Designing a Speaking Task Workshop  Intended learning outcomes  Definition of a task  Principles of second language acquisition  Principles of developing speech  Focus on form  Task design criteria  Hands on

Intended Learning Outcomes By the end of this session you should have developed:  an awareness of the principles supporting the design of speaking tasks  concrete strategies for designing and evaluating speaking tasks

What is a task?  Willis (1999): …activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose ( goal) in order to achieve an outcome.  Elements of a task - Nunan(1989) Input data Input data Procedures/activities Procedures/activities

Principles of second language acquisition Social constructivism  language is learnt interactively in a social environment  language experience must be meaningful

Principles of developing speaking skills  Speaking skills are acquired through frequent practice  Close interaction between listening and speaking ( output and input)  Speech implies interactive dialogue  Speech must be meaningful

Focus on form in language tasks Teaching Teaching implicit explicit  Prabhu ( 1987) – no focus on form  Long ( 1998 ) – incidental focus Design  Selection and design of tasks includes a consideration of form

Criteria for task design  Context relevance to student experience relevance to student experience language level of students language level of students language objective ( fluency, accuracy, form) language objective ( fluency, accuracy, form) student numbers student numbers time available time available  Instructions  Involvement  Authenticity  Outcome

Hands on