428, VOF Se Es RENAN N, 2441/40/01 469/2 A041 148/
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH OPEN UNIVERSITY
4Ð THESIS TITLE:
THE IMPACT OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING ON LEARNERS’ ORAL COMMUNICATION PERFORMANCE:
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY AT VUS
TRUONG DAI HOC MQ TP.HCM THU VIEN
A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL) Submitted by LE DO NGOC HANG Supervised by
° Dr NGUYEN HOANG TUAN
Trang 2ABSTRACT
The emergence of task-based language teaching has ceaselessly made substantial contribution in the field of educational curriculum, in general or the development of language teaching methodology, in particular With the premium placed on learner- centeredness and goal orientation, TBLT appears to be one of the most congruous and effective English teaching methods for classroom teachers to enhance students’ English oral communication performance Few task-based related researches, nevertheless, have been conducted in Vietnam, especially in English language centers As a result, this thesis aims at exploring the effectiveness of FBLT implementation into enhancing students’ oral communication performance at Vietnam USA Society English _ language center in district 4 in Ho Chi Minh City as well as investigating students’
attitudes towards TBLT implementation procedures
This thesis was conducted for teenagers aged from at one of VUS centers in district 4 from March 25", 2013 to July 1 3“, 2013 The main methodology design of this paper was experimental Consequently, tests, questionnaires and classroom observations were carefully selected to collect fruitful data in forms of students’ scores and their attitudes which were then analyzed and interpreted after the intervention of TBLT With the strong evidence via t-tests from students’ oral communication performance scores after treatment, it was proved that TBLT showed its effectiveness in enhancing students’ oral communication performance in three of four investigated criteria containing fluency, comprehensibility and task achievement One of the criteria, which is accuracy sub-divided into three smaller categories: grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, could not be improved after the treatment The slight downward tendency of this criterion, however, was not Statistically significant Generally
Trang 3speaking, the operational effectiveness of TBLT is indisputable In response to the second issue, this paper discovered that students expressed their positive attitudes towards TBLT implementation through the analysis of their questionnaires
In accordance with the findings of this thesis, some recommendations for classroom teachers as well as researchers who are interested in this teaching method would be completely presented at the end of this thesis
Key words: Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT), tasks, oral communication
ae eas
Trang 4TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORRSHIP - 0 G5 3 HH ng 1n 000985 i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS .cccscssssssssssscsccssssscsssssrsrssesecssesecsares ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTTS 0 cọ HỌC HH TT 0 00100 90 00006 Hi ABSTRACT co cọ HT Họ 0 00 00 0 0000060001090 8080080 iv TABLE OF CONTENT SS ccscssssssvssssscsssvenssssensvonsssssncsesccsescossscersnssesssessessessasenssess vi LISTS OE TABLES, CHARTS AND DIAGRATM G2 95955656556 xi ABBREVTA TIONS HH HH TH HH 0n 0 0 500600 8 00 xiii Chapter 1 ITNTRODUCTTION o G0 HC BH c9 100m.” 1
1.1 Background to )lcccaaiaaaaaạỤẠỤẠAO 1
1.2 Statement ofthe prỌ€Tm G <2 TT HH nu 2 II 000) vn, 0ài 2 an 3 1.4 Significance of the SfUỦY SH HT HH TH ng nhàn 4 1.5 Structure Of the fh€SIS - Gà nọ TH TH ni k 4
Chapter2 LITERATURE REV LƠ su on th HH HT HH HH 0n 0001804006 6
2.1 Introduction 6 2.2_ Task-based Language Teaching - - 0 nh TH TH ng 6 2.2.1 Basic Assumption of TBLT - «+ ngàn nghe 7 2.2.2 Pedagogical Principles Of TBLT .- 5 5 SH ng 8 2.2.3 Goals of TBL/T, - G1 TY nọ no uc 9 2.3 Tasks and Language LearTn1ng - - «5 + s9 ng ng ng tk 11 2.3.1 What 1s a tasK? HH HH TT 1] 2.3.2 The Role of Task in Language Learning «0.0 eee ececseeeneeeesseeeeeseeseeenss 12 2.4 Components and Typology Of TiaSKS . c5 án SH tre 13 2.4.1 Componen(s Of TiaSKS 2 ng HH ng Hàng 13
Trang 52.4.1.1 7 GOaÌS KH HH TH HH HH TH gu HH rệt 14 24.1.2 Input 14 2.4.1.3 ACHIVIICS HH HH HH HT TH HH Ti Hà ng re 15 2.4.1.4 RỌ€S LH HH Ho gnkc 16 24.1.5 Settings ¬ 18 2.4.2 Typology of Tasks -ss+<<<2 "— U 19 PIN); Ni) 2o 23 "HN co 2c to0) 010 23 2.5.1.1 Pre-task phS€ ngờ 24 “DAI: 49h .a 25
2.5.1.3 Languag€ ÍOCUS - - TH TH HH HH ng nh Hư 27 2.5.2 Factors Affecting Implementation of TBLT” -. cccsssssreeeexee 29 2.5.2.1 Task factors affecting implementation of TBLT - 29
2.5.2.2 Learner related factors affecting implementation of TBLT 29
2.5.2.3 Teacher related factors affecting implementation of TBLT 31
2.5.2.4 Procedural factors affecting implementation of TBLT 32
Trang 63.3, Research na .ằ 4]
3.4 PAFTLÍCIDATIS Họng TH TH KH To TH HH HT 00113 E4 42 3.5 Research design scsccscsrerererrerrrsrreee HH 44
Ea 45
3.6.1 Procedures of GTM lesson pÏans - cc HH ng ng ngàn 46 3.6.2 Procedures of TBLT lesson plans 49
3.7 Data collection instruments ốc 53 3.7.1 TeSts 53 3.7.2 QUEeSTIONNAILE 0.0 56 3.7.3 Classroom Obse€rVafIOIS uc 0 TT HH Hi nh nh ng 57 E no anh 58 Chapter4 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OEF FINDINGS 60 AL Introduction 60
4.2 Analyzing data and interpretafion - sscssseseeeeesseresessereeesseeeeeeerverce Ơ 4.2.1 Analysis of students’ oral communication performance - 60
4.2.1.1 Students’ oral communication performance in the pre-test 60
4.2.1.2 Students’ oral communication performance in the post-test 61
4.2.1.3 Comparisons of pre-test and post-test scores for each group 63 4.2.1.4 Comparison of means (X) and standard deviations (SD) on pre- tests and POSt-tests oo eeesseessscscsesessreceseeceseeesseseesnsssseeessesseasesseseeeseees 64 4.2.2 Analysis of the mean scores of four rudimentary criteria in the oral
communication sCOrIng TUFIC - - + <3 99 0 nu ng nh 65 4.2.2.1 Comparison of each criterion in the oral communication scoring rubric of the Control ðTOUD - - - nh HH ng 65 4.2.2.2 Comparison of mean scores and S.D of pre-tests and post-tests of the Control ØðTOUD - .- G56 1 Họ HT net 67
Trang 71.3
Trang 8Chapter 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDA TIONS -5 s55 86 S.1 InffOduCfIOH SG ng HH HH TT Hà HH nàn g3 ri 86 3.2 Fundamental CORCÏuSIOIIS - -ĩ- Án HH ng nh ng KH ng Ha rêi 86 5.3 Limitation and delimitation of this th€SIS - ng ng y8 ry 87 5.4 Recommendations for teachers of EnglÏisÌ: s1 4112 11 se rsesxe 88 5.5 Recommendations for further research 90 “am 9]
REFERENCES o co cọ HH g0 00500016010040000100408000808700 92 APPENDICES 0 GHI n0 0 009 9.00 0010 00100500000 0800 100
Appendix I: TBLT typical lesson pÏan - se cceesseerererrrrerrrrrer 100
Appendix 1A: Unit 7B (students” book) -. càng He 103
Appendix 1B: Pre-task: handout Ì - 55+ HH HH re 104 Appendix 1C: Pre-task: handouf 2 . Ăn TH ng ng nh 105 Appendix 1D: Pre-task: handout 3 . Ăn nen "` 106 Appendix IE: Task and report handOUK - 5c c5 vn Hit 107 Appendix 2: GTM typical lesson pÌan - - se 108 Appendix 3: Questionnaire about students’ attitudes of task-based language
teaching DFOC€UFC - - Gv TH Hi ngư 111 Appendix 4: | Summary of experimental students’ attitudes of task-based language
Trang 9Appendix 9 : Score table of oral interview in the control and experimental group 141 Appendix 10A: Full sample recording scripts of students’ oral communication
Performance SCOTING 5 oo 143 Appendix 10B: Full sample recording scripts of students’ oral communication
D€rformance SCOFITIỹ Ĩ - - G1 1v Y9 ng kg ng ệt 145 Appendix 10C: Full sample recording scripts of students’ oral communication
Performance SCOLING 7 oo eessccesecsneeseeeesnecsseeeseseteecesesseeceeesssesenseaee 147 Appendix 10D: Full sample recording scripts of students’ oral communication
performance SCOTING 8 cee essccessseseseceesseesseeeesssecsaesssssesteeeenseseees 149 LISTS OF TABLES, CHARTS AND DIAGRAM
TABLES
Table 2.1: Goals Of TBLT uu 10 Table 2.2: Learner 'in the head' ÍaCẦOFS - G5 3 ng ng ng ve 31 Table 2.3: Procedural factors affecting the implementation of TBLT' 33 Table 3.1: Summary of participants’ age and Ø8€nd€r - «cv ereee 43 Table 3.2: Summary of years of learning English at pedagogic school and VUS 43 Table 3.3: Structure ofexperimental design (Vaus, 2007, p.32) c eeee- 45 Table 3.4: Summary of five typical GTM lesson pÌÏans -. cv 48 Table 3.5: Summary offive typical TBLT lesson pÏans - se sesseeereee 53 Table 4.1: Mean scores and standard deviations of the control and experimental group
64
Table 4.2: Comparison of mean scores and S.D of pre-tests and post-tests in the 091140832490) 2Ẽ2000171707577 7 67 Table 4.3: Comparison of mean scores and S of pre-tests and posf-tests of the Experimental ðTOUD - - Án HH nung HH HH TK Tà 70
Trang 10CHARTS Chart 4.1: Distribution of oral scores in control and experimental groups before I8 61 Chart 4.2: Distribution of oral scores in control and experimental groups after TBLT reat .- GHI nrh 62 Chart 4.3: Pre-test and post-test oral scores of each student in the control group .63 Chart 4.4: Pre-test and post-test oral scores of each student in the experimental group
Chart 4.5: Four rudimentary criteria in the oral communication scoring rubric of 001040834001 0010088 66 Chart 4.6: Sub-criteria of accuracy in the oral communication scoring rubric of the COPfrỌ ðTOUDD Gì HH To Họ họ 66 Chart 4.7: Four rudimentary criteria in the oral communication scoring rubric of the eXD€rImennfaÏ BTOUD - - - - - cọ Thì re 69 Chart 4.8: Sub- criteria of accuracy in the oral communication scoring rubric of the experimental ðTOUD - <1 Họ Họ TT cọ Tư te 69 Chart 4.9: Students' attitudes towards pre-task phaS€ - - nen 72 Chart 4.10: Students" attitudes towards task phase Ăn He, 73 Chart 4.11: Students’ attitudes towards planning phase - -ĩ- scẶnsSseereree 74 Chart 4.12: Students’ attitudes towards report phase cee eesescsseeeseneceseeetoneeseeesees 75 Chart 4.13: Studenfs” attitudes towards analysis phase - sàn 76 Chart 4.14: Students’ attitudes towards practice phas€ - sàn 77 DIAGRAM
Diagram 2.1: Social Organization and Teaching Activity (Wrnight, 1987) - 18
Trang 11ABBREVIATIONS CLT EFL ELT GTM L1 L2 MOET SUA TBI TBLL TBLT VUS
Communicative Language Teaching English as a Foreign Language English Language Teaching Grammar-Translation Method First Language
Second Language
Ministry of Education and Training
Second Language Acquisition em Task-Based Instruction
Task-Based Language Learning Task-Based Language Teaching Vietnam USA Society
Trang 12Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION 11 Background to the study
In line with globalization and international integration in recent years, Bailey and Savage (1994) insist that oral communication is the prerequisite to communicate effectively in this globalized society This indispensable skill, nevertheless, is beyond teenagers’ capacity in spite of the fact that they are exposed to English for many pedagogic years One of the most influential elements causing this unexpected result is teaching methodology Over the years, ELT has undergone a lot of positive transformations in the ongoing renovation of a plethora of pedagogical methods with a view to enabling learners to transcend form-and-structure-based and teacher-centered language model to a more meaningful communication and learner-centered one The emergence of TBLT, which has recently attracted great attention from teachers, researchers and linguists, seems to be a practical approach to the learning process Derived from the theory of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), TBLT — a
strong version of it should achieve the realistic and authentic use of specific
grammatical rules In other words, it provides a purpose for classroom activities which goes beyond the practice of language for its own sake (Richards et al 1986:289) This drives teaching oral communication to a new direction, not only accuracy but fluency should be considered seriously Over two decades with a lot of professional researches and energetic debates, TBLT has proved its crucial role in teaching-and-learning a second language from methods with language acquisitiori to get our students reading, writing, listening and speaking Although TBLT has been implemented and experimented positively successfully in many countries or other institutions in
Trang 13_especlally at an English language center like VUS With a desire of taking TBLT _8dvantages of teaching effective communication in Vietnamese context, principles of TBLT should be recognized at very first This leads our research on the exploration of the implementation of TBLT in English classroom and discover to what extent students
show their attitudes towards TBLT
1.2 Statement of the problem
A lot of remarkable effort has been made not only by teachers but also by researchers, linguists and curriculum designers in an effort to assist students to use the language efficiently and effectively, but students are still unable to reach the expected proficiency necessary for effective communication There are a large number of hindrances that prevent students from achieving English proficiency Teaching method seems to be one of the most prominent obstacles which are hard to be resolved both in
and outside Vietnamese official schools
Although MOET have been implementing the new course materials embedded the CLT as the main teaching method, teachers seem not to be acquainted to; they do not implement it appropriately also because of the assessment system GTM, which seems to remain to be the most popular method implemented at high schools in my country, displays its numerous disadvantages Firstly, grammar rules are the major emphasis through teachers’ lecturing and translation is mostly used in most of English classes Students are largely trained to be skillful at dealing with most of the English multiple- choice tests on phonology, grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension via
formal instruction Nevertheless, this does not lead to students’ well performance when
Trang 14rules and tricks in doing tests in their formal English instruction Another hindrance is that this method fundamentally employs teacher-centered approach in which teachers monopolize the teaching and learning process (Nunan, 2004) Teachers’ lecturing time mainly used in the traditional classroom is one of the de-motivating factors affecting students’ language acquisition and learning motivation Consequently, after seven years of ongoing pedagogic instruction on English foreign language, effective communication in target language is still beyond their competence
Learning at English language centers is not an exception in this case There is an inconsistency in the selection of English teaching method-artiong teachers in these institutions since they do not regulate teachers’ freedom of choice to use any particular method As a result, a variety of teaching methods have been employed by various teachers for several years, which are not officially and conclusively proved to be effective in cultivating students’ ability to use English in communication, especially in
oral communication enhancement
1.3 Objectives of the study
In response to the above-mentioned problem in Vietnam language classrooms, the study is aimed at ascertaining that TBLT does show effectiveness for VUS teenagers when being implemented at this center
The two following questions are taken into circumspect consideration during the process of conducting the research so as to achieve the aims of the study,
1 To what extent does TBLT enhance learners’ oral communication performance at VUS?
Trang 151.4 Significance of the study
The experimental study will to a certain extent contribute to the development of quality of English learning and teaching under the principles and guidelines of TBLT provided that it is successfully implemented to enhance learners’ oral communication performance at VUS and simultaneously and positively investigate their attitudes towards learning with TBLT
1.5 Structure of the thesis
There are six chapters presented in this thesis
Chapter 1 problematizes the issue discussed in this study by outlining a general and factual background to the study, identifying the statement of the problem and suggesting a recommended language teaching approach Furthermore, it specifies the objectives and pinpoints the significance of this paper
Chapter 2 displays the literature review and shapes the conceptual framework of TBLT implementation into enhancing learners’ oral communication performance It contains the definitions of tasks, its principles and roles in ELT especially in teaching oral
communication skill, the taxonomy of tasks, and fundamental components of tasks
Trang 16Chapter 4 is sub-categorized into two fundamental sections The former deals with the process of data analysis and interpretation collected in the previous chapter It is sub- divided into two primary sections in response to the two research questions so that they serve as evidence for the following section in which the premium is placed on the discussion of findings in an effort to provide the answers for the two fundamental research questions based on the analyzed data analysis incipiently presented in the
latter
Chapter 5 supplies general conclusions together with this study’s limitation and
Trang 17Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This chapter will shape a theoretical framework which serves as guidelines to lay the foundation for the implementation of TBLT into teaching oral communication skill to teenagers It is comprised of the definitions of tasks, its principles and roles in ELT especially in enhancing oral communication performance, the taxonomy of tasks, and rudimentary components of tasks It additionally providés the importance and components of effective oral communication
2.2 Task-based Language Teaching
The incorporation of tasks into English language teaching practice is of great value in response to the urgent exigency of ameliorating students’ oral communication performance Consequently, TBLT has enormously grown in its popularity in the field of language teaching since the last decade of the twentieth century and made a significant contribution to the promotion of communication and authentic language use in second language classrooms It is not a new concept to applied linguists, SLA
researchers, curriculum developers, teacher trainers and language teachers It was first
proposed by Prabhu in Communicational Teaching Project in his secondary classes in
Bengalore, India in 1979 (Edwards and Willis, 2005) Then, it was switched to TBI by
Trang 18from the 1980s” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001) They consider TBLT in their book named “Approach and Method in Language Teaching” as “ an approach based on the use of the tasks as the core unit of language teaching”
2.2.1 Basic Assumption of TBLT
In association with the idea “Language learning is believed to depend on immersing students not merely in “comprehensible input” but in “tasks that require them to negotiate meaning and engage in naturalistic and meaningful communication” (Richards & Rodgers, 2001), Feez (1998, p 17) propose seven fundamental assumptions of TBLT (cited in Richards & Rodgers, 2001 and Edwards & Willis, 2005) as follows:
v The focus is on process rather than product
¥ Basic elements are purposeful activities and tasks that emphasize communication and meaning
¥ Learners learn language by interacting communicatively and purposefully while engaged in the activities and tasks
Y Activities and tasks can be either:
- those that learners might need to achieve in real life;
- those that have a pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom
Y Activities and tasks of a task-based syllabus are sequenced according to difficulty v¥ The difficulty of tasks depends on a range of factors including the previous
experience of learner, the complexity of the task, the language required to undertake the task, and the degree of support available
Trang 19Yearner acquisition processes and promoting L2 learning (Skehan, 1996; Willis, 1996; Richards & Rodgers, 2005)
2.2.2 Pedagogical Principles of TBLT
Although Richards & Rodgers (2001, p 226) together with Edwards and Willis (2005, p 13) propose that TBLT is an approach “ based on a theory of language learning rather than a theory of language structure”, it is entirely observable that this current approach is strongly advocated by both a theory of language and a theory of learning According to the theory of language acclaimed by Pica (1994), Foster & Skehan
(1996), Skehan (1998), Richards, J & Rodgers, T (2001), TBLT firstly puts the
emphasis on the integral role of meaning in language use Secondly, it is not merely associated with a single model of language but it draws on all three ones: structural, functional and interactional What is more, it underlines the critical perspective of assimilating lexical units in language use and language learning in a form of lexicalized models of communication in order to promote the learners’ fluency in oral production Lastly, TBLT encompasses the key role of “conversation” as the central focus of language instructions in which learners can negotiate meaning and be involved in a real time interaction where language use is maximized
Trang 20F constructivism so-called cognitive constructivism and social constructivism The pformer concentrates on the importance of the mind in learning suggested by Piaget
+ whereas the latter places the premium on the key role played by the environment and ‘the interaction between learners Richards and Rodgers (2001) proposed three underlying principles which are the communication principle, the task principle and the “meaningfulness principle The first associates with the activities that involve real communication promote learning whereas the second involves in activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promoting L2 acquisition (Johnson, 1982) Most importantly, language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process They strongly advocated that “Learning activities are consequently selected according to how well they engage the learner in meaningful and authentic language use (rather than merely mechanical practice of language patterns)
2.2.3 Goals of TBLT
According to Skehan (1996a), the primary goal of TBLT is to enable students to be more native-like when performed in real-time communication using their target language In order to acquire the expected proficiency, both accuracy and fluency should be fully taken into circumspect consideration Being accurate in using a foreign language places a high value in the development of fluency In recent years, Leave and Willis (2004) believe that there are some linguists claiming that teaching grammar is
not essential
Trang 21| environmen using the target language Nunan (2004, p 4) once again restates the
[importance of grammar status by insisting that “pedagogical tasks involve communicative language use in which the user’s attention is focused on meaning rather ‘than grammatical form This does not mean form is not important meaning and form pare interrelated, and grammar exists to enable the language user to express different : “communicative meanings” Thus, Skehan (1996a, 1996b) advocates that TBLT has ‘three main goals: accuracy, complexity/ range, and fluency as follows:
Aspect Definition
Fluency The capacity to use language in féal time, to emphasize meanings, possibly drawing on more lexicalized systems
Complexity/ The capacity to use more advanced language, with the Range possibility that such language may not be controlled so effectively This may also involve a greater willingness to take risks, and use fewer controlled language subsystems This area is also taken to correlate with a greater likelihood of restructuring, that is, change and development in the inter- language system
Accuracy The ability to avoid error in performance, possibly reflecting higher level of control in the language as well as a
conservative orientation, that is, avoidance of challenging
structures that might provoke error
Table 2.1: Goals of TBLT
Trang 22
expected fluency in native-like environment A traditional long-lasting cause leading to the failure of L2 learners is that they are afraid of being ashamed when making mistakes in front of their peers Should they acquire good knowledge of both form and use, they are able to bolster their confidence of effectively using target language without hesitation Therefore, the idea that looking for a balance between these language aspects is of great importance for task designers is laid enormous stress by Skehan (1996b, p 22): “It is fundamental for the designer of task-based instruction to engineer situations which maximize the chances that there will be a balance between these different goals when intentional resources are limited” As accuracy, complexity and fluency are highly interwoven; Skehan, cited in Birch’(2005), maintains the balance by selecting tasks which emphasize particular goals and implementing tasks sequentially Leaver and Willis (2004) support that striking the balance can assist L2 learners to deliver satisfactory performance in the target language
2.3 Tasks and Language Learning 2.3.1 What is a task?
Within the literature, there are numerous definitions which can be easily found (Long,
1985; Richards, 1985; Candlin, 1987; Prabhu, 1987; Wright 1987; Breen, 1987; Crookes, 1986; Nunan, 1989; Willis, 1996; Skehan 1998; Bygate, 1999; Ellis, 2000;
Bygate et al., 2001; Nunan, 2004; and many others)
Originated from CLT theory, TBLT is an approach in which “the point of departure is aot an ordered list of linguistic items, but a collection of tasks” according to David Nunan (1989, p 24) TBLT is expected to target meanings rather than grammatical forms, but it does not deny the importance of linguistic forms The boring and
Trang 23}
‘mechanical exercise types are placed by exciting and engaging practice activities This
deads to the definitions of tasks as follows Nunan (1989, p 10) defines a task as “a
piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language, while their attention in principally focused on meaning rather than form” His definition aims at highlighting the nature of tasks as meaningful interaction Cited in Willis and Willis (2001), a classroom undertaking ‘ where the target language is used by the learner for a communication purpose to achieve an outcome’ In other words, ‘“‘a pedagogical task should involve learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their-gratnmatical knowledge in order to express meaning A task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right with a beginning, middle and an end” (Nunan, 2004) These opinions show the complete agreement with Halliday’s (1986) three macro functions of language Language is, firstly, used to exchange goods and services (so-called the transactional macro functions) Socialization with others is the second macro function of language (so-called the interpersonal or social macro function), and last but not least is for enjoyment (also known as the aesthetic macro function)
In short, language is apparently regarded as a powerful tool for expressing and negotiating communicative meaning, not a merely grasping of forms
2.3.2 The Role of Task in Language Learning
It is generally supported by several researchers; first and foremost, that active participation in the teaching and learning process makes a valuable or even outstanding contribution to the language acquisition As cited by Wajnryb (1992, p 15) that
Trang 24#people learn best when they are actively engaged in the learning process Active engagement can take many forms: doing, thinking, reacting, absorbing, observing, reflecting, preparing, considering, applying, analyzing, listing, selecting, prioritizing, ranking, interpreting, completing, comparing, rearranging, evaluation — among others.” Most of the above-listed forms are essential elements in TLBT Williams and Burden (1991, p 168); in addition, claimed that “a learner’s language system develops through communicating meaningfully in the target language In other words, individuals acquire a foreign language through the process of interacting, negotiating, and conveying meaning in the language in the purposeful situations Thus, a task, in this sense, is seen as a forum within which such meaningful interaction between two or more participants can take place It is through the ensuing exchange and negotiation of meanings that learner’s knowledge of the language system develops.” Furthermore, tasks, it is said, to provide learners sufficient exposure to comprehensible input proposed by Krashen and productive output suggested by Swain (1985) They serve as the prerequisites for language learners to be successful in language learning
In summary, it should come as no deny that tasks play extraordinarily essential role in not only language learning but also language acquisition
2.4 Components and Typology of Tasks 2.4.1 Components of Tasks
Tasks are comprised of various elements According to Wright (1987), cited in Nunan
(1989), a task should contain at least two fundamental elements: input data (essential
Trang 25increases the number of task components from two to seven: input, roles, settings, actions, monitoring, outcomes and feedback The most widely utilized and sufficiently
reliable are those formulated by Nunan (1989) Since his formulation is fruitful for this study, his five suggested components including goals, input, activities, roles and settings are being selected to be discussed in detail
2.4.1.1 Goals
Goals are defined as “general intentions behind any given learning tasks” by Nunan (1989, p 48) They establish the bridge between tasks and-eurriculum Goals relate to general outcomes or may directly describe the teacher or learners’ behavior However, goals are not always explicitly stated in some cases Sometimes a complex task may result several simultaneous goals Clark (1987), cited in Nunan (1989), classifies goals into four major types: communicative, socio-cultural, learning-how-to-learn, and language and cultural awareness where communicative goals in a curriculum refer to the language used for not only establishing and maintaining interpersonal relations, and through this to exchange information, ideas, opinions, attitudes, and feelings to get things done but also acquiring and utilizing information from more or less ‘public’ sources in the target language (e.g books, magazines, newspapers, brochures,
documents, signs, notices, films, television, slides, tape, radio, public announcement,
lectures or written reports, etc.) Besides, this also includes listening to, reading, enjoying and responding to creative and imaginative uses of the target language (e.g
stories, poems, songs, rhymes, drama) and, for certain learners, creating them by
themselves
2.4.1.2 Input
Trang 26Input — the data that learners work with and utilize to complete the task — can be derived from a wide range of sources including any kind of spoken, written or visual data that “form the point of the departure for the task” (Nunan, 1989, p 53) Input can be provided by teachers, textbooks or some other resources as mentioned above, or sometimes generated by students themselves
Two fundamental types of input are taken into consideration when designing a task in TBLT are real-world (authentic) and pedagogic (non-authentic) Although they are believed to be similarly significant in promoting L2 acquisition, some researchers including Brosnan (1984) and Nunan (1989) widely and Strongly advocate the implementation of real-world materials owing to the following justifications Firstly, the language embedded is natural If teachers simplify or replace the alternative terms or words for the teaching purposes, they may lose some clues to meaning and thus, make the reading task more difficult Secondly, they offer students opportunities to deal with complete and meaningful messages which are popularly seen elsewhere Moreover, they assist learners to make use of available non-linguistic clues accompanying the printed words such as layout, pictures, colors, symbols, etc to precisely grasp the meaning Last but not least, learners, especially adults, are able to easily and interestingly find the connection between what they learn in their classroom and what they encounter outside Therefore, authenticity should be embedded in tasks as much as possible although they are apparently pedagogical
2.4.1.3 Activities
Activities specify what learners actually do with given input during task accomplishment (Williams and Burden, 1997) They should pinpoint the procedures comprising of what learners have to do from the beginning to the end of the task
Trang 27sequence in detail with clear instruction, whom learners work with (individually, in pair, in group or whole class), what is expected of him/ her to be accomplished before, during and after the task, and when they are forced to finish the task
2.4.1.4 Roles
Role is adequately and clearly defined as “the part that teachers and learners are expected to play in carrying out learning tasks as well as the social and interpersonal relationships between participants” by Nunan (1989, p 79) Consequently, learners’ and teachers’ roles are homogenously significant to be devoted considerable attention Learners play a wide range of roles through different teaching methods from the past to present such as passive recipients, listeners, performers, etc There is a higher requirement of learners’ participation in the teaching and learning processes when implementing TBLT since it demands learners to be “adaptable, creative, inventive
and most of all independent” (Nunan, 1989, p 81) Therefore, learners are forced to
take the responsibility for their own learning to develop autonomy and skills in learning-how-to-learn To make this clear, Richards and Rodgers (2005, p 235) propose three vital role of a learner as a group participant, a monitor, a risk-taker and innovator Task accomplishment usually imposes the requirement of working in pairs, in groups or whole class much more frequent than individually As a result, being an active group participant makes substantial contribution to complete the task set and thus, help learners improve their conversational skills Learners are also monitors in the sense that they themselves need to attend not only to the message in task work, but also to the form in which such messages typically come packed In simple words, learners are able to notice the target language use as well as the language structures used in communication Playing the role of a risk-taker or innovator requires learners
Trang 28to create and interpret messages for which they lack full linguistic resources and prior experience Knowledge of restating, paraphrasing, using paralinguistic signals and skills of guessing from linguistic and contextual clues are tremendously significant and necessary to be fully developed On the whole, learners can recognize their active contribution to the construction of their language knowledge Most importantly, TBLT aims them at using the language for negotiation of meaning to achieve a specific goal
in communication
Richards and Rodgers (1984, p 24) point out that teacher’ roles are closely related to
the following issues: ng
e the types of functions teachers are expected to fulfill, e.g whether that of practice director, counselor or model
e the degree of control the teacher has over how learning takes place e the degree to which the teacher is responsible for content
e the interactional patterns that develop between teachers and learners
richards and Rodgers (2001, p 236) add details to teachers’ roles when proposing the central role of the teacher is selecting, adapting, and/ or creating the tasks themselves ind then forming these into an instructional sequence in full recognition of learner
ieeds, interests, and language skill level He is not a passive practitioner to transfer the
Trang 29variety of form-focusing techniques such as attention-focusing pre-task activities, text exploration, guided exposure to parallel tasks, and use of highlighted materials to assist students recognize the forms used In short, teachers have to satisfy much more skillful and complicated requirement in TBLT than in traditional approaches (Skehan, 1996) 2.4.1.5 Settings
The definition of setting is set as “the classroom arrangements specified or implied in
the task, and it also requires consideration of whether the task is to be carried out
wholly or partly outside the classroom” (Nunan, 1989, p 9I)."In simple words, setting
is the place, either inside or outside classroom, where a task is set, taken place and finished There are possibilities that a task is started in the classroom and completed outside it Setting tasks requires the complete understanding of the two following factors covering ‘mode’ and ‘environment’ embedded in the term “learning situation” suggested by Nunan (1985) Learning mode refers to whether the learner is operating on an individual or group basis Environment, which is closely connected to mode, touches on where the learning actually takes place
Social Organization © Pupils as
Trang 30The above diagram of arranging participant in classroom is illustrated by Wright (1987) This can be utilized as the reference for mode
In conclusion, all of the five basic abovementioned components of a task should be
received equal attention since they are of mutual tension and one affect one another directly or indirectly as Williams and Burden (1997, > 167) stress: “ it is important to stress at the same time that it is impossible to consider these factors without reference to the others these elements necessarily affect one another in a dynamic and an interactive way” As a result, task designers should pay careful and equal attention before designing them cones
2.4.2 Typology of Tasks
Due to the complexity of task characteristics, there are diversified ways of categorizing tasks Nunan (1989) classifies tasks into two extremely broad categories: real-world and pedagogic tasks whose definitions were cited in Richards and Rodgers (2001, p 231) as follows:
1 Real-world tasks, which are designed to practice or rehearse those tasks that are found to be important in a needs analysis and turn out to be important and useful in the real-world
2 Pedagogic tasks, which have a psycholinguistic basis in SLA theory and
research, but do not necessarily, reflect real-world tasks
Then, other researchers explain the task types in much more detail on the basis of interaction, traditional knowledge hierarchies and general focus
Trang 31Based on interaction, Pica, Kanagy & Falodun (1993), cited in Richards & Rodgers (2001), classify tasks into jigsaw tasks, information-gap tasks, problem-solving tasks, decision-making tasks and opinion exchange tasks Jigsaw tasks are those involve learners combining different pieces of information to form a whole (e.g three individuals or groups may have three different parts of a story and have to piece the story together) Information tasks: one student or group of students has one set of information and another student or group has a complementary set of information They must negotiate and find out what the other party’s information is in order to complete an activity Problem-solving tasks: students are given a problem and a set of information They must arrive at a solution to the problem There is generally a single resolution of the outcome Decision-making tasks: students are given a problem for which there are a number of outcomes and they must choose one through negotiation and discussion Opinion exchange tasks: learners engage in discussion and exchange of ideas They do not need to reach agreement
Alternatively, Willis (1996) neatly and clearly presents six task types in terms of traditional knowledge hierarchies from simple to complex one: listing, ordering and sorting, comparing, problem solving, sharing personal experiences and creative tasks Listing comprises of brainstorming and fact-finding in support to achieve completed list or draft mind map as outcomes This type of tasks shows its effectiveness on students’ comprehension and induction capacity Ordering and sorting can be the follow-up task so as to obtain a set of information ordered and sorted according specific criteria by sequencing, ranking, categorizing, or classifying the listed information This helps learners intensify their comprehension, logic and reasoning ability Other follow-up tasks can be implemented after listing is comparing ones which place a premium on the comparison skill through the act of matching, find the similarity and/ or differences The out of it varies according to the individual task
Trang 32goals, but could be the items appropriately matched or assembled, or the identification of similarity and/ or differences Much more advanced tasks to be implemented are those aiming at coming up with a solution for a problem which can be evaluated The processes consist of analyzing real or hypothetical situations, reasoning and decision- making A largely social and far less tangible than the other task types is sharing personal experience since it is closely related to real-life activities that we usually do every day outside the classroom Narrating, describing, exploring and explaining attitudes, opinions, and reactions are skills necessary for this type to exchange and share ideas with others in authentic social talk The most complicated tasks is named creative tasks which emphasize the enhancement of students**problem-solving as well as reasoning and analyzing abilities so that a so-called project is to be invented as the outcome These types of tasks are primarily based on the recognition process of students; therefore, they should be taken into account when designing a task
Tasks are also classified into one-way or two-way, convergent or divergent, collaborative or competitive, single or multiple outcomes, concrete or abstract language, simple or complex processing, simple or complex language, reality-based or not reality-based according to Richards & Rodgers (2001)
Richards and Rodgers (2001) and Nunan (2004, p 56), recently, presents the taxonomy of tasks cited from one of the earlier applications of TBLT including information gap, reasoning gap and opinion gap
e Information gap activity, which involves a transfer of given information from one person to another or from one form to another, or from one place to another — generally calling for the decoding or encoding of information from thought into language One example is pair work in which each member of the pair has a part of the total information (for example an incomplete picture) and attempts to convey it verbally to
Trang 33e other Another example is completing a tabular representation with information
| formation as well, and learners may have to meet criteria of completeness and pvailable in a given piece of text The activity often involves selection of relevant
porrectness in making the transfer
| Reasoning-gap activity, which involves deriving some new information from given formation through processes of inference, deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns The activity necessarily involves comprehending and conveying information, as an information-gap activity, but the information to be conveyed is not identical with that initially comprehended There is a
piece of reasoning which connects the two —
e Opinion-gap activity, which involves identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling or attitude in response to a given situation The activity may involve using factual information and formulating arguments to justify one’s opinion, but there is no objective procedure for demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no reason to expect the same outcome from different individuals or on different occasions
Taking Ellis (2003)’s comments as a summary, the classification of tasks is of pivotal significance as it plays an integral role in assisting syllabus designers to incorporate the appropriate tasks into the curriculum in an effort to fulfill students’ needs and help them reach their ultimate aims More significantly, language teachers take overwhelming advantage of those task typologies to diversify their teaching practice and trial a variety of task types to analyze which one is the most appropriate to their particular groups of students
There are some criteria suggested by David Nunan (1989, p 65) to judge a good sommunicative task The requirements are:
» The goals of the task are obvious to both teachers and students
Trang 34The task difficulty is appropriate
The task encourages learners to apply what they have learned to the real world e The task is interesting and motivating
e The input of the task is authentic
e The activities are suitable and closely related to the goal of the task
e There is an information gap which might prompt a negotiation of meaning
e The activities are designed in a way that encourages learners to communicate meaningfully © There isa range of macro skill integrated into the sequence of task — ` HA e The goal of the task is successfully obtained 2.5 TBLT Implementation
The definitions of task, task components and typology that have been discovered in the previous sections appear to be fruitless if it is not properly implemented Skehan (1996a, p 24) advocates this idea when saying: “How a task is implemented can have a strong effect on task value.” Therefore, considering TBLT methodology is absolutely crucial In this respect, TBLT principles and framework are clearly elucidated in detail
2.5.1 Framework of TBLT
Scholars of TBLT as Willis (1996) and Skehan (1998) determinate what should be done before, during and after the tasks? As particularly suggested by Willis, D &
Willis, J (2007), a task-based lesson does not involve only a single task, but a
Trang 35
phase is connected with a variety of activities which teachers and students participate before launching the task; the second phase concerns the task itself and exercise diversified instructional options; and the ultimate phase deals with the procedures for following up on the task performance
25.11 Pre-task phase
:The destination of the pre-task phase is to prepare students to perform the task in ways that will promote acquisition In the phase, “teachers set up relevant topic schemata, ‘explain the task and clarify the intended outcome” (Willis;-2004, p 37) One most ‘significant purpose of this phase added and fostered by Willis (1996) is to create
interest in doing a task Thus, the emphasis of this phase is on general cognitive :demands and linguistic factors which can be tackled by one of the four following ways: supporting learners in performing a task similar to the task that will perform in the during task phase of the lesson;
e asking students to observe a model of how to perform a task;
e engaging learners in non-task activities, which concentrate on vocabulary rather than grammar, designed to prepare them to perform the task;
e strategic planning of the main task performance
In more plain words, the pre-task phase is subdivided into four steps The language teacher has to firstly interestingly introduce and clearly define the topic area Then, he/ she should determine how to prime students by recalling and activating fruitful words and phrases or brainstorming the ideas with students It is sometimes mandatory to have students familiarize with a few vital topic-related words or phrases that students are unlikely to know (Willis, 1996) However, it is extremely essential to one more time reemphasize that the point of the introductory concentrate on topic and language,
Trang 36
certainly not to teach large amounts of language or one particular grammatical structure, but to boost students’ confidence in handling the task (Willis, 1996) The third step is to supply comprehensive and detailed task instruction to ascertain that all learners master what the task involves, what its goals embrace, and what outcome is required Allowing preparation time for each individual student, which has been shown io result in richer language use in terms of complexity, variety of syntax, breath of ‘vocabulary, fluency and naturalness, consummates the first phase Students have to igrasp the theme and objectives of the task at the end of the pre-task phase
Pre-teaching of a list of useful words and phrases may disinterest and de-motivate students from the beginning of the task A selection of pre-task activities which rehearse language in a stimulating way submitted by Willis, 1996 is composed of classifying words and phrases, odd one out, matching phrases to pictures, memory challenge, brainstorming and mind-maps, thinking of questions to ask and teacher recounting a similar experience (see more details in Willis, 1996, pp 43-44)
This phase is usually the shortest stage in the framework The time may vary from five to twenty minutes depending on the learners’ degree of familiarity with the topic and the type of task If there is a pre-task recording to set the scene, it could take slightly longer The pre-task phase is absolutely momentous for it stimulates learners to produce task interactions that are not only lengthier but also linguistic richer, with a higher degree of fluency and clause complexity (Willis, 2007; Ellis, 2003) Proper accomplishment of this phase will bring considerably enormous advantages to effectively carry out the task
2.5.1.2 Task cycle
Trang 37As mentioned above, learners usually lack the ability to effectively communicate in the ‘target language in spite of the fact that they have been crammed up a great amount of
grammars for seven ongoing pedagogic years It is usually generated by the insufficiency of the exposure to and use of the target language which are scrutinized to be paramount factors to enhance intake — acquisition of new forms On that account, the task cycle phase emerges to be a favorable circumstance for learners to use whatever language they can convoke in pairs or in small groups to achieve the task goals In this phase, an emphasis is put on language in the context of meaning The task cycle is disintegrated into three sub-stages: task, planning and report
In the task stage, Richards and Rodgers (2001) claim that students do the task by participating in a discussion in pairs or in groups and are given an opportunity to express their intended meaning making use of whatever linguistic resources they have Teacher acts as a monitor and encourages students in a supportive way consisting of formulating what they intend to say or proffering an English rendering if L1 appears
too often; however, one of the most challenging acts that the teacher needs to commit
is to resist the temptation to interfere them by correcting pronunciation, linguistic errors or suggesting better ways of doing the task, etc Timekeeper is another subsidiary role of the teacher The accentuation of this task phase is on spontaneous, exploratory talk and confidence building, within the privacy of the small group
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his stage is on clarity, organization, and accuracy, as appropriate for a public Ì esentation (Richards and Rodgers, 2001) This stage is the central part of the task bycle which maximizes learners’ learning opportunity
' though the last phase seems to have less learning opportunity than the planning ' age, the incentive of the learning process of planning, drafting and rehearsing will not cur without it Students present what they did in front of the whole class and compare their findings/ solutions/ decisions with other groups during this phase while h e teacher acts as a chairperson, introducing the presentations, setting a purpose for ose listening to the speech, nominating who speaks next and-condensing at the end It | s absolutely crucial not to depreciate their achievements by commenting negatively, but the teacher should complement whatever areas they show improvement as positive
hreactions will generate and strengthen their motivation, their self-esteem, and
‘energizing them to make greater effort next time The teacher helps facilitate public use of language by chairing the reports (Willis, 1996)
2.5.1.3 Language focus
Within the TBLT framework, “the emphasis has been on students understanding and expressing meanings in order to achieve task outcomes and report their findings” (Willis, 1996) This last stage does not place a premium on focus on forms, but focus on form since learner acquisition benefits from not only exposure, use and motivation but also the recognition of the foreign language system Language focus activities refer to semantics, lexis, morphology, syntax and phonology Willis (1996) and Richards & Rodgers (2001) classify this phase into two sub-stages so-called analysis and practice
Trang 39Analysis activities supply students with time to systematize and build on the grammar they already know, to make and test hypotheses about the grammar, and to extensively broaden their repertoire of useful lexical items (Willis, 1996) The students are expected to do conscious-raising activities to identify and process specific language features from the task text or transcript they have noticed when preparing, doing and performing the task The teacher takes the responsibilities to pick up on the language items from the report stage, review each analysis activity with the class and bring other
“
useful words, phrases and patterns to students’ attention
Practice activities can be associated with the analysis stage’and are profitable for consolidation and revision Although the practice activities on their own are unlikely to equip learners more profound insights into the meaning and use of grammatical patterns, or speed up their acquisition of these patterns, but they may provide confidence and a sense of security The teacher is expected to conduct practice activities after analysis activities to build confidence whereas students are supposed to practice words, phrases and patterns from analysis activities, practice other features occurring in the task text or report stage, and note useful language items down on their language notebooks
In conclusion, each of the abovementioned phases has its own purpose in an effort to develop learners’ language Active involvement in each phase helps learners accomplish the task successfully as well as effectively sharpen their skills and strategies so as to increase their language proficiency Hence, it necessitates the language teacher to have students pass through all of the suggested stage to arrive at L2
acquisition
Trang 402.5.2 Factors Affecting Implementation of TBLT
During the implementation of TBLT, diversified factors influencing the success of this application are categorized into three primary ones namely task, learner related and Hteacher related factors
2.5.2.1 Task factors affecting implementation of TBLT
ÌNunan (2004) proposed the task complexity influencing the application of TBLT This involves grammatical complexity, propositional density (hew much information is ‘packaged in the text and how it is distributed and recycled), the amount of low- frequency vocabulary, the speed of spoken texts and the number of speakers involved, ithe explicitness of information, the discourse structure and the clarity with which this is signaled All of these factors are carefully considered when elaborating the tasks,
especially with contextual support such as photographs, drawing, tables or graphs 2.5.2.2 Learner related factors affecting implementation of TBLT
As cited in Nunan (2004), Pearson and Johnson suggested that learner related factors include “those that the learner brings to the tasks of processing and producing language
such as background knowledge, interest, motivation and other factors ” In a more
detailed explanation, they said “we bring to the comprehension process our pre- existing knowledge, and try to fit new knowledge into this pre-existing framework.” Therefore, the teacher has to compose lots of elaborations necessary to enhance students’ comprehensibility while struggling with new concepts Simplification is another tool that the teacher sometimes employs when encountering some extraordinarily complicated concepts hardly understood by teenagers The limitation of