Craig Lambert is an Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Education at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. His research has appeared in Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Applied Linguistics, Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly and Language Teaching Research among other international journals and edited books. His own books include Referent Similarity and Nominal Syntax in Task-Based Language Teaching (Springer, 2019), Task-Based Language Teaching: Theory and Practice (with Rod Ellis & Peter Skehan) (Cambridge, 2020) and an edited book Using Tasks in Second Language Teaching: Practice in Diverse Contexts (with Rhonda Oliver) (Multilingual Matters, 2020). He guest edited a special issue of Language Teaching Research on Affective Factors in Second Language Task Design and Performance (21, 6, 2017) and received the Journal Article of the Year award from the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University in 2018. He currently supervises PhD students and teaches in the MATESOL program at Curtin University. Before 2015, he worked for more than 20 years as an English teacher, program coordinator and teacher trainer in Japan. He has also taught in MATESOL programs at Anaheim University in the United States and at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.
This book (to appear in 2024 by Cambridge University Press) will provide a guide to theoretically... more This book (to appear in 2024 by Cambridge University Press) will provide a guide to theoretically and empirical sound practices in designing, implementing and assessing tasks, together with a bank of task materials exemplifying these principles that will guide teachers in experimenting with the use of tasks in ways suited to their own teaching contexts. Combining the author’s knowledge of task-based language teaching research with over 20 years of experience in using tasks in foreign language teaching, materials writing, program coordination and teacher training, the book provides a range of theoretically and empirically sound options for planning lessons and courses. The book will be tailored to the needs of pre-service and in-service teachers, particularly those in contexts where opportunities for learners to use the target language are rare outside of those provided in the classroom community. In addition, case studies by experienced teachers who have successfully used tasks in foreign language teaching contexts will be included.
This edited book in the Routledge Second Language Acquisition Research Series (Series Editors: Su... more This edited book in the Routledge Second Language Acquisition Research Series (Series Editors: Susan M. Gass, Alison Mackey, Kimberly L. Geeslin) will bring together theory and research on the role that fluctuations in language learners’ affective responses to tasks play in their performance and learning through tasks and how these responses might be accurately measured. The book provides theoretical rationales and empirical tools for researching this critical and emerging dimension of task-based language teaching. The book will be essential for students and researchers who are interested in the role that learners’ affective responses to tasks play in promoting interest and effort in task-based language teaching.
This research monograph addresses an important gap in the literature on task design and second la... more This research monograph addresses an important gap in the literature on task design and second language use. Building on insights from over 50 years of research on the relationship between task demands and language use, the book examines how referent similarity relates to developmentally-related variation in the use of nominal structures, comparative structures and abstract lexis by second language speakers at the intermediate and advanced levels. In addition to providing an empirical basis for future research on tasks, information on task design of both a theoretical and practical nature is provided that curriculum and material developers will certainly find beneficial.
This special issue of Language Teaching Research addresses the gap in
the task-based language tea... more This special issue of Language Teaching Research addresses the gap in the task-based language teaching literature on the role of affect in task design and performance. It addresses the role of affect in task performance by focusing on how factors in the design and implementation of L2 tasks relate to the ways in which learners engage in meaning-focused L2 use during their performance. The six articles in the issue are derived from two conference colloquia. The first took place at the biannual Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) conference in Leuven, Belgium in September 2015, and the second took place a year later at the annual Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) conference at Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York City in September 2016. The theme of both of these colloquia was how independent factors in the design and implementation of tasks might be related to learners’ engagement in L2 use while performing them. In other words, both colloquia posited classroom motivation as a variable state which fluctuated in response to concrete factors in the design and implementation of tasks, on the one hand, and which had observable effects on objective measures of L2 use, on the other. Most of the studies in this special issue operationalize their measures of engagement based on Philp and Duchesne’s (2016) multi-faceted model of L2 learner engagement (for details, see Lambert, Philp & Nakamura, 2017).
This PhD dissertation investigates the relationship between the need for increased precision and ... more This PhD dissertation investigates the relationship between the need for increased precision and explicitness that referent similarity places on English speakers at different levels of proficiency and their use of developmentally more advanced English nominal constructions. The versions of the task used in the study were formatted to generate relatively extended discourse over which learners had freedom to select from the full range of their own linguistic resources in response to the respective task demands. The study then isolated the effects of three factors on this discourse: (1) referent similarity, (2) the referent being described, and (3) proficiency level. The results show that increased referent similarity was related to all facets of noun phrase complexity, the use of explicit comparative structures, and the use of developmentally more advanced relative clauses. In addition, the specific referent being described was related to lexical selection, and there was a significant interaction between this factor and the similarity factor. Finally, there was a negative relationship between speakers’ proficiency level and measures of syntactic complexity. In other words, higher proficiency speakers were able to complete the task set as a whole with more parsimonious use of nominal syntax than lower proficiency speakers. The study provides empirical support for the use of graded tasks in promoting more advanced language use in implicit approaches to instructed SLA. However, it also shows that while general factors in task design are likely to be powerful tools in instructional planning, such factors may not be completely independent from the effects of specific task exemplars on relevant aspects of L2 variation. Finally, the study also provides insight into the relationship between language proficiency and general measures of syntactic complexity that might inform future research on pedagogic task performance and L2 development.
The study investigated the impact of a goal-tracking system on learners’ engagement when using TB... more The study investigated the impact of a goal-tracking system on learners’ engagement when using TBLT in online spaces. A fully-online TBLT program was administered across the 2021 first-year English for International Communication (EIC) majors at a university in Thailand. The self-evaluation form was developed from the criteria of success in performing the English language task, namely - ‘giving local directions over the telephone’, which was identified based on a task-based needs analysis as being a critical task type for the learners . The study employed a 2x2 research design with group (goal tracking; non-goal tracking) as a between-subjects variable and test (pre-/post) as a within-subjects variable. The goal-tracking (G) group comprised 40 students, and the non-goal-tracking (NG) group, included 38 students. Initial comparability of the groups on the pre-test was established, and the engagement of the two groups was compared. Results revealed that the GT resulted in significantly higher task engagement than the NGT group (p = .009). In addition, almost all the groups’ engagement in language use (ELU) increased. The GT group improved more, in terms of engagement, on three measures of ELU, namely, the number of words (W), turns (T), and negotiations of meaning (NM). It is concluded that if learners are made aware of the criteria for successful performance and track their progress on these criteria, their engagement in tasks in online TBLT can be improved. In addition, the findings shed light on how goal tracking connects to L2 learning in general and how to promote learners’ engagement in online TBLT in particular.
Task design factors that can be used to control the linguistic processing demands of tasks are cr... more Task design factors that can be used to control the linguistic processing demands of tasks are critical for incidental approaches to language teaching. Equally important is the consistency with which these factors impact L2 production across pedagogic tasks of the same type. This article reports two studies which investigated the impact of one task design factor - the distinctiveness of the elements that must be identified in completing tasks - on developmentally-based measures of syntax and lexis across multiple exemplars of one task type. The first study of L1 users of English revealed that the need to identify abstract as opposed to concrete features of referents had significant effects on syntactic complexity, diversity and lexical abstractness. Furthermore, the impact on general measures of syntactic complexity and diversity was independent of specific tasks, whereas the impact on lexical selection and specific syntactic structures was partially dependent on the pedagogic task being completed. The second study of L2 users of English revealed similar effects on the complexity, diversity and abstractness of language used, but it also revealed specific ways in which L2 proficiency moderated task effects on language use. Results are discussed in terms of L2 task design and implementation.
To appear in Ahamadian, M. & Long, M. (eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching.
This case study describes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a two-year TBLT strand w... more This case study describes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a two-year TBLT strand within an English major curriculum at a Japanese university. The project took place over a five-year period between 2001 and 2006 in a relatively challenging context for TBLT. The prevailing opinion was that learners did not have specific needs for English, necessitating general language instruction. With the purpose of providing more focused, goal-oriented instruction, the project incorporated a task-based needs analysis (Long, 2005) that triangulated information from employment records, interviews and a sequence of surveys to build a consensus on the critical L2 tasks faced by graduates (Lambert, 2010). This information fed into the design, implementation and evaluation a two-year TBLT program. The case study describes the project as input for TBLT projects in similar contexts.
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching: Theory and Research
This chapter considers possibilities for employing psychophysiological technology and research me... more This chapter considers possibilities for employing psychophysiological technology and research methods in studying the role of affect in language performance and acquisition on pedagogic tasks. The chapter focuses primarily on the affordances of electroencephalography (EEG) and ways in which EEG data can be triangulated with eye tracking (ET), electrodermal activity (EDA) and automated facial expression analysis (FEA) using commercial software and sensors. This data can also be triangulated with the discourse analytic, non-verbal and self-report measures currently used in research on the role of affect in additional language acquisition. It is argued that a combination of psychophysiological and established measures can provide more objective insight into the role of affect in the initial stages of information processing and learning than has hitherto been possible. The chapter closes by providing some initial directions for research into this critical and emerging area of task-based language teaching (TBLT).
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching
This chapter introduces personal investment as a theoretical foundation to motivate research into... more This chapter introduces personal investment as a theoretical foundation to motivate research into the affective and conative dimensions of task-based language teaching (TBLT). Personal investment is defined as the meaningfulness that task content and outcomes have for learners in terms of their previous experiences and their physical, social or emotional needs in communicating. Following a discussion of personal investment theory in education and selfreference effects in cognitive psychology, personal investment is disambiguated from related constructs that have been discussed in the TBLT and SLA literature, and ways of operationalizing personal investment in that have been proposed in the literature are discussion. Following this, recent empirical research on personal investment in second language (L2) task design and performance is summarized, focusing on research on the impact of learner-generated as opposed to teacher-generated content. The chapter then points out directions for future research and closes with questions for ongoing discussion as well as suggestions for further reading.
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching: Theory and Research
This chapter provides an overview of measures of second language (L2) production that have been u... more This chapter provides an overview of measures of second language (L2) production that have been used to index learners' engagement in pedagogic task performance in task-based language teaching (TBLT) research. The chapter provides a basis for using discourse analytic methods in research on the role of the learner in L2 task performance. The advantages and limitation of discourse analytic methods are discussed, and it is suggested that these methods are most informative when complemented with additional measures, including the emerging methods discussed in subsequent chapters. The chapter closes with suggestions for the use of discourse analytic measures within a broader research agenda on the conative and affective dimensions of TBLT research.
The role of the learner in TBLT: Theory and Research
This chapter addresses some key terms and distinctions that are essential background to chapters ... more This chapter addresses some key terms and distinctions that are essential background to chapters that follow. The term task is defined in the context of task-based language teaching (TBLT), and the role of the learner within this paradigm is problematized. Following this, a distinction is made between affective and conative variables, and these variables positioned within the larger discourse of individual differences research in TBLT. Finally, a distinction is made between two complementary approaches to research (nomothetic & idiographic) as a basis for integrating the different perspectives, claims and suggestions for ongoing work discussed in the different chapters. Following this essential background, the respective parts of the books are introduced and a preview of the chapters contained in each is provided.
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching
In this concluding chapter, we draw on salient themes in the book to propose new directions for f... more In this concluding chapter, we draw on salient themes in the book to propose new directions for future TBLT research. First, the authors encourage investigations into the dynamic nature of affect, which is an emerging area in learner psychology but an under-researched one in TBLT. We argue that this area is necessary if researchers are to understand how the role of the learner in task-based learning evolves over time. Second, we recommend future researchers triangulate objectives measures (discourse, non-verbal behavior, psychophysiological) and subjective measures of affect (self-report data) to understand the affective dimension of TBLT more comprehensively. The use of multiple measurement methods is needed as each provides complementary information on the learner experience. Finally, the authors underscore the need for future TBLT research to remain grounded in providing practical, evidence-based advice for designing and implementing tasks in the language classroom to facilitate positive learner experiences.
Fluency on L2 speaking tasks requires the ability to parallel process speech (conceptualize, enco... more Fluency on L2 speaking tasks requires the ability to parallel process speech (conceptualize, encode, articulate and monitor messages simultaneously), and this requires access to language to be sufficiently automatized (Levelt, 1989). While this is typically not a problem for proficient speakers when completing new tasks, L2 learners must often serial process their speech (conceptualize and then encode messages) (Kormos, 2006). A key issue in task-based language teaching (TBLT) is how to support learners in moving from serial to parallel processing of the language that they bring to bear on new speaking tasks while still pushing more sophisticated content and language (Skehan, 2009). In this article, the authors provide a pedagogic framework to help teachers provide balanced planning and rehearsal opportunities to facilitate parallel processing as well as ongoing L2 development. We first present a theoretical model of L2 speech production and summarize recent research on the role of planning and rehearsal in supporting the stages of this model. We then outline a pedagogical framework for how pre-task preparation can be sequenced to support learners’ developing capacities to complete new and challenging speaking tasks and provide a walkthrough of a task-based instructional module to illustrate the framework.
This book (to appear in 2024 by Cambridge University Press) will provide a guide to theoretically... more This book (to appear in 2024 by Cambridge University Press) will provide a guide to theoretically and empirical sound practices in designing, implementing and assessing tasks, together with a bank of task materials exemplifying these principles that will guide teachers in experimenting with the use of tasks in ways suited to their own teaching contexts. Combining the author’s knowledge of task-based language teaching research with over 20 years of experience in using tasks in foreign language teaching, materials writing, program coordination and teacher training, the book provides a range of theoretically and empirically sound options for planning lessons and courses. The book will be tailored to the needs of pre-service and in-service teachers, particularly those in contexts where opportunities for learners to use the target language are rare outside of those provided in the classroom community. In addition, case studies by experienced teachers who have successfully used tasks in foreign language teaching contexts will be included.
This edited book in the Routledge Second Language Acquisition Research Series (Series Editors: Su... more This edited book in the Routledge Second Language Acquisition Research Series (Series Editors: Susan M. Gass, Alison Mackey, Kimberly L. Geeslin) will bring together theory and research on the role that fluctuations in language learners’ affective responses to tasks play in their performance and learning through tasks and how these responses might be accurately measured. The book provides theoretical rationales and empirical tools for researching this critical and emerging dimension of task-based language teaching. The book will be essential for students and researchers who are interested in the role that learners’ affective responses to tasks play in promoting interest and effort in task-based language teaching.
This research monograph addresses an important gap in the literature on task design and second la... more This research monograph addresses an important gap in the literature on task design and second language use. Building on insights from over 50 years of research on the relationship between task demands and language use, the book examines how referent similarity relates to developmentally-related variation in the use of nominal structures, comparative structures and abstract lexis by second language speakers at the intermediate and advanced levels. In addition to providing an empirical basis for future research on tasks, information on task design of both a theoretical and practical nature is provided that curriculum and material developers will certainly find beneficial.
This special issue of Language Teaching Research addresses the gap in
the task-based language tea... more This special issue of Language Teaching Research addresses the gap in the task-based language teaching literature on the role of affect in task design and performance. It addresses the role of affect in task performance by focusing on how factors in the design and implementation of L2 tasks relate to the ways in which learners engage in meaning-focused L2 use during their performance. The six articles in the issue are derived from two conference colloquia. The first took place at the biannual Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) conference in Leuven, Belgium in September 2015, and the second took place a year later at the annual Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) conference at Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York City in September 2016. The theme of both of these colloquia was how independent factors in the design and implementation of tasks might be related to learners’ engagement in L2 use while performing them. In other words, both colloquia posited classroom motivation as a variable state which fluctuated in response to concrete factors in the design and implementation of tasks, on the one hand, and which had observable effects on objective measures of L2 use, on the other. Most of the studies in this special issue operationalize their measures of engagement based on Philp and Duchesne’s (2016) multi-faceted model of L2 learner engagement (for details, see Lambert, Philp & Nakamura, 2017).
This PhD dissertation investigates the relationship between the need for increased precision and ... more This PhD dissertation investigates the relationship between the need for increased precision and explicitness that referent similarity places on English speakers at different levels of proficiency and their use of developmentally more advanced English nominal constructions. The versions of the task used in the study were formatted to generate relatively extended discourse over which learners had freedom to select from the full range of their own linguistic resources in response to the respective task demands. The study then isolated the effects of three factors on this discourse: (1) referent similarity, (2) the referent being described, and (3) proficiency level. The results show that increased referent similarity was related to all facets of noun phrase complexity, the use of explicit comparative structures, and the use of developmentally more advanced relative clauses. In addition, the specific referent being described was related to lexical selection, and there was a significant interaction between this factor and the similarity factor. Finally, there was a negative relationship between speakers’ proficiency level and measures of syntactic complexity. In other words, higher proficiency speakers were able to complete the task set as a whole with more parsimonious use of nominal syntax than lower proficiency speakers. The study provides empirical support for the use of graded tasks in promoting more advanced language use in implicit approaches to instructed SLA. However, it also shows that while general factors in task design are likely to be powerful tools in instructional planning, such factors may not be completely independent from the effects of specific task exemplars on relevant aspects of L2 variation. Finally, the study also provides insight into the relationship between language proficiency and general measures of syntactic complexity that might inform future research on pedagogic task performance and L2 development.
The study investigated the impact of a goal-tracking system on learners’ engagement when using TB... more The study investigated the impact of a goal-tracking system on learners’ engagement when using TBLT in online spaces. A fully-online TBLT program was administered across the 2021 first-year English for International Communication (EIC) majors at a university in Thailand. The self-evaluation form was developed from the criteria of success in performing the English language task, namely - ‘giving local directions over the telephone’, which was identified based on a task-based needs analysis as being a critical task type for the learners . The study employed a 2x2 research design with group (goal tracking; non-goal tracking) as a between-subjects variable and test (pre-/post) as a within-subjects variable. The goal-tracking (G) group comprised 40 students, and the non-goal-tracking (NG) group, included 38 students. Initial comparability of the groups on the pre-test was established, and the engagement of the two groups was compared. Results revealed that the GT resulted in significantly higher task engagement than the NGT group (p = .009). In addition, almost all the groups’ engagement in language use (ELU) increased. The GT group improved more, in terms of engagement, on three measures of ELU, namely, the number of words (W), turns (T), and negotiations of meaning (NM). It is concluded that if learners are made aware of the criteria for successful performance and track their progress on these criteria, their engagement in tasks in online TBLT can be improved. In addition, the findings shed light on how goal tracking connects to L2 learning in general and how to promote learners’ engagement in online TBLT in particular.
Task design factors that can be used to control the linguistic processing demands of tasks are cr... more Task design factors that can be used to control the linguistic processing demands of tasks are critical for incidental approaches to language teaching. Equally important is the consistency with which these factors impact L2 production across pedagogic tasks of the same type. This article reports two studies which investigated the impact of one task design factor - the distinctiveness of the elements that must be identified in completing tasks - on developmentally-based measures of syntax and lexis across multiple exemplars of one task type. The first study of L1 users of English revealed that the need to identify abstract as opposed to concrete features of referents had significant effects on syntactic complexity, diversity and lexical abstractness. Furthermore, the impact on general measures of syntactic complexity and diversity was independent of specific tasks, whereas the impact on lexical selection and specific syntactic structures was partially dependent on the pedagogic task being completed. The second study of L2 users of English revealed similar effects on the complexity, diversity and abstractness of language used, but it also revealed specific ways in which L2 proficiency moderated task effects on language use. Results are discussed in terms of L2 task design and implementation.
To appear in Ahamadian, M. & Long, M. (eds). The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching.
This case study describes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a two-year TBLT strand w... more This case study describes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a two-year TBLT strand within an English major curriculum at a Japanese university. The project took place over a five-year period between 2001 and 2006 in a relatively challenging context for TBLT. The prevailing opinion was that learners did not have specific needs for English, necessitating general language instruction. With the purpose of providing more focused, goal-oriented instruction, the project incorporated a task-based needs analysis (Long, 2005) that triangulated information from employment records, interviews and a sequence of surveys to build a consensus on the critical L2 tasks faced by graduates (Lambert, 2010). This information fed into the design, implementation and evaluation a two-year TBLT program. The case study describes the project as input for TBLT projects in similar contexts.
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching: Theory and Research
This chapter considers possibilities for employing psychophysiological technology and research me... more This chapter considers possibilities for employing psychophysiological technology and research methods in studying the role of affect in language performance and acquisition on pedagogic tasks. The chapter focuses primarily on the affordances of electroencephalography (EEG) and ways in which EEG data can be triangulated with eye tracking (ET), electrodermal activity (EDA) and automated facial expression analysis (FEA) using commercial software and sensors. This data can also be triangulated with the discourse analytic, non-verbal and self-report measures currently used in research on the role of affect in additional language acquisition. It is argued that a combination of psychophysiological and established measures can provide more objective insight into the role of affect in the initial stages of information processing and learning than has hitherto been possible. The chapter closes by providing some initial directions for research into this critical and emerging area of task-based language teaching (TBLT).
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching
This chapter introduces personal investment as a theoretical foundation to motivate research into... more This chapter introduces personal investment as a theoretical foundation to motivate research into the affective and conative dimensions of task-based language teaching (TBLT). Personal investment is defined as the meaningfulness that task content and outcomes have for learners in terms of their previous experiences and their physical, social or emotional needs in communicating. Following a discussion of personal investment theory in education and selfreference effects in cognitive psychology, personal investment is disambiguated from related constructs that have been discussed in the TBLT and SLA literature, and ways of operationalizing personal investment in that have been proposed in the literature are discussion. Following this, recent empirical research on personal investment in second language (L2) task design and performance is summarized, focusing on research on the impact of learner-generated as opposed to teacher-generated content. The chapter then points out directions for future research and closes with questions for ongoing discussion as well as suggestions for further reading.
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching: Theory and Research
This chapter provides an overview of measures of second language (L2) production that have been u... more This chapter provides an overview of measures of second language (L2) production that have been used to index learners' engagement in pedagogic task performance in task-based language teaching (TBLT) research. The chapter provides a basis for using discourse analytic methods in research on the role of the learner in L2 task performance. The advantages and limitation of discourse analytic methods are discussed, and it is suggested that these methods are most informative when complemented with additional measures, including the emerging methods discussed in subsequent chapters. The chapter closes with suggestions for the use of discourse analytic measures within a broader research agenda on the conative and affective dimensions of TBLT research.
The role of the learner in TBLT: Theory and Research
This chapter addresses some key terms and distinctions that are essential background to chapters ... more This chapter addresses some key terms and distinctions that are essential background to chapters that follow. The term task is defined in the context of task-based language teaching (TBLT), and the role of the learner within this paradigm is problematized. Following this, a distinction is made between affective and conative variables, and these variables positioned within the larger discourse of individual differences research in TBLT. Finally, a distinction is made between two complementary approaches to research (nomothetic & idiographic) as a basis for integrating the different perspectives, claims and suggestions for ongoing work discussed in the different chapters. Following this essential background, the respective parts of the books are introduced and a preview of the chapters contained in each is provided.
The Role of the Learner in Task-Based Language Teaching
In this concluding chapter, we draw on salient themes in the book to propose new directions for f... more In this concluding chapter, we draw on salient themes in the book to propose new directions for future TBLT research. First, the authors encourage investigations into the dynamic nature of affect, which is an emerging area in learner psychology but an under-researched one in TBLT. We argue that this area is necessary if researchers are to understand how the role of the learner in task-based learning evolves over time. Second, we recommend future researchers triangulate objectives measures (discourse, non-verbal behavior, psychophysiological) and subjective measures of affect (self-report data) to understand the affective dimension of TBLT more comprehensively. The use of multiple measurement methods is needed as each provides complementary information on the learner experience. Finally, the authors underscore the need for future TBLT research to remain grounded in providing practical, evidence-based advice for designing and implementing tasks in the language classroom to facilitate positive learner experiences.
Fluency on L2 speaking tasks requires the ability to parallel process speech (conceptualize, enco... more Fluency on L2 speaking tasks requires the ability to parallel process speech (conceptualize, encode, articulate and monitor messages simultaneously), and this requires access to language to be sufficiently automatized (Levelt, 1989). While this is typically not a problem for proficient speakers when completing new tasks, L2 learners must often serial process their speech (conceptualize and then encode messages) (Kormos, 2006). A key issue in task-based language teaching (TBLT) is how to support learners in moving from serial to parallel processing of the language that they bring to bear on new speaking tasks while still pushing more sophisticated content and language (Skehan, 2009). In this article, the authors provide a pedagogic framework to help teachers provide balanced planning and rehearsal opportunities to facilitate parallel processing as well as ongoing L2 development. We first present a theoretical model of L2 speech production and summarize recent research on the role of planning and rehearsal in supporting the stages of this model. We then outline a pedagogical framework for how pre-task preparation can be sequenced to support learners’ developing capacities to complete new and challenging speaking tasks and provide a walkthrough of a task-based instructional module to illustrate the framework.
This study compares the effectiveness of three instructional interventions on the uptake and tran... more This study compares the effectiveness of three instructional interventions on the uptake and transfer of relative clauses (RCs) in the performance of picture-based oral narrative tasks. These interventions were: (1) focus on forms (FonFs); (2) focus on meaning (FonM), and (3) focus on form (FonF). 36 Chinese ESL learners participated in the study. The study employed a pre-test, post-test, and delayed post-test design. Results revealed that FonM did not promote uptake or transfer of RCs, and that FonFs and FonF had comparable effects on the uptake and transfer of RCs to novel versions of the task type. The study demonstrates that form-focused instruction was essential in promoting uptake and transfer and that FonF which is used in task-based language teaching (Long, 2015) was as effective as FonFs which is used in traditional present-practice-produced (PPP) instruction and task-supported language teaching (TSLT). The results of the study are discussed in terms of the need for context-appropriate decision-making choosing language- focused L2 interventions.
This paper provides detailed descriptions of the multimodal (non-verbal) resources (gaze, gesture... more This paper provides detailed descriptions of the multimodal (non-verbal) resources (gaze, gesture, facial expression, head movement, and posture/proxemics) used by four intermediate and advanced learners of Chinese as a Foreign Language when engaged in face-to-face conversations on learner-generated content tasks. It also considers the use of these resources in terms of these learners’ recall of verbal expressions used. Results suggest that combinations of multimodal recourses used for enacting social relations and for expressing attitudes, as enacted through mutual postural alignment/proxemics and internally-focused gestures, frequently accompanied learners’ recall of expressions that they used. Conversely, illustrative gestures used by participants for expressing experiential meaning may have distracted their conversational partner. The study draws attention to the potential role of non-verbal resources in communicative task performance and provides direction for research on the impact of non-verbal behaviour on second language task performance and learning.
This study investigates the effect of personal investment in the form of learner-generated conten... more This study investigates the effect of personal investment in the form of learner-generated content (LGC) on the lexical recall of beginning-level learners of Chinese. The study employed a 2x2 repeated-measures design with content at two levels (TGC, LGC) and time at two levels (immediate, delayed). Quantitative results were triangulated with qualitative thematic analyses of follow-up interviews. The study was conducted at an Australian university and aimed to identify a way of modifying current intentional vocabulary learning activities to increase learner investment in the learning process and improve retention. Participants completed two versions of a picture description activity that was commonly used to introduce and practice new vocabulary in the program. The first version (TGC) was based on a picture that Chinese teachers chose to illustrate ten words learners did not know and that were pedagogic targets. The second (LGC) was based on pictures that learners selected as being personally meaningful and that illustrated ten words that they did not know in Chinese but wanted to learn. Findings revealed significant differences in recall for LGC words over TGC words on both immediate and delayed post-tests, and a significant interaction between content and time, demonstrating a faster rate of decay in memory for TGC words than LGC words. Follow-up interviews indicated that LGC words were more meaningful to learners in terms of relevance, interest, emotional value and associations with world knowledge. Results are discussed in terms of how LGC vocabulary activities might be used into L2 courses.
This study investigates the relative effects of four forms of task preparation on L2 speech produ... more This study investigates the relative effects of four forms of task preparation on L2 speech production. 144 Japanese speakers of English (four groups of 36) completed an oral opinion task after 10 minutes of preparation. The same task repetition condition (STR) involved four iterations of the same pedagogic task (same procedures; same content), the parallel task repetition condition (PTR) involved four iterations the same type of task (same procedures; different content), the L1 planning condition (L1P) involved dyadic planning for the task in Japanese, and the L2 planning condition (L2P) involved the same in English. The effects of these task implementation options were compared in terms of measures of conceptualization, formulation, and monitoring of L2 speech production (Levelt, 1989; Kormos, 2006) as well as overall L2 speech fluency during task performance. Results suggest that different preparatory options might support L2 learners’ speech production in complementary ways by alternately reducing the conceptualization, formulation and monitoring demands that they face on tasks. The results of the study provide an initial basis for using preparation to effectively support L2 learners' emerging abilities to parallel process content (what they will say) and language (how they will say it) during real-time speech production (Skehan, 2014). Options for sequencing preparatory support in task-based language teaching are discussed which involve initially providing learners with more support in performing a new task type and then gradually reducing this support until they can meet the L2 speech production demands of the task without preparation (Long, 2015; Robinson, 2011).
Research on pre-task planning to date has mainly focused on task performance. However, the effect... more Research on pre-task planning to date has mainly focused on task performance. However, the effects of planning are contingent on what learners actually do during planning time. One important factor that may determine the quality and usefulness of planning is whether it is done in the first language (L1) or the second language (L2). This research addresses this issue by investigating the relative benefits of collaborative planning in the L1 and L2 in terms of ideas used in an oral problem-solving task. 72 Japanese EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of two planning conditions: L1P (L1 planning, Japanese) and L2P (L2 planning, English). Dyads in each group were given 10 minutes to plan the content of a problem-solving task in the respective languages before individually performing a timed 2.5-minute oral task. Data took the form of transcribed planning discussions and transcribed task performances. All data were coded for idea units and sorted into the categories of Hoey’s (1983, 2001) problem-solution discourse structure (situation, problem, response, evaluation). Findings indicate the L1P condition has significant advantages over the L2P condition in terms of idea conceptualization while planning in the L1, but this advantage had a limited impact on subsequent L2 task performance. Pedagogical implications are discussed in terms of possibilities for productively incorporating the L1 during task implementation in foreign language contexts where learners share a common language.
Task-based language teaching research has investigated the impact of planning on task-performance... more Task-based language teaching research has investigated the impact of planning on task-performance, but little has been reported on the processes that take when planning is undertaken (Skehan, 2018). This paper builds on previous planning research by providing a detailed analysis of four Japanese university learners’ collaborative pre-task planning (two dyads) and their performance on a subsequent L2 oral monologue task that required them to express their opinions on a problem and propose a solution to it. Follow-up interviews incorporating stimulated recall were also conducted to gain insight into learners’ perceptions. Results suggest that the note-taking strategies employed, the interpersonal dynamics of the pairs, the second language proficiency of the participants, and the language of planning (L1 or L2) resulted in important differences in these learners’ planning processes and subsequent task performances. These results are discussed in terms of how pre-task planning processes might be optimized in teaching and research
This two-day event is a joint conference hosted by the Applied Linguistic Research Forum at Curti... more This two-day event is a joint conference hosted by the Applied Linguistic Research Forum at Curtin University and the Modern Language Teachers' Association of Western Australia.
The colloquium will be devoted to issues in the assessment of
implicit language knowledge. This e... more The colloquium will be devoted to issues in the assessment of implicit language knowledge. This event will include international guest speakers from Japan and New Zealand as well as Academic staff and PhD students working on this topic from Curtin University. This is the first in a biannual series of colloquia that will organised to investigate current topics in Applied Linguistics. For information on upcoming events and calls for papers please contact Craig Lambert <craig.lambert@curtin.edu.au> to be added to our mailing list.
Although task-based approaches to L2 instruction have become increasingly popular over the last t... more Although task-based approaches to L2 instruction have become increasingly popular over the last three decades, research has focused primarily on the effects of task design and implementation on the negotiation of meaning or on the complexity, accuracy and fluency of L2 production. The role of tasks in improving learners' motivational intensity and quality of engagement in task performance has been of continuous interest to practitioners and researchers alike, but it has received relatively little empirical attention. A better understanding of how tasks relate to learners' affective responses and their engagement in performance is thus important to research on individual differences in task-based L2 learning as well as efforts to improve instructional practice and the quality of task performance in the L2 classroom. This colloquium investigates how specific design and implementation variables affect the quality of learners' engagement in task performance as well as their subjective responses to tasks. It begins with an introduction by the organizer which will provide a theoretical framework for conceptualizing the relationships between tasks, learners' affective responses, and learners' engagement in performance to contextualize the empirical studies that follow. The first of these studies compares the effects of tasks operating on learner-generated as opposed to teacher-generated content on a multidimensional model of engagement in L2 task performance based on an extensive review of the engagement literature (Philp & Duchesne, 2016). The study provides an example of how tasks might be designed to create a more meaningful role for learners and encourage them to invest their personal resources (e.g., time, talents, ideas, energy) into task performance thus becoming more socially, cognitively and behaviorally engaged in language use. In order to examine learners' engagement in the performance of a task, however, it is useful to examine both their performance of the task and their subjective responses to it. Few studies have adopted this approach to date. The second study by Linh Phung tackled this by asking learners to perform two tasks, examining the extent to which these tasks resulted in the negotiation of meaning and then exploring their subjective views about the tasks through an interview. In the third study, Xuyan Qiu investigates the effect of content familiarity on learners' affective responses to tasks as well as their engagement in performance, providing evidence for how tasks might be implemented to improve learner engagement. In the fourth study, Scott Aubrey turns his attention to improving learners' responses to tasks, investigating how pedagogic interventions aimed at increasing learners' contact with members of other cultural groups can improve the attainment of 'flow' (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) when performing tasks in the classroom. In the final study, Evgenia Vassilaki and colleagues take a broader, more holistic perspective on the effect of tasks on performance based on a large-scale study of task engagement in teaching Greek as an L2 to various immigrant groups in Greece. The study identifies key characteristics of tasks that are argued, based on observations, interviews and multimodal task outcomes, to have increased learners' personal investment in their learning during the project and consequently to have improved the quality of their performance. Like the study by Phung, the last study thus begins to address the question, long overlooked in the TBLT literature, of what makes some tasks inherently more motivating for learners than others. The colloquium will close with a discussion by Rod Ellis on the implications of the studies for TBLT and SLA by indicating directions for future research on the role of task design and implementation variables in motivating learners' engagement in task performance.
Although task-based approaches to organizing L2 instruction have become increasingly popular over... more Although task-based approaches to organizing L2 instruction have become increasingly popular over the last three decades, research has focused primarily on the effects of task design on the negotiation of meaning or on the complexity, accuracy and fluency of L2 production. The role of tasks in improving learners’ motivational intensity and engagement in language use, on the other hand, has been of continuous interest to practitioners and researchers alike, but it has received relatively little empirical attention. Recently, however, theoretical models of task-based L2 performance have begun to posit moderating effects for such factors (e.g., Robinson, 2011). It is now generally agreed that an understanding of learners’ affective responses to tasks, and individual difference variables generally, is essential to making accurate predictions about the role of tasks in L2 performance. Ushioda (2014), for example, stresses the importance of empirical work on the interaction between individual difference factors in task-based performance, as tasks are a locus where affective dispositions and motivational characteristics are manifest. A better understanding of these variables is necessary to bridge the gap between research on task-based L2 learning and individual differences. How affective factors might be operationalized and measured is thus important to both task-based in instructional theory and practice.
This colloquium begins to address this gap in the task-based research literature by considering how specific factors in the design of L2 tasks can be hypothesized to relate to the way learners respond to task-based instruction and engage in L2 speech during task performance. The colloquium will begin with a brief introduction to provide a theoretical framework for conceptualizing the relationship between task design and learners’ willingness to become engaged in tasks and to maintain that engagement and to introduce a construct of engagement specific to L2 learners. The first presentation by Craig Lambert and Jenefer Philp then reports on an empirical study of the effects two factors in the design of L2 task sequences (leaner-generated content and post-task goal-tracking) on multiple triangulated measures of the behavioral, cognitive, social and linguistic engagement of 32 Japanese learners of English at the intermediate and advanced proficiency levels in a Japanese university. The second study then provides an interesting perspective on how such ideas can be implemented in the classroom and the effects that they have on in situ task engagement. In a semester-long classroom-based study of four intact groups of beginning-level Japanese university learners, Robert Stroud investigates the effect of an innovative goal-tracking system which combines pre-task and post-task self-assessments with the use of point cards exchanged between students during task performance to provide immediate online feedback and reinforce both the essential and the elaborative contributions that they make while participating. In the third study, Yuko Butler then looks more closely at the essential question, long overlooked in the TBLT literature, of what makes some tasks inherently more motivating for learners than others. Butler worked with 82 elementary school children in Japan to identify and select elements and structures of video learning games that, from children’s points of view, were both attractive and effective for L2 learning. Finally, in the last study, Yvonne Préfontaine and Judit Kormos consider the broader picture of how affective variables such as interest, task-related anxiety, motivation and perceived success in task completion - all potentially related to the treatments discussed in the previous papers - relate to improved L2 speech performance. Their study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the relationship between the oral fluency of forty adult learners of French at different levels of L2 proficiency on narrative tasks of differing conceptual demands and these learners’ responses to a questionnaire on their affective disposition toward the tasks. In incorporating tasks of different conceptual demands, the final study draws attention to the important moderating effects that affective variables are likely to have on variables used in the grading and sequencing of tasks in L2 instruction. The colloquium will close with a discussion by Professor Rod Ellis on the implications of the studies for the field of SLA and directions for future research on the role of affective factors in L2 task performance.
Schedule 1. Introduction: Affective Factors in Second Language Task Design and Performance Craig Lambert (Curtin University) and Jenefer Philp (Lancaster University) 5 minutes 2. Learner-Generated Content, Goal-Tracking, and Learner Engagement in L2 Task Performance Craig Lambert (Curtin University) and Jenefer Philp (Lancaster University) 25 minutes 3. Goal-setting and engagement: a study of lower-level Japanese learners of English Robert Stroud (Kwansei Gakuin University) 25 minutes 4. The Attractiveness and Effectiveness of Computer-Based Instructional Games for Young L2 Learners Yuko Butler (University of Pennsylvania) 25 minutes 5. Affective Factors and L2 Speech Performance: A Study of Adult Learners of French at Different Levels of Proficiency Yvonne Préfontaine (Lancaster University) and Judit Kormos (Lancaster University) 25 minutes 6. Discussion Rod Ellis (University of Auckland) 15 minutes Total Time: 120 Minutes
The keynote talk in this one-day colloquium will provide an introduction to what tasks are, how t... more The keynote talk in this one-day colloquium will provide an introduction to what tasks are, how they can be used in teaching, and how teachers know if they work. Specific presentations will then address how input tasks can be used to improve learning with beginning level Japanese students, how simple speaking tasks can be created to push students to use more advanced language, and how grammar instruction might be supported with tasks. The other events in the program include a reception to allow participants to socialize as well as a final panel discussion in which participants can ask questions and talk about problems they foresee in using tasks with Japanese students.
Schedule of Events
10:30-12:00: Rod Ellis, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Using Tasks in Task-Based and Task-Supported Language Teaching
12:10-13:00: Craig Lambert, University of Kitakyushu, Japan
Using Task-Based Teaching to Advance Language Use
13:00-14:00: Reception (Lunch Break)
14:00-14:50: Colin Thompson, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Using Task-Supported Teaching to Improve Grammar Instruction
15:00-16:30: Natsuko Shintani, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Using Tasks with Beginning Level Japanese Learners
16:30-17:00: Panel Discussion
Participants will have a chance to raise questions and concerns about using tasks in Japanese schools generally, as well as in situations that they face in their own schools and their own classes.
Professor Ellis will be presenting a chapter from his upcoming book on the issue of learner feed... more Professor Ellis will be presenting a chapter from his upcoming book on the issue of learner feedback from the theoretical perspective of universal grammar, cognitive-interaction, and socio-cultural accounts of second language acquisition. The talk will addresses practical questions including: (1) whether learners’ errors should be corrected, (2) when they should be corrected, (3) which errors should be corrected, (4) how they should be corrected, and (5) who should do the correcting. Issues of recasts, prompts, implicit and explicit feedback, as well as the need for ‘graduated’ feedback will be addressed.
In this presentation I describe the theoretical rationale for a research program into the effects... more In this presentation I describe the theoretical rationale for a research program into the effects of task demands on speech production and learning. Specifically I describe the rationale for the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced from simple to complex for learners, and that this will have measurable effects on promoting accuracy, fluency and complexity of speech, and also promote uptake, incorporation and retention of language in the input to task performance. I also describe factors contributing to perceptions of task `difficulty`, and describe how these moderator variables can be accommodated in future research into task-learner interactions. Some recent studies of these issues are reported in conclusion.
The Curtin University School of Education and the Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Weste... more The Curtin University School of Education and the Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Western Australia (MLTWA) invite papers for the 4th Biannual Conference on Applied Linguistics / 2018 MLTAWA Biennial State Conference to be held at Curtin University 20-21 July 2018. The conference is designed for teachers and pre-service teachers of Languages and EALD, students of Linguistics and academics.
As a member of the IRIS advisory board, I recommend that you have a look at the downloadable rese... more As a member of the IRIS advisory board, I recommend that you have a look at the downloadable research materials uploaded onto IRIS (a digital repository of instruments and materials for research into second languages):
I will soon be uploaded all of the tasks and materials that I have used in my own research onto the site. If you decide to use any of the materials on the site in a replication study, you might also consider applying for the replication award:
We would like to announce a new edited book on implemented task-based language teaching. The work... more We would like to announce a new edited book on implemented task-based language teaching. The working title is Task-Based Language Teaching in Diverse Contexts: A Guide to TBLT Practices. We are interested in accounts of how theory related to the use of tasks in language teaching is put into practice within the constraints and limitations of diverse educational contexts internationally. Studies might address how tasks are selected and designed according to context and the effect of tasks on learners' engagement, language use or language learning as well as on the affective responses of learners. We are also interested in how TBLT has been realized in published textbook projects and the factors determining publisher's policies toward TBLT. Macro-evaluations and micro-evaluations of tasks are welcome, as are ethnographic studies, but all studies should demonstrate sound research methods and have clear implications for instructional practice and future research. Proposals for planned studies to be conducted in late 2017 following our feedback on initial abstracts and written up in early 2018 are also very welcome.
This course, organized around the general theme of international travel and tourism was designed ... more This course, organized around the general theme of international travel and tourism was designed for an undergraduate oral English program at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan, but may be adaptable to other contexts. The course assumes that learners have a basic knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, but lack experience using the language for communication.
Although each four-page unit was designed for one 90-minute session, in contexts where classes meet for 60 minutes, it may be possible to complete each unit in two class sessions. The first two pages of the unit (Steps 1-3) might be completed in the first class session, and the final two-pages (Steps 4 and 5) might be completed in the second class session.
The text might also be used to provide an oral English supplement to programs based on more traditional syllabuses. In such cases, it is recommended that the teacher implement these materials independently and allow learners to draw on their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources in completing the tasks rather than trying to use the tasks to practice the language content being taught in other class sessions.
Audio files for listening activities available on request.
This course is designed for use in oral English courses in Japanese universities. Assuming that ... more This course is designed for use in oral English courses in Japanese universities. Assuming that courses meet one time each week for 90 minutes, it is flexible enough to be used selectively in one-term courses or more fully drawn out in two-term courses. The flexibly of the design allows instructors to meet the needs of the specific learners and educational contexts throughout Japan.
The content is very well suited to learners at the false-beginner and intermediate levels. It assumes that learners have a basic knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary in line with the structural syllabus of the national curriculum established by the Japanese Board of Education, but lack experience using this language for communication. The course is specifically designed to help such learners activate the English that they have learned in secondary school for oral communication as well as further develop it in line with the demands of tasks which are representative of the communicative demands that they will face in their future lives and careers in Japan. Furthermore, as the tasks were developed in Japan, they are particularly compatible with the background knowledge and learning styles of university-level Japanese learners.
This course was designed for an undergraduate oral English program at the University of Kitakyush... more This course was designed for an undergraduate oral English program at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan, but may be adaptable to use in other contexts. The course assumes that learners have a basic knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, but lack experience using the language for communication.
Although each four-page unit was designed for one 90-minute session, in contexts where classes meet for 60 minutes, it may be possible to complete each unit in two class sessions. The first two pages of the unit (Steps 1-3) might be completed in the first class session, and the final two-pages (Steps 4 and 5) might be completed in the second class session.
The text might also be used to provide an oral English supplement to programs based on more traditional syllabuses. In such cases, it is recommended that the teacher implement these materials independently and allow learners to draw on their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources in completing the tasks rather than trying to use the tasks to practice the language content being taught in other class sessions.
Learners spend the majority of each class session completing a balance of input-based and output-based communication tasks in pairs and small groups. The tasks were chosen based on their relevance to the communicative needs of Japanese university learners. They were then tailored to the classroom based on the background and learning styles of these learners. Whether learners will work in business, education, the travel industry, or use English recreationally in Japan or while traveling abroad, the ability to complete certain basic communication tasks in English is essential. The course aims to develop language in line with the demands of communication. The tasks sequences generally move from the simple to the complex, the essential to the incidental, the familiar to the unfamiliar. Throughout the course, the learning occurs through communication rather than in preparation for it.
The input-based versions of each task consist of proficient speakers completing the task(s) that learners are working on in each unit. These are provided on the accompanying Audio CD for use in the classroom and are transcribed as an appendix for learners. Meaning and form-focused listening activities provide comprehensible task-based input and direct attention to key aspects of language form. Importantly, these samples aim to provide learners with exposure to a variety of ways in which each task might be completed. Learners are left to choose language for doing the task that is in line with their own personalities and levels of development. Finally, an attempt has been made to provide learners with opportunities to work on tasks that operate on learner-generated content as well as those that operate on provided content. Learners thus move from the known to the new, incorporating new language and ideas into their current knowledge.
This four-level course was designed for use in a two-year undergraduate oral English program at t... more This four-level course was designed for use in a two-year undergraduate oral English program at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan, but may be adaptable to use in other contexts. The course assumes that learners have a basic knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary, but lack experience using the language for communication.
Although each four-page unit was designed for one 90-minute session, in contexts where classes meet for 60 minutes, it may be possible to complete each unit in two class sessions. The first two pages of the unit (Steps 1-3) might be completed in the first class session, and the final two-pages (Steps 4 and 5) might be completed in the second class session.
The text might also be used to provide an oral English supplement to programs based on more traditional syllabuses. In such cases, it is recommended that the teacher implement these materials independently and allow learners to draw on their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources in completing the tasks rather than trying to use the tasks to practice the language content being taught in other class sessions.
This study investigates the effect of personal investment in the form of learner-generated conten... more This study investigates the effect of personal investment in the form of learner-generated content (LGC) on the lexical recall of beginning-level learners of Chinese. The study employed a 2 × 2 repeated-measures design with content at two levels – teacher-generated content or TGC, and learner-generated content or LGC – and time at two levels (immediate, delayed). Quantitative results were triangulated with qualitative thematic analyses of follow-up interviews. The study was conducted at an Australian university and aimed to identify a way of modifying current intentional vocabulary learning activities to increase learner investment in the learning process and improve retention. Participants completed two versions of a picture description activity that was commonly used to introduce and practice new vocabulary in the program. The first version (TGC) was based on a picture that Chinese teachers chose to illustrate ten words learners did not know and that were pedagogic targets. The se...
This article provides a practical introduction to gaining maximum benefits from the repetition of... more This article provides a practical introduction to gaining maximum benefits from the repetition of tasks in the language classroom. The article is intended to complement Lambert, Kormos and Minn (2016) with a practitioner’s guide to tasks in language teaching. It begins with a discussion of the essential characteristics of tasks as pedagogic tools and the role that they play in L2 learning. This is followed by a discussion of the importance of task frequency in the learning process and how task repetition in the classroom might pose threats to the integrity of tasks as L2 learning tools. Finally, the last section discusses implementation strategies to ensure adequate task frequency while at the same time preserving task integrity, promoting optimum transfer of practice across tasks, and minimizing learner fatigue in repeating the same task multiple times. This section also discusses optional modifications to the basic approach to implementing tasks which can be used to optimize different aspects of learners’ performance across a task sequence. The article thus provides a practical basis for teachers to experiment with task-based language teaching in their own classrooms in order to determine what works best for their learners and in their educational contexts
This study investigates the benefits of designing second language (L2) learning tasks to operate ... more This study investigates the benefits of designing second language (L2) learning tasks to operate on learner-generated content (related to actual content in their lives and experiences) as opposed to teacher-generated content typical of current approaches to L2 task design (fictitious ideas and events created to provide an opportunity for meaningful language use). Thirty-two Japanese learners completed parallel versions of narrative tasks, which operated on learner-generated content and teacher-generated content respectively. Learner engagement in L2 use was measured in terms of behavioral, cognitive, and social components: behavioral engagement was measured in terms of effort and persistence in task completion; cognitive engagement in terms of attention to elaborating and clarifying content; and social engagement in terms of participants’ affiliation in the discourse. Results indicate that tasks operating on learner-generated as opposed to teacher-generated content had positive effe...
Traditional approaches to curriculum design and development draw a three-way distinction between ... more Traditional approaches to curriculum design and development draw a three-way distinction between syllabus design, methodology and assessment / evaluation. Syllabus design is concerned with selecting, sequencing and justifying content. Methodology is concerned with selecting, sequencing and justifying learning experiences and processes. Assessment is concerned with measuring learner outcomes, and evaluation is concerned with determining how well the curriculum has served the needs of the learners. From this traditional perspective, task selection and design has to do with methodology, and the notion of &amp;#39;task-based syllabus design&amp;#39; is a contradiction in terms. However, with the emergence of communicative language teaching (CLT) this all changed. CLT reconceptualized language, not as lists of content to be memorized, but as sets of procedures for achieving communication. From this point of view, the distinction between syllabus design and methodology became difficult to sustain. Certainly, the view presented in this paper is that the use of &amp;#39;task&amp;#39; as a basic building block for syllabus design is justifiable.
Task-based language teaching research has investigated the impact of planning on task performance... more Task-based language teaching research has investigated the impact of planning on task performance, but little has been reported on the processes that take place while planning is undertaken. This study builds on previous planning research by providing a detailed analysis of four Japanese university learners’ collaborative pre-task planning (two dyads) and their performance on a subsequent second language (L2) oral monologue task that required them to express their opinions on a problem and propose a solution to it. Follow-up interviews incorporating stimulated recall were also conducted to gain insight into learners’ perceptions. Results suggest that the note-taking strategies employed, the interpersonal dynamics of the pairs, the L2 proficiency of the participants, and the language of planning (first language [L1] or L2) resulted in important differences in these learners’ planning processes and subsequent task performances. The results are discussed in terms of how pre-task planni...
Research on pre-task planning to date has mainly focused on task performance. However, the effect... more Research on pre-task planning to date has mainly focused on task performance. However, the effects of planning are contingent on what learners actually do during planning time. One important factor that may determine the quality and usefulness of planning is whether it is done in the first language (L1) or the second language (L2). This research addresses this issue by investigating the relative benefits of collaborative planning in the L1 and L2 in terms of ideas generated and transferred to an oral problem-solving task. Seventy-two Japanese university EFL learners were randomly assigned to one of two planning conditions: L1P (L1 planning, Japanese) and L2P (L2 planning, English). Dyads in each group were given 10 minutes to plan the content of a problem-solving task in the respective languages before individually performing the timed 2.5-minute oral task. Data took the form of transcribed planning discussions and transcribed task performances. All data were coded for idea units an...
This article surveys how complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) have been operationalized in stu... more This article surveys how complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) have been operationalized in studies of task-based L2 production, pointing out some problems with this approach and the need for more precise information about L2 development during task performance. Research into developing L1 text construction ability is then discussed and some approaches for establishing measures of the relevant constructs in L2 performance are suggested.
Abstract This article introduces an approach to planning sequences of communication tasks that re... more Abstract This article introduces an approach to planning sequences of communication tasks that require learners to become personally involved in their learning. By drawing on their own ideas and experiences, as a product of earlier tasks in a given sequence, learners ...
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Books by Craig Lambert
Contents
Section 1. Introduction
1. The pedagogic background to TBLT
Section 2. Theoretical perspectives
2. Cognitive- interactionist perspectives
3. Psycholinguistic perspectives
4. Sociocultural perspectives
5. Psychological perspectives
6. Educational perspectives
Section 3. Pedagogical perspectives
7. The task-based syllabus
8. The methodology of task-based teaching
9. Task-based assessment
Section 4: Investigating TBLT programmes
10. Comparative method studies
11. Evaluating TBLT programmes
Section 5. Moving Forward
12. Responding to the critics of TBLT
13. Moving forward
the task-based language teaching literature on the role of affect in task design and performance. It addresses the role of affect in task performance by focusing on how factors in the design and implementation of L2 tasks relate to the ways in which learners engage in meaning-focused L2 use during their performance. The six articles in the issue are derived from two conference colloquia. The first took place at the biannual Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) conference in Leuven, Belgium in September 2015, and the second took place a year later at the annual Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) conference at Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York City in September 2016. The theme of both of these colloquia was how independent factors in the design and implementation of tasks might be related to learners’ engagement in L2 use while performing them. In other words, both colloquia posited classroom motivation as a variable state which fluctuated in response to concrete factors in the design and implementation of tasks, on the one hand, and which had observable effects on objective measures of L2 use, on the other. Most of the studies in this special issue operationalize their measures of engagement based on Philp and Duchesne’s (2016) multi-faceted model of L2 learner engagement (for details, see Lambert, Philp & Nakamura, 2017).
The results show that increased referent similarity was related to all facets of noun phrase complexity, the use of explicit comparative structures, and the use of developmentally more advanced relative clauses. In addition, the specific referent being described was related to lexical selection, and there was a significant interaction between this factor and the similarity factor. Finally, there was a negative relationship between speakers’ proficiency level and measures of syntactic complexity. In other words, higher proficiency speakers were able to complete the task set as a whole with more parsimonious use of nominal syntax than lower proficiency speakers.
The study provides empirical support for the use of graded tasks in promoting more advanced language use in implicit approaches to instructed SLA. However, it also shows that while general factors in task design are likely to be powerful tools in instructional planning, such factors may not be completely independent from the effects of specific task exemplars on relevant aspects of L2 variation. Finally, the study also provides insight into the relationship between language proficiency and general measures of syntactic complexity that might inform future research on pedagogic task performance and L2 development.
Journal Articles/Book Chapters by Craig Lambert
Contents
Section 1. Introduction
1. The pedagogic background to TBLT
Section 2. Theoretical perspectives
2. Cognitive- interactionist perspectives
3. Psycholinguistic perspectives
4. Sociocultural perspectives
5. Psychological perspectives
6. Educational perspectives
Section 3. Pedagogical perspectives
7. The task-based syllabus
8. The methodology of task-based teaching
9. Task-based assessment
Section 4: Investigating TBLT programmes
10. Comparative method studies
11. Evaluating TBLT programmes
Section 5. Moving Forward
12. Responding to the critics of TBLT
13. Moving forward
the task-based language teaching literature on the role of affect in task design and performance. It addresses the role of affect in task performance by focusing on how factors in the design and implementation of L2 tasks relate to the ways in which learners engage in meaning-focused L2 use during their performance. The six articles in the issue are derived from two conference colloquia. The first took place at the biannual Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) conference in Leuven, Belgium in September 2015, and the second took place a year later at the annual Second Language Research Forum (SLRF) conference at Columbia University Teacher’s College in New York City in September 2016. The theme of both of these colloquia was how independent factors in the design and implementation of tasks might be related to learners’ engagement in L2 use while performing them. In other words, both colloquia posited classroom motivation as a variable state which fluctuated in response to concrete factors in the design and implementation of tasks, on the one hand, and which had observable effects on objective measures of L2 use, on the other. Most of the studies in this special issue operationalize their measures of engagement based on Philp and Duchesne’s (2016) multi-faceted model of L2 learner engagement (for details, see Lambert, Philp & Nakamura, 2017).
The results show that increased referent similarity was related to all facets of noun phrase complexity, the use of explicit comparative structures, and the use of developmentally more advanced relative clauses. In addition, the specific referent being described was related to lexical selection, and there was a significant interaction between this factor and the similarity factor. Finally, there was a negative relationship between speakers’ proficiency level and measures of syntactic complexity. In other words, higher proficiency speakers were able to complete the task set as a whole with more parsimonious use of nominal syntax than lower proficiency speakers.
The study provides empirical support for the use of graded tasks in promoting more advanced language use in implicit approaches to instructed SLA. However, it also shows that while general factors in task design are likely to be powerful tools in instructional planning, such factors may not be completely independent from the effects of specific task exemplars on relevant aspects of L2 variation. Finally, the study also provides insight into the relationship between language proficiency and general measures of syntactic complexity that might inform future research on pedagogic task performance and L2 development.
implicit language knowledge. This event will include international
guest speakers from Japan and New Zealand as well as Academic staff and PhD students working on this topic from Curtin University. This is the first in a biannual series of colloquia that will organised to investigate current topics in Applied Linguistics. For information on upcoming events and calls for papers please contact Craig Lambert <craig.lambert@curtin.edu.au> to be added to our mailing list.
This colloquium begins to address this gap in the task-based research literature by considering how specific factors in the design of L2 tasks can be hypothesized to relate to the way learners respond to task-based instruction and engage in L2 speech during task performance. The colloquium will begin with a brief introduction to provide a theoretical framework for conceptualizing the relationship between task design and learners’ willingness to become engaged in tasks and to maintain that engagement and to introduce a construct of engagement specific to L2 learners. The first presentation by Craig Lambert and Jenefer Philp then reports on an empirical study of the effects two factors in the design of L2 task sequences (leaner-generated content and post-task goal-tracking) on multiple triangulated measures of the behavioral, cognitive, social and linguistic engagement of 32 Japanese learners of English at the intermediate and advanced proficiency levels in a Japanese university. The second study then provides an interesting perspective on how such ideas can be implemented in the classroom and the effects that they have on in situ task engagement. In a semester-long classroom-based study of four intact groups of beginning-level Japanese university learners, Robert Stroud investigates the effect of an innovative goal-tracking system which combines pre-task and post-task self-assessments with the use of point cards exchanged between students during task performance to provide immediate online feedback and reinforce both the essential and the elaborative contributions that they make while participating. In the third study, Yuko Butler then looks more closely at the essential question, long overlooked in the TBLT literature, of what makes some tasks inherently more motivating for learners than others. Butler worked with 82 elementary school children in Japan to identify and select elements and structures of video learning games that, from children’s points of view, were both attractive and effective for L2 learning. Finally, in the last study, Yvonne Préfontaine and Judit Kormos consider the broader picture of how affective variables such as interest, task-related anxiety, motivation and perceived success in task completion - all potentially related to the treatments discussed in the previous papers - relate to improved L2 speech performance. Their study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the relationship between the oral fluency of forty adult learners of French at different levels of L2 proficiency on narrative tasks of differing conceptual demands and these learners’ responses to a questionnaire on their affective disposition toward the tasks. In incorporating tasks of different conceptual demands, the final study draws attention to the important moderating effects that affective variables are likely to have on variables used in the grading and sequencing of tasks in L2 instruction. The colloquium will close with a discussion by Professor Rod Ellis on the implications of the studies for the field of SLA and directions for future research on the role of affective factors in L2 task performance.
Schedule
1. Introduction: Affective Factors in Second Language Task Design and Performance
Craig Lambert (Curtin University) and Jenefer Philp (Lancaster University)
5 minutes
2. Learner-Generated Content, Goal-Tracking, and Learner Engagement in L2 Task Performance
Craig Lambert (Curtin University) and Jenefer Philp (Lancaster University)
25 minutes
3. Goal-setting and engagement: a study of lower-level Japanese learners of English
Robert Stroud (Kwansei Gakuin University)
25 minutes
4. The Attractiveness and Effectiveness of Computer-Based Instructional Games for Young L2 Learners
Yuko Butler (University of Pennsylvania)
25 minutes
5. Affective Factors and L2 Speech Performance: A Study of Adult Learners of French at Different Levels of Proficiency
Yvonne Préfontaine (Lancaster University) and Judit Kormos (Lancaster University)
25 minutes
6. Discussion
Rod Ellis (University of Auckland)
15 minutes
Total Time: 120 Minutes
Schedule of Events
10:30-12:00: Rod Ellis, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Using Tasks in Task-Based and Task-Supported Language Teaching
12:10-13:00: Craig Lambert, University of Kitakyushu, Japan
Using Task-Based Teaching to Advance Language Use
13:00-14:00: Reception (Lunch Break)
14:00-14:50: Colin Thompson, University of Central Lancashire, UK
Using Task-Supported Teaching to Improve Grammar Instruction
15:00-16:30: Natsuko Shintani, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Using Tasks with Beginning Level Japanese Learners
16:30-17:00: Panel Discussion
Participants will have a chance to raise questions and concerns about using tasks in Japanese schools generally, as well as in situations that they face in their own schools and their own classes.
https://www.iris-database.org/iris/app/home/index.
I will soon be uploaded all of the tasks and materials that I have used in my own research onto the site. If you decide to use any of the materials on the site in a replication study, you might also consider applying for the replication award:
https://www.iris-database.org/iris/app/home/replication_award
Although each four-page unit was designed for one 90-minute session, in contexts where classes meet for 60 minutes, it may be possible to complete each unit in two class sessions. The first two pages of the unit (Steps 1-3) might be completed in the first class session, and the final two-pages (Steps 4 and 5) might be completed in the second class session.
The text might also be used to provide an oral English supplement to programs based on more traditional syllabuses. In such cases, it is recommended that the teacher implement these materials independently and allow learners to draw on their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources in completing the tasks rather than trying to use the tasks to practice the language content being taught in other class sessions.
Audio files for listening activities available on request.
The content is very well suited to learners at the false-beginner and intermediate levels. It assumes that learners have a basic knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary in line with the structural syllabus of the national curriculum established by the Japanese Board of Education, but lack experience using this language for communication. The course is specifically designed to help such learners activate the English that they have learned in secondary school for oral communication as well as further develop it in line with the demands of tasks which are representative of the communicative demands that they will face in their future lives and careers in Japan. Furthermore, as the tasks were developed in Japan, they are particularly compatible with the background knowledge and learning styles of university-level Japanese learners.
Audio files available on request.
Although each four-page unit was designed for one 90-minute session, in contexts where classes meet for 60 minutes, it may be possible to complete each unit in two class sessions. The first two pages of the unit (Steps 1-3) might be completed in the first class session, and the final two-pages (Steps 4 and 5) might be completed in the second class session.
The text might also be used to provide an oral English supplement to programs based on more traditional syllabuses. In such cases, it is recommended that the teacher implement these materials independently and allow learners to draw on their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources in completing the tasks rather than trying to use the tasks to practice the language content being taught in other class sessions.
Learners spend the majority of each class session completing a balance of input-based and output-based communication tasks in pairs and small groups. The tasks were chosen based on their relevance to the communicative needs of Japanese university learners. They were then tailored to the classroom based on the background and learning styles of these learners. Whether learners will work in business, education, the travel industry, or use English recreationally in Japan or while traveling abroad, the ability to complete certain basic communication tasks in English is essential. The course aims to develop language in line with the demands of communication. The tasks sequences generally move from the simple to the complex, the essential to the incidental, the familiar to the unfamiliar. Throughout the course, the learning occurs through communication rather than in preparation for it.
The input-based versions of each task consist of proficient speakers completing the task(s) that learners are working on in each unit. These are provided on the accompanying Audio CD for use in the classroom and are transcribed as an appendix for learners. Meaning and form-focused listening activities provide comprehensible task-based input and direct attention to key aspects of language form. Importantly, these samples aim to provide learners with exposure to a variety of ways in which each task might be completed. Learners are left to choose language for doing the task that is in line with their own personalities and levels of development. Finally, an attempt has been made to provide learners with opportunities to work on tasks that operate on learner-generated content as well as those that operate on provided content. Learners thus move from the known to the new, incorporating new language and ideas into their current knowledge.
Although each four-page unit was designed for one 90-minute session, in contexts where classes meet for 60 minutes, it may be possible to complete each unit in two class sessions. The first two pages of the unit (Steps 1-3) might be completed in the first class session, and the final two-pages (Steps 4 and 5) might be completed in the second class session.
The text might also be used to provide an oral English supplement to programs based on more traditional syllabuses. In such cases, it is recommended that the teacher implement these materials independently and allow learners to draw on their own linguistic and non-linguistic resources in completing the tasks rather than trying to use the tasks to practice the language content being taught in other class sessions.