Tasks and Curriculum

1. Tasks and Curriculum By Miroslav Grzyb and Kristína Maťová

2. TASKS • are a feature of everyday life in the personal, public, educational or occupationaldomains • involve following language activities: • creative(painting, story writing) • skills based (repairing or assembling something) • problem solving (jigsaw, crossword) • routine transactions(interpreting a role in a play, taking part in a discussion, giving a presentation)

3. ‘real-life’, ‘target’ or ‘rehearsal’ tasks are chosen on the basis of learners’ needs outside the classroom, whether in the personal and public domains, or related to more specific occupational or educational needs. Pedagogic Tasks are only indirectly related to real-life tasks and learner needs, and aim to develop communicative competence based on what is believed or known about learning processes in general and language acquisition in particular

4. Communicative pedagogical tasks (as opposed to exercises focusing specifically on decontextualised practice of forms) aim to actively involve learners in meaningful communication Classroom tasks whether reflecting ‘real-life’ use or essentially ‘pedagogic’ in nature,are communicative to the extent that they require learners to comprehend, negotiate andexpress meaning in order to achieve a communicative goal. The emphasis in a communicativetask is on successful task completion and consequently the primary focus is onmeaning as learners realise their communicative intentions

5. TASK PERFORMANCE • it is necessary to take intoaccount both the learner’s competences and the conditions and constraints specific to aparticular task (which may be manipulated in order to modify the level of difficulty ofclassroom tasks), and the strategic interplay of learner competences and task parametersin carrying out a task.

6. Competences Tasks of any kind require the activation of a range of appropriate general competences: • knowledge and experience of the world; • sociocultural knowledge (concerninglife in the target community, the learner’s own society); • intercultural skills (mediating between the two cultures), • learning skills • everyday practical skills • know-how • the language user or learner draws also on communicative language competences (linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic knowledge and skills • individual personality and attitudinal characteristics affect the user or learner’s task performance.

7. Conditions and constraints • may be designed so that the same input may be available to alllearners but different outcomes may be envisaged quantitatively (amount of informationrequired) or qualitatively (standard of performance expected).

8. TASK DIFFICULTY • Individuals may differ considerably in their approach to the same task. • ease or difficulty of tasks cannot be predicted with certainty What is necessary to take into account? • user/learner’s competences and characteristics, including the learner’s own purposesand learning style; • task conditions and constraints which may affect the language user/learner’s performancein carrying out specific tasks, and which, in learning contexts, may beadjusted to accommodate learner competences and characteristics.

9. Cognitive factors • the type of task and operations involved • the theme(s) • type of text (genre) • interactional schemata (scripts and frames) the learner assists in anticipating text content and organisation; • necessary background knowledge (assumed by the speaker or writer); • relevant sociocultural knowledge(knowledge of social norms, conventions and rules) Learner competences and characteristics

10. Linguistic factors The stage of development of the learner’s linguistic resources is a primary factor to be considered in establishing the suitability of a particular task or in manipulating task parameters: level of knowledge and control of grammar, vocabulary and phonology or orthography required to carry out the task. A task may be linguistically demanding but cognitively simple, or vice versa, one factor may be offset against the other in task selection for pedagogicpurposes Affective factors Self-esteem: a positive self-image and lack of inhibition is likely to contribute to successful task completion Involvement and motivation: intrinsic motivation is important because of its perceived relevance (real life needs) State: learner’s physical and emotional state Attitude: is affected by learner’s interest

11. Interaction and Production Support Time Goal Predictability Physical Conditions Participants Reception Task support Text Characteristics Type of response required Task conditions and constraints

12. principles for the selection and weighting of ‘real life’ and ‘pedagogic’ tasks for theirn purposes, including the appropriateness of different types of tasks in particular learningcontexts the criteria for selecting tasks which are purposeful and meaningful for the learner, andprovide a challenging but realistic and attainable goal, involving the learner as fully aspossible, and allowing for differing learner interpretations and outcomes the relationship between tasks that are primarily meaning-oriented and learning experiences specifically focused on form so that the learner’s attention might be focused in a regular and useful manner on both aspects in a balanced approach to the development of accuracy and fluency What we should consider in task dealing?

13. ways of taking into account the pivotal role of the learner’s strategies in relatingcompetences and performance in the successful accomplishment of challenging tasks under varying conditions and constraints; ways of facilitating successful task accomplishment and learning (including activation of the learner’s prior competences in a preparatory phase) • criteria and options for selecting tasks, and where appropriate manipulating taskparameters in order to modify the level of task difficulty so as to accommodate learners’differing and developing competences, and diversity in learner characteristics (ability,motivation, needs, interests) • how the perceived level of difficulty of a task might be taken into account in the evaluation of successful task completion and in (self) assessment of the learner’s communicative competence

14. Curriculum • Curriculum is a general statement of the institution’s values, approach and the way these will be put into practice, plus an overall view of the levels system.

15. Options for curricular design Three main principles within an overall concept of curriculum diversification: • According to the 1st principle promoting plurilingualism and linguistic diversity should be in line with the overall objective of curricula • 2nd principle is economical, its aim is to avoid unnecessary repetition, and to promote the economies of scale and the transfer of skills which linguistic diversity facilitates. • According to the 3rd principle languages should be approached in terms of their role in a general language education, in which linguistic knowledge and skills, along with the ability to learn play not only a specific role in a given language but also a transversal or transferable role across languages.

16. Partial and transversal aspects of curriculum design According to the CEFR between related languages knowledge andskills gained in one language could influence the second one. With reference to curricula, it should be stressed: • all knowledge of a language is partial, however much of a ‘mother tongue’ it seems to be. It is always incomplete • any partial knowledge is also more than it might seem • it is necessary to acquire knowledge and skills which can also be used for many other purposes. Such ‘spin-off’ value is however a matter for the learner • those who have learnt one language also know a great deal about many other languages.The learning of further languages facilitates the activation of this knowledge and increases awareness of it

17. Curriculum and variation of objectives • objectives on which to base language learning may vary enormously depending on the context, the target group and the level in question. • objectives for the same type of public in the same context and at the same level could also vary regardless of the weight of tradition and the constraints imposed by the education system

18. In modern language teaching discussions, there is a great deal of variety and controversy. Therefore many objectives could be combined or accommodated with others. • in drawing up a curriculum the selection and balancing of objectives, content, ordering and means of assessment are closely linked to the analysis components. • throughout the language learning period – there may be continuity with regard to objectives or they may be modified and their order of priority adjusted; • in a language curriculum accommodating several languages, the objectives and syllabuses of the different languages may either be similar or different; • radically different approaches are possible and each can have its own transparency and coherence with regard to options chosen • reflection on the curriculum may therefore involve the consideration of possible scenarios for the development of plurilingual and pluricultural competences and the role of the school

19. Twodifferentiated curriculum scenarios Two types of organisation and curriculum decisions for a particular school system are outlined The first scenario: • language learning start in primary school, and the other, in lower secondary school, with a third being introduced as an optional subject at upper secondary level. • it does not correspond to all national education systems. • programmes can easily be transposed and adapted • In the second scenario, as in the first: • the level of proficiency in the languages varies • the cultural aspects are unequally developed for the different • languages • ‘partial’ competences are integrated. • one of the aims of curriculum design, whatever the particular • curriculum, is to make learners aware of categories and their • dynamic interrelationship as proposed in the model adopted for • the reference framework

20. Assessment and school, out-of-school and post-school learning • If the curriculum is defined, travelled by a learner through a sequence of educational experiences, then a curriculum does not end with leaving school, but continues in a process of life-long learning. • the form of this competence is notimmutable and the subsequent personal and professional experiences will cause it to evolve and change its balance through further development • Three complementary aspects may be considered in relation to this. • The place of the school curriculum • Portfolio and profiling • A multidimensional and modular approach

21. Bibliography: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages http://www.acels.ie/docs/Working%20with%20the%20Common%20European%20Framework%20Presentation.ppt

22. Thank you 