Types Of Taks

Six types of task for TBL

This is the second in a series of four articles which will explore how to integrate a task-based approach into a typical textbook to maximise learning opportunities for your learners and to save teacher preparation time.

• Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL

• Six types of task for TBL

• From priming tasks and target tasks to language focus and grammar

• Making time for tasks and still covering the syllabus

In this article we look at different types of task, and see which kinds are most often used in textbooks. I also suggest ways of adjusting them so that they stimulate more opportunities for meaning-focused interaction, and encourage learners to give longer responses. Finally I show how a graded set of tasks can be developed on a theme.

Identifying task-like activities

In my first article Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL, we looked at six questions that gave us criteria to help us identify tasks and ‘upgrade' potential task-like activities into tasks. So now we can identify activities in a textbook unit that could become tasks and form the basis of a task cycle with;

• Pre-task activities,

• Task - Planning - Report cycle,

• Post-task activities as illustrated in the activity Planning a class night out.

However, tasks tend to come in various disguises. Some textbooks contain quite a few task-like activities, but very few use the word ‘task’ to describe them. They often come under section headings like: Speak out! Listening challenge; Think … then compare ideas; Reach a decision; With a partner… In groups… It’s your turn… Questions and answers... Discuss ... Tell your partner… Writing… Reading or even under Grammar or Vocabulary…

For example, in ‘Total English’, a text-book for beginners, the activity: ‘Who is your favourite 20th Century icon? Tell your partner about the person.’ comes at the end of a Grammar section on ‘was / were’ which follows a reading activity.

There are several ways to turn this into a more rewarding task – as illustrated in Criteria for identifying tasks for TBL and you can also build up a graded set of tasks around this theme - as illustrated below.

Three types of task

Activities like the following generally have the potential to become effective tasks:

Listing and/or brainstorming

You can list people, places, things, actions, reasons, everyday problems, things to do in various circumstances etc.

Examples:

• (1) In pairs, agree on a list of four or five people who were famous in the 20th century and give at least one reason for including each person; Can you remember your partner’s busiest day?

• (2) On your own, make a list of all the things he/she did. Then check with your partner. Were there any things you forgot?

Ordering and sorting

This can be sequencing, ranking, or classifying.

Examples:

• (3) In pairs, look at your list of famous people. Which people are most likely to remain popular and become 20th century icons? Rank them from most popular to least popular, and be prepared to justify your order to another pair.

• (4) Look at the four pictures. They are mixed up. Work in pairs. Put the four pictures in a sequence so that they tell a story. Prepare to tell your story to another pair.

Matching

You can match captions / texts / recorded extracts to pictures; short notes or headlines to longer texts, e.g. news items.

Examples:

• (5) Read the texts – each is about a famous person but the person is not named - and look at the photos. Match each text to a photo. Then talk to your partner, and say how you were able to match them. Prepare to tell the class how you did it.

• (6) Read the four headlines A to D. Match two pieces of information (given in 1-8 below) to each headline. Explain to your partner how you did this. What clues did you find? Did you both use the same clues?

Do you have any tasks like these in your textbooks? Sometimes textbooks use Listing, Ordering and Matching activities at the beginnings of units, to introduce or revise useful words and phrases to prepare for the main topics. The outcomes are usually clear (e.g. a completed list, a set of matched information). But although they give valuable exposure to relevant topic-based

...