IN THE CLASSROOM
Beyond
the task
T
James Pengelley ask-based Learning (TBL) has
become the main player in
explores the benefits of recent methodological
strategies. It has formed the
task repetition. basis of the current trend away from
form-driven approaches to teaching, as
it gives primary importance to the use
of language to achieve the
communicative goals of a task, rather
than merely to the production of a
discrete number of ‘correct forms’.
Since its rise in popularity, there has
been much comment on the importance
of task cycle repetition, in which an
initial task is followed by a ‘noticing’
stage, or perhaps a more explicit
language analysis stage, and then the
students are encouraged to perform an
identical, similar or parallel task –
giving them an opportunity to
implement, improve and practise the
same language. The argument here, as
proposed by Peter Skehan, Scott
Thornbury and Jane Willis, is that
completion of the first task leads to
familiarity with meaning, which means
that when the students move on to the
second, similar or identical task, they
have more cognitive resources available
to devote to form manipulation and
self-monitoring, and a greater long-term
awareness of the linguistic forms needed
to convey appropriate meaning more
precisely.
The fundamental features of this
procedure may be summarised as
follows:
1 An authentic communicative task is
chosen.
2 The teacher takes a back-seat role in
the first attempt at the task, allowing
8 • Issue 90 January 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •
the students to negotiate meaning
with their own resources.
3 The language needed to do the task is
analysed, discussed and improved.
4 The task is repeated, to allow an
opportunity for the students to
develop monitoring skills.
Provided the task itself is well-defined,
this is arguably a very good framework,
not just for TBL, but for an array of
teaching approaches that promote
fluency ahead of accuracy and, in fact,
may have significantly wider-reaching
applications in the development of a
more generalised framework that
promotes the development of
communicative competency.
Doing it again
I have been developing a ‘fluency-then-
accuracy’ routine using Community
Language Learning (CLL) with my
current group of students. CLL is a
student-centred approach based on
psychotherapy principles, with the
primary aim of reducing the anxiety
associated with language learning, and
ultimately developing communicative
fluency. A typical CLL lesson follows a
choose–record–reflect cycle.
The students work in small groups
and decide on a topic they would like to
discuss. The conversation is recorded,
utterance by utterance, with the students
putting any questions they have to the
teacher, who immediately reformulates,
models, drills and encourages them
throughout the process. The class then
reflects on the strengths and weaknesses
of their completion of the task; the
conversation is transcribed and
analysed, where appropriate. Feature Task 1 Task 2
This is where the traditional CLL
lesson stops – the transcript and/or
context being the focus for more Discourse management
production or explicit form practice in Range
subsequent lessons. However, some
people, including Scott Thornbury, have Frequency of showing interest 2 6
suggested that recording the conversation
Accuracy
again after the language analysis stage,
so that the second attempt can be Inappropriacies of showing interest 7 1
compared with the first, may have huge
benefits for the students’ confidence and Fluency
the development of desirable features of Average time per utterance 9.94 seconds 9.17 seconds
language production (particularly features
of effective discourse management). Total pauses 16 4
If the essence of the communicative Broken utterances 3 0
task is considered to be a stage in which
students are able to negotiate and create
Grammar
Recording a Range
conversation again after Present simple 18 18
the language analysis Future (going to) 1 1

stage, so that the Adverbs of degree 1 1

second attempt can be Subordination 0 0

compared with the first, Coordination 2 7

may have huge benefits Accuracy

their own hypotheses about meaning –
whether or not reformulation and input
from the teacher comes immediately and
in the midst of, or following completion
of, the task – it is plausible to
hypothesise that in order to maximise
the benefit of a fluency-then-accuracy
approach, a repetition of the task cycle
is necessary and conducive to improving
both fluency and accuracy.
Catherine Doughty and Elizabeth
Varela note that the use of reformulation
or ‘recasting’ in CLL may only influence
the lesson in as far as providing a shift
of emphasis on the importance of
accuracy. However, I would argue that it
may instil a stronger sense of ownership
of errors in individual learners and
develop monitoring skills if it occurs as
a part of the first task (as opposed to
post-task) – provided it is done in a
supportive and sensitive way.
An experiment
To test the effect of task repetition in a
fluency-first approach and to explore its
potential benefits beyond the realm of
TBL, I designed a CLL lesson, which
Ratio of errors to total words
Phonological management
Range
Frequency of effective intonation/stress
Accuracy
Phonemic errors : total words
Intonation errors : total clauses
Sentence stress errors : total sentences
formed the basis of my experimental
practice for my DELTA Module 2
assignment.
Method
The experiment was conducted with a
group of Colombian adult elementary
students (in week six of a twelve-week
course) who were joined by the school
receptionist to make the numbers up to
six. They were invited to choose a topic
they wished to discuss, which was then
recorded utterance by utterance. The
dialogue was transcribed at the end of
6 : 105 6 : 105
7 7
16 : 105 6 : 105
6 : 18 3 : 18
17 : 8 7 : 10
the first task as a dictation, and then
reflected on, with relevant language
highlighted. This language included use
of coordinating conjunctions and
effective intonation across sentences.
The conversation was then re-recorded,
and compared to the first task according
to the grid above.
It was predicted that, due to the
nature of CLL and the use of immediate
reformulation, structural complexity
would not be a true reflection of the
benefits of task repetition in CLL, as
Martin Bygate has shown it to be in TBL.

• www.etprofessional.com • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • Issue 90 January 2014 • 9

 idea is that in the first task, negotiation

Beyond of meaning is the primary focus, and in

the second, the students have more

the task cognitive resources available to self-

monitor and to attend to and
incorporate highlighted language from a
language analysis stage. Importantly,
Rather, elements of discourse and This is your magazine.
these benefits actually extend beyond
phonological management would be
improved in the second task cycle, as
simple measures of linguistic accuracy We want to hear from you!
and include essential (yet too often
negotiation of meaning had been
neglected) features of communication
effectively dealt with in the first.
such as communicative and
phonological competency.
Results
The results of this experiment are IT WORKS IN PRACTICE
The transcripts and recordings of both Do you have ideas you’d like to share
intended only as an exploratory
tasks were analysed, using raw data and
suggestion to highlight the extent of the with colleagues around the world?
basic ratios based on Bygate’s
potential benefits of extending the concept Tips, techniques and activities;
investigation of the benefits of task
of the communicative task and the simple or sophisticated; well-tried
repetition in TBL. Because of the nature
benefits of task repetition beyond those or innovative; something that has
of the conversation that the students
established by proponents of TBL to all worked well for you? All published
produced, it was not possible to
fluency-then-accuracy approaches. contributions receive a prize!
establish the benefits of a full range of
discourse management strategies (asking Write to us or email:
follow-up questions, for example) and Bygate, M ‘Effects of task repetition: helena.gomm@pavpub.com
these figures are intended only to serve appraising the developing language of
as indicators of the broader potential learners’ In Willis, J and Willis, D (Eds)
Challenge and Change in Language
that task repetition may have, and to
encourage further investigation.
Teaching Macmillan Heinemann 1996
Doughty, C and Varela, E ‘Communicative
TALKBACK!
focus on form’ In Doughty, C and Do you have something to say about
Analysis Williams, J (Eds) Focus on Form in an article in the current issue of ETp?
These results suggest that task repetition Classroom Second Language Acquisition This is your magazine and we would
may be a powerful tool for improving CUP 1998
really like to hear from you.
the following elements of performance, Skehan, P ‘Second language acquisition
Write to us or email:
all of which produce a better effect on research and task-based instruction’ In
Willis, J and Willis, D (Eds) Challenge and helena.gomm@pavpub.com
the listener:
Change in Language Teaching Macmillan
Effective management of Heinemann 1996
communication strategies. Suan Chong, C ‘Dogme’ Presentation
given at the IATEFL conference, Harrogate
Writing for ETp
Smoother, more continuous delivery, 2010 Would you like to write for ETp? We are
and developing familiarisation with Thornbury, S ‘Awareness, appropriation always interested in new writers and
natural pace of speech. and autonomy’ English Teaching fresh ideas. For guidelines and advice,
Professional 40 2005 write to us or email:
Development of an awareness of Thornbury, S ‘Reformulation and
sentence complexity. helena.gomm@pavpub.com
restructuring: tasks that promote noticing’
ELT Journal 51 (4) 1997
Greater grammatical accuracy.
Phonological accuracy, especially over
Underhill, A Sound Foundations: Learning
and Teaching Pronunciation Macmillan
It really worked
longer phrases and sentence structures. 1994 for me!
(Crucially, it is these suprasegmental Willis, J A Framework for Task-Based
Did you get inspired by something
features which are considered by Learning Longman 1996
you read in ETp? Did you do
Adrian Underhill to be primary in the something similiar with your students?
phonological management of spoken James Pengelley is
currently a teacher at Did it really work in practice?
discourse.They are notoriously the British Council in Do share it with us ...
difficult for learners of English to Hong Kong, having
manage and, as Chia Suan Chong previously worked in helena.gomm@pavpub.com
Australia, Thailand and
points out, are often neglected by Colombia. He is an avid
mainstream materials.) swimmer, baker and
consumer of vast ENGLISH TEACHING professional
amounts of dark Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd,
chocolate, and loves
the occasional
Rayford House, School Road,
discussion on dealing Hove BN3 5HX, UK
Improvements in the accuracy of with phonology in the Fax: +44 (0)1273 227308
classroom.
language use have been demonstrated by Email: admin@pavpub.com
thehairychef@gmail.com
Bygate in TBL task cycle repetition. The

10 • Issue 90 January 2014 • ENGLISH TEACHING professional • www.etprofessional.com •