Jane Willis: award winning writer and task-based language teacher
Here we have a variety of resources, some short, some longer, some about using tasks, some about language itself, some new, some old but still relevant today. Take your pick!
A lively 15 minute interview with Jane filmed at a recent IATEFL conference. In this episode, Jane provides examples of TBL in practice, explores the difference between task-based and task-supported learning, and closes with suggestions on how the latest technology can fit into a TBL framework.
Longer interview with Jane with a video index. For TBL examples and practical issues, start a 42.00” in.
A 40 minute power-point presentation, from the absolute expert, Rod Ellis, who has been researching TBLT for over 40 years. Courtesy of Cambridge University Press ELT.
Jane Willis joins us to discuss the drawbacks of PPP and the benefits and challenges of using task cycles for language lessons.
In episode 25, Mike and Leo chat with the great Jane Willis.
HLT.digital. In this video, Jane discusses Task-Based Learning, the learner-centred methodology that prioritises meaning over traditional grammar instruction. Jane talks about the dynamic framework of Task-Based Learning, and about how tasks, ranging from discussing volcanoes to exploring Sustainable Development Goals, can empower learners to engage more meaningfully with language.
I start by listing some topics for tasks and suggesting ideas for priming and preparation stages. I illustrate these with a task for beginners, largely teacher-led: Objects on a Tray, showing how one task can lead into another. To complete the lesson plan, I give examples of form-focused activities – based on spoken and written texts –both for the Tray task, and a task on ‘Eating Out’ in Spanish.
How far is it possible to predict language items that might be useful for doing a task? Here, a detailed picture of a sitting room serves as the basis for set of tasks for near beginners. What language features do fluent speakers use when recorded doing the same tasks? We analyse a range of tasks on a cline from closed to open and I suggest ways to plan lessons based on closed tasks.
What you can do once your class has completed a task? After a brief introduction to TBL, the Powerpoint slides in ‘After the task, then what?’ outline both meaning-focused and form-focused activities that can usefully follow a task to extend and consolidate learners’ language. It features the News in Brief story, Cat’s Feat to illustrate post -task activities.
What you can do once your class has completed a task? After a brief introduction to TBL, the Powerpoint slides in ‘After the task, then what?’ outline both meaning-focused and form-focused activities that can usefully follow a task to extend and consolidate learners’ language. It features the News in Brief story, Cat’s Feat to illustrate post -task activities.
After summarizing the basic principles of TBLT, we hear a teacher reformulating the words of a very elementary learner talking about her first job. We explore the language patterns and items that the learner chooses to focus on to improve her language. The same process of recording and reformulating is followed for two more tasks done by intermediate learners. and the value of letting learners choose.
These slides were used as needed during the day. After a quick summary of TBLT principles, this workshop began with teachers of homestay students, in pairs, telling each other their best success story, recording on their phones. They then reflected on what conditions had helped their students succeed, and analysed the transcriptions of their recordings to explore typical features of spoken English. They went on to plan tasks and project-based activities that culminated in an end product that could be shared with others. These involved exploiting their home environment and their wider neighbourhood. The benefits of task-based processes were summarised.
IATEFL Brighton, 2018 Workshop by Jane Willis
IATEFL Manchester, 2015 Dave’s PowerPoint presented by Jane
IATEFL Manchester, 2015 Explanatory handout.
SATEFL, Stirling, 9th October 2010
SATEFL, Stirling, 9th October 2010
SATEFL, Stirling, 9th October 2010
SATEFL, Stirling, 9th October 2010
Additional Workshop by Jane Willis IATEFL Cardiff, April 2009
Six principles for Task Design; also Notes on rationale for and applications of a lexical approach. IATEFL Cardiff, April 2009
