Taking the curriculum to task

Abstract

About the book: Task-based learning in teaching is where an activity has been designed to help achieve a particular learning goal. This volume brings together a series of studies by different researchers on the impact of tasks in second language teaching, testing and development. It reviews a number of issues which include recent research into task-based learning: the effect of tasks on speaking, listening and oral interaction, the role of the teacher in exploiting tasks and the nature of the task based curriculum. Contents: 1. Introduction - Martin Bygate, Peter Skehan and Merrill Swain. PART 1: TASKS AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING 2. Effects of task repetition on the structure and control of oral language - Martin Bygate 3. Non-reciprocal tasks, comprehension and second language acquisition - Rod Ellis 4. Rules and routines: A consideration of their role in the task-based language production of native and non-native speakers - Pauline Foster. PART 2: STUDIES OF TASKS IN LANGUAGE CLASSROOMS 5. Focus on form through collaborative dialogue: Exploring task effects - Merrill Swain and Sharon Lapkin 6. Guiding relationships between form and meaning during task performance: The role of the teacher - Virginia Samuda. 7. 'A case of exercising': Effects of immediate task repetition on learners performance - Tony Lynch and Joan Maclean. PART 3: TASK-BASED APPROACHES TO TESTING 8. Tasks and language performance assessment- Peter Skehan 9. Influences on performance in task-based oral assessments - Gillian Wigglesworth 10. Task-based assessments: Charactersitics and validity evidence - Micheline Chalhoub-Deville. Afterword: Taking the Curriculum to Task - Christopher N. Candlin. Features: Looks at the impact of tasks on second language processing, speaking, listening and oral interaction. Presents a broad range of approaches to task-based teaching, learning and testing. Includes a review of recent research into task-based learning