Grammar and lexis in a task-based methodology

A short article by Dave Willis revised by Jane (6-7 minutes).

Task-based learning (TBL) can be seen as a two stage process. The first stage is to involve learners in communicative tasks. The second stage is to look closely at the language involved in carrying out a task and to learn from that language.

Nunan 1993 defines a task as ‘a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form’. J. Willis (1996/2026) defines a task as an activity ‘where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome’. Here the notion of meaning is subsumed in ‘outcome’. In a communicative task language is used to bring about an outcome through the exchange of meanings.

Let us look at a prediction task based on a short text:

In order to solve the problem students first need to read the text with understanding. There will be a focus on meaning, and there is an outcome – the identification of a possible ending to the text. Put yourself in the position of a student. Think about a solution to the task and prepare to discuss it with others. (The original ending of the text is at the end of this article)

In helping students to work with a task like this there are class management decisions to be taken. We need to decide whether the task is to be done individually, in pairs or in groups. There are organisational decisions about how these working units are to be handled. How much preparation time will they have? Will they be given the chance to compare solutions with other groups? In order to answer these questions we need to think carefully about the parameters of classroom organisation and about possible staging of a task as students work towards a solution.

There are also teaching decisions to be made. We also need to decide how much help to give students before they undertake the task. Because of possible difficulties with vocabulary you may need to introduce some items before the students read the text. You could possibly do this by giving a them simplified spoken version of the text accompanied by appropriate actions, or by acting it out.

The second stage in a task-based methodology is to do with language form. We need to look carefully at a text and ask two questions. The first question is what grammar and lexis is there here that would be useful for my students at their present stage of development? Looking at the text above we can readily identify a number of possibilities, for example:

Noun groups: My three year old brother

Relative clauses: My three year old brother, who had been playing outside all morning…

-ing forms: … who had been playing outside all morning, …
begging for a snack …
Holding the bread carefully in both hands…
… without using both hands to turn the door knob …

Past perfect: … who had been playing outside all morning, …

Double object verbs: I gave him a slice of bread and peanut butter.

If we are to make good decisions here we need a model of language to guide us. There are, of course, a number of different ways of looking at language form. The important thing is that we have a systematic way of looking at the possibilities in a text.

The second question involves considering which of these possibilities we should focus on in the context of this particular text. This will depend on our learners, involving factors such as their level of competence, their previous learning experience, their native language and the way it relates to English, and so on. Having identified elements for form focus work we need to set up activities to enable students to think carefully and critically about the points we have identified by finding examples of similar language features they have encountered in previous tasks and texts. Almost certainly they have encountered many uses of ¬ -ing forms, for example, in their previous learning. How can we use that experience to help them look critically at the way these forms are used in English? We could help them extend their language by recognising lexical patterns and practicing them in phrases relevant to their lives e,g My three year old brother could become My ten year old daughter or My eighty year old mother).

It is, therefore, possible to break down a complex process, in this case task-based learning and teaching, into basic stages, such as those suggested in Jane’s octagonal framework. (Willis et al 2026) It is then possible within those stages to identify the kinds of teaching decision which have to be made. Having identified crucial decision-making points it is possible to access knowledge which will help us make good decisions – knowledge to do with language structure, classroom management and teaching techniques, knowledge about students, their previous learning and their first language. In fact for experienced teachers a lot of this knowledge is already in place. The trick is organise it systematically and make it work for us. By analysing classroom procedures and identifying what is required at each stage we can bring hard won experience and expertise to bear on extending our range in the classroom.

Once these procedures have been established we are in a position to learn rapidly from experience, adjusting tasks and the accompanying language work in principled ways to find out what works best for a particular groups of students, to build on successful teaching sequences and to adjust and reorganise less successful sequences. (1097 words)