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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY
4P
INVESTIGATING THE APPLICATION OF TASK-BASED INSTRUCTION
IN DEVELOPING COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE FOR THE 12" GRADERS OF ENGLISH
AT TRAN HUNG DAO HIGH SCHOOL - HCMC
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment
Trang 2TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY - Án HH gi, i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ĂĂ Set ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .- nàn HH HT HH HH ili ABSTRACCT - < 1S HH HH TH HH TH TH Thọ Tu TH TH IV TABLE OF CONTENTS - - SH ng ng TH TH Thu HH Tnhh V LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES .- - 5-5 Ặ2 << viii ABBREVIATIONS LH HH HH HT ng ix Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION .- - << n1 n1 se 1
1.1 Background to the probl€em - s9 ng ng 1 In ố 3 I.3 Research qU€SfIOTNS .- - 6 v1 9 TH HH HH HH trệp 4 1.4 Significance of the SfUdy ác n1 19 1K HH ng TH TH HH ni 4 1.5 Limitations and delimitatlons of the study cà se rrerxer 5
1.6 Organization of the Study TT .ằằằe 5 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW, .cccceccsccscccesccscescscescecoe sees 7
2.1 Communicative language teaching, - - s12 Hàn HH gi tư 7 2.2 Input and interactionist fh€OrI€S - - - cà 2n v1 HH HT g gnệt 9 VN) Co 0i (ải 0 1]
2.3.1 Definition Of faSK .- ch HH HH TH HH rà 1] 2.3.2 Task componenIs -. - ¿7s55ctesteeserseerserseesereerrrserrce T3
2.3.3 Task ClasSITÍCAflOT LH HH HH HH TH HT th Hà HH 15
Trang 32.4.3 Discours€ COfD€f€TCC LH HH HH Hà HH Hy th 25 2.4.4 StrategiC COID€f€TCe - - 2-2 S2 nHnH HH HH Hư Hà HH ket 26 2.5 Conceptual framework of the sfudy nhe kh khe 27
2.6 English language teaching and learning at THĐ high school confext 31
Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY -.- co SH HH ng vn 36 KG con 36
3.2 Subjects of the S{UY .- LH H.92112 1 1H11 011011 tr gi re 37 3.2.1 The student Suj€CfS ó2 31x "HH TH HH ng ng 0g 37 3.2.2 The teacher subJ€CfS «c1 S11*1HH 2H“ 2000 1 ng ng ng kg 38 3.3 Research instrumenfs and procedures . - 39
3.3.1 Questionnaire to the studenfs - ằcẶ{esẰ- 39 3.3.2 Questionnaire to the teachers_ - - -c - 42
3.3.3 The interviews .ccceceeee cece nen eee eee een ence eee eee ee eae ne ee tats 43 KẾ V014) 600/0 nh 44
Chapter 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND THE DISCUSSIONS 45
h9 on ốc ố ằố 45
4.1.1 The teaching goal of the teachers of English - -+++ 46
4.1.2 Students’ and teachers’ perceptions about classroom activities 48
4.1.3 Students’ and teachers’ perceptions about the English teaching ÐĐx22- (00T
4.1.4 Students’ and teachers’ perceptions about the teacher’s roles 56
4.1.5 Students’ and teachers’ perceptions about the student’s roles 58
4.1.6 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards oral presentations 61
4.1.7 Students’ and teachers’ assessment of the tasks in Textbook 12 63
4.2 DISCUSSION .6 65
Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 71
Trang 45.1 Major findings of the study 0 cee cece e cence ence nee cece sete teat ea eneeaes 71
5.2 Suggestions for high school teachers of English and teacher educators 73
5.2.1 Having a favorable attitudes towards TBÌ +-cscesexee 73 5.2.2 Avoiding misconceptions of TBÌ .- cà sàớ 73 5.2.3 Considering alternative solutions for classroom management 75
5.2.4 Providing practical application training in TBI procedure 76
5.2.5 Balancing linguistic competence with communicative competence 76
5.2.6 Designing tasks based on student needs .- 77
5.3 Recommendations for further research nhe 79 REFERENCES - Án HH ng nh nh nh TH HH 81 F40 I))i0 218 87
Trang 5LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS AND FIGURES
TABLES
Table 2.1: Stereotypical classroom processes in traditional form-focused pedagogy and task-based pedagOBY - HH ng HH ng net 28 Table 2.2: A checklist of the characteristics of TBÌ 3Ï Table 3.1: Summary of the student questionnaire ifems -. -cc- ceteee 4] Table 3.2: Summary of the teacher questionnaire if€ms .- «<< «+ «+ 42
Table 4.1: Students and teachers’ perceptions about classroom activities 47
Table 4.2: Students and teachers’ perceptions about the English teaching procedures ¬— n Eee Een ee ene een E Dene ER EEE H een cE AeA Ene ea eee EG ena ete eee EE eae anatErEE: 52 Table 4.3: Students and teachers’ perceptions about the teacher’s roles 56
Table 4.4: Students and teachers’ perceptions about the student’s roles 58
Table 4.5: Students” assessment of task types In Textbook 12 63
CHARTS Chart 4.1: The importance of developing communicative competence 46
Chart 4.2: Students and teachers’ perceptions about classroom activities 48
Chart 4.3: Students and teachers’ perceptions about the English teaching PFOCECUIES 0 = ea ee enetats 54 Chart 4.4: Students and teachers’ perceptions about the teacher’s roles 57
Chart 4.5: Students and teachers’ perceptions about the student’s roles .59
Chart 4.6: Students’ and teachers’ assessment of oral presentations 61
Chart 4.7: Students’ assessment of task types in Textbook 12 63
FIGURES Figure 2.1: Task CO7fOOH€HÍS HS SH HH kg nh hy 13 Figure 2.2 : Components of T1ask-based insiruction ƒamneWoFk 20
Trang 6APEC BA CLT EFL ELT HCMC L2 MOET PPP SLA TBI THD ZPD WTO ABBREVIATIONS Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Bachelor of Arts
Communicative Language Teaching English as a Foreign Language
English Language Teaching Ho Chi Minh City Second Language Ministry of Education and Training Presentation-Practice-Production Approach Second Language Acquisition Task-Based Instruction Tran Hung Dao
Trang 7CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
This introductory chapter describes in detail the background to the problem, presents the research questions, states the purpose and significance of the study, gives out some limitations and delimitations, and provides an organization of the
thesis
1.1 Background to the problem
Cultivating learners’ ability to communicate effectively in English is a major goal of English teaching and learning in Vietnam nowadays To meet the demands for the rapid development of the global social and economic activities, “English must be taught both as an integrative discourse and an empowering discourse through a curriculum that reflects the cultures, values, and lives of students and provides them with knowledge of the cultural values and daily lives of the people with whom they are likely to interact” (Le, 2003, p.40) However, with the traditional form-focused and teacher-centered approaches which dominated the curricula at all levels of school education system in Vietnam many years ago, many Vietnamese students, despite many years of studying English at junior and high schools, were still unable to communicate in English To remedy this weakness, the education system of Vietnam was required to carry out both "restructuring" (i.e., expanding and verifying training forms, renovating governing mechanism and redesigning curricula) and "reculturing" (i.e., changing the way teachers teach and the way students learn) (Christie, 2005 as cited in Pham, 2010)
Since 2002, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has carried out a remarkable reform in terms of education curricula and syllabuses from lower secondary schools up to senior high schools However, in 2006, the new
Trang 8language curriculum in high schools aims to stimulate the students’ interest in learning, to help the students identify the objectives of English learning, to develop their integrating skills of using English for real communication, to understand various cultures and to easily integrate with other nations in the region and in the world (MOET, 2006) In addition, this document states that “communicative skills are the goal of the teaching of English at the secondary school while formal knowledge of the language serves as the means to an end” (MOET, 2006, p.6) To carry out the intended curricular innovation, a locally-written series of textbooks was introduced and has constituted the national English curriculum As described in the documented English language curriculum, “the textbook is theme-based and skill-based, with the adoption of the two currently popular teaching approaches, i.e the learner-centered approach and the communicative approach A focus is on task- based teaching as the leading methodology” (MOET, 2006, p.12) Within the task- based instruction framework of the new textbook series, teachers are expected to organize classroom activities and provide guidance so that learners can engage with each other “actively, creatively and cooperatively through individual, pair and group work in meaningful interaction and negotiation of meaning within a specific context” (MOET, 2006, p.10) It is apparent that in the process of curricular innovation, Task-based instruction is a teaching methodology recommended by the MOET to be applied at high school level to help students develop their communicative competence in English
Trang 9vocabulary explanation, translation and whole-class drills and repetition were commonly observed in their language classes although the teachers reported using a variety of communicative activities such as: brainstorming, problem-solving, role- play and information gap filling Wang (2008) reported a great mismatch between the principles of curriculum designers, which emphasize the adoption of a learner- centered communicative approach and the classroom practices, where teaching
remains textbook-based, test-oriented and teacher-centered In his overview of task-
based learning in many Asian contexts, Littlewood (2007) reports a wide gap between the tenets of CLT/TBI and local cultures of learning In Vietnam, up to the present time, there has been little research into how high school teachers apply | curricular innovation into their language classroom practices Recently, there has been one case study carried out by Bernard and Le (2009) in an upper secondary | school in an economically underdeveloped rural area of North Vietnam The overall findings showed that the TBI innovation was not being implemented in the way outlined in the official curriculum document: classroom teaching remained traditional, teacher-fronted and textbook-centered and discrete grammar points were presented in isolated sentences, while grammar rules were provided explicitly, almost always in Vietnamese Clearly, the teachers failed to apply what was required from policymakers in their English classroom
For this reason, there is a need to understand the actual practices of applying TBI into English language teaching classes at high school context Given this need, this study aims to find out the extent to which TBI, as recommended by the MOET, is being applied in developing communicative competence in English at Tran Hung
Dao high school, Go Vap district, HCMC
1.2 Purpose of the study
Trang 10(1) To investigate the actual practices of TBI application in English language
classes in developing communicative competence for the twelfth-grade students
at THD high school
(2) To explore THD high school teachers’ attitudes towards TBI application in their actual practices
(3) To offer some possible suggestions on how to improve the teaching practices at THD high school, if necessary
1.3 Research questions
The research questions that the present study seeks to answer are:
1 To what extent is Task-based instruction being applied in developing communicative competence for the twelfth-grade students of English at Tran Hung Dao high school?
2 What are Tran Hung Dao high school English teachers’ attitudes towards the application of Task-based instruction in their actual classrooms?
3 What are the possible suggestions on how to improve the teaching practices at THD high school, if necessary?
1.4 Significance of the study
As mentioned above, TBI has been introduced into school systems in many
Asian countries; however, up to the present time, little research has been undertaken
Trang 11Therefore, this study aims to provide deep insights into the actual practices of TBI application at THD high school context Simultaneously, it provides a further understanding of the teachers’ beliefs and values towards the intended curricular
innovation
Based on the study findings, some practical suggestions were offered to help teacher educators and high school teachers of English to construct and apply TBI effectively
1.5 Limitations and delimitations of the study
There were certain limitations of this study that needed to be underscored First of all, the sample of the subjects was fairly small in size, which posited limitations to the generalization of the results Second, it was due to the restrictive duration of time Third, the relatively limited research experience of the researcher in collecting and analyzing the data might be thought of as another limitation of the study
The present study focused on the twelfth-grade students at THD high school, Go Vap district, HCMC The types of task in this study were restricted to those found in Textbook 12 which were in use at THD high school
1.6 Organization of the study
Trang 12Chapter 2 reviews the literature relevant to the topic of research and summarizes the conceptual framework used for designing the questionnaires
Chapter 3 presents the research methodology in terms of sampling,
instrumentation, data collection, and data analysis
Chapter 4 discusses the results for the two data sets elicited via the two instruments, i.e., questionnaires and interviews
Trang 13CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter shapes a theoretical framework which can serve as guidelines to help investigate the application of TBI in developing communicative competence ' The conceptualization is limited to the following issues: communicative language
teaching, input and interactionist theories, task-based instruction, communicative
; competence, conceptual framework of the study, and English language teaching and
ị learning at Tran Hung Dao high school context
3 Ỉ
: 23.1 Communicative language teaching
The communicative language teaching (CLT) approach became popular / among second language acquisition researchers and second language teachers as | early as the 1980s (Skehan, 2003) The CLT has its theoretical support from - Halliday°s functional account of language use and Chomsky’s theory of Universal Grammar which is accepted by some linguists as the best perspective from which to understand second language acquisition CLT is an approach that aims to increase communicative competence, which means being able to understand and interpret messages, understand the social contexts in which language is being used, apply the rules of grammar, and employ strategies to keep communication from breaking down (Savignon, 1997) With CLT, instructional emphasis shifted from grammar translation, memorization of dialogues, and drills and practice of structural patterns to using of language in real-life contexts for meaningful purposes Grammar practice with drills can be appropriate at certain times, but CLT demands authentic
use of language, which means people interacting with other people “With CLT
Trang 14CLT, there is an emphasis on language use in the classroom But in general, the communicative approach adopted in the classroom is a “weak” form of the approach (Littlewood, 1981 as cited in Willis & Willis, 2001) Language use is seen as subsidiary to the study of language form The stimulus to learning is still provided by the identification of a new structure or pattern
CLT is a teaching method from which TBI stems directly With the advent of the CLT approach and much emphasis on learners’ communicative needs, the term
TBI came into prevalent use in the field of second language acquisition in terms of
developing process-oriented syllabi and designing communicative tasks to promote learners’ actual language use TBI can be seen as an offshoot from or a development of CLT, especially the “strong” version of CLT (Klapper, 2003) Holliday (1994) uses the word “strong CLT” to define a culture-sensitive approach that engages learners in the language itself (i.e functions of language, components of meaning, etc.) through the functional account of language use (i.e descriptions of texts, speech acts, etc) This definition seems to be in line with the version of TBI described by Willis (1996) and further elaborated by Willis and Willis (2001) who argue that TBI rests on two main principles The first principle is that units of syllabus organization should be tasks rather than linguistic items The second principle is that effective learning is closely related to language use and involves
form and meaning Unlike Grammar-Translation exercises, TBI tasks emphasize
fluency rather than accuracy Unlike presentation-practice-production (PPP) activities, TBI tasks focuses on learning whereas the PPP activities on the objectives of learning
Trang 15on meaning, real-world processes of language use and any of the four language skills A task engages cognitive processes and has a clearly defined communicative outcome TBI develops and perfects the CLT approach
2.2 Input and interactionist theories
TBI is rooted in input and interactionist second language acquisition theory (Doughty & Long, 2003; Schmidt, 2001) Input and interactionist theories of second language acquisition hold that language learning is assisted through the social interaction of learners and their interlocutors, particularly when they negotiate toward mutual comprehension of each other’s message meaning Vygotsky, a psychologist and social constructivist, laid the foundation for the interactionists’ view of language acquisition Vygotsky’s social interaction theory still serves as a strong foundation for the interactionists’ perspective today In Vygotsky’s view, learning is facilitated by interaction and construction of knowledge between learners, guided by the teacher and building on support from all resources available including human resources This support provides a type of “scaffolding” which helps learners to construct their knowledge and apply it to a level they would not individually be able to reach Also, he hypothesized the existence of a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), where learners construct the new language through socially mediated interaction The implication of this theory is that a learner learns under the guidance of an expert, who provides assistance and support by adjusting the difficulty of task Later, Krashen, a representative for nativists, proposed what to be called Krashen’s input hypothesis of SLA, expanding from Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device According to Krashen’s input hypothesis, language is acquired when the learner is exposed to L2 language he/she understands, but which is a little more advanced than his/her current level of competence — comprehensible input The process is described by “the formula i+ 1” (Krashen, 1982, p 21) Also, Long,
Trang 16importance of comprehensible input Long’s interaction hypothesis emphasizes the significance of interactional modifications which occur in the negotiating meaning when communication problem arises In brief, comprehensible input through interaction is necessary for language acquisition to occur
There have been a lot of researches and theories in the last twenty years on the use of tasks in language teaching, particularly tasks which involve interaction between learners Nunan (1989) advocates new practice device utilizing and at the same time facilitating classroom interaction, namely “tasks” Based on this notion of tasks, Long and Crookes (1992) propose an analytic syllabus, task-based instruction They say that tasks provide learners with appropriate target language samples and comprehension and production opportunities of negotiable difficulty Such task-based language teaching is believed to promote language acquisition by providing learners with opportunities to make the language input they receive more comprehensible, furnishing contexts in which learners need to produce output which others can understand and making the classroom closer to real-life language situations In other words, TBI can make language learning in classrooms closer to the natural route and may reach a higher rate of language acquisition because it provides learners with a clear communicative goal, interaction is needed to reach the goal and comprehensive input can occur, and then language acquisition is
facilitated
Trang 17roles of the teacher and students as communicators and learners An effective and learning approach is the one which can create a context in which students have opportunities to exchange information, and in doing so, develop new understanding and learning
To sum up, input and interactionist theories have considerable impact on TBI Tasks involve input in the form of a piece of text or language, which has authentic meanings; they involve activities, which the learner is required to work out the language function interactively; and they involve cognitive operations to produce the output, which facilitate language acquisition rather than language learning
2.3 Task-based instruction
Nunan (1989) stated that TBI is an approach to the design of language
courses in which “the point of departure is not an ordered list of linguistic items, but
a collection of tasks” (p.24) The following section defines task and illustrates the way in which it is used, as well as spelling out its pedagogical assumptions
2.3.1 Definition of task
The term “task” can be defined in a variety of ways Long (1985) sums up a non-linguistic definition of task in this way “ a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or some reward [By] ‘task’ is meant the hundred and one thing people do in everyday life, at work, at play or in-between” (p.89)
In Willis (1996)’s words, tasks are defined as activities where the foreign language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose and consequently, in order to achieve an outcome Fotos (1998) offers another definition “task performance can
significantly increase learner awareness of the target structure and improve
Trang 18accuracy in its use, as well as provide opportunities for meaning-focused comprehension and production of the target language Furthermore, such tasks release more traditionally oriented non-native speaker teachers from the requirement to lead communicative activities in the target language” (p.307)
In his critical review of recent trends in ELT, Klapper (2003) defines tasks as “meaning-based activities closely related to learners’ actual communicative needs and with some real-world relationship, in which learners have to achieve a genuine outcome (solve a problem, reach a consensus, complete a puzzle, play a game, etc.) and in which effective completion of the task is accorded priority” (p.35) Ellis (2003) provides a definition covering most aspects of TBI as follows:
A task is a work plan that requires learners to process language pragmatically in
order to achieve an outcome that can be evaluated in terms of whether the correct
or appropriate propositional content has been conveyed To this end, it requires
them to give primary attention to meaning and to make use of their own
linguistic resources, although the design of the task may predispose them to choose particular forms A task is intended to result in language use that bears a resemblance, direct or indirect, to the way language is used in the real world Like other language activities, a task can engage productive or receptive, and oral or written skills, and also various cognitive processes (p.16)
Within much discussion and varying interpretations as to the definition of tasks, Candlin and Murphy (1987) suggest that tasks can be effectively organized based on systematic components including goals, input, setting, activities, roles, and feedback Nunan (1989) asserts that tasks can be conceptualized in terms of the Specific goals they are intended to serve, the input data which forms the point of departure for the task, and the activities or procedures, which the learners undertake in the completion of the task; the two important additional elements are the roles for
i teachers and learners implicit in the task and the settings and conditions under - which the task takes place
Trang 19In short, there are various definitions of task with respect to its major features and elements However, given the focus of this paper, it is sufficient to say that a task is any meaning-focused activity that generates a genuine need to use the language and the core task components include goals, input and activities along with teacher and learner roles plus setting When selecting, adapting, and designing communicative tasks, the specification of all these components is needed
2.3.2 Task components
When designing a task, the following elements should be taken into
consideration: goals, input, activities, teacher role, learner role and setting (Nunan, 1989) Input NGỘ Lo Teacher’s role Goals <— > Student’s role oN Figure 2.1: Task components (Nunan, 1989) ae Settin Activities 5
Goals serve as a guideline in the overall process of task performance and provide a point of contact between the task and the broader curriculum (Nunan, 1989) Thus, they may cover a broad range of pedagogical objectives from general outcomes (e.g., improving learners’ communicative competence or developing language skills) through specific ones (e.g., making a hotel reservation or making a travel plan in the target language)
Trang 20Input refers to verbal or non-verbal data that learners can manipulate Such data may be linguistic (that is, reading or listening texts of various sorts) or non- linguistic (for example, pictures, photos, diagrams, charts, maps and so on) Input data can be provided by a teacher, a textbook or some other sources Alternatively,
it can be generated by the learners themselves
Activities refers to the behavior that participants do with the input, which forms the point of departure for the learning task Nunan (1989) proposes three general ways of characterizing activities: (1) rehearsal for the real world (authenticity), (2) skills use, and (3) fluency and accuracy
Teacher’s role refers to the part that teachers are expected to play in carrying out learning tasks as well as the social and interpersonal relationships between participants Cook (2001) points out that the teacher is an organizer or a provider than a director or a controller She reveals that “the teacher sets up the task or the information gap exercise and then lets the students get on with it, providing help but not control” (p 215) That is, the teacher is a “facilitator” Richards and Rodgers (2001) mention additional roles of a teacher in TBI, including a selector and sequencer of tasks, the one preparing learners for tasks, and the one promoting consciousness-raising
Trang 21Setting refers to the learner configuration (either teacher-fronted, small group, pair, or individual) as well as the environment (whether the task takes place in the classroom or outside the classroom)
All in all, the core task elements have six components: goals, input and activities along with the supporting elements of teacher and learner roles plus setting These elements provide an empirical basis for TBI, including the relationship between real-world and pedagogic tasks, text and task authenticity and the place of learning strategies within the task-based classroom
2.3.3 Task classification
Task classification is important for many reasons (Ellis, 2003, pp 142-143) First, it offers syllabus designers a starting point for task design Second, it can be used to identify the task types that match specific needs or preferences of groups of learners Third, it affords teachers a framework for experimenting different types of
task in their classroom to find out which tasks work for their students
Many types of L2 tasks exist, particularly in the realm of communicative instruction Many researchers today make an important distinction between two kinds of tasks: real-world or target tasks and pedagogical tasks
According to Nunan (1993), a real-world task is the use of the language in the world outside the classroom while a pedagogical task is carried out inside the
classroom (p |)
Real-world tasks are designed to emphasize those skills that learners need to have so they can function in real world A real-world task may involve things that occur in everyday life such as asking for directions, making a reservation or buying a pair of shoes (p 2) Such tasks normally simulate authentic task behavior, and
Trang 22their primary focus is often the achievement of an end product For such reasons, these kinds of tasks normally make up the final goal of a lesson or a unit Long (1985) lists a number of target tasks: “‘ filling out a form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a library book, taking a driving test, typing a letter, weighing a patient, sorting letters, taking a hotel reservation, writing a cheque, finding a street destination ” (p.89)
On the contrary, pedagogical tasks are especially designed classroom tasks that are intended to require the use of specific interactional strategies and may also require the use of specific types of language They are intended to act as a bridge between the classroom and the real world in that they serve to prepare students for real-life language usage (Long, 1985) A pedagogical task takes place in the classroom and may involve an activity that is carried out as a result of understanding the language Richards, Platt and Weber (1986) refer to pedagogical tasks as follows: actions carried out as the result of processing or understanding language For example, drawing a map while listening to a tape, listening to an
instruction and performing a command, may be referred to as tasks Nunan (1989) “se
defines pedagogical tasks as “ classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their intention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning”’
Trang 23are true or false As soon as learners master the pedagogical task, including all of its related activities or exercises, they would have developed necessary skills to accomplish the target task Ultimately these new developed skills could be used outside the classroom
More recently, Richard (2001) presented five pedagogical tasks: (1) Jigsaw tasks, (2) Information-gap tasks, (3) Problem-solving tasks, (4) Decision-making tasks, and (5) Opinion exchange tasks
Jigsaw tasks : Learners combine pieces to form up the whole For example, combining a separated story
Information-gap tasks: Two different students or groups have a part that the other does not have They try to find out what they do not have
Problem-solving tasks: Students are given a problem and asked to solve it Decision-making tasks : Students are given a problem and asked to choose an option out of the givens
Opinion exchange tasks: Students are expected to discuss their idea on the given topic
Willis (1996) offers a somewhat different pedagogic classification of tasks based
on an analysis of the kinds of tasks commonly found in textbook materials The
types reflect the kind of operations learners are required to carry out in performing
tasks:
Listing tasks: For example, students might have to make up a list of things they would pack if they were going on a beach vacation
Sorting and ordering: Students work in pairs and make up a list of the most characteristics of an ideal vacation
Comparing: Students compare ads for two different supermarkets
Trang 24- Sharing personal experiences and story telling: Students recount their personal experiences and tell stories
- Creative tasks: Students prepare plans for redecorating a house
However, it is interesting to focus on the list of task types presented by Oxford (2006) in her recent article Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning: An Overview because of its diversity Oxford (2006) attempted to synthesize the listing of some key task types found in the literature as follows: problem-solving, decision-making, opinion-gap or opinion’ exchange, Information-gap, comprehension-based, sharing personal experiences, attitudes, and feelings, basic cognitive processes, such as comparing or matching , listing and ordering/sorting, language analysis, narrative, reasoning-gap, role-plays and simulations, etc
In summary, there are various types of task and these tasks can be combined in a-number of ways according to the topic chosen If, for example, when learning the topic “films”, students may be asked to work in a group to name their favorite films and justify their choice and this would involve listing, sequencing and sharing personal experiences Therefore, teachers have to plan and carefully choose activities at each stage of teaching, since within the framework of TBI, pre-task, task-cycle and language focus each plays a direct role in learners’ language acquisition The present study focuses on the types of pedagogical tasks commonly
found in Textbook 12 such as listing, information gap, opinion exchange, problem
solving, sharing personal experiences, and decision-making
2.3.4 Components of Task-based instruction framework
Trang 25lessons has long been the PPP cycle With this sequence, discrete grammar points are presented by the teacher, then practiced in the form of spoken and written exercises (often pattern drills) and then used by the learners in less controlled speaking or writing activities Although the language items presented at the beginning of this procedure may well fit neatly into a grammatical syllabus, a frequent criticism of this approach is that students do not develop fluency or progress in their grammatical development The PPP cycle does not allow learners to demonstrate their communicative abilities until the final stage of the sequence In the meanwhile, the task-based instruction framework offers an alternative sequence to the PPP model Willis (1996) offers a detailed sequence involving a pre-task phase followed by a task-planning report cycle, in which learners move from pair
discussion of a task to the public report of their findings In this sequence, Willis
(1996) put language focus in the last stage, which is totally different from the traditional sequence Willis (1996)’s three-part task cycle is presented as below
._ Pre-task
Introduction to topic and task
Teacher explores the topic with the class,
highlights useful words or phrases, helps students
understand task instructions and prepare Students
may hear a recording of others doing a similar task Task Cycle
Task Planning Report
Students do the | Students prepare to report to | Some groups
task In pairs or | the whole class (orally or in | present their
small groups | writing) how they did the | reports, and
Teacher monitors | task, what they decided or | compare results
from a distance discovered
Trang 26
Language Focus
Analysis Practice
Students examine and discuss specific | Teacher conducts practice of new
features of the text or transcript of the | words, phrases and patterns
recording occurring in the data, either during or
after the analysis
Figure 2.2: Components of Task-based instruction framework (adapted from Willis, 1996)
In the pre-task phase, the teacher explores the topic with the class, highlights useful words and phrases (but does not pre teach new structures) and helps learners prepare for the task Learners may hear a recording of a parallel task being done (but not so similar to act as a model for exact copying) There may be a brainstorming session on the topic or a pre task exercise (e.g odd-word-out exercise) If the task is based on a written text or a recording, learners may read or
listen to a part of it
The second phase is task cycle At this stage, the learners have a chance to use whatever language they already have to express themselves and say whatever they want to say in pairs or small groups They then prepare a brief report to the whole class on how they did the task and what the outcome was Finally, they present their report in front of the class so that everyone can compare findings or begin a survey
Trang 27phrases or patterns that occur in the data analyzed The idea is not that students will gain immediate command of these features but that by noticing them, they will recognize them when they meet them again in other texts The idea of starting with a task is to create an actual need for language to be used and for learners to identify what language they need in order to perform the task (cf ‘noticing the gap’ idea above) There is then a gradual move to a greater focus on form with supported consciousness-raising and analysis In this sense, the overall cycle is a bit like PPP
in reverse order
In brief, Willis’s (1996) framework is one of the most highly developed and certainly the most teacher-friendly frameworks today (Klapper, 2003) Moreover, this task-based instruction framework creates the optimum conditions for language learning Willis (1998) identifies these three essential conditions as: (1) Exposure to the target language (2) Opportunities to use the target language for expressing meaning (3) Motivation to engage with exposure and use what they know A fourth desirable condition is: “Focus on language form to prevent fossilization” (p.3) Therefore, the model suggested by Willis (1996) serves as the primary framework for this study Within this framework, the focus is on using tasks to create interaction and then building language awareness and language development around task performance
2.3.5 Advantages of Task-based instruction
When TBI is applied in the classroom, there are numerous advantages to consider First of all, TBI aims to provide learners with a natural context for language use so that when learners work to complete a task, they have an
opportunity to interact with each other Such interaction is thought to facilitate
language acquisition since learners have to work to understand each other and
Trang 28express their own meaning (Larsen-Freeman 2000, p.114) Interaction between learners and their teacher supports them to reach their goals and doing task-based activities actually help them acquire target language (Pica et al., 1993)
Furthermore, TBI framework, combined with tasks and texts, provides
learners rich exposure to language plus opportunities to use it themselves Throughout the task cycle, emphasis is on learners’ understanding and expressing meaning to complete tasks (Willis, 1998) At the stage where learners are preparing their report in front of the whole class, they are forced to consider language form in general rather than concentrating on a single form as in the PPP model The aim of tasks is to afford opportunities for learners to perform their competence in activities that emphasize using rather than learning language (Ellis, 2003)
In addition, TBI is intrinsically motivating as it provides many opportunities for learners to use the language that they know without penalizing them for
inevitable failures in accuracy (Willis & Willis, 2007)
Trang 29In brief, TBI represents an important approach in teaching English for - communication It supports learners to develop their English communicative
competence effectively
2.4 Communicative competence
Communicative competence is a concept introduced by Dell Hymes in 1966 and discussed and redefined by many authors Canale and Swain’s (1980) model of communicative competence includes grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, discourse competence, and strategic competence Bachman’s (1990) model is a more recent attempt to divide communicative competence into three components: organizational competence, pragmatic competence and _ strategic
competence
In this study, the discussion about the theoretical framework of communicative competence is based on the model of Canale and Swain (1980) This model is considered to be the key source for discussion of communicative competence and related applications in applied linguistics and language pedagogy Therefore, it has been widely adopted (Richards & Rogers, 2001) In the meanwhile, Bachman’s (1990) model has been developed with language assessment in mind, rather than language teaching
2.4.1 Grammatical competence
According to Canale and Swain (1980), grammatical competence is concerned with the mastery of the linguistic code which includes vocabulary knowledge as well as knowledge of morphological, syntactic, semantic, phonetic and orthographic rules In other words, grammatical competence is the ability to
Trang 30recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication This competence enables the speaker to use knowledge and skills needed for understanding and expressing the literal meaning
of utterances
The traditional language teaching methods and materials focus on the development of grammatical competence Concentration on developing only grammatical competence, however, will not provide the learner with the ability to produce sentences or utterances appropriate to the context of use This ability to produce sentences or utterances appropriate to the context of use is called sociolinguistic competence
2.4.2 Sociolinguistic competence
Trang 312.4.3 Discourse competence
Discourse competence is concerned with the mastery of rules that determine ways in which forms and meanings are combined to achieve a meaningful unity of spoken or written texts The unity of a text is enabled by cohesion in form and coherence in meaning Cohesion is achieved by the use of cohesion devices (e.g pronouns, conjunctions, synonyms, parallel structures etc.) which help to link individual sentences and utterances to a structural whole The means for achieving
coherence, for instance repetition, progression, consistency, relevance of ideas, etc.,
enable the organization of meaning, i.e., establish a logical relationship between groups of utterances In other words, discourse competence is knowing how to interpret the larger context and how to construct longer stretches of language so that the parts make up a coherent whole In order to keep turn taking flow as smoothly as possible, learners must acquire the stretches of discourse: the function of initial utterance, the meaning of referents in previous utterance and the following utterance While utterances may be grammatically or socio-linguistically correct and thus “communication” has occurred, they may not be suitable for the genre or simply not cohesive/coherent, as the following examples demonstrate:
Ex 1; What did the rain do?
The crops were destroyed by the rain Ex 2: Where is my typewriter?
Your typewriter is in the cupboard
(Widdowson, 1975, p 25 as cited in Canale, 1983)
While the responses in both examples are not incorrect, the first example’s answer is not discursively cohesive Typically, old information precedes new, where an earlier repetition of “rain” would provide a “physical” link between the questions and answer The response in example 2 is correct but is not what a native speaker
Trang 32would answer with Instead, a typical rejoinder would be “It’s in the cupboard” or simply “in the cupboard”’
2.4.4 Strategic competence
In the model of Canale and Swain (1980), strategic competence is composed of knowledge of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that are considered to be part of the ability to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to insufficient competence in one or more of the other areas of communicative competence or to enhance the effectiveness of communication (e.g., paraphrasing, how to address others when uncertain of their relative social status, slow speech for rhetorical effect, etc.) In other words, it is the way that teachers help learners how to get out of breakdowns in communication, how to clarify misunderstanding, how to avoid unnecessary pauses, how to get and keep turns in taking, how to start, end and keep conversations going by making small talks It is how to use a variety of forms to communicate effectively, how to respond appropriately to the questions, how to make choices about what should include in the speech act, the choices that are sometimes constrained by social conventions and sometimes not
4
Strategic competence is perhaps the most important of all the communication competence elements that any students who want to master speaking skill must have (Bachman, 1990, p.100) This is because when it interacts with other components, strategic competence enables learners to deal successfully with a lack of one or more of the other areas of communicative competence
Trang 33different kinds of communication strategies Generally speaking, communicative competence in this study is defined as the ability to use the language for meaningful communication, and it requires the active involvement of the learner in the production of the target language Investigating the application of TBI in developing communicative competence is based on the typical characteristics of
TBI which are summarized from the various aspects of TBI discussed above
2.5 Conceptual framework of the study
The key perspective for investigating students’ communicative competence in this study is based on a language teaching approach, known as Task-based instruction TBI is frequently promoted as an effective teaching approach, superior to traditional methods and soundly based in theory and research Ellis (2003) provides a table contrasting traditional form-focused with task-based pedagogy as follows: A B 2 Traditional form-focused pedagogy Task-based pedagogy |Rigid discourse structure consisting of (IRF (initiate-respond-feedback) lexchanges Loose discourse structure consisting of adjacency pairs \Teacher controls topic development | |Students able to control topic development
\Turn-taking is regulated by the teacher Turn-taking is regulated by the same rules that govern everyday conversation (i.e speakers can self select)
Display questions (i.e questions that the questioner already knows the lanswer)
Use of referential questions (i.e questions that the questioner does not know the answer to)
[Students are placed in a responding jrole and consequently perform a
llimited range of language functions [Students function in both initiating and responding roles and thus perform a wide range of language functions (e.g asking and giving information, agreeing and
Trang 34| disagreeing, instructing)
Little need or opportunity to negotiate (Opportunities to negotiate meaning when
meaning communication problems arise
Scaffolding directed primarily at enabling students to produce correct sentences
Scaffolding directed primarily at enabling
students to say what they want to say
Form-focused feedback (i.e the teacher Content-focused feedback (i.e the teacher responds implicitly or explicitly to the responds to the message content of the correctness of students’ utterances) istudents' utterances)
Repetition (i.e a student elects to repeat something another student or the teacher has said as private speech or to establish inter subjectivity)
Echoing (i.e the teacher repeats what a
student has said for the benefit of the
whole class)
Table 2.1: Stereotypical classroom processes in traditional form-focused pedagogy and task-based pedagogy (Ellis, 2003, p 253)
Table 2.1 contrasts two sets of classroom processes The first set
corresponds to the classroom behaviors that are typical of a traditional form-focused
pedagogy where language is treated as an object and the students are required to act as “learners” The second set reflects the behaviors that characterize a task-based pedagogy, where language is treated as a tool for communicating and the teacher and students function primarily as “language users”
The central construct in TBI is “task”, for which different definitions have
Trang 35activities which reduce cognitive load will release attentional capacity for the learner to concentrate more on linguistic factors” ( p 25)
These alternatives can be tackled procedurally in one of four ways: (1) supporting learners in performing a task similar to the task they will perform in the during-task phase of the lesson, (2) asking students to observe a model of how to perform the task, (3) engaging learners in non-task activities designed to prepare them to perform the task or (4) strategic planning of the main task performance In these four ways, teachers can help to create conditions that will make tasks work for acquisition Task cycle refers to the “methodological options” available to the teacher in the during-task phase (Ellis, 2003) The task cycle gives students speaking and writing exposure with opportunities for students to learn from each other The task cycle also gives students opportunities to use whatever language they have, both in private (where mistakes, hesitations, and approximate renderings do not matter so long as the meaning is clear) and in public (where there is a built-in desire to strive for accuracy of form and meaning, so as not to lose face) Language focus is the post-task stage affords a number of options These options have three major pedagogic goals: (1) to provide an opportunity for a repeat performance of the task, (2) to encourage reflection on how the task was performed, and (3) to encourage attention to form, in particular to those forms that proved problematic to the learners when they performed the task In TBI, grammatical form is often emphasized in the post-task stage as part of a “focus on form” to counter the danger that learners develop fluency at the expense of accuracy In the model proposed by Willis (1996), language focus and language practice are recommended in the post- task phase as ‘‘an opportunity for explicit language instruction’’ (p 101) According to Fotos (2002), TBI can provide a way to integrate grammar instruction with meaning-focused language use through performance of communicative tasks Learners need to attend to and become aware of linguistic form (even in the process of making meaning), in order to prevent fossilization, and tasks are “the ideal tool
Trang 36for achieving a focus on form” (Ellis, 2003, p 319) There is now “widespread acceptance that a focus on form has a place in the classroom” (Nunan, 2004) In short, these three phases of Willis’s (2006) task-based framework reflect the chronology of a task-based lesson and serve as a guide to the methodology and practice of TBI
Moreover, Nunan (2004) points out, TBI has contributed to pedagogy more generally by strengthening the following principles and practices:
*» An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language
" The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation
* The provision of opportunities for learners to focus not only on language but also on the learning process itself
» An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning
« The linking of classroom language learning with language use outside the classroom (p.1)
He views the task as a piece of meaning-focused work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing and interacting in the target language Specifically, tasks can be analyzed according to the goals, the input data, the activities derived from the input, the settings and roles implied for teacher and learner These elements play important constructs within task-based instruction
Trang 37Key components Typical features
1 Goals ¢ Tasks are communicative goal-directed activities
¢ A task has a clearly defined communicative outcome
2 Activities * Activities specify what learners will actually perform with the
input (verbal or nonverbal)
* Tasks are meaning-based activities
3 Procedure * Teacher uses activities to help students recall/learn useful words
or phrases
* Students focus primarily on the exchange of meanings, using whatever language they already have to fulfill the task outcome ¢ Students prepare to report to the whole class
¢ Students make oral presentations of their task findings
¢ Form-focused instruction comes at the end of the lesson as part of teaching 4 Teacher’ roles ¢ Teacher acts as a facilitator and monitor 5 Student’ roles ¢ Students act as an active group participant, a monitor and a risk-taker
Table 2.2: A checklist of the typical characteristics of TBI
This checklist reflects various principles and concepts covered ‘in TBI, inclusive of goals, input, activities, teacher’s roles, student’ roles as well as the three-part TBI framework Therefore, it serves as the conceptual framework which guides the whole study, particularly in designing the research tools and analyzing
the data collected
2.6 English language teaching and learning at Tran Hung Dao high school
context
Tran Hung Dao high school is a state school located in Go Vap District, HCMC The school has a variety of modernized and well-equipped facilities: large rooms with overhead projector systems, desktops and laptop computers, cassette players and other equipment There is a big library full of English books and
Trang 38magazines, and materials which facilitate students to learn and widen their horizons All these facilities contribute a lot to improving the quality of English teaching and learning
At THD high school, English is not only a compulsory subject but also a very important one All the 12" graders attend five 45-minute English periods per week (three major periods in the morning and two extra periods in the afternoon) For most students, their only interaction with English occurs in the classroom Although some more motivated students actively seek input from other sources, naturally-occurring opportunities to encounter English in their daily lives are extremely rare There are thirteen teachers of English in the English department, six of whom are in charge of teaching the 12" graders Their ages range from twenties to forties All of them hold BA degrees They have much experience of teaching EFL
All the teachers of English at THD high school use the textbooks issued by the MOET as a basic material for teaching However, the teachers have an autonomy in choosing supplementary teaching materials In terms of skills
development, each of the 16 didactic units in the textbooks follows a ‘standard
pattern comprising five sections: reading, speaking, speaking, listening and language focus The last unit explicitly focuses on key grammatical structures and phonetic features, some of which have been previously introduced in the reading and listening texts and practiced in the speaking and writing sections
Trang 39to the structure of the textbooks, the underlying methodology and the classroom techniques that teachers were expected to employ in implementing the textbooks Besides, the teachers were provided with a lot of teaching materials on TBI and participated in discussions of TBI in theory After finishing the three training workshops, in 2009, all THD high school teachers of English attended an examination on TBI organized by HCMC Bureau of Education and Training This indicates that the teachers of English at THD high school have a comparatively high understanding of TBI concepts and principles
However, in reality, some potential challenges can act as a constraint to the application of TBI into English classroom practices at THD high school
The first challenge is due to the pressure to pass the examinations Currently, the two most important English examinations in Vietnam are the school final examination and the university entrance examination ‘Both are administered at the end of Grade 12 and neither of them has a listening and speaking component (Le, 2007) At THD high school, the teachers’ biggest concern is to prepare their students for examinations Whatever the learning purpose of the students might be,
the teachers have to make sure that their students achieve a high pass rate in the
examinations as they are assessed on their students’ performance in examinations, rather than on the quality of their teaching This can lead to the fact that the teachers focus more on language knowledge than language use, and more on receptive skills than productive skills to help their students to pass the national grammar-based examinations In brief, it is examination pressures that can discourage the teachers
from attempting to meet communicative goals and are, therefore, perceived as
seriously limiting the application of TBI into English language classes at THD high
school
Trang 40The second challenge is due to the traditional view of the teacher-student relationship This view supports teacher-centered methods and a structured curriculum (Le, 2007) What the teacher or the textbook says is unquestionably standard norms This respect for teachers is reflected in the following traditional
verses:
Muốn tang thì bắc câu kiểu
Muốn com hay chữ phải yêu lấy thầy
(To get across the river, you have to build a bridge, to have well-educated children, you have to respect the teacher)
Or in the following proverbs:
(1) One does not dare step on a teacher's shadow (2) Without a teacher, you are unable to do anything
(3) Ifa child wants to learn how to write, he/she must love the teacher first (4) Children are only successful if they are instructed by a teacher
(as cited in Pham, 2010)
Influenced by Confucianism, Vietnamese students in general and THD high school students in particular place much emphasis on the teacher and/or material as the definite source of knowledge; they accept the authority of the teacher or material studied without questioning because they believe that this authority gives the “correct” answer This has resulted in the typical learner who are very reluctant to participate in discussion and giving opinions and almost never volunteer to answer or make public criticism (Pham, 2010) In sum, it is the students’ passivity that can lead the teachers to a circumstance in which they have no choice, but have to adopt lecture-style of teaching