Flipped Classrooms, Activities, and Tasks in the Classroom for session with Kazakh teachers of...

Flipped Classrooms,Activities and Tasks

in the Classroom

Robert J. DickeyKeimyung University

Korea TESOL

Flipped

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Challenges

Challenges

• T______• T______• T______

Challenges

• Time– In class– Teacher prep– Student out-of-class

Challenges

• Time– In class– Teacher prep– Student out-of-class

• Technology– In class– Preparations– Student out-of-class

Challenges

• Time– In class– Teacher prep– Student out-of-class

• Technology• Tradition

– Culture– Examinations-focus

Discussion

Robert J. DickeyKeimyung University(Daegu, S. Korea)

robertjdickey@yahoo.com

Tasks & Activities

Task-based Learning

Robert J. DickeyKeimyung University

Korea TESOL

What is a task?

Task = Doing for a purpose

Language Learning Objective(s)

• Not just an activity or exercise• Not just language practice• Not “teaching time”• Intimately connected to current lan-

guage-learning syllabus objectives (i.e., this is a language learning class-room)

Task-based Defined - Willis

• Activities where the target language is used by the learner for a com-municative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome

• is central to the methodological cycle• learners are free chose

whatever language form they wish

Task-based - Ellis

• A workplan (plan for learning)• Primary focus on meaning • Real-world processes of language

use (even if task is artificial)• Any of the 4 language skills• Involves cognitive processes• Clearly-defined communicative out-

come

Task-based - Nunan

• Syllabus is centered NOT on an or-dered list of linguistic items but on a collection of tasks

• Distinction between– Real-world tasks– Pedagogical tasks

• Mobilizing grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning

Pedagogical Task - Nunan

a piece of classroom work that involves the learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target lan-guage while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning, and in which the intention is to convey meaning rather than to manipulate form.“

(Nunan, 2004, p.4).

Project-based Learning• Similar conceptually to tasks

– but longer-term• More amenable to

– in-class plus out-of-classroom work– team focus

• Fredricka Stoller argues “there is always a tangible outcome” in project-based, not so in task-based.

J. Willis’ “Framework” (1996)

3 Stages (phases) of TBLL

1. Pre-Task– Preparation– A mini-task (practice and understanding)

2. Task – during the “main” task– Outcome is principal focus– Language-learning Objective

3. Post-Task– Language-learning support

1. Pre-Task stage

• Motivation• “Framing” the task

– Inform what the learners will do– Nature of the outcome– Signposts along the way

• Preparation to perform the task• How much? (time)

Addressing Cognitive Load in Task

Students should un-derstand that they have to “multi-task”

Preparation to Perform Task

• Similar Task– Teacher-led practice– Observe a model (oral or written)– Easier task, broken in parts– “Task-designed to fail”

• Strategic Planning• Non-task preparation (form groups, etc.)

Non-Task Preparation

• Pre-teaching vocabulary, grammar – Strong vs. Weak forms of TBLL

(Ellis’ Task-Supported Language Learning)

• Examine similar but different func-tions/setting

2. Task (main) stage

a. Task Performance Options (planned before class)

b. Task Process Options (evolve “live” inside the task event)

a. Task Performance Options

• Time limit?– Strictly enforced? Re-negotiated? More

time more accuracy? (Lang, Content)

• Access to data during the task?– How complex is the data?– Can see notes or whole data, or nothing?

• Surprise? (change something)• Pairs/Groups, moving around

b. Task Process Options

• Classroom participants must forget where they are and why they are there

• Classroom participants must believe in learn by doing rather than by studying

• Teacher monitors learners’ performance to impact future teaching and tasks

• Focus-on-Form classroom with teacher in-teraction in tasks (error-correction)

3. Post-task (stage)

• Repeat performance• Reflecting on performance

– Individually or in groups• Focus on Forms

– Consciousness-Raising– Noticing– Review of Errors (Explicit, Non-explicit)– Production Practice activities/exercises

Task Input

• Data– “Text” (Written or Oral)– Non-verbal materials

Realia, pictures, diagrams, tables,or other…– Specific to the task (model) or less-spe-

cific• Procedures

– Consider “setting” (groups, etc)

Factors Affecting Task Difficulty

• Context & Abstractness• Degree of cognitive demand• Access to background knowledge• Level of learner support available• Language complexity• Emotional stress in task completion• Interest and Motivation of the learner

Critique of TBLL

• Learners might be led to focus on– meaning over form,– “fluent” rather than challenging language

• “Practice” of inaccurate or simplistic language

• Time away from instruction (new ma-terials)

Discussion

Robert J. DickeyKeimyung University(Daegu, S. Korea)

robertjdickey@yahoo.com

See all Powerpoints athttp://content-english.org/kazakh/

http://slideshare.net/RobertDickey/