Robert J. DickeyKeimyung University, S. Korea

Lesson Conceptualization

• Aims/Objectives –

Why are you teaching this class?– Linguistic– Content– Other

Purpose of the Lesson Plan

• a clear working document, another teacher could pick up it and use

• Coverage of subject matter– Comprehensive

– Organized

• Cohesion & Variety

• Inter-lesson consistency?

• Exploitation of materials

Pre-Planning (Harmer, 1983)

Lesson Development Framework

1. Identify the specific course & group of students to teach.

2. Identify the content to be utilized.

3. Identify why the students should care.

4. Identify the specific “leaning ojective.”

5. Develop/locate an exemplar text.

6. Design student responses to the text.

7. Students check their own work, and of their peers.

8. Groupwork.

9. Students create new stories / endings, and tell groupmates.

10.Testing.

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

language-learning syllabus objectives (i.e., this is a language learning classroom)

How is a Language-Learning Task different from an Activity or

Exercise?

Task-based Defined - Willis

• Activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative 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 outcome

Task-based - Nunan

• Syllabus is centered NOT on an ordered 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 language 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).

Task Types (open/closed)

• Closed tasks– Highly structured, specific goals

• Open tasks– Loosely structured, non-specific goals

• Anything in-between

J. Willis, 1996

Task Types (focus)

• Focused tasks– encourage the use of particular linguistic

items through noticing in pre-task

• Unfocused tasks– allow learners to use an array of

language features or structures

• Blending is possible

J. Willis’ “Framework” (1996)

3 Stages (phases) of TBLL

1. Pre-Task– Preparation– A mini-task

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 understand 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

Non-Task Preparation

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

(Ellis’ Task-Supported Language Learning)

• Examine similar but different functions/setting

2. Task (main) stage

a. Task Performance Options (planned before class)

b. Task Process Options (determined “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 interaction 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 materialsRealia, pictures, diagrams, tables,or other…

– Specific to the task (model) or less-specific

• 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

Task Varieties

• Listing• Ordering & Sorting• Comparing• Problem-solving• Sharing personal experiences• Creative tasks (projects)

J. Willis, 1996

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 materials)

Observations on Willis ‘96

• “Event” (task) very short (1-5 min)

• Planning time for report of event is substantial (though this too is a task)

• Reporting on the event is a third type of task

• Language Focus (post-task) is approx ½ of lesson period

Lesson Plan Stages (Phases)

• PPP(+P)• XXX(+X)• IDC• TTT• ARC• ESA• OHE & I-I-I• Deep-end Strategy

PPP

• PresentationLecture

• PracticeExercises, Drills

• ProductionControlled,

Substitutions

Presumption of “linear development”

PPP(+P?)

• PresentationLecture

• PracticeExercises, Drills

• ProductionControlled,

Substitutions

• Personalization?Not Traditional

XXX(+X)?

• X – eXplain

• X – eXample

• X – eXercise

• X - eXamination

IDC

• Introduction(Less than 5 minutes)

• Development

• Consolidation

Test-Teach-Test

• Pre-test (Do I need to teach this?)– Eliciting – “Who knows this?”– “Mini-Task”– How well do they know this (comparison)?

• Teach(Method not specified)

• Post-Test (assess Learners & Lesson)– Did they learn – Do I need to re-teach?

ARC (J. Scrivener)

• Authentic use(e.g., a communicative activity)

• Restricted use(e.g., Drills, guided writing, elicited dialogue)

• Clarification & focus(e.g., Explaining grammar, giving examples,

analyzing errors)

mix the order

ESA (J. Harmer)

• Engageteachers try to arouse the students’ interest

• Studystudents focus on language / construction

• Activatestudents use language as freely and as

communicatively as they can

mix the order

OHE (M. Lewis)

• Observe(read or listen to language) which will then provoke them to

• Hypothesizeabout how the language works before going on to

• Experimenton the basis of that hypothesis

I-I-I (McCarthy & Carter)

• Illustrationexamining real data in specific contexts

• Interactionconsciousness-raising activities designed to focus on the inter-personal use of language and the negotiation of meaning

• Inductionencouraging students to notice the different functions of the lexio-grammatical features

Other Elements to consider

• Warmer

• Review last class

• Elicitation

• Check Homework

• Peer-Coaching

• Extension

• Homework Assignment

• Review this class

• Preview next class

• Fillers

• Wind-down

One Lesson Pattern (Blend)

Classroom Tools

• Visual Aids (more than powerpoint)– visual impact– helpful– replace words– fun– show students you

understand their difficulties

• Multimedia & Audio Aids

Instructional Techniques

• Consciousness-Raising – Activities

• Teacher (or Learner) -driven

– Drawing awareness to

– Language properties

– for FUTURE noticing

• Noticing– Where “input” may become

“intake”

Features of a Lesson Plan

• Aims

• Timing

• Stages (Phases)

• Motivations

• Teacher does

• Learners do

• Assumptions

• Classroom Setting

• Materials needed– Book/handouts– Visuals/realia– Audio/multimedia

• Classroom setting• Number of learners• Anticipated

– Problems– Outcomes

Other Considerations

• Learner Focus– not just “teaching steps”

• Interactions– T-Ss, S-S, Ss-Ss(4s)…

• Recent Work

• Share aims and usefulness (and steps? with the learners?

• Instructional Scripts

Lesson Plan Features (TKT)

(A boring lesson?) TKT [book] (2005)

Lesson Planning Template

TBLL in a nutshell

• Pre-Task

• Task

• Post-Task

Matthew Walker, 2010

• Objectives

• Options

• Definition

• Types

Pre-Task

Stage Objectives• attention on how to

complete the task• motivation

Stage Options• non-task• task instructions• modeling

(passive/active)

• similar task• strategic planning

no planning focus on language focus on content

Task

Definition of Task• meaning• gap• resources• defined outcome

other than the use of language

• language as the means not the end

• learner’s experience

Task Types• open / closed• focused / unfocused• input / output/ 4-skills

• Performance Options

• time pressures• access to input• surprise element

Post-Task

Stage Objectives• review language

used in the task

Matthew Walker, 2010

Stage Options• repeat performance• reflecting on the task

personal reflectionGroupwork

• focusing on forms learner errornoticingproduce and practice

Hope this Helps!

Robert J. Dickey

Keimyung University

Daegu, S. Korea

rjdickey@content-english.org