The T ask C ycle

1. The Task Cycle

2. The Task Cycle Planning stage Task stage Report stage Reasonsfor a Reportstage Writing in the Task cycle ESL and one-to-one: Task cycle adaptations

3. Thetaskstage • They do thetask in pairsor in smallgroups. TEACHERSHOULD: • Makesuress are clearabouttheobjectives, and thatthey are doingtherighttask. • Monitor, thoughnot so actively. Stand back. Letssgetonwiththetaskontheirown. Observe from a slightdistance. • Helponly as a last resort. • Encouragesallsstotakepart. • Commentpositively and brieflyaboutcontent, and aboutthewaysomessdidthetask (noticedwhilemonitoring) • Act as a time-keeper (set time limits, short preferably). Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

4. Thetaskstage • They do thetask in pairsor in smallgroups. TEACHERSHOULDNOT: • Teach. • Interfere, in ordertohelpbycorrectingorsuggestingbetterways of doingthetask. (Helpoutonlyifthereis a majorcommunicationbreakdown). • Paymuchattentiontoerrors of form. Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

5. Reasonsfor a Reportstage • Thetaskhelpsthelearnerdevelopbothfluency in the target language and strategiesforcommunication, but, tosomeextent, at the expense of grammaticalaccuracy. • BecausetheReportstage, meantforanaudience, constitutes a natural stimulusforssto use accuratelanguage, they try to: • avoidmakingmistakes; • organiseclearlytheirmessage; and • use appropriatelanguageforspecificsituationsorcircumstances.

6. ThePlanningstage • They prepare thereport (orally, in writing, audio or video) aboutthetask: whattheydid, howtheydidit, whattheyfound. TEACHERSHOULD: • Tellsswhatthepurpose of thereportis, thekind of informationtheyhavetopayattentionto, and whattheywill do withthatinformation. • Informssabouttheaudience (in case itisnotthesamegroup), theformthereportshouldtake, theresourcesthey can use, howlongthepresentationshould be (time limitfor oral presentations, ornumber of words/lines/paragraphsforwrittenreports). • Act as a languageadviser (givefeedback, helpsstocorrect, rephrase, rehearse and/ordraftthewrittenreport). Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

7. ThePlanningstage Student’s roles Teacher’s roles • They prepare thereport (orally, in writing, audio or video) aboutthetask: whattheydid, howtheydidit, whattheyfound. TEACHERSHOULD: • Re-assign roles whensomesstendto do allthework. • Waituntil s/he isaskedforhelp (sslearnbestwhentheyworkoutthingsbythemselves). • Helpssshapetheirmeanings and express more exactlywhattheywanttosay. • Suggestwaystoimprovework at a general level (alternativewordings). • Explore optionstogether. • Teachhowto use resources, such as the use of dictionnaires. • Signalonlythemostimportanterrors/mistakes, and encouragepeer help/correction. • Providesswithsamples (of previousss’ work) of whatthey are expectedto do.

8. Purposesforreports • Listing: Ss hear other teams’ lists and complement their own ones. They can vote on the most complete one. • Ordering & sorting: Ss can justify their priorities to persuade each other. • Comparing: Ss can compare which teams have done the task in the same way, or have things in common with them. They may also find out who agree/disagree with them, and why. • Problem solving: Ss can compare and list strategies for solving a problem, justify or evaluate solutions, recommend a solution, or vote on the best solution to a problem. • Experience sharing: Ss can note interesting points for later review, classification/comparison; they can write questions for the speaker, or ask questions as a memory challenge to other ss. They can also select one experience to summarize or react to in writing. • Creative: Ss can express their opinions about other teams’ reports.

9. TheReportstage • Theyreportthetask(orally, in writing, audio or video) tothewholeclass. TEACHERSHOULD: • Be encouraging. • Act as a chairperson: • Set thepurposeforlisteningtothereport: whatsswill do withtheinformation. • Introduce thepresentations. • Nominatewhospeaksnext. • Keep time. Presentationsshouldlast no more thantwo minutes. Stop thepresentationswhentheyhavebecomerepetitive and no differentinformationwould be addedbytheremainingteams. Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

10. TheReportstage • Theyreportthetask(orally, in writing, audio or video) tothewholeclass. TEACHERSHOULD: • Givefeedbackmainlyoncontentbutalsoonform. Take notes/notice of weak áreas: expressions, phrases, patternsthatneedto be clarified/corrected. • Be carefulwhengivingfeedback: handleittactfully and positively. Giveexamples of goodexpressionsusedby ss. • Allow peer correctionbypausingorleaving a blankwherethe error/mistakeis, so thatss can complete withtherightword/phrase. Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

11. TheReportstage • Theyreportthetask(orally, in writing, audio or video) tothewholeclass. TEACHERSHOULD: • Considerthepossibility of stickingthess’ writingsontheclassroomwalls so thatthey can walkaround and readeachother’swork (forwrittenreports). • Sum up thepresentations at theend. Reactfirstpositivelytothecontent, eitherbyaskingquestions (Whowasthestwho…?) orbypraisingss’ reports (Whataninterestingstory!). Focus and commentonthethingsss are doingrightoronareas in whichtheyshow improvement. Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

12. TheReportstage • Theyreportthetask(orally, in writing, audio or video) tothewholeclass. TEACHERSHOULD: • Havesswritetheirownviewsontheir performance: whattheythinktheyhavelearned, howtheythinktheyhavebenefited. • Endthereportstagebyacknowledgingss’ efforts and byshowinggenuineinterest in whattheyhave done, said, orwritten. Student’s roles Teacher’s roles

13. Writing in the Task cycle The status of writing • Ordinary people barely write more than personal letters or fill out forms. • FL/SL students write mainly for examination purposes, rather than for real communication. • A few people write as part of their jobs. • Higher education ss in the target language need to write for academic purposes (academic writing).

14. Writing in the Task cycle The need for writing • Higher education ss in FL/SL would benefit of tasks especially designed to meet their needs. • Writing is in itself a learning process. It helps people get their ideas clear, and create new ones. • Writing in a SL/FL requires a restructuring of language forms, thus forcing the learners to be aware of their current grammatical knowledge and trying to improve it. • Writing is essential in the TB approach. Ss need to write for several purposes, such as private notes to help them remember what was said or read; for drafting and writing for the report stage.

15. Writing in the Task cycle Writing in the TBL • Sometimes the end product of the task is a written document, such as a letter, a story ending, a list of recommendations, etc. • The end product is introduced in the pre-task stage (orally or in writing), discussed as an integral part of the task stage, drafted collaboratively at the planning stage, and polished for the report stage. • The planning stage for a written report should be longer than that needed for an oral presentation. The same is true for a video-recording. • To make writing more meaningful and motivating, ss could write for different audiences (for other classes in or outside the school, in different media such as e-mails, blogs, etc. • Some meaningful projects that could be worked in a TB class are: guide-books to the town/city, brochures about local activities, school newspapers/magazines, brief history of school/town, letters, surveys, diaries, etc.

16. Writing in the Task cycle Main stages in the writing process • Think what to say, or what not to say (brainstorming). • Jot down ideas. • Write out roughly to get more ideas. • Discard ideas not so relevant for the task. • Organize the ideas. • Write a draft and have somebody to make comments on it (feedback). Think about layout and format, and use a word processor to make it look professional. • Write the final draft, and read it to check omissions and spelling mistakes.

17. ESL and one-to-one:Task cycle adaptations • The type of task influence the nature of the cycle. Writing tasks or audio/video-recorded reports usually take longer planning stages than oral presentations. • The teaching situation can also affect the task cycle. For instance the report stage can be omitted at first with beginners. • SL ss, who already have a lot of practice in the target language, may need more time for the planning and reporting stages. • In one-to-one classes, reports can be written/recorded for the teacher, for other one-to-one ss (who could meet occasionally), or for an audience in mind. • The teacher should give a positive overall appraisal at first, and then read/listen to the report again in order to give detailed feedback. Comment on positive aspects, and signal areas for improvement. Then ss can edit their work again.