Written by : Miriam Sheen Cuba English teacher http://miriamsheencuba.blogspot.com/ http://tailoringteaching.blogspot.com/

Why TBL in my lessons...

Many times did I find myself in the quandary of adopting the method TBL in my lessons or not. At times, I would feel

insecure yet there was always that sense of possibility and it was that promising perspective on teaching what gave me

the extra nudge I needed. How often do we as teachers ask our students

to do something in class which they would do in everyday life using their

own language? Probably, not often enough.

In fact, it was until I had the chance to teach Prep 1 that I noticed about

the meaning of this method. I myself was asked to teach this new course

and I was a newcomer in the use of this method. So, I had to look for

more information about TBL in order to become familiar with it. After

garnering the information, I now had to put my knowledge into action.

With the help of my dear mentor, I realized how wonderful a lesson can

be with a TBL approach but even more wonderful when I saw how PREP

1 students produced their own language in a more effective way.

When adopting TBL there should be a clear and defined purpose of where you are heading to. We as teachers must

recognize that “teaching does not and cannot determine the way the learner’s language will develop”. Peter Skehan

says that “The elements of target language do not simply slot into a

`place in a predictable order” and I guess he means that as teachers,

we have to let go of the control of the learning process and this is

because with this method the learners use their own language and feel

free to produce the language.

When using TBL the student is exposed to as much of the foreign

language in order to observe it, then hypothesize over it, and finally

experiment with it. Thereby, TBL is a communicative method whose

only aim is to create a need to use and learn the language.

The primary focus of TBL classroom activity is the task and the

language is the instrument which the students use to complete it. A task can be defined in several ways however, for

me, the task is an activity in which students use the language to attain a

specific outcome. In this sense, the central notion of the TBL approach is

a task. When completing communicative tasks students come closer to

achieving the goal of learning a foreign language. They have to use the

language actively and overcome difficulties connected with possessing

limited language resources.The activity reflects real life contexts and

learners focus on meaning; they are free to use and produce any

language they want. Writing a cheque, making an airline reservation,

borrowing a library book, playing a game, solving a problem or sharing

information or experiences are activities that occur in day-to-day life and

thus they can all be considered as relevant and authentic tasks.

Finding a positive response from the students was the result of a long search. I could not help but be pleased with

having found another way to make my teaching more meaningful and useful just by using TBL. It is clear though, that

one of the main purposes of TBL is to increase learner activity, the teacher here plays the role of a monitor, guide,

resource and to supply the students with tasks that will permit the student to experiment spontaneously, individually and

originally with the foreign language. Each task will give the student the opportunity to experiment different types of

experiences with the target language and it is here where the teacher has the responsibility of consciousness raising

process. This part is essential for the success of TBL because it is here where the teacher helps students to recognize

differences and similarities, helps them to correct, clarify and deepen their perception of the foreign language.

In spite of having been proposed various designs ( e.g. Prabhu 1987, Estaire and Zanon 1994, Skehan 1996, Willis

1996, Lee 2000) they all have in common the three principal phases. These phases reflect the chronology of a task

based lesson: Pre task, during task, and the final post task.

Willis (1996) proposed the following framework for task- based learning.

Pre-task: Introduction to topic and task

Task

Task cycle Planning, Report

Language Focus Analysis, Practice

Within the model, the pre-task phase serves as a preparation for the topic and perhaps a presentation of a similar task

already done. In this phase students are also given instructions for the task.

In the task cycle learners first perform the task and subsequently plan the final version of the task outcome and report the

effects of their work.

The language focus phase serves both as teacher’s and students’ analysis of the language that was used in the task and

also as a moment in the lesson when new language is introduced and practiced.

What is the advantage then of task-based language learning?

One of the advantages of this method is that tasks allow the use

of language resources that students possess in a creative way.

Making students use the target language to solve a problem,

reach an agreement or communicate some message seems to

benefit them in the best possible way: learners are stretching

their linguistic knowledge and communicative skills to the

maximum.

Another advantage of task-based learning is that doing tasks

supports learner autonomy. While doing tasks, students have to

use a number of language learning strategies. For ex ample, a

number of compensation strategies, communication strategies or cognitive ones. Completing communicative

tasks creates basic conditions for greater autonomy on the part of the student because a lot of decisions

connected with language use are made by the learner.

From this perspective task based language learning seems to be an appropriate method to develop learner

autonomy as a basis in a curriculum.

Consequently, the challenge for task based pedagogy is to choose sequences and implement tasks in ways that will

combine a focus on meaning with a focus on form as well. Foster and Skehan have shown that giving learners time to

plan before they begin a task significantly increases the complexity, accuracy and fluency of the language they use and

that these effects increase in relation to the cognitive difficulty of the task. In conclusion, one of the 4 standards of

Education is “Learning by doing” and that is what TBL means to me. I would like to encourage you to try out the new

method in your classes in order to give you some better ideas of what a task-based lesson may look.

Now, let me share with you a TBL lesson ……..

My Lesson Plan : TBL presentation

:

KOREANS SUCCEED IN CLONING HUMAN EMBRYOS

T A V I

Text as vehicle information Using a TAVI

Cloning is copying an animal or a human to make another animal or human which is exactly the same. Scientists take DNA from one egg and put it into another egg. This then makes a copy which is exactly the same as the first egg. The first cloned animal was a sheep but scientists have also cloned mice, rats, rabbits, horses and even a mule. Now, for the first time, they say they have also cloned a human embryo, the small egg that eventually becomes a baby. South Korean and American scientists say they have cloned human embryos and taken cells called stem cells from one of them. Stem cells are very important in the development of an unborn baby. They change a single fertilized human egg into about 10 trillion cells during a nine month pregnancy. The Korean and US scientists used 242 eggs from 16 women to clone 30 blastocysts. A blat cyst is the tiny ball of cells that together become an embryo. Then the scientists took the original DNA out of the egg, and replaced it with chromosomes from an adult cell. "This is not a human clone," said Donald Kennedy, a leading biologist. This search could lead to treatments for long-term diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. American politicians do not allow US government money to be used for stem cell research. Dr Kennedy said he hoped that now they would change their decision. But the White House said that President George Bush is against stem cell research. Leon Kass, chairman of the president's council on bioethics said "The age of human cloning has arrived. Today we have cloned blastocysts for medical research, tomorrow we will have cloned blastocysts for baby-making.”. Scientists have been working on cloning research for many years and hope that their research will help to treat many different diseases. Now that they have cloned stem cells, they will have to find out how to change these cells into human tissue. They will then be able to use this tissue to treat diseases. In the long term, some scientists believe it could be possible to grow complete human organs, such as livers or kidneys. Many people are against stem cell research and cloning. They say that it will lead to human cloning and cloned babies. The first stages of cloning for use in medical treatment and cloning to produce a cloned baby are exactly the same.

TASK BASED LEARNING

Course : Intermediate 12 Unit 11

Length of the lesson : 30 minutes

Date : August 10, 2007

Objective:

- To talk about important breakthroughs

- To use definite and indefinite article

- To use Present Perfect and Present Perfect continuous tense

TASK: Discuss and give opinions about cloning when couples cannot

have children . state the advantages and disadvantages

Science and technology

Moments Methodological strategies TIME

Pre

task

What do you think are the most important breakthroughs in the last 20 years?

Do you think these scientific advances benefit or not the human beings?

You are going to read an interesting text about Cloning. Then I want to know What is your opinion about cloning? Do you think it is an important breakthrough? Discuss with your partner.

Now listen to me: Nowadays there are many couples who can’t have children. Do you think cloning is a good idea to work out the problem? State your opinions, What are the advantages or disadvantages, in order to reach and overall agreement.

How can I start giving opinions? On the b’ teacher elicits suggestions and write them on the b’

10’

Task

cycle

SS get in groups of 4

SS share opinions , and reflect on the topic being discussed

SS make a list of advantages and disadvantages and support their ideas

A reporter reports

The conclusion is given when one decides whether the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages or not and when an agreement is reached.

Are there more advantages or disadvantages?

20’

Languag

e f

ocus Error correction

Grammar mistakes

Tabling if it is necessary

10’