on hundreds of mobile phone users in nine cities around the world, including Beijing, Chicago, London and Tokyo over six months and discovered: “People who've grown up with mobile phones tend to use their thumbs when others would use their fingers.” ......................................
......................................................................................
Social status symbol:
Plant: “The mobile is fast becoming an essential prop in the social life of 20-year-olds. It has even become part of their mating display with young men trying to impress women with the advanced technology of their phones.” Donald Ball: “(the conventional telephone) was considered something that one apologized.........................................
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Sources:
http://www.newscientist.com/hottopics/phones/phones.jsp?id=2315 1900 http://cellular.co.za/news_2002/061102mms_to_overtake_sms_mes saging_by.htm
Mobile phone users: A small-scale observational study by Alice Johns, Apr 2001 http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/abj0001.html
Mobile phone users: A small-scale observational study by Jonathan Swallowe, Oct 2002: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/jos0101.html
Anonymous (2002): ‘On the mobile: Groundbreaking global study explores behavioral effects of mobile phone use. [WWW document] URL: http://www.mobileguy.com/publish/article70.shtml
Ball, D. (1968). ‘Towards a Society of Telephones and Telephoners’. In Marcello Truzzi (Ed.) Sociology and Everyday Life. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall.
STEP 3 POST-TASK: REFLECTION
What are you really good at, concerning writing at paragraph-level?
What seems difficult? Can you think of a solution to your problem?
Which task in this unit was easy for you? Why?
FOCUS ON FORM 1 LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE THE GRAPHS FOCUS ON FORM 2 CONCLUDING SENTENCES (CSs) FOCUS ON FORM 3 REFERRING TO RESEARCHERS & AUTHORS