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? 2005. Centre for Language and Migration. Within the Flemish Educational Priority Policy3 main tasks:researchsupport of teachers and teacher trainerssyllabus and curriculum developmentBoth in primary and secondary education . ? 2005. Flemish Educational Priority Policy. Challenge: Provide eq
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The development, implementation and redesigning of a task-based language curriculum for primary schools Marleen Colpin & Koen Van Gorp
Centre for Language and Migration (K.U.Leuven)
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Centre for Language and Migration Within the Flemish Educational Priority Policy
3 main tasks:
research
support of teachers and teacher trainers
syllabus and curriculum development
Both in primary and secondary education
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Flemish Educational Priority Policy Challenge: Provide equal educational opportunities to all children regardless of their (linguistic) background
How? Efficient and effective language teaching especially for both L1-learners at risk and L2 learners
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Language teaching: early '90s (1) Language teaching doesn’t meet the needs of a diverse student population and isn’t focussed on acquiring academic language proficiency
It is very much based on teacher-centered PPP-paradigm (presentation, practice and production)
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Language teaching: early '90s (2) Time-allocation: 51% focus on form(s)
32% language awareness
20% traditional grammar excercises
19% spelling
23% reading, 10% writing, 7% speaking, 5% listening
whereas 90-95% of the attainment targets deal with language proficiency
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De Toren van Babbel (TvB) The first task-based language curriculum for primary schools in Flanders
To meet the challenge of equal opportunities and concerns of the early '90's
Designed from 1992 to 1995
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Starting point Building on experience with communicative language teaching
Focussing on language profiency
Conceptions of 'task' as unit of analysis in syllabus design (Long & Crookes, 1993)
Needs analysis of academic language register in primary education
tools: vocabulary list as a means to control language input in TvB
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Task example: Who is the thief? Grandmother Mouse came home through the back door. Her arrival frightened a thief. On entering she heard him running away through the front door; she also heard a metallic tool hitting the ground. But she was too late to see the thief.
Her friend the fox detective Sherlock Holmes arrived promptly. He entered through the back door accompanied by the two major suspects: the bear and the stork. They were the only persons working nearby, so one of them had to be the thief.
Sherlock looked about the living room. After inspecting the front door and noticing the wrench he immediately knew who the thief was.
Who is the culprit: the bear or the stork?
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Who is the thief? (2)
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Powerful learning environmentsfor language learning
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The concept of task Language as a means…
… to reach a motivating goal
Involve relevant and natural language
needs analysis of academic language
pedagogical tasks as stepping stones
manipulations of authentic target tasks in terms of complexity and motivating power but processing and language demands resemble target tasks
Contain language learning potential
zone of next potential, negotiated difficulty
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The concept of task (2) Elicit interaction and feedback: co-operative learning
interaction serves different functions
motivate, feedback (on meaning and form), collaborative dialogue, …
stimulating peer interaction
heterogeneous groups
promoting task-based interaction
e.g. jigsaw, …
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The concept of task (3) Focus on role of the teacher:
motivating language learners
creating a positive, safe climate
organizing learning environment
confronting leaners with meaningful, relevant tasks
supporting language learners
negotiate, provide feedback, stimulate peer interaction, …
= differentiated according to learners' needs
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Focus on form & focus on forms Primary focus on meaning (80% of the time)
Focus on form activities (FoF): language awareness activities
a mapping of form on function approach
grammar: insight in how language works
Focus on forms (FoFs): technical reading abilities, spelling
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Implementation of TvB (1) 18% of Dutch primary schools have bought TvB (especially educational priority schools, but also other schools)
Positive voices about
choice of themes, activities, group work and learning methods
motivating power of tasks, texts, …
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Implementation of TvB (2) The problems:
Too much, too difficult
activities, reading texts
Too little 'real practice' (exercises)
spelling, grammar
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Implementation of TvB (3) Some teachers' concerns were not met
Spelling (all grades)
Additional spelling materials are used
Technical reading (2nd and 3th grade)
Evaluation (all grades)
Differentiation in amount and complexity of lesson materials (all grades)
Remedial teaching (all grades)
Not enough support for learner feedback
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10 years later… what has changed?
Learning from past implementation experiences
Taking into account new developments in CTM and task-based approach in general
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2005-2007: TotemTaal Second task-based language curriculum for primary schools
Fundamental changes and choices underlying task-based curriculum beginning of 21th century
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Changes and choices Concept of task
Concept of syllabus design – complexity
The role of the teacher
Focus on Form(s)
Task-based language assessment
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Concept of task Open tasks
With a clearly defined goal
Allowing a great deal of intellectual and creative freedom
Promoting task-based interaction
With maximal potential for learning
Relevant tasks
With regard to the attainment goals
Task-based + Task-oriented
Pedagogical tasks: manipulate complexity, variety and motivational power
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Examples of attainment goalsfor the end of primary education Listening
The pupils can understand and structure the information from an explanation or an instruction of the teacher.
Writing
The pupils can write a report of an event, a story or an informative text for a familiar person.
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Concept of syllabus designCriteria for selection and sequencing
Relevance and naturalness
Characteristics defining tasks
settings of different parameters, each of which is a continuum of diversity and complexity
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Parameters and settings Each task challenges pupils to…
exercise one or more of the four language skills
listening – speaking – reading – writing
handle a text of a certain type, meant for a certain public
informative texts / argumentative texts / directive texts / ...
known peer / unknown peer / known adult / unknown adult
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Parameters and settings (2) handle information, depending on the goal of the task, on a certain level of processing
copy - understand as such/describe - structure - evaluate
handle texts about different subjects, representing or revealing a different ‘world’, e.g.
from here-and-now to there-and-then
from a more concrete of a more generalizing perspective
demanding more of less knowledge of the world
offering more or less linguistic/visual support
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Parameters and settings (3) … and the text (spoken or written) distinguishes itself by a certain:
vocabulary
syntax
structure
code
conventions
...
all of which can be more of less difficult.
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Task complexity Overall complexity = sum of all the settings
Defining settings allows:
to gain insight in complexity
to ‘manipulate’ complexity
In terms of making a task easier or more difficult on one or more parameters
In terms of building in extra support
to control diversity
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Examples: write a report of an event Second grade:
write a report of the creation of an animal (on a pre-structured card)
Fourth grade:
write a report of ‘a day in the live of the king (in a table with hours)
Sixth grade:
write a report of your quest to liberate Mr. Orange (free structure)
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Examples: parameter-settings
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Teacher support & differentiation e.g.
Help to put ideas in a row
Ask questions from the perspective of the reader of the report
Remind of the goal of the report
Point out where the report is not accurate, too extensive, ...
Offer a scheme for writing
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The concept of parameters and settings
Selecting and sequencing tasks
Support
Evaluation
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Broad concept of evaluation on a permanent base as well as at specific moments throughout the school year
on products the pupils produce as well as on their acquisition/learning process
with more traditional tests as well as more ‘alternative’ evaluation instruments, such as observation instruments, portfolio, ...
by the teacher as well as the pupils themselves or other pupils