Report of the Task—Design and Evaluation

史娜威

Introduction

‘Task has two following definitions：（1）.It is a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others， freely or for some reward.（Long， 1985， p.89）.（2）.It is an activity or action which is accomplished as the result of processing or understanding language（Richards， Platt， and Weber， 1985， p.289）.Jane Willis（1996， p.53） demonstrates that ‘task is a goal-oriented activity in which language is used to achieve a real outcome.In Willis view， a task-based approach considers the learning process as learning through doing-by means of engaging in meaning so that the learners can develop their own capacity of learning（ibid.p.20）.

Goals of the task

When it comes to the preparations in the early stage， we believed that our teaching tasks should expose our learners to spontaneous language in appropriate circumstances， and allow them to use it， since most of them will need to cope with it in their real life.After several times of group discussions， we had sketched a teaching plan and our task topic is “Job interview” since most of the students face the issue of looking for a job， in addition， we tend to focus on real life relevance and also we tried to make it attractive to the learners.When we are trying to design a communicative task， we need to connect the task with the linguistic form（Nunan， 1989）.Our expectation of the learning outcomes falls into two sections， namely linguistic objectives and non-linguistic ones.For the linguistic aims， a dialogue between two students was designed with the purpose of providing a real interview like scene for students to practice the oral English.More specifically， we hope that students will improve the ability of fluency.Swain（1985， cited in Nunan） argues that input is necessary but insufficient for acquisition， because learners need opportunities to produce a target language as well.Hereby， students need to have experience of using the phrases rather than teaching them how to do directly.In order to exam whether our task are successful， we invited four fellow classmates as our student-participants in the task， and they were divided into two groups.Firstly， we designed five different task topics connected with career position， and let each group choose one topic randomly.As to the non-linguistic goals， the task attempted to enable them to sell themselves successfully in their promising job interviews， which gives the employers first impression at the beginning of hunting jobs.

In the whole process of the activity， we adopted the task-based method.Larsen-Freeman（2000， p.144） claims that task-based approach produces ‘natural context for learners to use the target language， which is highly need for intermediate and advanced level learners.Firstly， it is apparent that the current interest in tasks stems largely from what has been termed the “the communicative approach” to language teaching especially in oral English.Activities set up to encourage free talk between students can be seen as the main part of this activity； they are designed with the aim of providing general communicative practices， where the specific language focus is less relevant.

R.Mackay（1978： 21） argues that teachers must carry on some researches before the planning of courses， since they need to know what learners anticipate to master.Subsequently， they will design the lessons according to students particular demands， since， students will learn quickly when confronted things they are interested in.Five of us in the group selected an article related to job interview as task teaching material.Firstly， we give the article to the participants， and through ten-minute reading， they learnt some phrases in the job interview that they need to pay attention to， for example， self-introduction， qualifications and certificates， previous working experience， the reason of applying for the job， understanding of the company， and personal further development， and so on.Since our target learners were in the intermediated and advanced level， it is important to have some thoughts about our subject matter as a teacher and also what we can do to help our students learn.Secondly， we explained the detail of the activities which they were going to perform， and divided the four participants into two groups.Thirdly， we presented five task topics and let each group choose one among the five.They were given another ten minutes discussion and preparation in pairs about the task， which they were expected to act out later on.When confronting with the strange words， sometimes， they looked up them in the dictionary independently， and occasionally they guessed the meaning of the words according to the context.In the view of Nunan（2004， p.58） ‘if learners are given a clear aim to achieve in their role plays， they may participate more willingly than when they are told to simply repeat a given dialogue a pairs. The purpose of this period was to let them have a practice before showing their performance.Fourthly， after having the main idea of how to successfully accomplish the interview， each group was invited to do the role play.One student from each group performed as a job seeker and the other participant was the interviewer.Finally， when two people from first group finishing a five minutes performance， we asked the other two students to give some comments and feedbacks according to the dialogue.

Predicted outcomes

Our expectations of the learning outcomes are divided into two sections， namely linguistic objectives and non-linguistic ones.To begin with the linguistic perspectives， we hoped that students could gain fluency in oral English； obtain the phrases relevant to job interviews.Based on the above expectations， we designed the role-play part with the purpose of providing more opportunities for students to practice the phrases.In addition， standard oral English is another goal to achieve.After their performances， the other two students gave them some feedbacks， which include both positive and negative comments.When it came to the non-linguistic goals， we hoped that they could sell themselves successfully in their future job interviews， and gave the employers very good first impression in the job interview.Last but not least， the task was designed to improve their ability of responding to unpredictable circumstance within the interaction with the peers； build up the interpersonal relationship with others.

Evaluation and Reflection

The integration of group discussion in the L2 speaking as manifest in this presentation affords learners an opportunity to express cognitive demands of fluency.Through the implementation of above activities， EFL teachers focus on possible avenues of dealing with issues in the classroom as they make methodological decisions.Moreover， pronunciation is also as an aspect integrated with speaking skills.Generally speaking， as Tarone（2005） points out， the goal of pronunciation teaching has shifted from attaining a native like accent to intelligibility， that is to say， the extent to which the listener understands the speakers utterance.Thus， English pronunciation pedagogy has only helped learners to achieve the overall understanding rather than compelling learners to simulate native accent.Thus as for advanced level， we did not take this factor into account.While what we address now is the intonation， like word stress and prosody， the length and the timing of pauses.On the other hand， due to learners multiple nationalities in the particular classroom， and often of different cultures， learners come to the language classroom with personal schemas of appropriate learning-teaching aims and processes.In order to develop teachers awareness of variation in ways of learning and teaching， it would be better to involve such subject in the applied linguistics program.For example， in China， people prefer to complete a job or a work individually， while in the UK here， most people choose pair work or teamwork to attain the same target.That is the case， which most overseas graduate students learned from this program.

Conclusion

Richards（1985， p.101） points out， “… we use speech in most human activities.We use language to build bridges， to consolidate political regimes， to carry on arguments， to convey information from one person to another， to entertain- in short， to communicate.” In other words， language makes people progress their ordinary communication in daily life.In order to train the students to achieve the required fluency of their oral English， the teacher can have the course design regarding the situational topics of daily life.First we talked about the design phase， including the tasks aims， and how we designed it.

Reference：

[1]Larsen-Freeman，D.（2000） Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching.Oxford： Oxford University Press.

[2]Li，B.（2006）.A Brief Analysis About the Function of the Communicative Approach – It Can Lighten Classroom Anxiety in Foreign Language Teaching.Sino-US English Teaching，3，29-31.Retrieved January 1，2008 from http：//www.linguist.org.cn/doc/su200609/su20060907.pdf.

[3]Littlewood，W.，Liu，N-F.& Yu，C.（1996）.Hong Kong tertiary students' attitudes and proficiency in spoken English.RELC Journal 27/1，70-88.

[4]Nunan，D.（2004）.Task-based Language Teaching.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[5]Nunan，D.（1989）.Designing tasks for the communicative classroom.Cambridge： Cambridge University Press.

[6]R.Mackay.Identify the Nature of the Learners Needs.（eds.）（1978） English for Specific Purposes.London： Longman Press.pp.21-3.

[7]Tarone，E.（2005） Speaking in a second language.In E.Hinkel（Ed.） Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning.Hillsdale，NJ： Lawrence Erlbaum.