Designing Tasks for Foreign Language Skills

elective courses

The course aims at familiarizing students with psycholinguistic processes of comprehension and production in speech and writing from the point of view of teaching English as a foreign language. These skills are regarded as strongly integrated mulimodal abilities adaptable to new technologies. Students develop the ability of designing various language tasks with focus on the development of the four language skills at different levels of language proficiency.

Classroom

The course is addressed to prospective teachers of English as a foreign language. It provides students with comprehensive background knowledge about the four language skills in English as a foreign language as well as their learning and teaching, integrated with principles of task design. We evaluate and modify some course book tasks and structure authentic materials into classroom tasks as well as look for strategies of promoting creativity and accuracy, dividing tasks into meaningful segments, providing feedback on task, enhancing learner motivation as well as cultural awareness, where applicable.

Course requirements: Participants are asked to study the reading assignments and take active part in the meetings, hand in four samples of their own tasks developed during the course and one sample of a course book task with its critical evaluation (written assignments to be sent by email during the course).

The course is for BA full-time students.

The course provides students with a comprehensive background on the nature of the four language skills, their learning and teaching in English as a foreign language, integrated with a system of principles of task design. Students participate in developing and systematizing key criteria for the evaluation and adjustment of various tasks (meaningfulness, relevance for language learning as communication, logical development, suitability for the addressee, clarity of instructions, etc.), and for converting authentic materials into classroom tasks. On the basis of these principles, students are able to design sample tasks for various age groups and levels of proficiency, and evaluate as well as modify the available course book tasks. We also investigate the potential of tasks to promote accuracy and creativity, curb anxiety, and enhance learner motivation and cultural awareness, and provide feedback information (where applicable).

The topics include:

1. Receptive skills as language input: focus on comprehension versus focus on language learning; language input and cultural input; designing relevant tasks;

2. Special difficulties in developing listening comprehension; grading the level of difficulty in intensive listening tasks; the use of transcript; listening materials as input for pronunciation practice; the role of extensive listening;the role of feedback;

3. The reading skill: focus on content, relevant background knowledge, discourse structure, and vocabulary in the reading process; the role of verbal and non-verbal context; designing relevant tasks; intensive and extensive reading in EFL; literature as a source of authentic materials;the role of feedback; new literacies, multimodality;

4. Output in language learning: focus on the productive skills; the nature and essential differences between speaking and writing; the role of planning, rehearsal and feedback; writing tasks in everyday communication vs. academic writing tasks;

5. Special difficulties in developing the speaking skill; grading the level of difficulty in speaking tasks; tasks for practicing conversational interaction; strategies for keeping anxiety at bay; assertiveness training;

6. Formal and informal writing tasks; freedom and control in writing tasks; process writing; communicative writing tasks; graded written tasks and the role of feedback, the significance of editing in developing accuracy.

Participants study reading assignments and take active part in classes; they present their samples during classes, at least one for each skill; students hand in four samples of their own tasks developed and discussed during the course and one sample of a textbook task with its critical evaluation and classroom feedback, where possible (5 written assignments to be sent by mail during the course).

The course is for BA full-time students.

Celce-Murcia, M., and E. Olshtain, 2000. Discourse and Context in Language Teaching. A Guide for Language Teachers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Part 3.

Dakowska, M., 2005. Teaching English as a Foreign Language. A Guide for Professionals. Warszawa: PWN, Part 6.

Dakowska, M., 2015. In Search of Processes of Foreign Language Use in Foreign Language Didactics. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Part 5.

Grabe, W., and F. L. Stoller, 2002. Teaching and Researching Reading. London: Longman. Hughes, R., 2005. Teaching and Researching Speaking. London: Longman.

Hyland, K., 2002. Teaching and Researching Writing. London: Longman.

Kormos, J., 2006. Speech Production and Second Language Acquisition. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kroll, B., 2003. Exploring the Dynamics of Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lionteas, J.I., 2018. The TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Teaching. Chichester: Wiley and Blackwell.

Rost, M., 2003. Teaching and Researching Listening. London: Longman.

Examples of tasks from EFL course books and other sources.

Students become acquainted with the psycholinguistic processes of comprehension and production in speech and writing, they understand the specific needs of foreign language learners in the development of these skills, they are familiar with, and are able to apply, the principles of task design aimed at the development of the four language skills, and they can evaluate ready - textbook - tasks critically.

Education at language level B2+.

In class discussions students acquire skills of expressing their thoughts in a clear, coherent, logical and precise manner, with the use of language which is correct grammatically, lexically and phonetically.

Students are expected to attend classes, prepare the reading assignments, take part in class discussions, prepare - in class and at home - sample language tasks, which are presented and evaluated. The final grade is based on these components.

Three absences are allowed.

Re-take credit - another oral presentation of tasks and writing again the work(s) for which the student has received an unsatisfactory grade.

Students doing the Teaching Path program are expected to have a teaching practicum at school.