Action Research on Choosing and Using Communication Tasks for Classroom Activity Design

中国人民大学附中  朱京力

【提要】长期以来教师们依靠语言课堂指导学生反复练习英语的语音、词汇、句子结构，让学生回答问题，以此来展示学生在教师指导下所学内容。然而被教师和研究者们所采用的这种方法可能不是一种和学生一起完成学习内容的最佳途径。当我们从不同角度来看当今的英语语言教学和学习时，交际任务的使用成为课堂语言学习的一个有效的支持。随着课堂内任务使用的增长，我们更应该全新的阐述一下作为教学和研究来使用的任务，而不是只给它附上定义。根据这个需要，这篇论文介绍了两个用来定义任务的特征──互动式活动和交际目标，并且从类型上加以扩展。我们可以在讨论交际性任务在达到教学和研究目的的作用中，对交际性任务加以认识、分类和比较。

【关键词】交际  任务  活动  互动

Abstract：For many years, teachers have relied on language lessons, directing students to repeat and practice English sounds, words and structures, or calling on them to answer questions and thereby display what they learned through instruction. Such approaches taken by teachers and researchers, however, may not be the most suitable means of teaching and helping with students. When viewed from the perspective of current English language teaching and learning, a more effective way to support language learning in the classroom is revealed through the use of communication tasks. The increasing use of tasks for classroom instruction has called for a fuller explication of task as a teaching and research construct than is offered by its current definitions. In light of this need, this paper has illustrated two features which have been used to define tasks──interactional activity and communication goal──and expanded them in a typology, through which communication tasks can be identified, classified, and compared with regard to their roles in meeting instructional and research purposes.

Key words: communication  task  activity  interactive

Introduction

How can teachers get language learners to talk? This is the typical and common question which has always been asked by most teachers and researchers in China.

For many years, teachers have relied on language lessons, directing students to repeat and practice English sounds, words and structures, or calling on them to answer questions and thereby display what they learned through instruction. Such approaches taken by teachers and researchers, however, may not be the most suitable means of carrying out their work with students. When viewed from the perspective of current English language teaching and learning, a more effective way to support language learning in the classroom is revealed through the use of communication tasks.

What is a task?

Task-based language teaching TBL has been extensively used in nowadays English language teaching.

Recently, many English teachers and researchers in China devote a great deal of their time and energy toward the TBL. The task-based language teaching aims at providing opportunities for the learners to experiment with and explore both spoken and written language through learning activities which are designed to engage learners in the authentic, practical and functional use of language for meaningful purposes.

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