Thinking skills

doing tasks

Sara Bryce 10/06/11

What makes a task difficult?

Level of difficultyLevel of difficulty

• input - written, spoken, graphic, numerical• density and organization of information• number of sources• task focus – language system, meaning, both• level of abstraction• cognitive functions • familiarity of language• familiarity of task• time pressure• output – written, spoken, graphic, numerical

Task knowledgeTask knowledge

• Mental ‘data base’ of different types of task–What’s the goal of the task?–What do I have to do?–With what content?

Thinking skills

Cognitive functions

Cognitive functionsCognitive functions• Planning – how am I going to do this?• Comparing – find similarities and differences• Eliminating – this is wrong/impossible• Inferring – so maybe it means…• Analyzing – what exactly is it composed of…• Categorizing – these are all type X…• Ranking – from X to Y• Matching – X goes with Y• Labeling – this is X and this is Y• Applying – use the rule, facts you already know• Hypothetical reasoning – what if…?• Deductive reasoning– so it must be…• Projecting relationships – words + context + meaning

develop a strategy develop a strategy

• Plan your time – how am I going to do this• Create a text model – who, when, where, what• Compare options = strategy of elimination• Use prior knowledge – what do you know about the context?• Use sociolinguistic / pragmatic knowledge – how do people… – express feelings? – carry out transactions? – interact with each other?

• Use linguistic knowledge – typical vocabulary, grammatical structures

Multiple choice

FCE listening part 1

FCE multiple choice listening

FCE multiple choice listening

• You hear this man talking about his hotel. How does he feel about his room?

–A impressed–B disappointed–C angry

•

scriptscript

• We really didn’t expect this. We thought it’d be the typical economy type hotel. You know, nothing special, just a bed, a wardrobe and a shower in the room if you’re lucky. Well, the en suite bathroom was a big surprise, I can tell you. It’s twice the size of ours at home And as for the view from the balcony, it’s unbelievable. We really can’t complain.

What are you thinking?What are you thinking?

Cognitive functions• Create text model• Compare options

• Hypothetical reasoning, apply prior knowledge, (predicting)

• project relationships (context, language, functions)

• Hotel, man, room• A is positive emotion, B and

C are negative• What makes people feel

these emotions in this context?

• How do they express them in English?

While you’re listeningWhile you’re listening

Cognitive function• Deductive reasoning

• Inferring, project relationships, apply knowledge

• comparing, eliminating

• deductive reasoning

• ‘didn’t expect.. thought it’d be’ –real situation was different to how he thought it would be

• ‘nothing special’ – ‘a big surprise’ ‘unbelievable’ = could be positive or negative

• tone of voice sounds animated – probably not disappointed

• ‘can’t complain’ – can’t be angry, must be impressed

Transformations Multiple choice cloze

FCE Use of English

Creating a text modelCreating a text model

• Understand what’s being expressed• Work out what’s being tested• Self-monitoring –– check the model: does the new sentence preserve

the original meaning?

reformulatingreformulating• Active – passive

– ‘..the police stopped him..’ ‘..he was stopped by police..’• Present, past, future – tense changes

– ‘I haven’t seen her’ ‘I last saw her’• Direct speech – indirect speech

– ‘..I can’t remember..’ ‘..he said couldn’t remember..’• Positive – negative

– ‘..I always stay..’ ‘...I never go...’ – ‘..I forgot..’ ‘..I couldn’t remember’

• Phrasal verbs– ‘..he’s making a recovery..’ ‘..he’s getting over it..’

• Confusing pairs– too or enough? so or such? –ed or –ing? gerund or infinitive? make or

do?

Reading – question types

adapted from C. Nuttall (1996)

Literal comprehensionLiteral comprehension

• The answer is directly expressed in the text

– David and I went on holiday to Spain for two weeks last summer.

• Q: Where did they go on holiday?

Reorganizing or reinterpreting Reorganizing or reinterpreting

• Reinterpret information or pull it out from different parts of the text and put it together in a new way

– We spent a few days with my cousin Juan and his family. His sons both speak English really well, but his daughter is very shy and didn’t talk to us much.

• Q: How many children does Juan have?

Inferencing Inferencing

• Consider what’s implied but not explicitly stated in the text.

• We got lost in Madrid one day and had to ask for directions, but it took me a long time to approach someone as I’d only been learning Spanish for a few weeks, and David kept complaining that we were going to be late for our dinner reservation.

Q: How did the speaker feel?– A) embarrassed– B) anxious– c) tired

Evaluating Evaluating

• Consider what the writer’s trying to do and make judgements about how well he’s achieved it

– How strong is the writer’s argument in favour of X?

– Does the writer present a balanced view of Z?– How far do your own experiences agree with Y?

Personal response Personal response

• Record your reactions and feelings about the text

– How would you have felt if you were character X?– Would you like to live in Z?– Do you sympathize with the writer’s arguments?

How does the writer say what he means

How does the writer say what he means

• Show how the writer tries to convince us that the economic situation is actually beneficial.

FCE reading part 3

Multiple matching4-5 texts

15 questions

Question Question • Which of the people A-E:– doesn’t mind what his children talk about

Deductive reasoning:He’s a fatherHe has more than one child

Inferring:Doesn’t mind – positive sense: he’s relaxed about it, it’s not important

Compare / categorise / rankDoesn’t mind – I’m not bothered, it’s OK, it doesn’t matter

LIKE---------DON’T MIND---------DON’T LIKE

Look at all the textsLook at all the texts

Cognitive functionsSystematic search, focusing attention

Compare, eliminate

Create text models

• Scan the texts, find parts which mention children + parents + talking

• When, where, who, what

‘Family feuds – or just lunch?’

‘Family feuds – or just lunch?’

Text C - Andrew• Andrew finds meals difficult,

but necessary. ‘We’re always having rows, particularly when the kids start moaning about what’s on their plate.’

• Text B – Gerry• Mealtimes were very formal

occasions, and they provided my parents with the opportunity to interrogate me about everything I’d done that day.

Text A - Alan• Whilst the quality of the

kitchen table chat is not particularly high – a mixture of bad jokes, song lyrics and gossip – we are at least communicating, which is the main thing, so it doesn’t matter to me what the topic of conversation is.

Text B - GerryText B - Gerry

Cognitive functions

Compare, eliminate

Analyse, infer, compare

• talking about when he was a child vs. his own children – ‘were.. my parents

• = when and who don’t fit the question

• Interrogate – negative meaning, probably stressful = what doesn’t fit the question

Text C - AndrewText C - Andrew

Cognitive functions• Compare

• Analyse, infer, eliminate

• ‘We… the kids.. plate’ – who, where, when fits the question = he’s a father, present time, meals

• BUT

• ‘having rows… moaning’ – negative meanings, stressful / angry = what doesn’t fit the question

Text A - AlanText A - Alan

Cognitive functions• Compare

• Analyse, infer

• Deductive reasoning

• ‘We… kitchen table chat…’• Who, where, when fit question

• ‘..communicating…’ – positive meaning, ‘.. It doesn’t matter to me what the topic is..’ – it’s not important

• He probably doesn’t mind what they talk about = what fits the question

Process competenceProcess competence

Ability to use:

– Knowledge of social behaviours, concepts, language structures

– Affects – values, attitudes– Ability to express, interpret and deduce meanings– Skills – reading, writing, listening, speaking

(Breen and Candlin 1987)

So the teacher can…So the teacher can…

• Use ‘thinking aloud’ – talk through examples with the class, model strategies

• Use prompt questions vs. give the answer – guide students through tasks, help them notice own strengths/weaknesses

• Use activities that practice particular cognitive functions eg. comparing, categorizing, inferring

• Students write their own questions for texts – notice task rationale, question structure etc

• Make students aware of what’s being tested– Knowledge: grammar, vocabulary etc– Ability to: compare, match, deduce, infer, reinterpret information etc