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Introduction
For almost fifty years, CENLEX-IPN has been one of the most important language
schools, constantly evolving and making the best effort to fulfill the institution’s
requirements – providing their professionals with the necessary communicative
tools to support and facilitate their development both within the institution and
outside, in the real world.
That concern has made our language institution assume changes in many different
areas, being the academic issue one of the main aspects extremely relevant for
teachers.
Our language center is nowadays facing the institutional change based on
competences, which has proved highly effective when making clients achieve their
goal of learning a foreign language. In other words, learners become competent
when communicating and, in general, using the language as a means to
developing professionally.
It is essential, then, to mention that such model integrates the use of “goal-oriented
activities with a clear purpose: achieving real communication”1 ; that is the use of
tasks as their most important element; through them, amongst others, learners are
able to become competent users of a language.
As a result, the language academy has been pushed to move from a more
traditional methodology (CLT) towards a rather different one, TBLT. Such change
was based on the evidence that CLT promoted a relatively limited communication
in the target language and didn’t promote autonomous learning.
1
The Language Teacher on Line” (Jane Willis, 1998).
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Another consequence is the urgent need for a suitable textbook which, among
other requirements, is compatible with teaching through tasks as “textbooks have
been felt to be a useful source of data throwing light on tasks”.2
This last issue and the lack of independent learners are the two main problems that
the following action plan is intended to deal with.
Description of the two main problems:
In the classroom, both groups language learners and most teachers feel
more comfortable with the well-enough known communicative approach,
and they often use the PPP to make learning occur. The rest of the teachers
have already started using tasks or task-like exercises here and there in
their classes, but feel that it’s necessary to know how and where and when.
That is, knowing TBLT.
The English Academy has already requested to change the textbook
because of various reasons: first, it doesn’t promote or help create
communication in class. Second, it is rather grammar-focused, and third,
is full with contents to study within a course. However, while change
occurs, teachers must deal with an endless syllabus leaving no time for
tasks, projects or any other activity which really promotes interaction in
class.
2
Tasks in Textbooks: Barking up The Wrong Tree (Alan Waters’ Conference, 2009).
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The communicative approach and the PPP have created learners that are
constantly waiting for the teacher to tell them what to do or even learn.
Therefore, they are reluctant to use another way of learning which is more
demanding than the one they already know and use.
The Advantage of TBLT
The use of TBLT not only orients teachers towards a better use and design of
tasks, it also provides with the correct follow-up making learning more effective and
promoting more independent learners.
Alternatively, it can be used even when textbooks are not suitable for task or
competence development because it is flexible enough for teachers to transform,
adapt or complement book contents.
Some questions within Numa Markee’s Theoretical Framework.
Who?
Students (potential adopters) at CENLEX as well as their teachers (promoters) are
directly involved in the new proposal. And it is mostly students who are willing to
work and use the textbook proposed. They are used to working with textbooks and
they even like it when, through them, they can see how much they are learning. In
fact, they also enjoy textbooks together with other materials implementation, that
provides with a variety of activities and make learning more interesting and
exciting.
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However, students may feel overwhelmed as they realize the many contents and
tasks to be done in the course with so little time. Consequently, work in and outside
the classroom may cause tiredness and learning may not take place.
What?
A different use of the textbook together with a design of tasks is our innovation.
When?
The selection of contents to be used in class-time requires constant planning for
every session.
Where?
This action plan aims only at the use of innovative ways of implementing TBLT in
the classroom.
Why?
There’s an urgent need for a better selection of the book contents to use in the
classroom and take better advantage of the time so as to allow tasks (opportunities
for communication and real learning) to occur. At the same time, to be able to know
about the contents that will need more individual work on the students’ behalf
(autonomous learning).
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How?
Teachers must learn what sections in the book are to be done in the classroom.
That is, those which will create opportunities of communication and allow students
to negotiate meanings.
An Action Plan
This action plan in particular is displayed as follows,
1. Making students aware that doing every single section in the textbook is not
the same as learning a language. And it is also highly important that they
know learning through tasks has more benefits than being able to respond
to a book exercise in a correct way.
2. Being able to recognize the activities in the textbook that promote or set task
implementation; all those activities that help learners to speak and that
enable their interaction and/ or negotiation. At the same time, teachers must
know what contents can be done independently outside the classroom.
3. Some suggestions useful for CENLEX.
Reading
Introduce reading in class and do a prediction task to give
students a reason for reading at home. This saves a lot of
class time.
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Comprehension questions can be done at home, too. That
way, students, will develop their skills at their own pace and
pay attention to language features and vocabulary.
Listening
Students, nowadays, have many different opportunities to
listen to audio materials (by using mp3s, ipods, self access
centers, computers, etc) when they are not in class. Teachers
can take advantage of that and design a task that students can
do through listening to that material at home, when they have
more time, and listen to the material as many times as they
need.
Vocabulary
Can be done outside the classroom, when they have more
time to reflect on new words or phrases. Besides, students will
have the opportunity to look for further information, and more
importantly, they will develop memorizing strategies. It is a
good idea to suggest the use of mind maps, crossword
puzzles, quizzes, etc to fulfill their goal of learning vocabulary.
Grammar
Also better done at home and at the end of a task cycle (when
students have already met it in context). Making students mark
grammar exercises or finding a quick way or doing it is
advisable.
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Writing
Students can do their writing drafts or final versions at home if
in class teachers set the task and orient students’ work. The
next session, writing can be displayed and/or reported.
Others
Other parts such as task preparation or task reports can be done at
home; students can be made to prepare/search vocabulary or plan
how to report work making use of their own resources, reflecting on
what they are doing at their own speed.
In class, students may
continue with their task development giving time for oral interaction
and production.
Conclusion
All of the above suggestions in the action plan promoting TBLT have the clear
intention to make room for tasks in a context where the use of textbooks
overwhelm students with a large list of contents that leave little chance for real
communication development.
Similarly, these actions persuade our students to become more involved in their
learning process because they participate actively:
1) In class by interacting with their classmates for a purpose (task
performance).
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2) Outside the classroom, being more independent and responsible for their
learning process, when the teacher is not looking.
3) Without feeling that they their class is boring and only limited to completing
book exercises or that buying a textbook was a waste of money.
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