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TAKING IT TO TASK ThenewsletteroftheJALTtask-basedlanguageteachingSIG.Volume3Issue1–November2018
CONTENTS
Pg.2.Editorial/Announcement
Pg.3.Article:AnEvidence-BasedApproachtoL2TaskDesignbyShokoSasayama(UniversityofTokyo)
Pg.16.LessonPlan:AMarketResearchSurveyProjectbyNicholasMarx(KanazawaSeiryoUniversity)
Pg.23.LessonPlan:Storytelling:TappingStudentImaginationbySimonRowe(KwanseiGakuinUniversity)
SIG INFORMATION
Coordinator: JustinHarris
Treasurer: KymJolley
ProgramChair: PaulLeeming
PublicationsChair: KurtisMcDonald
MembershipChair: JohnThurman
Webmaster: AericWong
PRChair: NicholasMarx
MembersatLarge: BrentCotsworth,MarkDonnellan
Forpublicationsandconferencequeries,contactusat<[email protected]>.Foreverythingelse,contactusat<[email protected]>.
www.tblsig.org
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EDITORIAL
WelcometoourfirstissueofthethirdvolumeofTakingittoTask!In2016,wedecidedtochangeourregularpublicationtoadigitalnewsletterformatwiththehopesofbeingabletoacceptagreatervarietyofsubmissions.ThisissueisalsobeingprintedasaspecialeditionfortheJALT2018nationalconference.Beyondfull-lengtharticlesandpracticallessonplans,wealsoencouragethesubmissionofopinion/thinkpieces,bookreviews,andanyTBLT-relatednews.Inthisissue,wearepleasedtoincludeanarticlefromShokoSasayama(UniversityofTokyo)andlessonplansfromNicholasMarx(KanazawaSeiryoUniversity)andSimonRowe(KwanseiGakuinUniversity).
In the article, Shoko Sasayama begins by outlining three principles of effective task design that havebeengleanedfromtheaccumulatedresearchinthisareaandfollowsthroughadetailedexampleoftheimplementationoftheseprinciplesinanEnglishcoursetaughtbytheauthor.
Inthefirstlessonplan,NicholasMarxoutlinesamulti-lessonsurveyprojectthattasksgroupsoflearnerswith developing their ownmarket research surveys and collecting data from one another as well asotherstudentsoncampus.Theprojectculminateswithslideshowpresentationsinwhichtheresultsareshared and discussedwith accompanying charts and graphs. In the second lesson plan, Simon Roweintroduces a series of adaptable writing tasks to encourage students to draw on their personalexperiences, imagination, and creativity as they try their hand at storytelling in English. Building onstudents’ knowledgeofpopular folktalesandmoviesandexpanding theirknowledgeof commonplottypesandthemes,thislessonplanissuretobringasparktoanywritingworkshoporintensivewritingprogram.
We hope that you enjoy reading this issue, and if you have a TBLT-related article, lesson plan, bookreview,oropinion/thinkpiecethatyouwouldliketosubmitforconsiderationinafutureissueofTakingittoTask,pleasecontactusat<[email protected]>.
KurtisMcDonald,PublicationsChair
ANNOUNCEMENT
The8thInternationalConferenceonTask-BasedLanguageTeaching
The8thInternationalConferenceonTBLTwillbeheldatCarletonUniversityinOttawa,Canadafrom
August19-21,2019.ThisinternationalconferenceonTBLTtakesplacebiennially(onoppositeyearsto
theTBLSIG“TBLTinAsia”conference).Pastconferenceshavealwaysbeenintellectuallystimulating
withplenariesbyprominentscholarsinthefield,andpresentationsandhands-onworkshopsonvarious
cutting-edgeresearchandpractices.Ittargetsnotonlyresearchers,butalsopractitioners.Thethemeof
theconferenceis“TBLT:Insight,Instruction,Outcomes.”Formoreinformation,pleasechecktheir
websiteat<http://www.iatblt.org/conferences>.AcallforpapersisopenuntilDecember1st,2018.
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ARTICLE
AnEvidence-BasedApproachtoL2TaskDesign
ShokoSasayama–UniversityofTokyo
INTRODUCTION
Taskdesignisanintegralpartofsecondlanguage(L2)pedagogicalpractice,andthus,inL2researchmuchattentionhasbeendevotedtothisverytopic.ThemajorityofresearchonL2taskdesignhasbeenconductedfromcognitiveperspectives.Indeed,intheirmeta-analysis,Sasayama,Norris,andMalicka(2018)found240experimentalstudiesthatinvestigatedtheroleofL2taskdesigninrelationwithcognition(inadditiontomanyothernon-experimentalpublicationsonthistopic).Inthisdomainofresearch,therefore,enoughempiricalevidenceexiststotakeanevidence-basedapproachtoL2taskdesignandimprovetheeffectivenessofthetasksthatareofinterestforlanguageteachingandlearning.ThepurposeofthispaperistosummarizeafewprinciplesofeffectivetaskdesignbasedontheaccumulatedresearchevidenceandtoconsiderhowtheseprinciplescanbeappliedtotheactualdesigningofL2pedagogictasks.
PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TASK DESIGN
InthedomainofL2taskdesign,researchershaveparticularlybeeninterestedinthenotionof“cognitivecomplexity”or“cognitiveload”ofatask,definedastotalamountandtypesofmentaleffortrequiredforperformingatask(Sweller,1988).TheyhavegenerallyfocusedonhowcognitiveloadmightinfluenceL2learners’languageproduction,interaction,andpotentiallyacquisition.Researchthusfarhasrevealedthefollowingthreeprinciplesoftaskdesigninrelationtocognitiveload.
Principle1:AnL2task’scognitiveloadcanbemanipulatedbychanginginherentdesigncharacteristics,implementationconditions,andlanguagedemands
AccordingtoRobinson(2001,2011)andSkehan(1998,2014),cognitiveloadofataskcanbemanipulatedby:(a)inherenttaskdesigncharacteristics,suchasthenumberofelementsinvolvedinataskandthedegreeofreasoningdemands;(b)implementationconditions,likeplanningtime,taskrepetition,andtheavailabilityofsupport;and(c)linguisticdemands,includinggrammaticalcomplexity,vocabularydifficulty/frequency,andsentenceortextlength.Ataskoforderingfood,forexample,becomesmoreattention-consumingwhenL2learnersarepresentedwithmoreoptionstochoosefrom,iftheyareaskedtoorderforadateandimpresshim/herwithalimitedbudget,iftheyarepressedfortime(i.e.,withnotimetoplan)becausepeopleareliningupbehindthem,orifthemenuinvolveslotsofunknownwords(likeinaFrenchrestaurant,perhaps…!).
HowabouttheeffectsofmanipulatingcognitiveloadonL2learners’taskperformances?Dowethenknowanythingaboutthem?AccordingtoMalickaandSasayama(2017),reportingontheirmeta-
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analysisstudy,simpleandcomplextaskswererevealedtohavedistincteffectsonL2learners’languageproductionintermsofsyntacticcomplexity,grammaticalaccuracy,lexicalvariety,andfluency.Availabilityofplanningtimepriortoorduringthetask(i.e.,asimplerversionofatask)wasshowntoimprovesyntacticcomplexityandaccuracyconsiderably.Repeatingthesametaskorthesametaskgenre(i.e.,asimpletaskontherepeatedoccasion)wasshowntohaveapositiveeffectonsyntacticcomplexity,grammaticalaccuracy,andfluency.Whensupportwasavailable(intheformsofapredeterminedstorylineforanarrativetaskoratranscriptforalisteningtask,forinstance;i.e.,simpletasks),itwasrevealedthatthetaskelicitedimprovedlexicalvarietyandfluency1.Complextasks,ontheotherhand,alsohadaroletoplay.Inparticular,complextaskswithincreasednumberofelementswereobservedtoleadtoimprovedlexicalvariety;andcomplextaskswhichrequiredlearnerstotellastorybasedonarememberedpictureset(asopposedtoapicturesetavailableinfrontofthem)wereshowntoimprovesyntacticcomplexity.Table1belowsummarizesthesegeneraltrends.
Table1SummaryofGeneralTrendsofFiveRepresentativeCognitiveLoadDesignVariablesinTermsofSyntacticComplexity,GrammaticalAccuracy,LexicalVariety,andFluency
Cognitiveloaddesignvariable
Syntacticcomplexity
Grammaticalaccuracy
Lexicalvariety Fluency
+Planningtime(Simpletask)
++ ++ − −
+Repetition(Simpletask)
+ + − +
+Support(Simpletask)
N/A N/A + +
+Elements(Complextask)
− − + −
There-and-Then(Complextask)
+ − − −
Notes.++indicatesalargeeffect(d>0.8);+indicatesamoderateeffect(0.3<d<0.8);−indicatesasmalltonoeffect(d<0.3);N/Aindicatesthatnostudieshaveinvestigatedthespecifiedvariable.
Theirmeta-analysis(Norris,Sasayama,&Malicka,2018;Sasayamaetal.,2018)hasalsorevealedthatasimpletask(e.g.,readingapassageaboutafamiliartopic)improvedL2learners’taskperformanceintermsofcomprehensionandthatacomplextask(e.g.,withincreasednumberofelements)ledtomoreinteractionamongL2learners.
Principle2:Whendesigningtasks,payattentionnotonlytothelevelofcognitiveloadbutalsotoitstype
1Notethatnostudieswerefoundwhichexaminedtheeffectofsupportonsyntacticcomplexityandaccuracy.
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WhendesigningL2tasks,thelevelofcognitiveloadisnottheonlyaspectofataskthatrequiresconsideration.Differenttypesofcognitiveloadaretheorizedtoposedifferingeffectsonthetask-doers’attentionallocationandinturntheirtaskperformanceandlearning.Inthefieldofcognitivepsychology,ithasbeensuggestedthatcognitiveloadofataskcancomeindifferenttypes,includinggermaneandextraneouscognitiveload(Sweller,1988,1994,2010).Germaneloadisagoodtypeofcomplexitythatdirectslearners’attentiontotheirengagementinandlearningfromthetaskathand.ThistypeofloadthusencouragesL2learnerstopushthelimitsoftheirinterlanguageresourcesandfocusonimprovedperformanceandpotentiallyonlearning(Sasayama&Norris,inpress).Extraneousload,ontheotherhand,isabadtypeofcomplexitythatdistractslearnersfromengagingfullyinthegiventask,andthusdoesnotaidtheminimprovingtheirperformanceoracquiringnewlanguage.Thus,acomplextaskwithhighgermaneloadleadstobetterperformanceandlearning,whereasacomplextaskwithhighextraneousloadimpairsperformance/learning.
Morepractically,germaneloadcanbeheightened,forexample,byincreasingthenumberofsimilarcharactersinvolvedinapicture-basednarrativetask.ThismanipulationoftaskdesignistheorizedtopushL2learnerstodistinguishlinguisticallybetweensimilarcharacters,andthusdrawtheirattentiontotheuseofthelanguage(e.g.,relativeclauses,adjectives,prepositionalphrases)(Robinson,2005).Anotherexampleofmanipulatinggermaneloadisbydecreasingthetimetotellthesamepersonalstorytodifferentlisteners.Thistaskdesignencourageslearnerstopayattentiontofluencyandhowtheydelivertheirstory(e.g.,Nation,1989).Thelevelofgermaneloadcouldalsobealteredthroughtaskinstructions:Byincludingassessmentcriteriainthetaskinstructions,Sasayama(2015;Sasayama&Norris,inpress)hasshownthatL2learnersofEnglish(especiallyofhigherproficiency)wereinclinedtopayattentiontotheassessmentcriteria(i.e.,completeness,effectiveness,andcreativityoftheirnarrativestories)inanefforttoimprovetheirtaskperformances.
Extraneousload,ontheotherhand,maybeincreased,forexample,whenthestorylineofapicture-basednarrativetaskisunclear(Sasayama,2015;Sasayama&Norris,inpress;Tavakoli,2009).Whenengaginginsuchatask,L2learnersarerequiredtousetheirlimitedattentionalresourcestofigureoutthestorylineratherthantothinkabouthowtousethelanguagetodelivertheirstoryeffectively.Givingaspeechspontaneously,withoutmuchpreparationandpractice,canalsoincreaseextraneousloadandmaydistractL2leanersfrompayingattentiontoimprovedperformance(Skehan,1998).Anothertaskdesignelementthatcouldincreaseextraneousloadisasurpriseelementintroducedtoatask,forinstance,byprovidingnewinformationinthemiddleofataskorhavinglearnerstoansweranunanticipatedquestionduringaquestion-and-answer(Q&A)sessionafterapresentation(Skehan,1998;Skehan&Foster,1997).Theeffectofthistaskdesignissimilartotheno-planningcondition;thesurpriseelementdoesnotallowL2learnerstoplanaheadoftimeandthusrequiresthemtousetheirattentionalresourcestothinkwhattosayandhowtosayitsimultaneously.
Principle3:Manipulategermaneandextraneouscognitiveloadstrategically
Aswesawabove,whendesigningtasks,itisimportanttokeepinmindthatataskcanbecomplexindifferentways—whethergermanetothetaskorextraneous—andthatgermaneandextraneousload
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hascontrastingeffectsonL2learners’taskperformanceandlearning.Highgermaneloadleadstobetterperformanceandlearningbydrawinglearners’attentiontotheiruseofthelanguage,whereashighextraneousloadrequireslearnerstopayattentiontonon-linguisticaspectsofataskandthusdistractsthemfromusingtheirlinguisticresourcestothefullestextentduringtaskperformance.IfthepointofthetaskistodrawL2learners’attentiontotheiruseofthelanguageandencouragetheirlanguagedevelopment,thenextraneousloadmayonlyservetofocuslearnerson‘gettingby’ratherthanonstretchingtheirinterlanguageresourcesandimprovetheirperformance.Thus,acombinationofreducedextraneousloadandincreasedgermaneloadisarguedtoleadtoeffectivetaskdesign(Sasayama&Norris,inpress;Sweller,2010).
Doesextraneousloadthenhavenoroletoplayindesigningeffectivetasks?Thekeyhereistoconsiderwhatthepurposeofataskmaybe(Norrisetal.,2018).Inthisdomainofresearch,alargenumberofstudieshasinvestigatedtheeffectofcognitiveloadonlinguisticperformanceanddevelopment;however,studiesthatlookintosucheffectsonthecontentofL2learners’performanceandtheirlearningoftaskproceduresarelacking.Whileextraneousloadmaybesomethingtoavoidifallweareinterestedinisimprovedlinguisticperformance,itmayalsobealegitimatedemandofreal-world,targettasks.Inotherwords,real-worldtasksaretypicallyfullofextraneousload,andifthepointofthetaskistohelpL2learnerslearnhowtodealwithreal-worldtasksintheirL2,thenitmightwellbeagoodideatointroduce,ratherthanavoid,extraneousloadtoataskathand.Forinstance,itmaynotbeagoodideatogetridofunanticipatedquestionsfromapost-presentationQ&Abecausethistypeofquestionistherealitythatourlearnerslikelyfaceintherealworld.Instead,itmightmakemoresensetoteachthemhowtodealwithunanticipatedquestions,byhelpingthemacquirestrategiestocomprehendquestions,avoidgivingdirectanswers,andanticipatequestions.Thus,a“good”taskdesigndependsonthepurposeofataskathand,andforthisreason,itisimportanttomanipulategermaneloadandextraneousloadstrategicallytofulfilltheintendedpurpose.
DESIGNING L2 TASKS: AN EXAMPLE
Howcanthethreeprinciplesaboveactuallybeappliedtoclassroompractice?Inthissection,IwillsharemyownexperiencesoftheactualimplementationoftheprinciplesinL2taskdesign.Below,IwillsetupacontextbyintroducinganEnglishcourseIwasteachingandthesortsofproblemsmystudentswerefacing,andthensharethethreesetsoftasksIdesignedtohelpmystudentsovercomethoseproblems.
Thecourse
Mystudentswerefirst-year,businessmajorsataprivateuniversityinJapan.Theirproficiencylevelswereintermediatetoupper-intermediate(witharangeofaround400-600onTOEICscores).ThecourseIwasteachingwasayear-longcoursewithafocusonspeakingskills.Giventheirmajor,Idecidedtoofferatask-basedbusinessEnglishcoursewherewesimulatedworkingatacompanywhosecorporatelanguagewasEnglish.Inanutshell,inthiscourse,studentsinventedtheirownproductsandengagedinavarietyofbusiness-relatedtasks.TheclasswastaughtentirelyinEnglish,andthestudentsengagedinallclassactivitiesinEnglish(totheextentpossible).Theclasssizewas32.ManyofthestudentsfelttheneedtobeabletospeakEnglishattheirfutureworkplacesand/orunderstoodthevalueofit.
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Inthefirstsemester,theywererandomlydividedintogroupsoffour(sotheclasshadeightgroupsoffour).Asagrouptheyengagedinawiderangeofbusiness-relatedtasks,includingwritingemails,readingaboutrealinventions,andlearningaboutWidget’s(Benevides&Valvona,2008)products.Asamaintask,eachgroupcameupwiththeirownproductideasandpolishedtheirideasbydesigningacustomersurveyandcollectingresponsesfromtheirhypotheticalcustomers.Theirideasincludedsuchcreativeproductsasa“PenTV”thatcomeswithaprojectorandletsyouwatchTVonalargescreenanywhere,“AutomaticCarryCase,”ahands-freecarry-onthatfollowsyou,anda“Sensorin”thatdetectstheshapeofvegetablesandfruitsbyasensorandcutsthemautomatically.Asafinaltask,theygaveagrouppresentationabouttheirowninvention.Attheveryendofthesemesterthen,theclassvotedtochoosethebestfourproductsoutoftheeight.
Inthesecondsemester,thestudentsworkedfurtheronthechosenfourbestproductideasfromtheprevioussemester.Thestudentswhoseproductwaschosenasoneofthefouractedasexpertsandwelcomednewmemberstotheirteam.Basically,theoriginalgroupseparatedintotwoteams,andtwonewmembersjoinedeachteam.So,inthesecondsemester,twogroupswereworkingonexactlythesameproductidea(whichwasanimportantelementoftaskdesignaswewillseelateron).Thestudentsimprovedandelaboratedontheoriginalproductideas,consideredavarietyofwaystomaketheirproductsbetter,andcreatedposterstoadvertisetheirproducts.Asafinaltask,eachgroupgaveapresentationabouttheirfinalizedproductidea,incorporatingwhattheyhadlearnedthroughouttheyear.Ofthevarietyoftaskscompletedbythestudents,inthispaper,Iwillparticularlyfocusonthegrouppresentationsthatthestudentsengagedinattheendofeachsemester.
Theproblems
Whenmystudentsgavegrouppresentationsinthefirstsemester,theirpresentationspersewerequitehighinquality.However,theystruggledtoagreatdealwiththeQ&Asessionthatfollowedtheirpresentations.Thechallengesforthemseemedtoinclude:(a)TheywerenotatallusedtodoingQ&A(eitherinEnglishorJapanese)onthespot,(b)theycouldnotunderstandthequestions,(c)theyhadnotanticipatedthequestions,andsotheydidnotknowwhattosay,and/or(d)theyknewwhattheywantedtosay,butdidnotknowhowtosayit.Withthesechallengesinmind,Idesignedaseriesoftaskstouseinthesecondsemester,priortotheirsecondgrouppresentations.
Tasks
Below,IwilloutlinethethreesetsoftasksIdesignedtohelpmystudentsimprovetheirQ&Aperformances.Here,Iwilldescribethepurposeofeachsetoftasks,theirdetails,andthetheoreticalbackgrounds(i.e.,thetaskdesignprinciples)onwhichIbasedmytaskdesign.
Task1
ThepurposeofthefirstsetoftaskswastohelpmystudentsimprovetheirabilitytocomprehendthetypesofquestionsthatmightbetypicalofaQ&Asessionfollowingabusinesspresentation.Tothisend,Imadealistofquestions,usingquestionsthatmymoreadvancedstudentshadaskedabouttheir
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classmates’inventionstheyearbefore(seeFigure1below).Thequestionsweresequencedintheorderofcomplexity/cognitiveload,andtheyweremanipulatedbylinguisticdemands,includingthesentencelength,wordchoice,andcontextofthequestions(Skehan,1998).Westartedwithlesscomplexsentencesfirst,sothatthestudentswouldnotbecognitivelyoverwhelmedandwouldgetusedtothetasktypeandproceduresgraduallybeforetheyworkedwithmorecomplexsentences(Robinson,2001).
1. Howbigisyourproduct?2. Howheavyisyourproduct?3. Howmanycolorsdoesyourproductcomein?4. Isyourproductwaterproof?5. Doesitcomewithawarranty?6. Howlongdoesittaketochargethebattery?7. What’sthepowersource?8. Howisyourproductdifferentfromothersimilarproductsthatalreadyexist?9. Youmighthavementioneditinyourpresentation,buthowmuchisyourproductagain?10. Inyourpresentation,youmentionedthatyouaregoingtousePikotarotopromoteyour
product.Couldyoutelluswhy?Figure1.AlistofQ&Aquestionsintheorderofcomplexitywiththefirstonebeingleastcomplex.
Inaddition,Icreatedanadvancedorganizertohelpmystudentscomprehendthequestions(seeFigure2).Thisadvancedorganizerwasconsideredtobeatypeofsupport,whichhelpsreducecognitiveloadofatask.Followingthemeta-analysisfindings(Norrisetal.,2018;Sasayamaetal.,2018),byreducingcognitiveloadofthelisteningtask,itwashypothesizedthatitwouldimprovestudents’comprehensionofthequestions.Inthistask,theadvancedorganizerwasintendedtohelpstudentslearnwhattofocusonwhilelisteningtothequestions,whichpotentiallyhelpstoreducetheextraneousloadofdealingwiththetargettask(i.e.,understandingthequestionsaskedinEnglish).Aswewillseelateron,inTask3,thestudentswererequiredtolistentoandcomprehendquestionswithoutthisadvancedorganizer.Thus,itwasimportanttointroducethistaskdesignelementofsupportandreducecognitiveloadofthetaskinitially,sothatthestudentscouldpayattentiontolisteningstrategiesandlearnwhattheyshouldfocusonduringtheQ&Aatthispoint.
Whatisthemainquestionword(orwords)? Whatisthemaincontentword(orwords)?1 2 3 4 5 Figure2.Advancedorganizertoaidstudentswiththeirlisteningcomprehension.
Inclass,Ireadaloudthelistofquestionsandaskedmystudentstofillouttheadvancedorganizer.Wedidthefirstquestiontogethertomakesurethateveryoneunderstoodthetaskinstructions.Then,thestudentsworkedontheirownonthenextfourquestions,andwecheckedtheanswersofthesequestions.Subsequently,wediscussedavarietyofstrategiestousewhentheycouldnotcatchthequestionrightaway.Ideasincluded:(a)requestingarepetitionand(b)checkingtheirunderstandingof
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thequestionasked.Phrasessuchas“Couldyourepeatthequestion?”,“Canyousaythatagain?”,and“Onemoretimeplease?”wereelicitedfromthestudentsasastrategytoaskforarepetitionofthequestion.Ontheotherhand,theyexpressedthattheymightbeabletousephraseslike“So,youmean…?”,“You’reasking…Isthatright?”,and“LetmeseeifIunderstandthequestion”whentheywantedtocheckwhethertheyunderstoodthequestioncorrectly.Ithenreadfivemorequestionsaloudfromthemorecomplexsetofthequestions(Questions5through10inFigure1).Theywereinstructedtodothesameasthefirstsetofquestions,buttheywerealsoencouragedtoaskforarepetitionand/orconfirmtheirunderstandingwhennecessary.Itwasinterestingtoobservemystudentsusingthenewlylearnedphrasessoreadilyandquitewillingly.Aswecheckedanswers,Imadesurethatthestudentsunderstoodthemeaningofthequestions,byaskingthemtodefinewordsthatIthoughtwouldbedifficultforthem(e.g.,warranty,powersource)andbyallowingthemtochatwitheachotheraboutthemeaningofeachquestion(especiallyQuestion10).
Task2
Thenextstephadtodowithbeingabletoactuallyanswerthequestionsthattheycomprehendedcorrectly.Thus,thepurposesofthesecondsetoftasksweretohelpstudentsdeveloptheirabilitytodelivergoodanswersduringtheQ&Asessionand,inparticular,directtheirattentiontosyntacticcomplexityandaccuracyoftheirresponses.Tothisend,Iaskedmystudentstowritedowntheiranswerstothequestionsabouttheproductthattheyinvented,someofwhichweretheonestheyhadjustheardandotherswerenew(seeFigure3forthelistofquestions).
1. Isyourproductsafe?2. Howbigisyourproduct?3. Howheavyisyourproduct?4. Howmanycolorsdoesyourproductcomein?5. Isyourproductwaterproof?6. Isyourproductshockproof?7. What’sthepowersource?8. Doesitcomewithawarranty?9. Howlongdoesittaketochargethebattery?10. Youmighthavementioneditinyourpresentation,buthowmuchisyourproductagain?11. Howdoyouplantopromoteyourproduct?12. Howisyourproductdifferentfromothersimilarproductsthatalreadyexist?13. Howcanyouselltheproductatsuchareasonableprice?14. Whatwouldyousayifyouhadtogiveonechallengeofactuallydevelopingyourproduct?
Figure3.AlistofQ&AquestionsusedinTask2.
WhenchoosingquestionstobeincludedinTask2,Imadesurethatthequestionsaskedwererelevanttoallgroups.(Forexample,Ididnotincludequestionslike“Isittasty?”or“Howmanyflavorsdoesithave?”becausenoteveryonewasinventingafoodproduct.)Thestudentsweregivenplentyoftimetoplantheirresponsestothosequestionspriortoandduringtheirwriting.Thisavailabilityofplanningtimewasincorporatedinthetaskdesignherebecauseplanningtimewasshowntobeaneffective
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designfeaturetodirectL2learners’attentiontosyntacticcomplexityandaccuracyoftheirlanguageproduction(Malicka&Sasayama,2017),whichwaswhatTask2wasbeingdesignedtodo.
Additionally,thestudentsweregiventhefollowingtaskinstructions:
Theinstructionstocheckthelinguisticaspectsoftheirresponses(i.e.,theunderlinedpartoftheinstructionsabove)weremeanttoencourageextraattentiontobepaidtoaccuracyoftheirlanguageproduction.Thetips(i.e.,what’sboldedabove),ontheotherhand,wereintendedtoattractthestudents’attentiontosyntacticcomplexity(seeSasayama&Norris,inpress,forthepoweroftaskinstructions).Onthewhole,planningtimereducedthecomplexityofthetaskand,togetherwiththeextrataskinstructions,itwasdesignedtohelpstudentsdevelopandexpandtheirinterlanguage,sothattheywouldhavesomethingappropriateandconvincingtosayinEnglish.
Asseenintheabovetaskinstructions,thestudentsworkedonthe14questionsindividuallyandthenexchangedtheiranswerswiththeirgroupmembers.Thisprocessallowedthemtothinkmorecarefullyabouttheirproductandcometoaconsensusaboutdetailsoftheirproduct.Thestudentswerethenaskedtopracticeaskingandansweringthequestionswithapartnerfromadifferentteam.Lastly,inpreparationforthenexttask,wereviewedstrategiestousewhentheycouldnotunderstandthequestionanddiscussedstrategiestouseiftheydidnotknowtheanswertothequestionasked.Giventhattheywereonlyfirst-yearuniversitystudentsandnoneofthemhadworkedforacompanyevenasanintern,thisdiscussionprovedtobequitedifficultforthem.Aftersomenegotiation,bothinEnglishandinJapanese,theysuggestedthattheymightbeabletosaysomethinglike“Letmediscussitwithmycolleaguesandgetbacktoyoulater.”Asalternatives,Isuggestedthefollowingphrases:“Sorry,wecannotdisclosethatinformation”,“Sorry,it’sacompany’ssecret”,“Wehadn’tthoughtofthat.We’lldefinitelythinkaboutthat.Thankyouforthesuggestion.”Itwasinterestingtoobservethestudentsbeingveryengagedinthisdiscussionandtakingnoteswithoutbeinginstructedtodoso.Ithenpointedoutthatitisnoteffectivetousethisstrategyallthetime,andsotoldthemthattheycoulduseitonlyonceduringtheirfinalpresentation.Overall,Task2wasdesignedtoreduceextraneousloadbyprovidingplanningtimeandincreasegermaneloadbygivingtheextrataskinstructions.
Answerthefollowingquestionsaboutyourproduct.Workonyourownfirst,thenIwillletyoushareyourideaswithyourgroupmembers.Onceyou’refinished,makesuretocheckyourgrammarandwordchoice.
Tips:Avoidjustsayingyesorno,eventoayes-noquestion!Makesureyouaddasentencetoelaborate.
Example1)Isyourvegetablecutterreallysafetouse?
–Yes,itactuallyhasasensortodetecthumanmotion,soitdoesnotworkwhenyourfingerisinit.
Example2)DoesyourTVcomewithawarranty?
–No,I’mafraidnot.Butyoucanbuyathree-yearwarrantyfor5000yen.
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Task3
Asafinalsetoftasks,IwantedtogivethestudentstheopportunitytobenefitfromactuallyansweringquestionsinasimulatedQ&Asession,whileencouragingthemtodevelopthefluencyoftheirresponses.Withthispurposeinmind,Ihadmystudentsgiveaone-minutepitchabouttheirproductandengageinasimulatedQ&Asession.Aspreparation,Ihadthestudentspairupwithamemberoftheotherteamthatwasworkingonthesameoriginalproductidea(seethecourseabove).Theywereinstructedtogiveaone-minutepitchabouttheirproductideatotheirpartnerusingthepostertheycreatedearlierinthesemester(seeFigure4forastudent’ssamplework).
Figure4.Asampleofonestudent’sposter.
Asalistener,theirjobwastospyontheotherteam’simprovementsfromtheoriginalideaandthustofindoutasmuchaspossibleaboutwhattheircompetitor’simprovedproductwaslike.Theywerealsoinstructedtoaskquestionsaftertheirpartner’sone-minutepitchtofindoutmoreabouttheproduct.Thisscenario-basedtaskwasintendedtocreateameaningful,authenticinformationgapandencourageinteractiontobringaboutL2acquisition(Long,1996;Pica,1994).Asanextrainstruction,ItoldthemthattheywouldhavetoaskatleastthreequestionstotheirpartnerandthatonecouldbefromthelistofthequestionsfromTask2,buttheothertwohadtobenew.Thispotentiallyextraneousloadwasintroducedtomakethetaskmorerealisticandclosertowhattheywouldexperienceintheirfinalpresentation(andintherealworld).
Thestudentsdidthistaskcyclethreetimeswithdifferentpartnersfromthesamecompetitorgroup.Thistaskrepetitionreducedextraneousloadofhavingtodealwithgivingaone-minutepitchabouttheirproductideaandaskingandansweringnewquestions,andthusfreedupsomeattentionalresourcesto
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bedevotedtolinguisticaspectsoftheirutterancesandhelpedthemfocusonfluency(Malicka&Sasayama,2017).AttheveryendofTask3,eachgroupgatheredtogethertosharetheinformationtheycollected,sharedthesortsofquestionstheywereasked,checkedtheiranswerstothenewquestions,andfinallyplannedhowtomaketheirproductbetterthananddistinctfromtheircompetitor’s.Forhomework,theywereencouragedtoanticipateotherquestionsthatmightcomeupaftertheirfinalpresentationandprepareanswerstotheseanticipatedquestions.
OBSERVATIONS OF THE STUDENTS’ Q&A PERFORMANCES
AFTER TRAINING
Beforeclosingthispaper,Iwouldliketosharesomeobservationsofmystudents’Q&Aperformancesaftertheyexperiencedtheabovementionedthreesetsoftasks.Overall,theirperformancesimprovedconsiderably.Itwasespeciallyimpressivetoseethattheywereabletoavoidsilencebyeitheraskingforrepetition/clarificationofthequestionsaskedorbyprovidinganswersrightaway.Thus,themoststrikingimprovementwastheirimprovedfluency.Thefollowingcommentfromastudentillustratesthisimprovement:
Inthelastsemester,Ididn’tprepareanything,soIcouldnotanswercompletely.Onthecontrary,Ipreparedsomeoftheknowledgeandanswersinthissemester,soIcouldanswersomequestionssmoothly.[sic]
Anotherbigimprovementwasnotedinlinguisticcomplexityorelaboration.Inthefirstsemester,mostofthestudentsansweredayes-noquestionwitheitherayesorano.Inthesecondsemester,however,manyofthemelaboratedontheiryes/noanswersomehow.Forexample,onestudentaskedwhether“Sensorin,”theautomaticvegetableandfruitcutter,wassafetouse.Inresponse,oneofthepresenterssaid“Yes,itissafeevenforchildren.”ThiselaborateduseofthelanguagewasnotsomethingIobservedinthefirstsemester,andIwasimpressedbythisquickimprovement.Lastly,itisinterestingtonotethattheseriesoftasksintroducedabovemadethetargettaskofansweringquestionsduringtheQ&Aeasiertohandle,atleastforsomestudents:
Q&AsessionisnotsodifficultbecauseitwaseasytoexpectwhatwillwebeaskedsoIthinkitwaseasierthanlastsemester.IfI’llhavesuchlikethisoccasionIwanttounderstandperfectlywhatIaskedonlyonce.[sic]
Allinall,throughtheexperienceofapplyingthetheoriesofL2taskdesigntomyownteaching,Istronglyfelttheimportanceandeffectivenessofengaginginevidence-basedL2taskdesign.
CONCLUSION
Inthispaper,IemphasizedtheimportanceofbeingmindfulofthelevelandtypeofcognitiveloadwhendesigningL2tasks.Researchsuggeststhatcognitiveloadcanbemanipulatedbychanginginherentdesigncharacteristics,implementationconditions,andlanguagedemands,andthatataskwithvaryingdegreesofcognitiveloadhasdifferenteffectsonL2learner’staskperformances.Furthermore,manipulationofcognitiveloadthroughtaskdesignhasbeenshowntobeaneffectivewaytoencourage
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L2learnerstopayattentiontovariousaspectsoftheirtaskperformances(e.g.,content,comprehension,syntacticcomplexity,accuracy,lexis,fluencyofproduction)andtheirinterlanguagedevelopmentasaresult.Itisalsoimportanttodistinguishbetweenagoodtype(i.e.,germaneload)andabadtypeofcognitiveload(i.e.,extraneousload),becausethesetwotypesofloadhavecontrastingeffectsonL2learners’taskperformance.Germaneloadencourageslearnerstopayattentiontolinguisticaspectsoftheirtaskperformanceandthuslikelyleadstoimprovedperformance/learning,whereasextraneousloaddistractslearnersfromattendingtothetaskathandandthustendstodeteriorateperformance/learning.Thus,ifthepointofthetaskistodrawL2leaners’attentiontotheiruseofthelanguageandencouragetheirlanguagedevelopment,thenextraneousloadmaybesomethingtobeavoided.However,extraneousloadmayalsopresentlegitimatedemandsofreal-world,targettasksthatcannotbeavoidedinreallife.Pedagogictaskdesign,therefore,shouldbeaboutbalancinggermaneandextraneousload,ratherthanincreasinggermaneloadandeliminatingextraneousloadcompletelyallthetime.Inconclusion,itisimportanttousegermaneloadstrategicallytohelplearnersdeveloptheirinterlanguageandcommunicationperformance,whilechallengingthemwithreal-worldextraneousloadsothattheywillalsobeabletoacquiretask-relevantproceduresanddealwithtargettasksinreallifebeyondtheshelteredclassroomenvironment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ThispaperisbasedonaworkshopgivenattheJALT2017conferenceaswellasaGrants-in-AidforScientificResearch(KAKEN)project(ProjectCode:17K13495)fundedbytheJapanSocietyforthePromotionofScience(JSPS).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ShokoSasayama,PhD, isProjectAssistantProfessorat theUniversityofTokyo.Heracademic interestsinclude languagepedagogy (especially taskdesign), cognitivepsychology, L2assessment, andattitudesand individual differences. Shoko is a strong advocate for the use of L2 research for the purpose ofinformingpractice/teachingandforthebettermentofL2educationworldwide.
REFERENCES
Benevides,M.,&Valvona,C.(2008).Widgets:Atask-basedcourseinpracticalEnglish.HongKong:PearsonLongman.
Long,M.H.(1996).Theroleoflinguisticenvironmentinsecondlanguageacquisition.InW.Ritchie&T.K.Bhatia(Eds.),Handbookofsecondlanguageacquisition(pp.413–468).SanDiego,CA:AcademicPress.
Malicka,A.,&Sasayama,S.(April,2017).Theimportanceoflearningfromtheaccumulatedknowledge:Findingsfromaresearchsynthesisontaskcomplexity.Paperpresentedatthe7thBiennialInternationalConferenceonTask-BasedLanguageTeaching,Barcelona,Spain.
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Nation,I.S.P.(1989).Improvingspeakingfluency.System,17,377–384.
Norris,J.M.,Sasayama,S.,&Malicka,A.(May,2018).Meta-analysisoftaskcomplexityeffectsonL2performance:Implicationsforassessment.Paperpresentedatthe15thEuropeanAssociationforLanguageTestingandAssessmentconference,Bochum,Germany.
Pica,T.(1994).Researchonnegotiation:Whatdoesitrevealaboutsecond-languagelearningconditions,processes,andoutcomes?LanguageLearning,44,493–527.
Robinson,P.(2001).Taskcomplexity,cognitiveresources,andsyllabusdesign:AtriadicframeworkforexaminingtaskinfluencesonSLA.InP.Robinson(Ed.),Cognitionandsecondlanguageinstruction(pp.287–318).Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress.
Robinson,P.(Ed.).(2011).Secondlanguagetaskcomplexity:ResearchingtheCognitionHypothesisoflanguagelearningandperformance.Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.
Robinson,P.(2005).Cognitivecomplexityandtasksequencing:Areviewstudiesinacomponentialframeworkforsecondlanguagetaskdesign.InternationalReviewofAppliedLinguisticsinLanguageTeaching,43,1–33.
Sasayama,S.(2015).Validatingtheassumedrelationshipbetweentaskdesign,cognitivecomplexity,andsecondlanguagetaskperformance(Doctoraldissertation).RetrievedfromProQuest.
Sasayama,S.,&Norris,J.M.(inpress).Unravellingcognitivetaskcomplexity:Learningfromlearners’perspectivesontaskcharacteristicsandsecondlanguageperformance.InZ.Wen&M.Ahmadian(Eds.),ResearchingL2taskperformanceandpedagogyinHonorofPeterSkehan.Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.
Sasayama,S.,Norris,J.M.,&Malicka,A.(June,2018).Whatdowereallyknowaboutcognitivetaskcomplexity?PaperpresentedattheTBLTinAsia2018conference,Kyoto,Japan.
Skehan,P.(1998).Acognitiveapproachtolanguagelearning.Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress.
Skehan,P.(2014).Limitedattentionalcapacity,secondlanguageperformance,andtask-basedpedagogy.InP.Skehan(Ed.),Processingperspectivesontaskperformance(pp.211–260).Amsterdam:JohnBenjamins.
Skehan,P.,&Foster,P.(1997).Tasktypeandtaskprocessingconditionsasinfluencesonforeignlanguageperformance.LanguageTeachingResearch,1,185–211.
Sweller,J.(1988).Cognitiveloadduringproblemsolving:Effectsonlearning.CognitiveScience,12,257–285.
Sweller,J.(1994).Cognitiveloadtheory,learningdifficulty,andinstructionaldesign.LearningandInstruction,4,295–312.
Sweller,J.(2010).Elementinteractivityandintrinsic,extraneous,andgermanecognitiveload.EducationalPsychologyReview,22,123–138.
Tavakoli,P.(2009).Investigatingtaskdifficulty:Learners’andteachers’perceptions.
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InternationalJournalofAppliedLinguistics,19,1–25.
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LESSON PLANS
AMarketResearchSurveyProjectNicholasMarx-KanazawaSeiryoUniversity
Thisisamulti-lesson,task-basedsurveyprojectaimedatpost-secondaryintermediatelearnersthatalsocouldbeadaptedforlowerorhigherproficiencylevels.Theprojectultimatelyleadstothedevelopmentofsimplemarketresearchsurveysandgroup presentationstoexplaintheresultsusingPowerPointslideshowswithaccompanyingchartsandgraphs.
GOALS
• Understandingbasicsurvey-makingstrategies• Linkingbusinessandresearchconceptstogether• Collectingandreportingsurveydata• Familiarizingstudentswiththevocabularyneededtopresentstatisticalinformation• Connectingdataandideaswithinpresentations• Promotingproblemsolvingandcollaborativelearning
MATERIALS
• Computerandprojector• Examplesofmarketresearchsurveys• AccesstocomputerwithPowerPointorotherpresentationsoftware• Studentinternetconnectionforconductingbasiconlineresearch• Worksheetsformakingsurveysandcollectingdata
PRE-TASK (LESSON 1)
Inthisintroductorylesson,theinstructorshouldstartbyshowingstudentsafewexamplesofsurveysfromdifferentwebsiteswithsurveytemplates.OneexampleofawebsitetofindsuchtemplatesisSurveyMonkey(see<https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/consumer-behavior-survey-template/>and<https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/skin-care-products-survey-template/>).Othersourcesoftemplatescanbefoundonlineaswell(e.g.,see<http://www.marketest.co.uk/market-research-questionnaire/158/restaurant_customers_habits>).Beyondshowingthesurveytemplates,itisalsoadvisabletowalkthestudentsthroughseveraldifferentsurveystogivethemabetterideaoftheflowofwell-constructedsurveys.Prepare
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someexamplesofbothgoodandbadsurveysthatcanbecritiquedinclasstohighlightboththetypesofquestionsaskedandtheoverallcontinuityneededtomakeagoodsurvey.Sincethethemeofthistaskismarketresearch,selectingexamplesofsurveysinthisareawouldbebeneficial.
PRE-TASK PREPARATION
Providestudentswithabackgroundscenariofortheirsurveyproject.Forexample,thestudentscouldbeinchargeofcreatinganewserviceorproductthatisaimedatstudent-agedconsumers.Askthestudentswhatarethingsthatyoungpeopleareinterestedinthesedaysorwhattheythinkcouldbeagoodbusinessidea.Giveanexampleofaproductandaskthemsomequestionsabouttheirinterestintheproductorservice(e.g.,Wouldtheybuyitoruseit?Howmuchwouldtheypaytobuyoruseit?).Showthestudentssomeexamplesofmarketresearchsurveysfromtheinternet.Walkthroughansweringthemtogetherasaclass.Letthestudentsknowthattheyneedtodeveloptheirownmarketresearchingroupsbycompletingaseriesofsteps:Thinkofaproductidea,createquestionstocheckmarketinterest,practicethesurvey,adjustthesurvey,collectdata,andfinally,presentthedatatotheclassusingPowerPoint.Whileanysizegroupcanbeutilized,groupsoffourstudentstendtoallowforbothanappropriateamountofcollaborativedialogueandalargersamplesizeforthesurvey.
PRE-TASK PART 1
Theideaofthefirstpartofthepre-tasklessonistogetthestudentsacquaintedwithsurveysandthenotionofcontinuitybetweenthequestionsasked.Inthisstage,theinstructorshouldfocusmoreonwhatagoodsurveycontains.Inparticular,itisadvisabletodirectstudents’attentiontothevocabularyandgrammarusedinsuchquestions.
Afterreiteratingthekeyfeaturesofgoodsurveys,thestudentswillcreateaverybriefpracticesurvey.Thispracticesurveyshouldbeatotaloffivequestionsandincludeoneortwoquestionsondemographicinformation(e.g.,age,gender,hometown,job),buyingpatterns(e.g.,whattheybuy,whentheybuyit),andthepurportedbenefitsdesiredofaproduct/service(e.g.,whatthepersonwantsfromtheproduct/service).
PRE-TASK PART 2
Followingthecreationofthepracticesurvey,thestudentswillgoaroundtheclassaskingtheirpeerstorespondtotheirsurveyswhilerecordinganswersonapreparedworksheet(seeAppendixA).Theinstructormaywanttoassigngroupsorsetupsomeformofsystemforthistobedonemoreefficiently.
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Duringthisstage,itisimportanttoprovidesomefeedbacktothestudentsaboutthecontinuityoftheirpracticesurveys.Itmayalsobeadvisabletoshowthemhowtopreparealternativequestionsifneeded.Ifthestudentsmakequestionsdependentontheanswerofthepreviousquestions,theywillalsoneedtohavealternativequestionstoaccompanythem.Havingthestudentsprepareshortpresentationsontheirresultsmaybeagoodhomeworkassignmenttoconsideriftimepermits.
MAIN TASK (LESSONS 2 & 3)
Inlessons2and3,thestudentsarenowpreparedtoworkonthemaintask:
Infour-membergroups,developmarketresearchonanideathatinterestsyou.Themarketforthisresearcharestudentsatyouruniversity.First,createa5-10questionsurveythatmeasuresinterest.Then,eachgroupmustcollectdatafromatotalof60respondents(20canbefromthisclass).Askotherstudentsatthisuniversityyoursurveyquestionsandrecordtheiranswersonthehandoutsprovided.Finally,youwillgiveapresentationontheresultsofyoursurvey.Besuretoconnectyoursurveydatawithideasinyourfinalpresentation.
MAIN TASK PART 1 (LESSON 2)
Duringthispartofthetask,thegroupswillcreatetheirmarketresearchsurveysandbegincollectingdatafromtheirclassmates.Allowingstudentstousetheirsmartphonestosearchforrelatedinformation,theinstructorshouldmonitorgroupprogressandassistthegroupsasneeded.Afterthecreationoftheirsurveys,splitthemembersintogroupsandletthemaskthemembersofthesenewgroupstheirsurveyquestionsandcollecttheirdata.Therestofthedatacanbecollectedoutsideoftheclassfromotherstudentsattheuniversity.
MAIN TASK PART 2 (LESSON 3)
Inthesecondpartofthetask,thestudentswillcreatePowerPointslideshowpresentationsintheirgroupsandpreparetopresenttheirfindingstotheirclass.Beforethispartofthelesson,theinstructorshouldshowthemsomeexamples.Onesuggestionistoshowthemanexampleslidewithapiechartandanotherexampleslidewithabarchart.Sincemanystudentsoftenhavelittleknowledgeofgraphsandstatistics,illustrativeexampleslikethesemakebasicchartsandgraphseasiertounderstand.Alongwiththeseexamples,showthemhowtoconnectthedatatheyarepresentingtocreatealogicalflow.Followingtheseexamples,havethestudentsbegintomaketheirPowerPointslideshowswiththeinstructorsupervisingandgivinginstructionwhenneeded.Thestudentswillhaveuntilthenextclasstopreparefortheirpresentations.Theinstructorshouldinformthestudentsthattheyneedtofindtimetocompletetheirslidesandpracticetheirpresentationdeliveries
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outsideofclass.Therefore,itmaybeadvisabletoexchangecontactinformationwithoneanother.Alongwiththis,theinstructorshouldinformthegroupsongoodpresentationsskills(e.g.,posture,voiceprojection,eyecontact,etc.).
POST-TASK (LESSON 4)
Inclass,eachgroupwillgiveapresentationreportingontheirmarketresearchwithanaccompanyingPowerPointslideshow.Studentsintheaudienceshouldtakenotesoneachgroup’smainthemeaswellasthekeypointsfromtheirpresentations.Theinstructorcanmakeaworksheetforthis,buthavingthestudentswritetheirnotesdownonapieceofpaperissuitable.
INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK AND SELF-REFLECTION
Afterthepresentations,theinstructorshouldgivethelearnersfeedbackandallowtheopportunityforself-reflectioningroups.Theinstructorshouldaskthegroupstotalkaboutwhattheythinktheydidwellandwhattheycouldhavedonebetter.Arubricforevaluatingthepresentationsissharedbelow. PresentationSkills PowerPoint Content
Excellent l Clearvoicel Standingstraightl Goodeyecontactl Positiveattitude
l Easytounderstandl Useofvisualsl Goodbalance
l Easytounderstandl Goodlinkingofideasand
datal Clearobjective
Good l Lessclearvoicel Leaningslightlyl Someeyecontactl Goodattitude
l Easytounderstandl Useofvisualsl Somewhatconsistent
formatting
l Easytounderstandl Linkingofideasanddata
couldbebetterl Somewhatclearobjective
Satisfactory l Can’tbeheardeasilyl Leaningonpodiuml Littleeyecontactl OKattitude
l Somewhateasytounderstand
l Notmanyuseofvisualsl Inconsistentformatting
l Somewhateasytounderstand
l Linkingofideasanddatacouldbebetter
l SomewhatclearobjectivePoor l Can’tbeheard
l Badposturel Noeyecontactl Notserious
l Difficulttounderstandl Novisualsl Inconsistentformatting
l Can’tbeunderstoodl Nolinkingofideasanddatal Objectiveunclear
POTENTIAL VARIATIONS
Theamountofsupportyougivethestudentscanvarybyneed.Asaresult,thetimelinemayneedtobeextendedifmoretimeisneededforexplanationorassistance.
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Iftimepermits,onethingtheinstructorcandoistocontinuethisthemewithabusinessideaprojectwherethelearnerscreateaproductorserviceandhavetopitchthisidea.Thestudentscanusethemarketresearchdatatoformtheirbusinessproject.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NicholasMarxcurrentlyteachesatKanazawaSeiryoUniversityinIshikawa,Japan.HeholdsanMAinTESOLfromUniversityCollegeLondon,InstituteofEducation.Hismainareasofinterestarelanguageanxiety,affectivefactors,collaborativelearning,extensivereading,andtask-basedpedagogy.
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Q1:
Q2:
Q3:
Q4:
Q5:
APPENDIX A
Name: StudentID:
ResearchDataCollection(Practice)
Nameor
StudentID
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
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APPENDIX B
Nameor
StudentID
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10
Name: StudentID:
ResearchDataCollection
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Storytelling:TappingStudentImaginationSimonRowe–LanguageCentre,KwanseiGakuinUniversity
Thisisalessonplansuitableforasingletwo-hourwritingworkshop,orasaseriesof90-minutetask-basedlessonswithinanintensivewritingprogram.Itdrawsprimarilyonstudents’personalexperiencesandencouragesthemtouseimaginationandtothinkcreatively.Itmaybeadaptedtobeginner,intermediate,andadvancedlanguagelearnerlevels.
GOALS
• Encouragecreativethought• Reinforcewritingprocesses• Demonstratethelinkbetweenfactandfiction• Familiarisestudentswiththebuildingblocksofanarrativeandprovidethemwithasimple
frameworkforstorytelling• Underscoretheimportanceofstorytellingasaformofpersonalexpression• Produceashortstory,orabodyofwriting(overseverallessons)tobesharedand/or
publishedamongstudents
MATERIALS
• Largewhiteboardorseveralsmallerwhiteboards• Studentwritingmaterials• Internetconnectionandprojectorforviewingofshortvideosinclass
PREPARATION
Arrangestudentsintogroupsofthreeorfourmembers.Haveeachmemberretellapopularfolktaleinitsmostbasicformwithoutrevealingitsname.Encouragemembersofthegrouptoguessitcorrectly.Meanwhile,createonthewhiteboardalistofplottypesusedinpopularstorytellingsuchasthoseoutlinedbyBooker(2004):Quest,Tragedy,Comedy,Monster,etc.(see<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots>forabriefoverview),andgiveexamplebook/movietitlesforeach.Askstudentsiftheycanmatchtheirownfolktaletoaspecificplottype.Havethemwritethisonthewhiteboard.NowturntothemesusedinpopularstoriessuchasFamily,Revenge,Success,Teamwork,etc.(see<https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/10-most-popular-literary-theme-examples/>)foramoreextensivelistwithexamples.Again,havestudentsaddthesetotheirownfolktale,‘buildingoutward’inmind-mapfashionontheboard.“Storytelling”canbewritteninthecentre.
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PRE-TASK
THINKING Havestudentstakeafewminutestothinkaloneaboutamemorableexperiencetheyhavehadintheirlives.Encouragethemtomakenotesandtothinkabouttheirexperienceintermsofthemes.Putguidingquestionsontheboard:Whathappened?Wheredidithappen?Whowasinvolved?Howdidyoufeel?andsoon.Havestudentsreturntotheirgroupsandrelatetheirstoriesorallytoothermembers,allowingtimeforquestions,comments,andfeedback.Explaintostudentsthat(fictional)characters’actionsandreactionstoeventsaroundthemoftenmimicthoseofreallife(underscoringthepremisethat‘fictionisbasedonfact’).Encouragestudentstothinkabouthowtheymightshapeapersonalexperienceintoafictionalone.Drawtheirattentionbacktotheplottypesandhavethemconsidertheirstoriesasabasisofafictionaltale.Examples:
• Airtravelandflyingthroughturbulence(Voyage-and-return;CastAway,TheMartian)• Scubadivingorsnorkellingforthefirsttime(Monster;JAWS,TheDeep)• Holdingaparty(Comedy;TheHangover,TheParty).
Nowintroducestorystructure.Drawthisasaseriesofthreeboxesontheboardandwrite,‘Beginning,Middle,andEnd’.Studentsshouldrecognisethisstructurefrompresentationwritinglessons,i.e.,Introduction,Body,andConclusion.
TASK 1
PLANNING Havestudentsreturntotheirnotebooksandplanafictionalshortstorybasedontheirownexperience.Theywillberequiredtonotedownthemesandplottype,andtostructuretheirstorywithinthethreeboxes.Chooseapopularmoviestory(e.g.JAWSorROCKY)andcreateonthewhiteboardabasicplantohelpstudentsmakethe‘mentalleap’fromfacttofiction.Again,encourageimaginativethinking.
TASK 2
WRITING CuetwoshortTED-Edvideos:
• NaloHopkinson’s(2015)Howtowritedescriptively-4:32o Availableonlineat<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSoRzTtwgP4>
• VictoriaSmith’s(2017)Howtomakeyourwritingsuspenseful-4:35
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o Availableonlineat<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjKruwAfZWk>.Remindstudentsthattheprocessofstorytelling(inwrittenform)requiresmultipledraftsandthatthefirstdraftisexactlythat.Allow30-45minutesforthemtodeveloptheirideas,encouragingthemtowritefreelyandexpansively.Emphasishereisoncreativeexpression;instructorsshouldthereforefocusonideadevelopment,storystructure,andinterest/entertainmentvalue,ratherthanspellingandgrammar,whichcanbeaddressedlateron.
TASK 3
• REFLECTING Withina90-minuteclass,itisunlikelyallstudentswillachieveacompletedstory.Thisisnotaconcernifthewritingprogramisongoing,asstudentsmayreturntothenextsessionwiththeirfinishedfirstdrafts.Itisimportant,however,forstudentstosharetheirstorieswithothergroupmembers,togivefeedback,andevenspeculateonpossiblestoryendings.Allow15-20minutesforthis.Aspartofthereflectiveprocess,studentsreceiveinsightintothedevelopmentalprocessofcreativewriting,improveconfidencethroughideasharing,andunderstandthateveryonereadsfromdifferentperspectives.
POST-TASK
Writethelogline(plotsummary)ofapopularmovie/bookstoryontheboard,e.g.,‘Awomanandhercrewbattlealiensaboardtheirshipindeepspace’or,‘AnalienfindsitselfleftbehindonEarthandbefriendsayoungboywhohelpshimtoreturn.’Havestudentssummarisetheirownplotsinoneortwosentences.Askthemtowritethisontheboard.Studentscanreturntotheirgroupsanddiscusswhichstoriesmightinterestthemmost.
FOLLOW-UP
Withinanongoingwritingprogram,focuscanshifttootheraspectsofstorytelling,suchasdialogue,setting,messages,andcharacters,allofwhichwillservetofurtherenrichstudents’narratives.
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Ifstudentsarecomfortablewithsharingtheircompletedstorieswithawideraudience,itisworthconsideringFacebookorGoogleSites(closedgroup)asaneasy-to-usepublishingplatform.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SimonRoweteachesacademicandcreativewritingatKwanseiGakuinUniversityinJapan.HeisauthoroftheshortfictioncollectionGoodNightPapa:ShortStoriesfromJapanandElsewhere(AtlasJones&Co.,2017).
REFERENCES
Booker,C.(2004).Thesevenbasicplots:Whywetellstories.London:Continuum.