1. Task design for telecollaborative exchanges in search for new evaluation criteria Andreas Mller-Hartmann -Pdagogische Hochschule, Heidelberg Malgorzata Kurek - Jan Dlugosz University, Czestochowa

2. Our plan for today: The importance of task design; In-class vs. telecollaborative CALL tasks; Context of the study and our research approach; Task evaluation: examples and lessons learned; A checklist of criteria for task design.

3. On the importance of tasks: Our main role, then, is to design tasks. This role is crucial in an interactive multimedia or Web environment since the task is what gives meaning to the learners explorations. Only a well-designed task can ensure the quality of the learning process which is a teachers ultimate responsibility (Furstenberg 1997: 24). In established CALL, language-learning task design is very much at the heart of the matter. And since the task has come to be the means or agent of learning ( the structure, content and sequencing of language-learning tasks are critical (Levy & Stockwell 2006: 16, 248). A poor understanding of task design principles for the new environment may blunt pedagogical aims, confuse task writers, cause difficulties for learners and result in low task completion (Gruba, 2004:72).

4. CALL tasks for in-class instruction CALL tasks for telecollaboration macro level - institutional contexts Independent of cultural interpretation (e.g. resulting from differences between educational models/systems) Prone to culturally-tinted interpretation micro level (classroom) 1.Task-as-workplan Teacher mediation reduces the need for self- explicitness of task instructions Tool independent the focus is on working with texts and designing direct F2F interaction Task performance requires familiarity with traditional literacy standards The meta language of tasks (clarity, self- explicitness, task support) is crucial Tool dependent - the process of task design depends on teachers awareness/perception of available affordances Task performance requires a juxtaposition of modes and modalities 2) Task-as-process May involve learners from different linguistic and cultural communities meaning negotiation is facilitated by paralinguistic features of F2F presence and teacher By definition involve different linguistic and cultural communities highly authentic in terms of promoting meaning negotiation

5. Common problems related to task design in telecollaboration: choice of topics; not meeting learners expectations (e.g. error correction); striking the right balance between loosely-structured and teacher- controlled tasks; keeping balance between task demands and task support. What are the criteria for efficient task design in telecollaborative learning?

6. Case study: A teacher-training exchange Czestochowa - Heidelberg (Fall 2013) Teachers: Andres Mller-Hartmann, Malgorzata Kurek Participants: 24 German and 32 Polish students Time scope: October - February 2013 Competences in focus: integrating telecollaboration into FLT developing multimodal competence telecollaborative task design Language of exchange: English as lingua franca Tools: a Canvas course + a selection of tools for communication and task design Other features: no real-time communication possible

7. Suggested timeline Czestochowa - Heidelberg: a task sequence for teacher trainees - an overview Purpose weeks 1-2 Creating individual online presentations. Forming intercultural groups and creating their identities. Getting to know each other week 3 The groups negotiate to adopt names. They present their new identities on a forum. Creating group identities - first attempt at online collaborative work weeks 4-5 The groups create the first intercultural tasks for online students. Product creation - individual tasks weeks 6-7 The groups are assigned their partners tasks to evaluate them using Chapelles criteria for CALL task design. The evaluations are posted to the auhors for consideration. Task implementation Peer evaluation and feedback weeks 8-11 The groups use Weebly to a set of pedagogivcally consistent online activities for a group of online learners. Product creation - task sequences weeks 12-13 Peer evaluation students can use Chapelles criteria and their own, common sense ones to evaluate their partners websites. Application of previously studied criteria to a new context Week 14-15 Project evaluation the magnifying glass technique. Discussion of teacher competences. The farewell task - a Padlet wall for exchanging goodbyes and greetings. Final questionnaires. Reflection Bringing closure a 2013

8. Our research approach: According to Nunan and Bailey (2009) action research: is a systematic, iterative process of (1) identifying an issue, problem, or puzzle we wish to investigate in our own context; (2) thinking and planning an appropriate action to address that concern; (3) carrying out the action; (4) observing the apparent outcomes of the action; (5) reflecting on the outcomes and on other possibilities; and (6) repeating these steps again. (p. 227). Our methodology was..

9. Our approach: case studies of two telecollaborative exchanges in teacher education Action research links research, teaching and learning. To integrate research and teaching we focus on exploratory practice (Allwright and Hanks 2009, 149, 154-157) : Exploratory practice will take us beyond the third-party model methodologically, will not marginalize learners, will prioritize learner understandings (p. 149). By analyzing the pedagogic activity of the students task design and the evaluation thereof we use these potentially exploitable pedagogic activities activities as investigative tools.

10. Task 1 Dear Students, Here is your first task: Design an intercultural activity which will help learners to get to know more about the online partner. The task should help the participants exchange information about their cultures or make them explore the cultures of their partner(s). () Consider: the age and level of the group the procedure the tools used clarity of instructions Refer to handout 1 and study the task described there.

11. Task 1 - Evaluation Task description: Find a task assigned to you and, with your team mates, discuss it using the criteria for task appropriatness by Chapelle, that is: language learning potential learner fit meaning focus authenticity positive impact practicality In your evaluation pay attention to whatever you find important to successful task implementation, e.g. the clarity of instructions, realistic timing, technical support in the form of a tutorial (if applicable).

12. Chapelles criteria (2001) What the evaluating group had to say: language learning potential: Learners may improve vocabulary connected with food and they have to create a presentation, it means they focus on form. learner fit: The topic seems to be universal and appropriate for both genders. Another positive aspect is that the task is good for advanced Ls at the age of 13/14. meaning focus: During the task learners can learn about the traditions and culture from their partners by exchanging presentations, or with the help of books and the Internet. authenticity: The task is authentic because making presentations is sth that people do in real life. Consider the case of employees of advertising companies or tutors at universities, and multimedia presentation is a tool that can be used in education, business etc positive impact: The task has a positive impact on the students because they can exchange cultural aspects concerning Christmas dishes with their partners and learn a lot more about other cultures. practicality: For CALL it is useful cause students will get with the help of different technical tools into contact with each other and exchange their experiences.

13. Task criteria What the evaluating group had to say: Purpose of the task We dont think that the goal of the task is clear to the students. Do they know why they are doing this task? What do they get from the task? Why should students talk on Christmas Eve with their families about Christmas dishes, are there not other aspects more important (celebrating Christmas with your family)? Task instructions Your task instructions are divided into steps, which makes it easier to follow but some instructions (e.g. Step 4) are not clear enough and examples are missing. Choice In case that you want to give the students more choice, give them a more opened task. For example, let them speak about general Christmas traditions or something which would also include other religions like festive situations. Task demand Task support It is quite demanding for students to talk about Christmas dishes, because students might not be aware of them, in general.

14. A pedagogic approach (T)here is an urgent need to relate task-based research to pedagogic situations. () task research needs to be conducted within pedagogic contexts, to establish whether or not the research findings have relevance for classroom reality. [] we need to make progress in understanding what the role of the teacher can most effectively be, as well as how relevant insights on tasks can be incorporated into teacher training (Skehan 2007: 298). We need more description of the learners, settings, and events in [CALL] contexts (Huh and Hu in Chambers and Bax: 467); and we especially need a better understanding of how exactly all of these factors interact and operate in real pedagogical contexts (Chambers and Bax 2006: 46667).

15. What the evaluating group had to say Importance of this criterion for developing ICC 1. During the task learners can learn about the traditions and culture from their partners by exchanging presentations, or with the help of books and the Internet. (Chapelle: meaning focus) The task supports the learning of cultural knowledge. (--> cultural knowledge) 2. The task has a positive impact on the students because they can exchange cultural aspects concerning Christmas dishes with their partners and learn a lot more about other cultures. (Chapelle criterion: positive impact) The learners exchange aspects of cultural knowledge and thus gain cultural knowledge about other cultures. (--> cultural knowledge) 3. We dont think that the goal of the task is clear to the students. Do they know why they are doing this task? What do they get from the task? There is no real exchange of information. (TBLL criterion: purpose, goal of the task) Looking at the purpose or goal of the task the evaluators realize that there is no real intercultural interaction or negotiation, hence the skill of relating cultural information and with that cultural concepts is not possible in this task. (--> skills of relating)

16. 4. To make the task more communicative, you can ask the Ls to prepare a presentation about Christmas dishes that are popular in their mother country. Then the Ls from Germany and Poland may exchange their presentations they will learn sth about their cultures not from the Internet or books, but from their online partners (TBLL criterion: task sequencing) By focussing on the sequencing of tasks and keeping the purpose of the task in mind, the evaluators suggest the exchange of information and with that the possibility of discovering cultural aspects in the interaction. (--> skills of discovery and interaction) 5. It is quite demanding for students to talk about Christmas dishes, because students might not be aware of them, in general. And also it might happen that students mention something which is not a general German or Polish dish but they think it is because they have it in their family. Every family has a tradition they follow, but it might not be a tradition which everyone in the country follows. (TBLL criterion: task demand) In case that you want to give the students more choice, give them a more opened task. For example, let them speak about general Christmas traditions or something which would also include other religions like festive situations. (TBLL criterion : choice) When analyzing the task demands the evaluators point out the complexity of IC which goes beyond the comparison of national cultures, necessitating a closer focus on individual cultural identity of the participants. Hence they look critically at the national paradigm of cultural learning. (--> critical cultural awareness)

17. Tasks and technology a 2013

18. Tasks and technology We have to ensure that tasks are appropriate to the medium used and that we develop tasks that take into account the affordances (i.e. the constraints and possibilities for making meaning) of the modes available (Hampel 2006: 111). For learners: it is important to be aware of affordances and constraints of tools mediating task completion. For teachers and teacher trainees: it is also important to notice pedagogical affordances of those tools which havent been designed for education.

19. Examples of confused affordances:

20. Task 2 Refer to handout and go through the task created by our students

21. Multiliteracies Tools, tasks, and ICC Situated Practice Learners are immersed in their local cultural contexts, participating and negotiating meaning in different discourses. Tasks have to make learners aware of their cultural dispositions and practices. Tools: learners do this by using the potential of the tool fotobabble to represent their own cultural context Task criteria: giving learners a purpose for the task, involving them in the task, activating their resources Byrams ICC criteria: becoming aware of/discovering ones own cultural practices Overt Instruction Learners need knowledge in form of cultural information, but also in terms of the specific discourses they are involved in through the tasks. This includes technical competence. Tool: Learners are introduced to the tool fotobabble. By using it they access cultural information about the partner Task criteria: task demand/support in terms of tool use, providing/activating rich [cultural] resources Byrams ICC criteria: cultural knowledge

22. Critical Framing Tasks are supposed to help learners interpret the social and cultural context of particular cultural practices and meaning Tool: by using the recording function in fotobabble, learners can interpret the cultural representation of their partners Task criteria: a clear communicative purpose of the task, interaction based on a real- life problem Byrams ICC criteria: skills of discovering and interpreting, skills of interaction Transformed Practice Tasks enable learners to transfer their knowledge and competences to other contexts and cultural sites, participating and creating (new) discourses Tool: by using the commenting function in fotobabble (as well as using skype) learners can exchange and negotiate the differences and similarities in their contexts Task criteria: a clear communicative purpose of the task, interaction based on a real- life problem, task sequencing Byrams ICC criteria: skills of interpreting and relating, skills of interaction, critical cultural awareness Multiliteracies Tools, task, and ICC

23. Your task Choose one of the following categories for task evaluation. Pedagogy Technology ICC learning and multiliteracies Think of a sequence of telecollaborative tasks that you know well or used yourself. Use the set of criteria from Handout 2 for evaluation. Do the criteria work for you? Which of them need elaboration?

24. Thank you very much for you attention!