CHAPTER II

LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Chapter II presents some theories and the conceptual framework that

underline this study. The theoretical reviews which are derived from some experts cover
the issues of task-based language teaching and learning, strong and weak version of
task-based language teaching, CLT, teaching English in junior high school, designing
learning materials, and grading, sequencing and integrating tasks. The conceptual
framework figures out the researcher’s concept in developing the English learning
materials.

1. LITERATURE REVIEW
A. Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning
English teaching and learning is carried out using various methods. The
methods develop according to the era. Some main methods have been used in many
countries. The method changes due to the trend of the decade. The famous main
methods are: the Grammar Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Audio-lingual
Method, and the Communicative Method.
The Communicative Method has been recently used in many countries
including Indonesia. It is also called as the Communicative Language Teaching method.
An offshoot of Communicative Language Teaching is Task-Based Teaching (journal of
Lochana et al.). It is a method which language is thought through tasks. According to
Nunan (2004:216), task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an approach to language
teaching organized around tasks rather than language structures. Gail K. Oura (in his
journal) also gives an opinion about task-based language learning that it is an overall
approach to language learning that views the tasks that learners do as central to the
learning process. The words task based itself, based on Tomlinson (1998), refers to
materials or courses which are designed around a series of authentic tasks which give
the learners experience of using the language in ways in which it is used in the ‘real
world’ outside the classroom. They have no pre-determined language syllabus and the
aim is for learners to learn from the tasks the language that they need to participate
successfully in them. It can be seen that task-based language teaching and learning sees
tasks as an important element in language teaching and learning process to enhance the
language proficiency of learners.
In the language teaching and learning, the students can be easier to master the
target language if they have become accustomed with it both in oral or written form
without thinking about the pattern of the sentences. Prabhu (1987) in Harmer (2001:86)
speculated that students would have been a lot easier to learn language if they were
thinking about a non-linguistic problem than when they were concentrating on
particular language forms. In other words, the focus of the lesson is not the structure but
rather they are focused in the task itself. Harmer (2001:87) also says that in task-based
learning, students are given a task to perform and only when the task has been
completed does the teacher discuss the language that was used, making correction and
adjustment which the students’ performance of the task has shown to be desirable.
Jane Willis (1996:52) in Harmer (2001:87) suggests three basic stages in the
task-based learning framework. They are the Pre-task, the Task cycle, and Language
focus.

Pre-task
Introduction to
topic and task

Task cycle
Task
Planning
Report

Language focus
Analysis
Practice

Figure 2: The Willis TBL framework

She explains that in the Pre-task the teacher explores the topic with the class
and may highlight useful words and phrases, helping students to understand the task
instruction. Students get exposure at the pre-task stage, and an opportunity to recall
things they know. They may hear a recording of other people doing the same task. Then,
during the task cycle, the students perform the task in pairs or small groups while the
teacher monitors from a distance. The students plan how they will tell the rest of the
class what they did and how it went, and they then report on the task either orally or in
writing, and/or compare notes on what has happened. The last stage is the Language
focus, in this stage the students examine and discuss specific features of any listening or
reading text which they have looked at for the task and/or the teacher may conduct some
form of practice of specific language features which the task has provoked.
In this approach, the learning process is seen as a set of communicative tasks
that are directly linked to curricular goals. Learners are given a problem or objective to
accomplish but are left with some freedom in approaching this problem or objective.
Nunan (2004:1) suggests that pedagogically, task-based language teaching
has strengthened the following principles and practices:
1. A need-based approach to content selection.
2. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target
language.
3. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.
4. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus not only on language but
also on the learning process itself.
5. An enhancement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important
contributing elements to classroom learning.
6. The linking of classroom language learning with language use outside the
classroom.

Task-based language teaching and learning concentrates on the use of

authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target
language. It is a teaching method where teachers teach a language to their students by
performing tasks that bring the real world into the classroom. Such tasks can include
visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help.
Brown (2001: 243) points out that in the task-based language teaching and
learning, the priority is not the bits and pieces of language, but rather the functional
purposes for which language must be used. It focuses on a whole set of real-world tasks.
Input for tasks can come from a variety of authentic sources:
  Speeches  directions  photos
 conversations  invitations  diaries
 narratives  textbooks  songs
 public announcements  interviews  telephone directories
 cartoon strips  oral descriptions  menus
 letters  media extracts  labels
 poems games and puzzles

He also emphasizes that task-based curricula differ from other methods, such
as content-based, theme-based, and experimental instruction in that the course
objectives are somewhat more language-based. While there is an ultimate focus on
communication and purpose and meaning, the goals are linguistic in nature. They are
not linguistic in the traditional sense of just focusing in grammar or phonology; but by
maintaining the centrality of functions like greeting people, expressing opinions,
requesting information, etc., the course goals center on learners’ pragmatic language
competence.
From the theories above, it can be concluded that Task-based Language
teaching and learning is one of ways that can be implemented to make the language
teaching and learning process becomes easier to learn for the students and make it
closes to their real life. It is supported by an interactive process between teacher and
students and each of the students by performing real world tasks as the main activity in
the classroom where the teacher’s role are as source, facilitator, and much as monitor.
From the activity in the class, the students as a learner can change their behavior
through experience.

B. A Strong Version and Weak Version of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)

There are two versions of task-based language teaching. It appears in both

weak and strong versions because of some conditions in classroom practice. For the first
time, TBLT was only in strong form but, in fact, some learners could not adjust to the
approach. Weak version emerges when it needs to be agreed with the background of the
learners themselves. Skehen (1996a) distinguishes that a strong form of task-based
approach sees tasks as the basic unit of teaching and as driving the acquisition process.
Meanwhile, a weak version sees tasks as a vital part of language instruction but as
embedded in a more complex pedagogical context. Based on Adams and Newton (in
their journal; 2009), weak versions, or what Ellis (2003) refers to as “task-supported
language teaching,” use tasks for communicative practice but in other respects follow a
conventional grammar or function-based syllabus. Strong versions, referred to by Ellis
as ‘task-based language teaching,” treat the task as the central unit of curriculum and
lesson planning. In other words, it can be said that the difference between strong and
weak form of task-based lies on how the tasks are carried out to the learners
appropriately.
Therefore, the decision on which version of task-based is the best approach
for language teaching and learning process depends on the area where it is implemented.
In many Asian countries, educational policies and national curricula have adopted
communicative and task-based language teaching (TBLT) for the past ten years.
However, it is indicates that these policies have not always been implemented
thoroughly or consistently. In addition, research conducted across East Asian contexts
has overwhelmingly suggested that curricular policies have had limited overall impact
on English language teaching, which remains traditional with an explicit grammar-
teaching focus (e.g., Carless, 2007; Hu, 2005; Zhang, 2007). Current research by Deng
and Carless (this volume) and by Luk (this volume) states earlier findings that curricular
policies promoting the use of TBLT at the national level do not automatically translate
into the use of TBLT in actual English language classroom (journal of Adams and
Newton: 2009).
Meanwhile, the assembly of TBLT in Indonesia has a tendency to follow the
Asian educational policies. By looking the position of English as foreign language in
the language teaching and learning in Indonesia, the learners need to have knowledge
about the grammar. It is also supported by study of Carless that intends to analyze the
suitability of task-based teaching in Hong Kong secondary schools. Based on his
interviewed with 11 secondary school teachers and 10 teacher educators based on
purposive sampling, the finding of the study states that the adaptation and a flexible
‘situated version of task-based teaching’ is needed. The proposed adaptation includes:
clarifying or enhancing the role of grammar instruction; integrating tasks with the
requirements of examinations; and emphasizing reading and writing tasks in addition to
oral ones. Therefore, the study suggests a weak version of task-based teaching is likely
to be most suitable for schooling and reinforces claims for the desirability of context-
sensitive approaches (Carless: 2007).

C. Communicative Language Teaching

It has been previously said that Task-Based teaching is an offshoot of
Communicative Language Teaching. Therefore, Task-based language teaching cannot
be apart from communicative approach – or Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).
It is because task-based language teaching views the learning process as a set of
communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curricular goals (Brown, 2001:50). It
can also be seen in the second principle of task-based language teaching that there is an
emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language. In
other words, the tasks in the task-based language teaching should be communicative
tasks because the goal of it is to provide the students with the skill to communicate in
the target language. It means that this method uses the communicative approach as the
basic principle to achieve the goals. Nunan (2004:10) also has a notion about the
relationship between communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language
teaching. He says that CLT is a broad, philosophical approach to the language
curriculum that draws on theory and research on linguistics, anthropology, psychology,
and sociology, whereas task-based language teaching represents a realization of this
philosophy at the levels of syllabus design and methodology.
In addition, Nunan (2004:212) defines communicative language teaching as a
philosophical approach to language teaching covering a range of methodological
approaches which share a focus on helping learners communicate meaningfully in the
target language. He sees that the basic insight of language is it can be thought of as a
tool for communication rather than as sets of phonological, grammatical and lexical
items to be memorized.
Brown (2001:43) has his own way to describe what the communicative
language teaching is. For the sake of simplicity and directness, he offers six
interconnected characteristics as a description of CLT as follows:
 1. Classroom goals are focused on all of the components (grammatical, discourse,
functional, sociolinguistic, and strategic) of communicative competence. Goals
therefore must intertwine the organizational aspects of language with the
pragmatic.
2. Language techniques are designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic,
functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Organizational language
forms are not the central focus, but rather aspects of language that enable the
learners to accomplish those purposes.
3. Fluency and accuracy are seen as complementary principles underlying
communicative techniques. At times fluency may have to take on more
importance than accuracy in order to keep learners meaningfully engaged in
language use.
4. Students in a communicative class ultimately have to use the language,
productively and receptively, in unrehearsed contexts outside the classroom.
Classroom tasks must therefore equip students with the skill necessary for
communication in those contexts.
5. Students are given opportunities to focus on their own learning process through
an understanding of their own styles of learning and through the development of
appropriate strategies for autonomous learning.
6. The role of the teacher is that of facilitator and guide, not an all-knowing
bestower of knowledge. Students are therefore encouraged to construct meaning
through genuine linguistic interaction with others.
In CLT less attention is given to the overt presentation and discussion on
grammatical rules but much more on the content. Chambers (1997) in Brown (2001:43)
says that in attempting to build fluency, a great deal of use of authentic language is
implied in CLT. Brown adds that it is important to note, however, that fluency should
never be encouraged at the expense of clear direct, unambiguous, communication. In
communicative classrooms, much more spontaneity is present: students are encouraged
to deal with unrehearsed situations under the guidance, but not control, of the teacher.
Based on Harmer (2001:84-85), there are two aspects of communicative
language teaching, the first aspect is ‘what to teach’ and the other is ‘how to teach’
aspect. The ‘what to teach’ aspect of the Communication approach stressed the
significance of the language functions rather than focusing solely on grammar and
vocabulary. The principle is to train the students to use the language forms appropriately
in any context and purposes. While, the ‘how to teach’ aspect of the Communication
approach is closely related to the idea that ‘language learning will take care of itself’,
and plentiful exposure to language in use and plenty of opportunities to use it are vitally
important for a student’s development of knowledge and skill. In the activities of CLT,
the students are engaged specifically in real or realistic communication, where the
successful achievement of the communicative task they are performing is more
important than the accuracy of language use.
Harmer (2001) also figures a continuum in order to differentiate the
communicative activities with non-communicative activities as bellows:

Non-communicative activities Communicative activities

no communicative desire a desire to communicate

no communicative purpose a communicative purpose
form not content content not form
one language item only variety of language
teacher intervention no teacher intervention
materials control no materials control

Figure 3: The communication continuum

From the explanations above, it can be concluded that communicative

language teaching is an approach to the second and foreign language teaching that
emphasizes the interaction in the target language as the main activity in the classroom in
order to enhance the communicative competence of the students.

D. Teaching English in Junior High School

The difference age of the learners influences a teacher in determining the
appropriate way that she/he should take to teach them. Which ages of our students are
belongs to is a crucial factor in choosing a learning approach. This factor is important
for the teachers to decide on what and how to teach their students. Harmer (2001:37)
says that people of different ages have different needs, competences, and cognitive
skills.
 The object of the research is the first grade students of junior high school.
Their ages are about 12-13 years old. It means that they are included adolescents or
teenagers. Generally, teenagers seem too less lively and humorous than adults. They are
lack of motivation, they asked, and they present outright discipline problems (Puchta
and Schratz ,1993:1 in Harmer, 2001:38). They are in the year of searching individual
identity where the attention from friends is more important than from teacher.
Sometimes, they may be disruptive in class, make the teaching-learning process does
not work properly. In relation with this, Brown (2001:92) states that the “terrible teens”
are an age of transition, confusion, self-consciousness, growing, and changing bodies
and minds.
However, the issue of disruptive behaviour should not become a burden or a
problem in teaching and learning process. In another side of teenagers’ behaviour, it can
be seen that they have a great capacity to learn, a great potential for creativity, and a
passionate commitment to things which interest them, if they are engaged. Therefore,
teacher’s job must be to provoke student engagement with material which is relevant
and involved (Harmer, 2001:39).
Based on Brown (2001:92), some thoughts which have relation with
teenagers are worth verbalizing, even if in the form of simple reminders. They are:
1. Intellectual capacity adds abstract operational thought around the age of twelve.
Therefore, some sophisticated intellectual processing is increasingly possible.
Complex problems can be solved with logical thinking. This means that
linguistic metalanguage can now, theoretically, have some impact. But the
success of any intellectual endeavor will be a factor of the attention a learner
places on the task; therefore, if a learner is attending to self, to appearance, to
being accepted, to sexual thoughts, to weekend party, or whatever, the
intellectual task at hand may suffer.
2. Attention spans are lengthening as a result of intellectual maturation, but once
again, with many diversions present in a teenager’s life, those potential attention
spans can easily be shortened.
3. Varieties of sensory input are still important, but, again, increasing capacities for
abstraction lessen the essential nature of appealing to all five senses.
 4. Factors surrounding ego, self-image, and self-esteem are at the principle. Teens
are ultrasensitive to how others perceive their changing physical and emotional
selves along with their mental capabilities. One of the most important concerns
of the secondary school teacher is to keep self-esteem high by
 avoiding embarrassment of students at all costs,
 affirming each person’s talents and strengths,
 allowing mistakes and other errors to be accepted,
 de-emphasizing competition between classmates, and
 encouraging small-group work where risk can be taken more easily by a
teen.
5. Secondary school students are of course becoming increasingly adultlike in their
ability to make those occasional diversions from the “here and now” nature of
immediate communicative contexts to dwell on a grammar point or vocabulary
item. But as in teaching adults, care must be taken not to insult them with stilted
language or to bore them with overanalysis.
Moreover, it is important to have knowledge about “who and how” the
learners are. By discussing the behaviour of teenagers, it is expected that the problems
in teaching teenagers can be avoided.

E. Designing Learning Materials

1) Learning Materials

Tomlinson (1998:2) states that ‘language-learning materials’ refer to anything

which is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language. They could
be cassettes, videos, CD-Roms, dictionaries, grammar books, readers, workbook or
photocopied exercises. Newspapers, food packages, photographs (although, these not
designed for instructional use), live talks by invited native speakers, instruction given
by a teacher, tasks written on cards or discussions between learners could also be
learning materials. In other words, materials are anything which can improve the
students’ knowledge.
According to Nunan (1991: 208-209), there are two kinds of instructional
materials, namely commercially produced materials and teacher-developed materials.
Commercial materials refer to textbooks, course books, and such materials that do not
mean for any particular type of students, but for all. These materials often can not fulfill
the needs of the students. Therefore, in using the commercial materials, it is important
for the teacher to select the materials, then match them with the goals and objectives of
the programme and adapt to student’s needs at particular time and situation. In other
words, a teacher should pay attention to what students really need in the learning
process.
In addition, developing materials from commercial ones can also be a way to
fulfill the learners’ needs. However, it has some requirements that will make the
materials useable. According to Nunan (1988: 73), the materials developed should be
suitable to the existing curriculum and consist of the four skills: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. It means that the good materials should consider the rules in the
existing curriculum. And the tasks which are involved in the materials should involve
the four skills: listening, speaking, writing, and reading. The involvement of the four
skills itself can be integrated or separated. They are applied in some learning activities,
which can be done individually, in pairs, or in-group.
Cunningsworth (1995: 7) in Richard (2001: 251) summarizes the role of
materials in language teaching as:
 a resource for presentation materials (spoken and written)
 a source of activities for learners practice and communicative interaction
 a reference source for learners on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and so
on
 a source of stimulation and ideas for classroom activities
 a syllabus (where they reflect learning objectives that have already been
determined)
 a support for less experiences teachers who have yet to gain in confidence
Learning materials are a key component in most language programs. Most of
teachers use them as their primary teaching resource. Richard (2001: 252) says that the
materials provide the basis or the content of lessons, the balance of skills taught, and the
kinds of language practice students take part in. For learners, materials may provide the
major source of contact they have with the language apart from the teacher. Therefore,
the role and uses of materials in a language program are a significant aspect of language
curriculum development.
 2) Learning Material Design

a. Material Development
As what have been written before, material is the important element in the
teaching and learning process. In order to make the materials function optimally,
teachers should develop it. Tomlinson (1998:2) says that materials development refers
to anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of language
input and to exploit those sources in ways which is maximized the likelihood of intake:
in other words the supplying of information about and/or experience of the language in
ways designed to promote language learning.
In addition, according to Tomlinson, materials developers might write
textbooks, tell stories, bring advertisements into the classroom, express an opinion,
provide samples of language use or read a poem aloud, or whatever they do to provide
input they do so in principled ways related to what they know about how languages can
be effectively learned. However, Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998: 173) in Richard
(2001: 262) observe that “only a small proportion of good teachers are also good
designers of course materials.” Richard (2001: 262) says that preparing effective
teaching materials is similar to the processes involved in planning and teaching a lesson.
The goal is to create materials that can serve as resources for effective learning. The
developer stars with a learning goal in mind and then seeks to create a set of activities
that enable that goal to be reached.
Shulman (1987: 15) in Richard sees the processes of materials development
as a process of transformation of:
”The key to understanding the knowledge base of teaching lies at the
intersection of content and pedagogy, in the capacity of a teacher to transform
the content knowledge he or she possesses into forms that are pedagogically
powerful and yet adaptive to the variations in ability and background presented
by students.”

He, then, goes on to describe the transformation phase of this process as consisting of:
 preparation: critical interpretation and analysis of texts, structuring and
segmentation, development of curricular repertoire, and clarification of purposes
  representation: use of representational repertoire that include analogies,
metaphors, examples, demonstrations, explanations, and so forth
 selection: choice from among an instructional repertoire that includes modes of
teaching, organizing, managing, and arranging
 adapting and tailoring to students characteristics: consideration of conceptions,
preconceptions, misconceptions, and difficulties; language, culture, and
motivations; and social class, gender, age, ability, aptitude, interests, self-concepts,
attention
Shulman suggests that in both materials development and classroom teaching
the goal is to develop a sequence of activities that leads teachers and learners through a
learning route that is at an appropriate level of difficulty, is engaging, that provides both
motivating and useful practice.

b. The Principles of Good Materials

Good materials do many of the things that a teacher would normally do as his
or her teaching. They should:
 arouse the learners’ interest
 remind them of earlier learning
 tell them what they will be learning next
 explain new learning content to them
 relate these ideas to learners’ previous learning
 get learners to think about new content
 help them get feedback on their learning
 encourage them to practice
 make sure they know what they are supposed to be doing
 enable them to check their progress
 help them to do better
(Rowntree 197: 92) in Richard (2001: 263)
In addition, good materials should have some criteria that differentiate them
from others. Tomlinson (1998, p. 7- 21) suggests some criteria of good English material
as stated below.
 1) Materials should achieve impact; through novelty, variety, attractive
presentation, appealing content.
2) Materials should help learners to feel at ease.
3) Materials should help learners to develop confidence.
4) What is being taught should be perceived by learners as relevant and
useful.
5) Materials should require and facilitate learner self-investment.
6) Learners must be ready to require the points being taught
7) Materials should expose the learners’ to language in authentic use.
8) The learners’ attention should be drawn to linguistics features of the
input.
9) Materials should provide the learners with opportunities to use the target
language to achieve communicative purposes.
10) Materials should take into account that the positive effects of instruction
are usually delayed.
11) Materials should take into account that learners differ in learning styles.
12) Materials should take into account that learners differ in affective
attitudes.
13) Materials should permit a silent period at the beginning of instruction.
14) Materials should maximize learning potential by encouraging
intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement which stimulates both
right and left brain activities.
15) Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice.
16) Materials should provide opportunities for outcomes feedback.

3) Learning Task

a. Tasks Defined
The term of task has been defined in a variety of ways. There are many
experts from many field of study defined the term of task using their own opinion.
According to Jane Willis (1996), a task is a goal-oriented activity with a clear purpose.
Brown (2001: 129) defines task as a specialized form of technique or series of
techniques closely related with communicative curricula, and as such must minimally
have communicative goals. The focus of this definition is on the authentic use of
language for meaningful purposes beyond the language classroom. Breen (1987) in
Tomlinson (1998: 198) also gives his contribution in defining task. He says that task is
activity within the materials that invite the learners to do some action, which has the
direct aim of bringing about the learning of the foreign language.
Tomlinson (198: 198) identify three key aspects of tasks:
1. a process through which learners and teachers are to go
2. classroom participation concerning with whom (if anyone) the learners are to
work
3. content that the learners are focus on
From the three key aspects above, Tomlinson formulates some ‘questions’
that can be put to each task. The first question is about the process. There are three sub-
sections concerning process which focus in detail on what precisely learners are
expected to do. The first sub-section is ‘Turn-take’ which relates to the role in classroom
discourse that the learners are expected to take. Are they responding to the direct
questions, using language largely supplied by the materials (e.g. comprehension
questions, or drills), are they asked to ‘initiate’, using language not supplied (e.g. ‘free
writing’, or asking their own questions), or are they not required to take any direct role
at all (for example, only to take of grammar explanation)? The second sub-section is
about the focus of the learners. ‘Focus’ refers to whether the learners are asked to focus
on the meaning of the language, its form or both. The last sub-section is ‘operation’,
refers to the mental process required – for example, repetition deducing language rules,
and so on.
Second, the question asks about classroom participation: ‘With whom?’ – are
the learners to work alone, in pairs/groups, or with the whole class? Then, the last
question asks about the content of the task. Is it written or spoken? Is it individual
words/sentences or extended discourse? Where does it come from – the materials, the
teacher or the learners themselves? And what is its nature – is it, for example, grammar
explanations, personal information, fiction, general knowledge and so on?
Nunan (2004: 1-2) divides task into two kinds. He calls the first type as real-
world or target tasks, and the second as pedagogical tasks. Target tasks refer to uses of
language in the world beyond the classroom, while pedagogical tasks are those that
occur in the classroom. Long (1985: 89) in Nunan, argues that a target task is:
“a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward.
Thus examples of tasks include painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a
form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline observation, buying a pair of
shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a library book, taking a driving
test, typing a letter, weighing a patient, sorting letters, making a hotel
reservation, writing a cheque, finding a street destination and helping someone
across a road. In other word, by ‘task’ is meant the hundred and one things
people do in everyday life, at work, at play and in between”.

From Long’s theory above, it can be seen that he wants to emphasize that
tasks given to learners should be beneficial tasks in their life. When the tasks are
transformed from the real-world to the classroom, they become pedagogical in nature.
Ellis ((2003: 16) in Nunan (2004: 3) defines a pedagogical task as a workplan that
requires learners to pragmatically process language in order to achieve an outcome that
can be evaluated to convey the appropriate proportional content. It also requires them to
give primary attention to the meaning and to use their own linguistic resources. A task is
intended to result language that is used in the real world. Like other language activities,
a task can engage productive or receptive, and oral or written skills and also various
cognitive processes. Related to this, Nunan has his own definition about pedagogical
task. He says that it is a piece of classroom work that involve learners in
comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while
their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to express
meaning and in which the intention is to convey meaning rather than to manipulate
form.
From the theories above, it can be concluded that tasks are some meaningful
actions within the materials that the learners should do in the classroom that is not
separated from the outside world and have certain proposes to be reached. In other
words, tasks can be some actions that bring the real world into the classroom.
 b. Task components
Tasks, specifically, can be analyzed according to the goals, the input data, the
activities derived from the input, the settings and roles implied for teacher and learners.
Nunan (1989: 48) figures a way to analyze the various elements of tasks as below:

Goals Teacher
role

Input TASKS Learner role

Activities Settings

Figure 4: A framework for analyzing communicative tasks

1. Goals
Goals refer to the general intentions for the learning task. They provide a link
between the task and the broader curriculum. Goals can also relate to a range of general
outcomes (communicative, affective or cognitive) or can directly describe the behavior
of the teacher or learner. Another consideration that should be noted is that goals are not
always explicitly stated, although they can usually be inferred from an examination of a
task. Additionally, it is not easy to find a simple one-to-one relationship between goals
and tasks. In some cases, a complex task involving a range of activities might be
simultaneously moving learners towards several goals.
ALL (Australian Language Level) tries to make the classification of goals and
illustrates how goals can be sociocultural, process-oriented or cultural, as well as
communicative.
Table 1
Goal Type Example
Communicative establish and maintain interpersonal relations and
through this to exchange information, ideas, opinions,
attitudes and feelings and to get things done
 Sociocultural have some understanding of the everyday life
patterns of their contemporary age group in the target
language speech community; this will cover their life
at home, at school and at leisure

Learning-how-to-learn To negotiate and plan their work over a certain time

span, and learn how to set themselves realistic
objectives and how to devise the means to attain them
Language and cultural To have some understanding of the systematic nature
awareness of language and the way it works

(Adapted from Clark 1987: 227-32) in Nunan (1989: 49)

It is important to remember that the goals are not necessarily mutually

exclusive, and that there may be tasks which cover more than one goal. For example,
when a small group discuss about sociocultural theme, it might relate to both
communicative and sociocultural goals.
Since the ALL project is concerned with communicative outcomes,
communicative goals are classified into three areas as presented below:

a. Establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationship, and through

this exchange information, ideas, opinions, attitudes and feeling, and
to get things done.
b. Acquiring information from more or less ‘public’ sources in the
target language (e.g. books, magazines, newspapers, brochures,
documents, signs, notices, films, television, slides, tape, radio, public
announcements, lectures or written reports etc.) and using this
information in some way.

c. Listening to, reading, enjoying and responding to creative and

imaginative uses of the target language (e.g. stories, poems, songs,
rhyme, drama) and, for certain learners, creating them themselves.
(Clark 1987: 226 in Nunan (1989: 50)
 2. Input
According to Nunan (1989: 53-54), input refers to the data that form the point
of departure for the task. In fact, input for communicative tasks can be derived from a
wide range of sources. The data can be provided by a teacher, a textbook, or even by the
learners themselves. Nunan believes that authentic materials are valuable input. He
defines that authentic material is any material which has not been specifically produced
for the purposes of language teaching. Further, he says that the argument for using
authentic materials is derived from the notion that the most effective way to develop a
particular skill is to rehearse that skill in class.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 108-109) argue that input may be a text,
dialogue, video-recording, diagram or any piece of communication data depending on
the needs which have been defined in the need analysis. The input provides a number of
things: (a) stimulus material for activities; (b) new language items; (c) correct models of
language use; (d) a topic for communication; (e) opportunities for learners to use their
information processing skills; (f) opportunities for learners to use their existing
knowledge both of the language and the subject matter. The good input is those which
can help the learners and the teacher to attain the learning purposes and all at once fulfill
the need of the learners.

3. Activities
Activities specify what learners will actually perform with the input. Nunan
(1989; 59) proposes three generals ways of characterizing activities, which include
rehearsal for the real world; skills use; and fluency/accuracy.
In addition, Prabhu (in Nunan, 1989: 66) used three principal activity types.
They are information gap, reasoning gap, and opinion gap that are explained as follows:
a. Information-gap activity. This activity involves a transfer of given information
from a student to another – or from one form to another, or from one place to
another – generally calling for the decoding or encoding of information from or
into language. One example is pair work in which each member of the pair has a
part of the total information (for example an incomplete picture) and attempt to
convey it verbally to the other. Another example is completing a tabular
 representation with information available in a given piece of text. The activity
often involves selection relevant information as well, and learners may have to
meet criteria of completeness and correctness in making the transfer.
b. Reasoning-gap activity. This activity involves deriving some new information
from given information through processes of inference, deduction, practical
reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns. One example is working
out a teacher’s timetable on the basis of given class timetable. Another is
deciding what course of action is best (for example cheapest or quickest) for a
given purposes and within given constraints. The activity necessarily involves
comprehending and conveying information, as in information-gap activity, but
the information to be conveyed is not identical with that initially comprehended.
There is a piece of reasoning which connects the two.
c. Opinion-gap activity. This activity involves identifying and articulating a
personal reference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation. One
example is story completion; another is taking part in the discussion of a social
issue. The activity may involve using factual information and formulating
arguments to justify one’s opinion, but there is objective procedure for
demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no reason to expect the same
outcome from different individuals or on different occasions.
Moreover, Clark (in Nunan, 1989: 67) proposes seven broad communicative
activity types. He suggests that language programs should enable learners to:
a. solve problems through social interaction with others, for example, participate in
conversation related to the pursuit of a common activity with others, obtain
goods and services and necessary information through conversation or
correspondence, make arrangements and come to decisions with others
(convergent tasks);
b. establish and maintain relationships and discuss topic of interest through the
exchange of information, ideas, opinions, attitudes, feelings, experiences and
plans (divergent task);
c. search for specific information for some given purpose, process it, and use it
some way (for example, find out the cheapest way to go from A to B);
 d. listen to or read information, process it, and use it some way (for example, read a
news item and discuss it with someone, read an article and summarize it, listen
to a lecture and write notes on it);
e. give information in spoken or written form on the basis of personal experience
(for example, give a talk, write a report, write a diary, record a set of instructions
on how to do something, or fill in a form);
f. listen to, read or view a story, poem, feature etc. and perhaps respond to it
personally in some way (for example, read a story and discuss it);
g. create an imaginative text (for some learners only).

Pattison (1987) in Nunan (1989: 68) also proposes seven activity types, they
are: (a) question and answer, (b) dialogues and role play, (c) matching activities, (d)
communication strategies, (e) pictures and picture stories, (f) puzzles and problems, (g)
discussions and decisions.
The typologies which are proposed by Clark and Pattison in Nunan (1989:
67-68) are quite different. Clark focuses on the sorts of uses to which we put language
in the real world, while Pattison has a pedagogic focus. It is not a problem to decide
which one will be used. The important thing is which one that can fulfill the learners’
needs.

4. Teacher Role
Generally, the teacher’s and the learner’s role can be described as the part that
they are expected to play in carrying out learning tasks as well as the social and
interpersonal relationships between the participants (Nunan, 2004: 64). Teachers can
play many roles in the course of teaching. They can be a controller, organizer, assessor,
prompter, participant, resource, tutor, or observer (Harmer, 2001: 58-62). Rebbeca
Oxford et al. (1998) in Brown (2001: 166-167) point out that teacher roles are often best
described in the form of metaphor: the teacher as a manufacture, the teacher as a doctor,
the teacher as a judge, the teacher as a gardener, and others.
According to Richards and Rodgers in Nunan (1989: 84), teacher roles are
related to the following issues:
 (a) the types of the functions teachers are expected to fulfill, e.g. whether that of
practice director, counselor or model
(b) the degree of control the teacher has over how learning takes place
(c) the degree of which the teacher is responsible for content
(d) the interactional patterns that develop between teachers and learners
In the other hand, the teacher can take role as selector/sequencer of tasks,
developer of tasks, strategy-instructor, facilitator, and provider of assistance in the
second language tasks. Nunan (1989) also states that traditionally the role of the teacher
is to provide correct models to set tasks and to provide corrective feedback. In other
words, the teacher should know how to place him self and know which role he should
take in the teaching and learning process.

5. Learner Role
There are also some roles that should be taken by the learners in order to
make the language teaching and learning process run well. Richards and Rodgers
(1986), in their comprehensive analysis of approaches and methods in language
teaching, point out that a method (and, in our case, a task) will reflect assumptions about
the contributions that learners can make to the learning process. The following table
figures out the analysis carried out by Richards and Rodgers in Nunan, 1989: 80:
Table 2
Approach Roles
Oral/Situational learner listens to teacher and repeats; no control
over content or methods
Audiolingual learners has little control; reacts to teacher
direction; passive, reactive role
Communicative learners has an active, negotiative role; should
contribute as well as receive

Total Physical Response learner is a listener and performer; little influence

over content and none over methodology
The Silent Way learners learn through systematic analysis; must
become independent and autonomous
 Community Language learners are members of a social group or
Learning community; move from dependence to autonomy as
learning progresses

The Natural Approach learners play an active role and have relatively high
degree of control over content language production
Suggestopedia learners are passive, have little control over content
or methods

This analysis shows the wide variety of learner roles which are possible in the
language class. These include:
(a) the learner is the passive recipient of outside stimuli;
(b) the learner is an interactor and negotiator who is capable of giving as well as
taking;
(c) the learner is a listener and performer who has little control over the content of
learning;
(d) the learner is involved in a process of personal growth;
(e) the learner is involved in a social activity, and the social and interpersonal roles
of the learner cannot be divorced from psychological learning process;
(f) learners must take responsibility for their own learning, developing autonomy
and skills in learning-how-to-learn.
Richards and Rodgers; and Scarcella as quoted by Oxford (2006) as quoted
by Nuki (2008) identify possible task roles for learners, such as group participant,
monitor, risk-taker or innovator, strategy user, goal-setter, self-evaluator, and others.
However, a particularly important learner role in a task situation is that of task-analyzer
where the learners should analyze task requirements and find suitable strategies to
match them. They can take control of the task and be responsible for his or her
performance on the task by considering the task requirements and employing learning
strategies to accomplish the task more efficiently and more effectively.
 6. Settings
According to Nunan (1989: 90), settings refers to the classroom arrangements
specified or implied in the task, and it also requires consideration of whether the task is
to be carried out wholly or partly outside the classroom. Further, he distinguishes
between two different aspects of the learning situation. They are ‘mode’ and
‘environment’. Learning mode refers to whether the learner is operating on an
individual or group basis. Meanwhile, environment refers to where the learning actually
takes place.
Nunan believes that the specification of all these components is needed when
selecting, adapting, modifying, and creating communicative task. It can also be
concluded from the figure 4 above that a task can be viewed as a piece of meaning
focused work, involving learners in comprehending, producing and/or interacting in the
target language. And that the tasks are analyzed or categorized according to their goals
input data, activities, settings and roles.

4) Material Design

Every language teacher today should realize the importance and the relevance
of the materials within the curriculum. He/she should consider that they are the most
concrete and visible aspect of the curriculum. Therefore, it is very important to match
the materials used in the classroom with the goals and the objectives that have been set
up by the curriculum. In other hand, if the teaching and learning materials are readily
available, the teacher’s job is easier. But, if they are not available, the teacher should
develop them to meet the learning needs of the students.
In relation to designing materials, Masuhara (in Tomlinson, 1998: 247)
proposes the sequence of course design recommended by experts which can be
summarized as the linear Model X as follows:
 Needs analysis

Goals and objectives

Syllabus design

Methodology/ materials

Testing and evaluation

Figure 5: Model X – course design

procedures

From figure 5 above, it can be seen that materials can not be separated from
syllabus design, and the goals and objectives. In other words, it is crucial to see how the
relationship between them. The material developer can create any task based on the
learners’ needs.
Furthermore, Nunan (1991: 216) suggests that in designing materials, there is
one of the procedures which can be readily adapted by teachers with access to authentic
sources of data. It is in creating materials the teacher and textbook writer can probably
juggle topic, text, and task elements. Then they can create activities which reflect the
communicative needs of the learners in relation to the topic. Based on topic, text, and
task, Nunan also proposes a set of draft in developing materials as follow:
Step 1. Select the topic
Step 2. Collect data
Step 3. Determine what learners will need to do in relation to the texts
Step 4. Create pedagogical activities/procedures
Step 5. Analyze texts and activities to determine the language elements
Step 6. Create activities focusing on language elements
Step 7. Create activities focusing on learning skills/strategies
Step 8. Create application tasks

Meanwhile, Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 108-109) present a material design

model consists of four elements namely: input, content focus, language focus, and task.
They argue that the primary focus of the unit is the task. The material design model that
they propose can be seen as in figure 6:

INPUT

CONTENT LANGUAGE

TASK

Figure 6: A material design model proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 108)

5) Task Evaluation

Candlin (1987) in Nunan (2004: 173) suggests that the task evaluation should
cover three broads areas. These are ‘problematicity’, ‘implementability’, and
‘combinability’. ‘Problematicity’ refers to the extent to which a given task reveals
variations in learners’ abilities and knowledge, the extent to which it is diagnostic or
explanatory, whether it provides monitoring and feedback, and whether it can be used as
a basis for future action. ‘Implementability’ involves a consideration of the resources
required, the organizational and management complexity, and the adaptability of the
task. Then, the last is ‘combinability’ requires us to consider the extent to which the task
can be sequenced and integrated with other tasks.
According to Breen as quoted by Ellis (in Tomllinson 1998: 227), tasks can
be viewed from three different perspectives i.e. (1) tasks as workplans (2) tasks in
process and (3) tasks as outcomes. When the tasks are viewed as workplans, these are
concerned with the actions and learning that the task is designed to bring about. Then, if
the tasks are viewed in process, it needs to be examined what actually takes place as a
task is used with a particular group of learners. On the other hand, when the tasks are
viewed as outcomes, it needs to be considered what actions and learning are actually
accomplished as a result of performing the task.
In addition, Ellis (in Tomlinson 1998) suggests five steps for conducting an
evaluation of a task as follows:

Description of the task:

content (input, procedures, language activity)
STEP 1
objective(s)

STEP 2 Planning the evaluation

STEP 3 Collecting information

Analysis of the information collected

STEP 4

Conclusions and recommendations

STEP 5

Figure 7: Steps in conducting an evaluation of a task

The brief description of each of the step is as follows:

Step 1. Describing the task can be achieved by specifying the content of the task
and the objective(s). The content itself consist of input, procedure, and
language activities. The first is input, it refers to information that the
learners are supplied with. It can be in the form of verbal and non-verbal.
 Second is the procedure. Procedure is a series of activities that has to be
done by the students to complete the task. The last is language activities
which consist of the activity of listening, reading, speaking, and writing.
Meanwhile, the objective is the goal of each task that should be accomplish
by the students.
Step 2. In conducting an evaluation of a task, it is impossible to achieve a
systematic and principled evaluation without prior planning. The early act
of carrying out the planning of a task evaluation may have a beneficial
impact n the choice and design of a task.
Step 3. In evaluating a task, it needs to be considered to collect three types of
information: (1) information about how the task performed, (2)
information about what learning took place as a result of performing the
task and (3) information regarding the teacher’s and the learner’s opinions
about the task. These information can be collected (1) before the task is
used, (2) while the task is being used and (3) on completion of the task.
Step 4. After the information needed are collected, the next step is analysis that
information. There are two ways in analyzing data: quantitative analysis
and qualitative analysis. A quantitative analysis involves the use of
numbers while a qualitative analysis involves a more holistic and, perhaps,
impressionistic approach.
Step 5. The last step is to make ‘conclusions’ and also ‘recommendations’.
Conclusions relate to what has been discovered as a result of the analysis.
Meanwhile, recommendations concern proposals for future teaching. Each
recommendation should be supported by reference to relevant conclusion.
2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The lack of consideration from English language teacher of SMPN2 Wonosari

in matching the materials selected with the learners’ needs and attraction causes the
English language learning has been no longer interested by most of the learners. It
makes the goal of English language teaching and learning will be not achieved if there
is no action to straighten up this problem.
Materials development can be a solution to overcome the problem. Based on
Tomlinson (1998), it refers to anything which is done by writers, teachers or learners to
provide sources of language input and to exploit those sources in was which maximize
the likelihood of intake: in other words the supplying of information about and/or
experience of the language in ways designed to promote language learning. Therefore,
the language teachers may exploit the materials selected become attractive once that can
arouse the learners’ interest in learning English.
However, developing materials is not an easy job. Material developers can
not write anything that comes to their head into the materials. It needs some
requirements that should be fulfilled. Beside it has to appropriate with the national
curriculum, it should also agree with the standard of competency and basic competence
of the school, and meet the learners’ needs. Moreover, learning foreign language will be
easier for the learners if the materials taught bring them into their real life.
Therefore, a right method is needed in language teaching and learning
process. Among other methods, task-based is one of language learning methods which
offer a series of authentic tasks that give the learners experience of using the language
in ways in which it is used in the ‘real world’ outside the classroom (Tomlinson; 1998).
By using task-based, learners are presented with a task they have to perform or a
problem they have to solve (Harmer; 2001). They are asked to communicate with each
other in the target language and the focus of the lesson is the task itself, not the
structure.
Furthermore, developing task-based materials can be meant as a way to
exploit the materials selected from any sources becomes interesting and challenging
once in the form of ‘real world’ tasks. Meanwhile, a thing that one should take into
account in developing materials in the form of task is that a task will be considered
effective when it is feasible to be done by the students, using the appropriate language
level, and enhancing the students’ motivation to communicate in the target language. In
the other hand, the task should give the opportunity for the occurrence of the
interactions of the students using the target language for the purpose of communication.
From the theories above, it can be concluded that developing task-based
materials can be a good method for English language teaching in SMP N2 Wonosari.
Related to the current curriculum that requires the school and the teachers to develop
their own curriculum based on the learners’ needs and characteristics, the researcher
would try to help the English teacher of SMP N 2 Wonosari in developing materials,
especially in the form of task which are more interesting and challenging for the
students, especially for the first grade students of SMP 2 Wonosari.
 In developing task, the researcher modifies a procedure of course design
proposed by Masuhara (in Tomlinson, 1998) which is recommended by some experts. In
the other hand, for the process of evaluating the designed task, the researcher refers to
the step of evaluation of a task proposed by Ellis (in Tomlinson, 1998). The procedure
of the task development is presented in the following chart.

Conducting need analysis

Writing the course grid

Developing the tasks

Conducting try out and evaluation

Revising and writing the final draft of the tasks

Figure 8: The procedure of task development

The next chapter presents the research method used by the researcher in
conducting her study. This chapter will consist of descriptions about type of the study,
sample of the research, instrument of the research, data collection techniques, data
analysis techniques, research procedure, also validity and reliability of the data.