scholarly journals Task-based language teaching for beginner-level young learners

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rod Ellis

Abstract The purpose of this article is to discuss how task-based language teaching (TBLT) can work with beginner-level learners by using input-based tasks. It begins by dismissing a common critique of TBLT, namely that learners need to be taught some language before they can perform tasks, by arguing that input-based tasks make TBLT possible with beginner-level learners and that such an approach is entirely compatible with what research has shown about the early stages of L2 acquisition. A review of the research that has investigated input-based tasks follows and serves to identify key features in the design and implementation of tasks. Designing input-based tasks involves considering the choice of topic, the non-verbal devices that are central to the tasks, the pre-selection of target language, the verbal input for the task, and the task outcomes. Implementation options include task preparation, use of the learners’ first language, input modification and elaboration, focus-on-form and feedback, and task repetition.

2017 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rod Ellis

The advocacy of task-based language teaching (TBLT) has met with resistance. The critiques of TBLT and the misconceptions that underlie them have already been addressed in Ellis (2009) and Long (2016). The purpose of this article is to move forward by examining a number of real problems that TBLT faces – such as how a ‘task’ should be defined, the nature and timing of the ‘focus-on-form’ required, how to determine task complexity and sequence tasks, the role of explicit instruction, the timing of focus on form and the teacher training needed to ensure effective uptake of TBLT – and to also consider what solutions are possible. Disagreements exist regarding the relative merits of task-based and task-supported language teaching. I will propose that a hybrid/modular syllabus that allows for a balance between an object-oriented and a tool-oriented view of language teaching offers the most promising way forward.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-177
Author(s):  
Christina Rosén

AbstractThis paper investigates first language (L1) influence on the acquisition of syntax and discourse pragmatics in a second language (L2) in essays written by advanced learners of German from Sweden, China and Belarus (the KobaltDaF Corpus). The control corpus consists of essays written by native German speakers. The study focuses on the clause-initial preverbal position of V2 declaratives, the so-called prefield (Vorfeld) and the Vor-Vorfeld. The results show that the language-specific information structural patterns that exist in the L1 have an impact on the L2. The forms and frequencies of prefield constituent types differ substantially from the target language, indicating transfer in a domain other than pure syntax. The learners start their sentences in a nonnative way. Even though Swedish and German are closely related languages, the results show, contrary to what is expected, that Chinese learners produce patterns that are more targetlike. In addition, implications of these findings for language teaching are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nan Kang

This academic essay is an assessed coursework in Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching for taught postgraduate in School of Languages, Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London. This essay seeks to identify the necessity of inclusion of First Language  in foreign language teaching and its following positive and negative impacts. Involving Target Language in language lessons is a bright idea due to its cognitive, communicative and social functions, though it might cause a few problems, such as the limited effect on elite students, the inefficient and time- consuming learning process, student’s over-reliance of L1. In the end, the essay provides a few teaching suggestions for language teachers.


Abjadia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Santi Andriyani

<p>There are so many questions come to mind in relation to language learning. One of which is the ways in teaching and learning the language especially in formal education. This issue has been discussed since 1980s until now. Linguists who get involved in education field have done research in this field. They found that the main concentration in language teaching is the selection of approach based on the system governed the learners. Some perspectives appear in the language learning. The methods, approach, and principles which come and arise in the language learning are discussed. These terms influence the learning of English as a first language, second language or foreign language. English as a first language will be taught differently. It also happens to the learning of English as second and foreign language. It is because of different purpose in learning the language. In this article, the writer discuss some perspectives in language learning in first language situation, second language situation and foreign language situation.</p><p>هناك كثير من الأسئلة تتبادر إلى الذهن فيما يتعلق بتعليم اللغة. واحدة منها هي الطرق في تعليم وتعلم اللغة وخاصة في التعليم الرسمي. وقد نوقشت هذه المسألة منذ 1980 (ثمانين) حتى الآن. وكان اللغويون يتورطون في مجال التعليم وإجراء الأبحاث في هذا المجال. ووجد الباحثون أن تركيز الرئيسي في تدريس اللغة هو اختيار النهج القائم على نظام محكوم المتعلمين. ويبدو أن بعض وجهات النظر في تعلم اللغة. وتناقش الطرق، والنهج والمبادئ التي تأتي وتنشأ في تعلم اللغة. هذه الشروط تؤثر على تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أولى، لغة ثانية أو لغة أجنبية. اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة أولى وسيتم تدريسها بشكل مختلف. ويحدث أيضا في تعلم اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة ثانية والأجنبية. فذلك الاختلاف لأجل أغراض مختلفة في تعلم اللغة. وفي هذه المقالة، قامت الكاتبة بمناقشة بعض وجهات النظر في تعلم اللغة في وضع اللغة الأولى، واللغة الثانية واللغة الأجنبية</p><p>Ada banyak pertanyaan terkait dengan pembelajaran bahasa. Salah satunya adalah tentang bagaimana cara atau metode yang perlu diterapkan dalam proses belajar mengajar khususnya di lembaga pendidikan formal. Masalah ini telah dibahas sejak tahun 1980-an hingga sekarang. Para ahli bahasa di bidang pendidikan juga telah melakukan berbagai penelitian terkait masalah klasik ini. Mereka menemukan bahwa konsentrasi utama dalam pembelajaran bahasa adalah pemilihan pendekatan yang harusnya didasarkan pada sistem yang mengacu pada peserta didik. Oleh karenanya lalu muncul beberapa perspektif dalam pembelajaran bahasa. Ada metode, pendekatan dan prinsip-prinsip yang muncul dalam bahasan pembelajaran bahasa. Istilah-istilah ini mempengaruhi proses belajar bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa pertama, bahasa kedua, atau bahasa asing. Bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa pertama akan diajarkan berbeda. Hal itu juga terjadi pada pembelajaran yang menempatkan bahasa Inggris sebagai bahasa kedua dan bahasa asing. Perbedaan ini karena tujuan yang hendak dicapai juga beda. Tulisan ini membahas beberapa perspektif dalam pembelajaran bahasa dalam situasi bahasa pertama, situasi bahasa kedua, dan situasi bahasa asing.</p>


1989 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Clahsen ◽  
Pieter Muysken

There is a considerable amount of recent evidence that stable principles of Universal Grammar (UG) are available to adult second language (L2) learners in structuring their intuitions about the target language grammar. In contrast, however, there is also evidence from the acquisition of word order, agreement and negation in German that there are substantial differences between first language (L1) and L2 learners. In our view, these differences are due to UG principles guiding L1, but not L2 acquisition. We will show that alternative ways of accounting for the L1/L2 differences are not successful. Finally we will deal with the question of how our view can be reconciled with the idea that L2 learners can use UG principles to some extent in the evaluation of target sentences.


2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-64
Author(s):  
Eva M. Fernández

Understanding the mechanisms learners use to process target language input is crucial to developing a complete model of both first language (L1) and second language (L2) acquisition. If adult L2 learners are found to process the target language with mechanisms that differ from those used by child L1 learners and adult native speakers, what implications might this have for the developing grammar? Clahsen and Felser review evidence that appears to point to such differences, generalizing their findings under a shallow structure hypothesis about how adult learners process input in L2.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Ghobadi ◽  
Hadi Ghasemi

<p>Translation and language teaching techniques which take language learners’ first language (L1) as point of reference for teaching the second language (L2) have been long discouraged on the ground that these teaching techniques would end in the fossilization of L2 structure forms in the learner’s Interlanguage system. However, in recent years, the status of L1 use in L2 teaching and learning has revived as a result of the recognition that L1 can serve purposes in L2 teaching and learning (Hunt, 2012). In the last two decades, strong theoretical arguments have been posed for L1 use in language classrooms. Most of these arguments are based on the ground that L1 use can facilitate the processes of both L2 teaching and acquisition. Abundant research has been done in recent years to validate these theoretical arguments. The current paper would give a review of this research, with reference to three L1-based techniques for language teaching and learning that have appealed most to L2 researchers (i.e., translation, code switching<strong>, </strong>and L1 glossing). The conclusion drawn from this research is that language learners can benefit L1 use and L1-based techniques in their L2 acquisition. Further, along with the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence in defense of L1 use in language classrooms, L2 learners and teachers have begun to express more positive attitudes towards L1 use, and related techniques, in their own classrooms. Yet, there remain some challenges and obstacles for L1 use in language use. Suggestions are made as to how to address these challenges so that L2 pedagogy and use would benefit most from L1 use in language classrooms.</p>


2011 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
HOLGER HOPP ◽  
MONIKA S. SCHMID

ABSTRACTThis study investigates constraints on ultimate attainment in second language (L2) pronunciation in a direct comparison of perceived foreign accent of 40 late L2 learners and 40 late first language (L1) attriters of German. Both groups were compared with 20 predominantly monolingual controls. Contrasting participants who acquired the target language from birth (monolinguals, L1 attriters) with late L2 learners, on the one hand, and bilinguals (L1 attriters, L2ers) with monolinguals, on the other hand, allowed us to disentangle the impacts of age of onset and bilingualism in speech production. At the group level, the attriters performed indistinguishably from controls, and both differed from the L2 group. However, 80% of all L2ers scored within the native (attriter) range. Correlational analyses with background factors further found some effects of use and language aptitude. These results show that acquiring a language from birth is not sufficient to guarantee nativelike pronunciation, and late acquisition does not necessarily prevent it. The results are discussed in the light of models on the role of age and cross-linguistic influence in L2 acquisition.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 517-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ángeles Escobar-Álvarez

This article examines the second language acquisition (SLA) of Spanish dative clitics in clitic doubling (CLD) structures that are closely related to the double object construction (DOC) in English and Dutch. It also addresses the question of how adult English and Dutch speakers learning L2 Spanish in a formal setting develop knowledge and use of the animacy constraint in the target language, which is different from the first language (L1) counterparts. The role of transfer in acquiring new syntactic structures has been taken into account, where dative clitics appear and animate objects are marked by the dative preposition ‘to.’ New findings are obtained on CLD and the Spanish animacy constraint from a grammaticality judgement task (GJT), completed by English and Dutch learners at B1 and B2 CEFR levels. The difficulties learners experienced were not always due to negative L1 transfer, but also related to the complexity of the argument structure where the clitic is inserted. This has clear implications for the teaching of pronominal elements which are closely related to different syntactic configurations in Spanish.


EL LE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Caon ◽  
Claudia Meneghetti

The aim of this article is to present the task as a strategic tool to manage multi-level and multi-cultural classes (CAD), in which recognising the differences (i.e. cognitive styles, multiple intelligences, personalities etc.) among students is the point of departure to devise a didactic plan. After an overview of what CAD and Task-Based Language Teaching are, we will try to adapt few strategies used in the CAD to the different task phases. In particular, we will look at ways to grade the input, what variables to take into consideration to grade the task and what types of tasks have been proposed, through the years, as useful in terms of differentiation. Finally, we will explore what grading the focus on form means.


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