(Optional) Additional material for adapting activities
A more careful look at the language textbooks of the language taught can make you realise that they often include task-like activities or activities that can be changed to easily become task-like for their TBLT lessons.
Let’s see some more indicative short examples:
1. Many textbooks include a suitable list of warm-ups questions but tell learners only to answer the questions. The instructor can easily create a mini task-cycle by adding a suitable goal (e.g., ask and answer in pairs and note how many answers are the same), and add a report stage.
2. Many textbooks include comprehension questions to be answered by the learners after a listening or a reading passage. This can easily become a task if, for example, learners close their books and list the answers they remember; alternatively, they could list three extra facts not mentioned in the questions/ answers accompanying a listening passage.
3. In a row of grammar exercises, the instructor can simply save such grammar-focus activities until after the communicative task is one practical step in the direction of implementing TBLT. If task instructions are accompanied by example dialogues or long lists of useful language that appear to actively discourage learners from experimenting with any other language, the teacher might want to ask the learners to practice with books closed or with providing different instructions to the learners. After the task has been completed, the lists can be checked and compared with other ways learners may have found to express similar meanings. The instructor can ask learners to repeat the task, or perform a similar one, so learners can experiment with new phrases.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
- Hobbs, J. (2011). Practical steps towards task-based teaching. In A. Stewart (Ed.), JALT2010 Conference Proceedings. Tokyo: JALT. Retrieved March 24, 2021 from: https://jalt-publications.org/files/pdf-article/jalt2010proc-46.pdf
- Ellis, R. (2003). Task based language learning and teaching. London: Oxford University Press. Retrieved March 24, 2021 from: https://books.google.com.cy/books?hl=en&lr=&id=coO0bxnBeRgC&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&ots=sXu607pFw1&sig=I_ILX_PH2EE6HII5kcUvzcpXQ0Q&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false