IA/Spring Task Design EL441 Introduction to Teaching Young Learners Nilüfer Demirkan-Jones Session 3
IA/Spring Tasks are goal-oriented have a specified objective have an expected outcome encourage language use for communication
IA/Spring Activities have no expected outcome help maintain YLs’ motivation have no communicative purpose enable the practice of language form
IA/Spring Types of tasks Listing Ordering and sorting Comparing Problem solving Sharing personal experiences Creative tasks (from Willis, 1996:26-27)
IA/Spring Types of activities Listen-and-do Colouring Story telling Listening to songs Classifying Games and puzzles Modelling Matching words to pictures Sentence building (from Willis, 1996: )
IA/Spring Task evaluation criteria Learner profile Linguistic aims of the task Non-linguistic aims of the content Cognitive / meta cognitive challenges Type of participation it promotes
IA/Spring To teach the material Classroom management demands Resources needed Time it is likely to take How the activity could be extended How the language could be recycled
IA/Spring Teacher’s responsibility 1/2 Establish a friendly environment Be sensitive in criticism of children’s work Display work attractively Change groupings regularly Provide guidance for tasks Ensure variety
IA/Spring Teacher’s responsibility 2/2 Plan around the whole curriculum Analyse activities for language content Plan classroom management Plan recycling of language Stretch children to their full potential
IA/Spring Suggested reading 1.Brewster J, Ellis G, Girard D (2002) The Primary English Teacher ‘ s Guide. Harlow: Penguin English Guides 2.Cameron L (2001) Teaching languages to young learners. Cambridge: CUP 3.Halliwell S (1992) Teaching English in the Primary Classroom. Harlow: Longman. 4.House, S.(1997) An Introduction to Teaching English to Young Learners. London: Richmond Publishing. Prabhu, N.S. (1987). Second Language Pedagogy. Oxford: Oxford University Press 5.Vale D. & Feunteun A (1995) Teaching Children English Unit 2 & appendix 6.Willis J. (1996) A Framework for Task-Based Learning Harlow: Longman