communicative language teaching in action

8/3/2019 Communicative Language Teaching in Action

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Commun Ica t I ve LanguagTeach ing in A ctionPUT T INC PRINC IPLES T O W ORK

Klaus B rand lUniversity of Washington

Seattle, Washington

PEARSON

- - - - - -renticeHall , @ z_O"o'i. tS&j IC{7g'-rD\ S 7 c robUpper Saddle River, New]ersey


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returns tosynthesis activity.classroom man-about the stu-

acquisition perrne-slogans such asall studies," theto say, effectiveintegrate these. For exam-, of review or repeti-2, Short-term andrecycle language-The assimilation

de rist ic s o f C o m m u n ic at iv e Le arn in g T asksfundamental principle of second language acquisition (SLA) is that

need access to input that ismeaningful. "Input [here] is defined asH~LlH*.-U">u language that learners hear or see in context" (Wong and

2003, p. 408). To elaborate more on the definition ofthis principle means that the language being attended to bylearner involves comprehension of an intended message. In learning,.11"LHl.,~ plays an important role, because only something that conceptu-

s sense can be integrated into existing mental structures,and manipulated, and reapplied in other contexts. In this sense,meaningful principle distinguishes itself from traditional rote learning.rate learning, information can also be stored in memory-butas a whole, not as a concept.

A second design principle is that learning tasks are communicative.aspect of being 'communicative' has become a hallmark of many~,..w,uu ....nic_'" ive learning tasks, underlining the purpose of language as",V','U"''''...L''o"nJll. Above all, as many proponents of CLT believe, it is

forces such as language exchange, negotiation of meaning, andl1terac:tlO>nhat drive the SLA process.To further interpret these principles, let us take a look at the design.'.traditional and more recent textbook activities. A traditional form of

'Xtl:(;l;S,t:~ is the drill type. A drill is defined as a "technique commonlyin language teaching for practicing sounds or sentence patterns in a

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The classification of drills as mechanical, meaningful, or communica-tive is based.onthe degreeof learner control over the response: whetheror not there is one right answer, and whether or not the answer isalready known to those participating in the interaction (seePaulston1972 for the origin of this classification). The classification is basedalso on whether or not learners need to understand either what is saidto them or what they themselves are saying in order to complete thedrill successfully.(pp. 91-93).

184 C HA PT ER SIX

some aspect of grammar or sentence formation is often known as patternpractice" (Richards, Platt, and Platt 1992, p. 117). Examples of sucdrills are substitution drills, repetition drills, or transformation drills.

1. Substitution drill:, Substitutions providedTeacher asks: Student says: in the textbookWhat does Hans speak? Hans speaks German German-Germanyand lives in Germanll.1.What does Marie speak? ... French-France2.What does Eduardo speak? ... Spanish-Spain

2. Transformation drill:Instructions: Transform the following statement into a question.Teacher's cue: Student says:I bought a car. What did you buy?1. I speak English ...2. I study French. . ..

Another classification of such traditional grammar exercisesknown as "mechanical," "meaningful," and "communicative" drill(Paulston 1972). Lee and VanPatten (1995a) summarize these differencein the following way:

Mechan ic al d rillsMechanical drills exclusively focus on grammatical forms. They are defineas exercises for which there isonly one correct response, and the outcomecontrolled. To complete an exercise, students do not have to attend tmeaning. The following.illustrations demonstrate such drill types.


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are definede outcome isto attend to

Instructional Sequencing and Task Design 185

purpose of this exercise is to drill the inverted word order in German.'... are to insert adverbial phrases, such as spater [later], jetzti> [now], and so on.

1. Ich gehe nach Hause. [I go home.]Cue: sparer [later) ,Answer: Spater gehe ich nach Hause. II go home later.]

2. Ich lese ein Buch. [I am reading a book]Cue: jetzt [now]Answer: Jetzt lese khein Such. II am reading a book now.]

ILLUST RA TION 2 .The purpose of this exercise is to drill conjugation forms in French,Jon [revenir] justement d'une nouvelle arrestat ion policiere rnusclee, luiet ses hommes avaient pu intervenir et empechsr un autre drame pas-sionnel. Mais Jon [se demander) pourquoi autant de rnysteres entourentI'organisation pour qUI il [travailler). Pourquoi, en eftet; leur methodepour combattre Ie crime n'[etre]'-elle pas reconnue legalement?

As seen from these two illustrations, the learners do not have tounderstand what the language means. Students can perform the exercisesimply by manipulating forms.

M e a n in g fu l d rillsThe difference between a mechanical and meaningful drill is that learnershave to attend to meaning in order to perform the activity. There maystill be only one correct answer, and the answer is also controlled. Forexample, one way of turning the French conjugation drill in Illustration2 into a meaningful exercise would be to list the verbs in infinitive formsin a separate column. Then, for the learners to fill in the correct verbforms,they would need to understand the meaning of these verbs andthe text.

Illustration 3 is an example of a meaningful activity. The purpose ofthis activity is for the students to demonstrate the use of prepositions andthe dative case. In this example, the teacher places different objectsaround the classroom, before he asks the students about the location ofthese objects. To answer the questions, the students have to understandthe meaning of the objects the teacher asks about. They further have toknow the name of the location where the object was placed. The advantage


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186 C HAPT ER SIX

of this exercise is that a student's answer is predictable, which allowsthe teacher to assessa student's knowledgeof a targeted languagestructureDuring a meaningful activity, meaning and form are always keptin focus.

ILLUSTRATION 3, The teacher asks the students to describe the location of each object.Calling on students, he asks questions such as:

1. Wo ist die Tasche? [Where is the bag?][T he teacher place s the bag on the table.}The student answers:Die Tasche ist auf dem Tisch. [The bag is on the table.]2. Wo ist der Bleistift? [Where is the pencil?][The teacher places the pencil on the book.]The student answers:Der Bleistift ist auf dem Buch. [The pencil is on the book.]

C o m m u n ic a tiv e d rillsA communicative drill distinguishes itself from a meaningful and amechanical exercise in as far as the learner's answer is unknown. In acommunicative drill, the learners always.haveto attend to meaning. Thexample in Figure 6-2 demonstrates a communicative drill to practiceobject pronouns.

C o m m u n ic a tiv e le a rn in g ta sksAlthough the design characteristics "meaningful" and "communica-tive" are nothing new, communicative language-learning activities distinguish themselves from traditional drill types in several ways. Thmeaningful principle is fundamental and is strongly adhered to.Furthermore, the primary focus is not the practice of grammar structures, but the actual use of language and the development of communicative skills. While such a goal does not exclude a focus on form, iemphasizes contextualized language practice. In other words, communicative language tasks are situated within an authentic contextWalz (1989) provides the following three criteria that define a wellcontextualized communicative learning task: It connects exercise sentences with the same situation or theme; it provides additional information concerning people, activities, and descriptions; and icombines cultural aspects with language practice within the exerciseWalz argues that contextualization is conducive to learning, a"connecting sentences within the same situation, theme or semanti


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hich allowslanguage structure.are always kept

o f e ac h o bje ct.

meaningful and aris unknown. In ato meaning. Theedrill to practice

d "communica-ngactivities dis-everal ways. Thegly adhered to.grammar struc-pment of commu-focus on form, ither words, com-thentic context.at define a well-ects exercise sen-additional infor-riptions; and ithin the exercise.to learning as,eme or semantic


and your 9.VDS GOUTSETVDS A.CTIVITESA . T ra va iH ez p ar g ro up es d e tro is . C ha cu n d e vo us fa it tro is a ff irm a-tio ns. L es d eu x a utre s d oive nt d ec id er s i c 'e st v ra l o u fa ux .

M o., j e j O" le a lA P ' I l , " " O !o 0"11, Q e c.rCli~ t j . " I e ) c . ' e S ' f vrtli I N o,"", ( je c.roiS " ! l l A e ) c .e ," ,, 'eS"f pl lS" VY I ' l i

I li ke to p la y t h e p ia no .o Yes,Ibe l ieve i t i s t rue . N o , I be li ev e i t i s n o t t ru e .

l ike . . .dancesingg o o u t in t he e ve ni ngetc.

study...Englishhistorysoc io logymathematics

play.. .soccertennischesscarts

F I G U R E 6 -2 Sample o f co mm unicative drill(Source: Flumian et al (2007a), p, 17)

field may help students retain information better" (p. 161). Hisargument is well supported by research on how the brain stores infor-mation (see Chapter 3, Getting Started: Introducing Vocabulary).Furthermore, while there is no concrete evidence that contextualizedlearning activities affect learning, unlike decontextualized gram-mar exercises, however, a context creates a coherent frameworkthat more likely will lead to meaningful and communicative use oflanguage.

Two common strategies that allow students to use language in ameaningful and communicative way are to make activities personal-ized and to give students a choice of answers. Being able to expressone's own opinions, feelings, and interests has a positive effective onstudents' attitudes toward learning. Such expression keeps themmore engaged, motivated, and interested (Terrell 1982). Allowingstudents to choose from a list of answers still makes a student'sanswer communicative. At the same time, the communicative contextis narrowed, and the students' answers are somewhat pedagogicallymanageable.


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Activity A:What do you usually wear?Instructions: Say what you normally wear in the followingsituations.Example: I usually wear jeans and a T-shirt to the universityAt work I wear a sports shirt, a pair of pants, and a jacket.

188 C HA PT ER S IX

The following example demonstrates these strategies:

to work to a.rock concertto theunlvsrslty with friendsin bed at homeon the weekend on an airplarieat the concert or opera at a birthday partytoa formal party at the beachon a rainy day in winter at 0 Celsius

Although some practitioners claim (see Lee and VanPatten2003) that all activities should adhere to the two principles of beinmeaningful and communicative; "true" communicative activities, ithe sense that students exchange unknown information with eacother, have some caveats. A disadvantage of such activities is thathe teacher cannot control the content and form of students'answers. As seen from the example above, the teacher can anticipate a student's answer in only limited ways. Consequently, thereisno guarantee that the student necessarily understands all the listeitems from which he chooses. Or, as demonstrated by anotherexample, a learner's personal response to the fill-in-the-blank activity "Como __ y __ a cualquier hora del dia. [1eat __ and__ at any time during the day.]" allows for a wide range oanswers. Although the context of such an activity clearly asks forfood item as an answer, a student can mention practically any fooditem without clearly demonstrating that he understands the meaning of these words. Besides, in open-ended activities, some studentmay have a tendency to avoid answering a question because theyare not confident enough to say it.

Occasionally, in particular during initial phases of instruction;there is a.need for activities calling for a student response that ipredictable and controllable. Such activities have previously bee.referred to as "pre-communicative," because their function is tolead up to a communicative activity (Richards 1988). They allowfor easier control of a student's meaningful use of language, and fomore controlled practice of target forms. As such, they make i


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Instructional Sequencing and Task Design 189.for a teacher to pay attention to a student's accurate use of language....."mrlf' tailored feedback. Needless to say, the more open-ended andve a student's response, the harder it is for the teacherthat student's understanding, responses, and possiblein the following

the university.a jacket, ..The following example demonstrates a meaningful activity with acontrolled response:.Activity B: In which sequence?Read over the list of activities that Ramon did yesterday. Numbereach item from 1 to 8, with 1 being the first activity Ramon did inthe day and 8 as the last activity he did.Ramon ...

left tor the office. had lunch with a client__ woke up

left the office__ got up__ went to class

studied before class_ watched a video at nightSource: Adapted from VanPatten, Lee, and Ballman (1996), p. 80; translated byKlaus Brandl.

Another characteristic of a communicative language task is that thelearner has to do something with the information she has learned. Thisdesign feature distinguishes traditional communicative activities fromtasks and makes it what is generally referred to as task based. Many suchtasks often also have a concrete outcome that learners have to achieve(see definitions of a task in Chapter 1). Consider the following lists ofcommunicative activities:1. Ask fivepeople in class what their names are and where they are from.2. Ask five people in class why they study Spanish. .3. A classmate invited you to his party. Find out directions to get to hisplace.

Now read the descriptions again:4. Ask five people in class what their names are and where they arefrom. Write their names on the different states on a U.S. map.5. Ask five people in class why they study Spanish. Now compare andrank the five reasons in terms of which reason is most compelling.6. A classmate invited you and your friends to his party. Find out direc-

tions to get to his place, and share this information with yourfriends.


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190 C HAPTER S IX

A close look at both sets of activities shows that they all are communica-tive in nature. The second descriptions, however, require the listeners todo something with information that they just gained and then complete atask. As examples 4 through 6 illustrate, the learners have to write downinformation, compare and rank the information, and exchange the infor-mation with somebody else via email or in person. This element of acommunicative task design is important for several reasons: For studentsto complete a task, they have to negotiate meaning. In negotiating mean-ing, they have to listen, speak up, repeat, rephrase, and maybe even showeach other information that they have written down, to get a messageacross. Language is not used for the sake of practice. Whatever informa-tion the students exchange has to be clear and comprehensible enough toenable them to do something with it. Futhermore, having to do some-thing with the information reengages the students cognitively andrequires them to apply additional skills. In essence, such task design rep-resents one of the most vital elements of communicative language learn-ing. It is the need to push output that supports the acquisition process.The fact that the task requires the students to reach an outcome furtherallows teachers to observe and measure achievement.

1~~~;n~1 t~ iv~~f~~~=~nformation (e. g., list,tl in writing or orally).have to achieve.y ' : , < : C " ' " < t " " , , L I < l l " , I C acts.

In stru ct io na l Se qu en cin g o f C o m m u nic at iv e T asksPerforming a communicative function or task usually involves employinglanguage in an open-ended, creative way in which much, if not all, thelesson's target vocabulary, grammar, and content are used. This alsorequires the simultaneous use of a combination of skills. Traditionally,these skills have been categorized as listening, reading, speaking, or writ-ing. Modes of insrructionally grouping these skills are often based oncontrasting oral and written skills and/or productive and receptive skills(see Table 6.1).T A B LE 6.1 T ra dit io n al g ro u pi ng o f s ki lls

oral writtenproductive speaking writingreceptive listening reading


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all arecommunica_ire the listeners toand then complete ahave to write downnge the infor-This element of aasons: For studentsnegotiating mean-d maybe even showto get a messageWhatever informa-nough toaving to do some-cognitively andch task design rep-language learn-cquisition process.

an outcome further

rmation (e. g., list,o achieve.

Tasksves employing

uch, if not all, there used. This alsolls. .Traditionally,,speaking, or writ-e often based ond receptive skills

Instructional Sequencing and Task Design 191Amore recent approach classifies the use of skills based on the mode6fcommunication (Brecht and Walton 1994), and characterizes them as

(1) interpersonal, (2) interpretive, and (3) presentational. For example,rwo Students talking to each other in the classroom while performing apair-work activity make use of an interpersonal mode of communication.This means they take turns talking and listening, and when the commu-nication breaks down, they have the opportunity to negotiate meaning.They can tell each other to clarify misunderstandings, to repeat, torephrase, or to follow up on what has been said. An interpersonal modeof communication takes place when two speakers talk to each other inperson, over the phone, or through written modes of correspondence[e.g., in chat rooms or via e-mail).

Unlike during the interpersonal mode of communication, theinterpretive mode of communication does not allow for any kind of pos-sibility of negotiation of meaning with the writer or speaker. Examples ofthis kind ofmode include (1) listening to people talk on the radio, on TV,or in movies; and (2) reading a text. As Shrum and Glisan (2000) pointout, this mode of communication may often "require a deeper knowl-edge of culture to gain an appropriate cultural interpretation of a text,"as "clarification of meaning is not possible since the creator of a text isabsent or not accessible" (p. 120).Similar to the interpretive mode of communication, the presentationalmode also constitutes one-way communication. "Speaking and/or writingskills are involved, and no direct opportunity exists for active negotiationofmeaning between the presenter and audience. Examples include giving aspeech or oral report, preparing a paper or story, and producing a news-cast. Substantial knowledge of the language and culture is necessary sincethe goal is to ensure that the audience will be able to interpret the message(NSFLEP1996)" (cited in Shrum and Glisan 2000, p. 120).In contrast to the traditional grouping of skills, Brecht and Walton'sapproach to skill description is vital to organizing task-based instruc-tions. This is so because it is the mode of communication, not the skills in

isolation, that need to serve as the basis for planning and designing learn-ing tasks that prepare the learners for communicative language perform-ance. For example, students who interact in pair or pair-work activitieshave to be prepared to function in their roles as listeners as well as speak-ers. Or, to mention another example, when students are asked to listen topeer presentations, the mode of communication puts them into the roleof the listener, who tries to interpret the presenters' message. As bothexamples demonstrate, different modes of communication often requiredifferent preparation and instructional strategies in order to create anengaging and successful learning experience. This approach also requiresan understanding of the mental processes involved when the learnersengage in speaking, writing, listening, and reading tasks, in addition tothe cognitive complexity of a task itself; and last, the conditions underwhich learners perform these tasks. (Please note that these mentalprocesses are discussed in more detail in later chapters.)


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Mr. Garfield starts a beginning class of German by introducing family andkinship terms. He uses a chart of a family tree to introduce and explain all thekinship terms. In his next activity, he spends about 10 minutes asking hisstudents various questions about their families. Next, he gives his students thefollowing assignment: Choose a partner and interview one another in Germanabout your families. He gives them 15 minutes to complete the interviews.However, as Mr. Garfield begins to circulate in the class, he notices thatstudents are confused. They have no idea how to form the questions inGerman, they are speaking in English, they are searching through vocabularylists in their books, and they look very frustrated.

192 C HAP TER SIXApplying different modes of communication that involve multipleskills raises the questions: How should different skills be introduced,how can they be broken down into manageable subtasks, and howshould learning tasks be scaffolded? By scaffolding is meant the processof sequencing learning tasks into subtasks so that one activity becomesthe basis for the subsequent one. In addition, it is necessary to ask whatfactors influence task performance-that is, what makes one task more

difficult than another?S kill p ro g re ss io n a n d ta sk se qu e nc in gTo demonstrate and better understand some of the issues involved, lookat the case study in Figure 6-3 below. Then, answer the questions in"Analysis and Discussion. "To avoid some of the problems that the instructor encountered inFigure 6-3, let us briefly analyze what happened. Conducting animpromptu interview with a fellow student in the beginning foreign

F IGURE 6-3 Sampl e l es s on s c ri pt


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involve multiplebe introduced,and howthe process

activity becomesto ask whatone task more

sinvolved, looke questions inencountered inConducting anginning foreign

ily andexplain all theng hiss students ther in Germanerviews.s thatons invocabulary

I ns tr uc tio n al S eq ue nc in g a nd T a sk D es ig n 193

language class requires students to immediately apply a variety of skills.They have to think of the contents of the questions to ask. They have toapply the language code-for example, choose the vocabulary, apply allthe grammatical rules (formulating questions, conjugating verbs, etc.),and pronounce the questions. .Furthermore, interacting with their interviewing partner involves lis-tening comprehension skills, in other words decoding their fellow stu-dents' oral answers. Last, the impromptu nature of this task may alsohave enhanced the task difficulty by creating potential performance pres-sure for students. That is to say, some students can function better underpressure; others feel more anxious and nervous .The reason the class broke down is that students were asked toperform too many skills at once and under conditions for which theyhad not been prepared. As the case above illustrates, numerous factorsmay playa role impacting task difficulty. A general scheme proposedby Candlin (1987) assesses task difficulty based on linguistic code andcognitive complexity, as well as on communicative stress experiencedby learners. As Figure 6-4 demonstrates, the interaction of thesevariables may either facilitate or impede the performance of learningtasks,

The linguistic code refers to the language factors (Skehan 1996)that learners have to process and produce in a given task. These includetherange and complexity of vocabulary (knowledge and usage, pronun-ciation, etc.), grammar (syntactic and morphological knowledge),and text structures, that is, skills and knowledge involving the languageitself.

Communicativestress Linguistic complexity Cognitivedemandnumber of peoplerelationship with peoplelow or high stakesdegree of learner control

range and complexity of vocabulary familiarity with topiccomplexity of grammar processing demands

memory skills

F IGURE 6 -4 I nte ra c tio n o f v ar ia b le s a ff ec tin g t as k d if fic u lt y


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194 C HAP TE R S IX

At a workshop on' computerized testing, the presenters wanted to demonstratea computerized testing task, Since the example involved watching a one-minutespeech given by the former German chancellor Helmut Kohl on his polit icalachievement during his time in office, they asked for a proficient speaker ofGerman as a volunteer from the audience. The German volunteer watched thevideo clip, and then was asked to summarize Helmut Kohl's majorachievements,FIGURE 6-5 Ca se s tu dy : A c omp u te riz ed te st

The cognitive complexity of a task is determined by a variety offactors. One set of factors has to do with the mental processes that arerequired by the task assignment. For example, repeating information,describing a situation, ranking, sorting, comparing, analyzing or inter-preting data involve mental processes that are different and vary incognitive complexity. Another set of factors involves the input itself, thatis, the aural or written texts or visual input, that we process. Being famil-iar with the topic of a conversation or having background knowledge in acontent area facilitates the process of the interpretation of an oral or writ-ten message or text, and thus makes it easier to understand (Bernhardt1993; Carre111992). The amount of input and the density of contents ofthe information that we have to process further adds complexity. Forexample, listening to a one-word answer is cognitively less challengingthan a paragraph-long answer. This has to with how much informationwe can retain in our working memories, and how fast we can process thisinformation. The way the input is organized further makes a difference.For example, information that is coherently structured is easier to under-stand than information that is loosely structured. Whether an idea is pre-sented in an abstract or a concrete way also plays a role. In light of suchfactors, the amount of time that is available when processing input caneither increase or alleviate task difficulty. It usually takes quite a bit oftime and experience to build a mental foundation that allows learners toprocess big chunks of information in the target language.A third factor impacting task difficulty has to do with the conditionsunder which the students are performing a learning task. Some condi-tions create commmunicative stress that leads to anxiety and stress


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to demonstrateg a one-rnlnutshis politicalspeaker ofr watched the

y a variety ofesses that areinformation,yzing or inter-t and vary input itself, thats. Being famil-knowledge in an oral or writ-(Bernhardtof contents ofmplexity. Fors challengingh informationn process thiss a difference.sier to under-an idea is pre-n light of suching input canquite a bit ofws learners to

the conditionsSome condi-ty and stress

Instructional Sequencing andTask Design 195,,,u.,,~",.., learners and influence how well they can complete a task. Suchdepend and vary based on the following factors (Skehanlanguage mode (e.g., speaking, listening, reading, writing),

" i' channel (e.g., voice of a native or nonnative speaker, audio or< i' level of background noise), and the level of immediacy in{responding to the task, scale (number of participants or relationship.,involved, e.g., during group work), stakes (either low or high, dependingOnhow important it is to do the task and to do it correctly), and control(how much learners can "control" or influence the task). Interpersonalfactors such as shyness, status, or cultural differences may also be rea-sons causing communicative stress. As w t have seen from the case studyin Figure 6.3, an oral interview involves interpersonal modes of commu-nication (speaking and listening)-that is, immediacy-task skills, whichin general cause students more stress than reading and writing tasks do.Because of the high processing demands of most speaking tasks, the for-mat of pair and small- group work has become a commonly appliedinstructional practice, as a means of preparation and practice time, thatreduces stress for beginning language learners. Imagine how the commu-nication demand changes when students have to perform an impromptu

speaking task in a testing situation, either in front of the whole class orfor an official testing board.

De sc rip t io n o f a Sa m ple Le sso n Pla nTo further demonstrate a sequence of learning activities, this section pres-ents a lesson plan to be taught at the secondary school level and coveringabout two to three periods. Table 6.2 describes the pedagogical proceduresfor each lesson step in detail and furthermore presents the teacher's ratio-nales for implementing and sequencing each activity. The lesson plan alsolists the modes of communication using Brecht and Walton's framework(1994) and points out the skills of speaking (S),listening (L), reading (R),writing (W), and kinesthetic involvement (K).


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196 C HA PTER SIX

The goals of this lesson are the following that students will be able to:. . give directions to various destinations using a map

follow directions given, using a map use basic courtesies when asking for directions recognize the differences between American and German city mapsThe following new content knowledge and skills that are required to perform the lesson

tasks will be introduced: ,links, rechts, geradeaus [left, right, straight ahead]basic questions (review}Strasse, Ampel, Platz [street, traffic light, square]polite questionsnames of buildings (review)prepositions: vorbei, endang, hinunter [passed, along, down]command forms (review)

T ABL E6 . 2 L e ss o n s te p s, r at io n a le s a n d s k il l d e sc ri pt io nModes ofDescription of Glctivityand pedagogical rationale for coinmunication!lesson phase design, implementation, and sequencing. skills

Day 11 input Introduction ofvocabularY. The instructor introduces riew interpretive, L, Kvocabulary (adverbial phrases of place, such as J inks, reehts ,

geradeaus, etc.[left, right, straight ahead] using Total PhysicalResponse (TPR). Unlike during a traditional TPR lesson, theteacher also writes the new words on the board.TPR involves students actively in the vocabulary introductionactivity. Students demonstrate nonverbal comprehensionthrough TPR movements. Seeing the words in writing furtherhelps students to make a connection between the meaning ofthe new words and their written representations.

2 assimilation Vocabulary activity: The students label traffic signs, interpretive,describing in which directions they are pointinq. R,WThis activity provides written reinforcement of vocabularyitems. Students get to produce the words in writingthemselves.

3 input Dialogue: Different people asking for directions. The interpretive, R,teacher introduces the dialogue byrole-reading each line. interpersonal,Along the way, she explains, models, or acts out unknown L,S , one-wordvocabulary. Next, she follows up with comprehension answersquestions. Last, she has students role-read the dialogue inpairs, and then asks for volunteers to read (out loud) thedialogue in front of the class.


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perform the lesson

Modes ofcommunication!skills

interpretive,R,W

interpretive, L , K

interpretive, R,interpersonal,L, S, one-wordanswers

Instructional Sequencing and TaskDesign 197

T A B L E 6 . 2 Le s so n s te p s , r a ti o na le s a nd s k il l d e sc r ip ti on- Modes ofDescription of activity and pedagogical rationale for communication!LesSon phase design, implementation, and sequencing. skills

The purpose of using this dialogue is to introduce andmodel polite phrases students need to know to ask fordireqtions. The focus is mostly on written input, but answersof comprehension questions provide oral application of one-word answers. Requesting information demonstrates culturaland-eociolmquisnc language skills.

4 assimilation (review) Fantasy trip around city. The classroom isdecorated with interpersonal,pictures from various shops. The teacher takes the students L , S, shortaround the room, telling and asking them what they can do answersand buy at each shop.This activity provides a review of previous material in acommunicative way while the teacher acts like a tour guide.The purpose of this activity isfurthermore to review thenames of the shops and prepositions that require either thedative or accusative case.

5assimilation Fill-in-the-blank activity. For homework, the students are interpretive,(homework) asked to do a fil l- In-the blank activity and a matching exercise. R,W (one-wordThe students match different phrases used in asking answers)directions.This activity provides reinforcement of vocabulary in context,which students will be producing later.

Day 26 assimilation Scavenger hunt. In pairs or small groups, students follow interpretive, Rprearranged directions around the school to find other cluesto ultimately find a prize.The activity is done as a racebetween teams.

The Scavenger hunt activity is a fun way of getting studentsinvolved in applying reading skills. Doing this activity jn pairsencourages cooperative learning. Written directions providefurther examples of the language the students have toproduce later.This is a simulated, hands-on activity, whichalso makes use of a competitive learning style.

7 assimilation Vienna map activity. Teacher hands out maps of Vienna, interpretive, Rincluding written directions to particular authentic destinations.Students, in groups, must figure out the destination.This activity integrates authentic cultural materials, whichprovides further practice in and reinforcement of readingdirections.

8 assimilation Cultural comparison. Students compare German and culturalAmerican city maps and discuss similarities and differences. understandingThis activity integrates culture. The activity is done in English.

(Continued)


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198 C HAPTER SIX

TABLE 6.2 Lesson steps, rationales and skill descriptionModes ofDescription of activity and pedagogical rationale for communication!Lesson phase design, implementation, and sequencing. skills

9 assimilation TPR shower-curtain map activity. The students sit around a interpretive, L, Kshower curtain that displays a map of an authentic Germancity. The teacher gives directions, and volunteers follow theroute to various destinations.The students demonstrate listening comprehension skills byfollowing the direction. This performance-based skill is one ofthe goals of the Jesson.

10 assimilation Shower-curtain map activity (part 2). Students take turns interpersonal,giving others directions using the shower-curtain map. S, L, K, shortStudents apply language in a communicative way.This phrasesperformance-based task isthe goal of the lesson. As thestudents give oral directions for the first time, it is a goodstrategy to do this activity in a teacher-fronted format, so theteacher can provide feedback and assistance if necessary.

Day 311 assimilation Information-gap activity. Working in pairs, students take turns interpersonal,asking for and giving each other directionsto locations on a map. L, S, shortThe listenerfills inthe name of the building on his or her map. phrases and

This activity provides further practice in pairs, which involves answersall the students and reduces the stress to produce orallanguage. It involves requesting and giving information; inother words, it focuses on interpersonal communication skills.12 assimilation Listening assessment. Students show comprehension by interpretive , L,following directions on a map and writing down the name of short paragraphthe destination.

This activity functions as a direct or indirect assessment asone of the lesson objectives. Students listen to paragraph-longdirections. For logistic reasons, the listening section is done first.13 extension/simulated Taxi activity from "Games with Aims"-Each student has a interpersonal orreal-life application destination on a card that she or he draws.$tudents must presentational, Shail the taxi (teacher), and using their map, give the taxi driverdirections to the destination.

This oral, performance-based assessment tests anotherobjective of the lesson.14extension/simulated Students write down the directions to places on a map. presentational, Wreal-life application The lesson concludeswith a final assessment. This written,performance-based task tests the objective of the lesson. Forinstructional purposes, the sequence of activities 13 and 14could be reversed, since students would get additionalpractice in writing before demonstrating this functionalobjective orally.

( So u r ce : P a t B r an s o n , " I ns t ru c ti o na l P la n n in g ," GOLDEN Online Course, 2001 , h t tp :/ /g o lden.un l.edu .)


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. previous sections, we have pointed out some of the skills involved. information in a second language. The following instruc-strategiesprovide some suggestions that aid in reducing a learner's

n'-"''''ll, '''' demands. Applying these guidelines further helps with scaf-and sequencing different learning tasks.

Introduce one thing at a timeIn traditional language teaching, it was common practice amonglanguage teachers to introduce whole sets of grammatical rules suchas verb conjugation paradigms at once, while the learners wereexpected to memorize and apply these rules thereafter. This kind ofinstructional practice has its roots in the audiolingual era, whenlanguage was perceived as a set of structures that the learnersneeded to master first. With the inception of communicativelanguage learning, "the message to be conveyed" has become the

-".primary focus, which subsequently determines what vocabularyand grammar rules are to be introduced. For example, if a studentis to talk about himself, the first person singular may be the onlyrule that he needs to learn from the whole verb paradigm to accom-plish the communicative task. In other words, the trend has shiftedaway from introducing whole grammatical paradigms toward iso-lating and introducing single forms (e.g., first person singular orthird person singular verb conjugation forms) at a given moment,subsequently adding more forms and rules of usage to the picture ofa lesson (see Ch 4, Grammar and Language Learning). In this way,the cognitive overload is reduced and is less demanding and stress-ful, especially for learners with lower memorization skills.

Move from nonlinguistic to linguistic outputThe initial segment of a language lesson involves the introduction ofnewmaterials through written or oral input. In traditional languageteaching, many teachers immediately move from input to output,testing their students' comprehension of the newly introduced mate-rials. As reality shows, this instructional sequencing is often too over-whelming for most beginning language learners, as it asks the studentto apply too many skills at once. One instructional strategy thatreduces the attentional demands of a task is the initial use of nonlin-guistic tasks. These are tasks that do not require active production oflanguage for output. Such tasks allow for more exposure, moreexamples, deeper anchoring, and are less demanding on the languageprocessing faculty. Non-linguistic tasks are raising hands, pointing,acting out, drawing, and so on. Tasks with reduced linguistic out-put are truelfalse, yeslno answers, matching, and multiple-choiceactivities.


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100 C HAPTER SIX

Move from words to sentences to connected discourseThe development of oral communicative skills is challenging for language learners due to high processing demand, which involve linguistic and cognitive skills and whose application is further impededby different conditions. Structuring activities so students move fromsingle words to longer discourse answers allows students to gradu-ally build speaking skills and reduces the linguistic demands.Examples range from yes/no, short answers (single words/sentences,phrases), to paragraph-long discourse.

'Break down.an activity into manageable subtasksAnother strategy that helps learners to reduce stress created by cognitive overload is to break down an activity into a sequence of subtasks. The tasks should isolate skills and be narrowly focused,keeping the attentional demand of each task manageable. Forexample, when using audio- or video-based materials divide thematerials into small listening and thinking segments because ihelps reduce the amount of information students have to process.Allowing for repeated listening or viewing, and telling the learnerswhat to focus on during the listening process, gives the learners anopportunity to attend to a different listening task or focus on infor-mation they missed before (see Ch 7, Developing Listening Skillsfor further discussion).Another example taken from the methodology of teachingreading skills further highlights this teaching principle. A commoninstructional practice among teachers is to ask students to read atext out loud while expecting students to process the meaning othe text at the same time. When students focus their attention onpronunciation, they often cannot recall any information aboutwhat they have read. The attentional demands of processing themeaning of a text while reading out loud are simply too high formost beginning language learners. The instructional strategy thatworks much better is to divide the attentional demands by first ask-ing the students to read the text silently, so they can focus theirattention on the meaning of the text. Then, in a later activity, oncethe meaning of a text has been clarified, students could read a textaloud and thus attend to practicing the pronunciation (see Ch 9Developing Reading Skills, for further discussion).

Allow for ample preparation and planning timeMost communicative speaking tasks are challenging for beginninglanguage learners because of the level of immediacy in responding tothe task and anxiety that is invoked by talking with or in front oother students in a class. In many occasions, this challenge can be alleviated by allowing for planning and preparation time. By building in a


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step, it gives the learner an opportunity to think abouthe wants to say and how to formulate his utterance. Thisreduces stress and anxiety and an early break down of an activity. For..example,.interviewing tasks work best if students have time to brain-. storm and develop the contents of interview questions in separatesteps; Ample time should also be provided for most learning tasks thatinvolve reading or writing. Depending on the complexity of the text orthe writing task, most reading and writing tasks require more time toaccomplish. .Allow for studer.it collaboration to work on,tasksAmple research. supports the benefits of instructional strategies thatpromote social interaction and collaboration among learners. Studentsby and large perform more effectively when working in pairs or smallgroups than when being called on in front of the class. Tasks also needto be designed so students have to respond to each other's output. Inthis way students attend to each other. It increases social interactionand thus learning among the students. It is also helpful for the speakerif the sender has information that the listener does not have, but thatthe listener, for some reason, needs. This puts the speaker firmly in con-trol of the information and motivates her to communicate that infor-mation (Brown &Yule, 1983) (see Ch 8, Developing Listening Skills,for further discussion).

communicative language teaching in action

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