Delphi module

4.5.11
Commentaries

Comment 4.5.1
Comment 4.5.2
Comment 4.5.3
Comment 4.5.4
Comment 4.5.5
Comment 4.5.6
Comment 4.5.7

Commentary 4.5.1
The order is BAC

Commentary 4.5.2
One reason was so you could check whether your idea about the stage at which a text could be used in the lesson was the same as that given in the text. Another reason was to put the paragraphs into the correct order. The first reason is much more like the sort of reason we have to read a text outside the classroom, but the second is no less valid for creating immediate motivation. Most people enjoy this kind of challenge or puzzle - perhaps more so than having to constantly think of ideas and then see if you were 'right' according to another person's text! Which of the two reasons do you think motivated you more? Why?

Commentary 4.5.3
The missing section belongs just before the final paragraph.

Commentary 4.5.4
Here is an adapted version of the list of text-based task designs that Willis (1996:75-76) gives, showing which ones I think could be used for reading and / or listening texts.

(You will see that the six text-based task designs I mention in section 4.5.3 are in fact the same as Willis's list.)

Task design	Listening	Reading
Prediction Students hear / read a part of the text or see related visual material then work in pairs to guess or predict the content, such as news stories, solutions to problems, story endings.	From headline and/or first part of recording; from selected 'soundbites' of the recording (play the tape and turn the volume up and down as the tape counter reaches pre-noted points); from video without sound, or still pictures.	From headline and/or first few lines of text; from selected parts of text (copy of text with sections blanked out); from pictures.
Jumbles A text is cut up and jumbled (or rearranged on a word processor) and students must put it back into the correct (or an acceptable) order. Their report should include an explanation of why they think this is a good order for the text.	(I think it would be too difficult to do a jumbled spoken text, both from the materials preparation aspect and the memory load on students trying to recall where the missing item could go); jumbled key points of a summary written down (number the order they should be in while, or after, listening); jumbled pictures from a series (maybe video stills, drawings or cartoons from published material, diagrams or your own simple line drawings) to put in order while listening.	Jumbled sections of text; jumbled key points of a summary (put in order while reading); jumbled pictures from a series (photos, drawings or cartoons from published material, diagrams, verses of a poem or your own simple line drawings) to put in order while reading.
Restoration tasks Students must spot and 'remove' item(s) that have been added to a text, or decide where missing item(s) should be replaced. Can be words and phrases, sentences or larger chunks. Report should include a justification for decision.	While listening, follow a transcript that has been 'doctored' by adding or removing items. Remove / replace the items as you listen. To make it easier, show missing items on a handout, and / or leave a gap in the transcript where an item has to be added; provide a table or diagram that has had parts deleted / added. Restore diagram during / after listening.	Identify words / phrases / sentences that have been added to a text and do not fit; replace words / phrases / sentences that have been removed from a text; mix up the lines / verses of two poems to be 'untangled' and then put into order; provide a table or diagram that has had parts deleted / added. Restore diagram.
Jigsaw / split information Each student in a group reads / hears a different part of a complete text or researches a different aspect of a topic. Groups reconvene to compile parts into a whole.	Each student hears a different episode of a story, or other text. The group must then try to reconstruct a summary of the story / text; all students listen to the same recording but focus on different points / speakers, then pool and summarize the text.	Each student reads a different episode of a story or other text, or researches a different aspect of a topic. The group must then try to reconstruct a summary of the story/ text, or put together their research findings to make a complete report.
Comparison Students compare visual information with what they read/hear, or compare different versions or accounts of the same or similar events or topics.	eg two or more different 'eyewitness accounts' of an event; students listen to one each, then report what they have heard so the group can jointly work out what happened; compare a picture / diagram with information in a listening text, eg look at pictures of three families and decide which one is being discussed on the tape.	eg two or more different 'eyewitness accounts' of an event; students read one each, then report what they have heard so the group can jointly work out what happened; compare a picture / diagram with information in a reading text, eg look at pictures of three families and decide which one is being discussed in the text.
Memory challenge After a single brief (time limited!) exposure to a text, students list / describe / write quiz questions / draw pictures or diagrams about what they can remember, perhaps as a competition to see which team remembers most. Read / listen again to compare remembered features with the original.	Dictogloss: listen to a text delivered at normal speed and take brief notes while listening. Work in pairs to try to reconstruct the text. Listen again and modify before seeing the original; after first listening, each student lists the things they remember best (and why). Compare with other students; describe in as much detail as possible a place / person / incident, etc, described in the extract; students write three quiz questions they are sure they can answer correctly. Pool all questions for a class team quiz, or pairwork quiz.	After first reading, each student lists the things they remember best (and why). Compare with other students; describe in as much detail as possible a place / person / incident, etc, described in the extract; students write three quiz questions they are sure they can answer correctly. Pool all questions for a class team quiz, or pairwork quiz.
From the above outline descriptions and examples of text-based tasks for listening and reading, I think you will agree that all the task designs can be used for either skill, although there are some specialist techniques (like dictogloss) that for obvious reasons only work for one or the other. Remember the six types of task that you met in activity cycle 2 (see 4.2.4.2): depending on the topic and genre of the listening or reading text you are working with, you could ask students to list, sort, compare, problem solve, share personal experience or do something creative with the material. So a memory challenge could involve making a list, for example, while jumbles could be seen as sequencing (sorting) tasks, and predictions are a kind of problem solving. You might like to look back at the list of text-based task designs above (see 4.5.3) and try to map Willis's six task types against them.

Commentary 4.5.5
The 'Zone distances' text is linguistically quite complex. Although you could probably do a couple of the most basic tasks (eg matching measurements with the zone titles, or people with zone titles) with quite low level students, there would not be a lot of mileage here for students below upper intermediate level, especially when it came to the language focus stage of the lesson. The 'popular science' style and content might be suitable for students of English for academic purposes. The topic is engaging without being too specialized, and the text contains common academic writing features such as complex noun groups with defining relative clauses, passive voice verb forms, definitions and explanations of terminology, a general-specific text structure, and text supported by a diagram. There is also some specialist terminology ('zone distance') the meaning of which students should be able to work out from the rest of the text content and definitions given (they are unlikely to find it in their dictionaries!) The purpose of this is not to teach this vocabulary but to enable them to practise the skill of working out meanings, and to build their confidence in working with texts with such specialist terms.

The 'mini-saga' text is both short enough and simple enough to use with students from elementary level up, depending on the task set. It is a non-specialist topic that raises an issue that all students are likely to be aware of: the dangers of smoking, but in an unusual and touching way.

Comment 4.5.6

Task	Comment
We are going to do a class survey to find out about people's smoking habits. Here are two questions. Add three more questions of your own ...	This is a pre-reading-task activity (in fact a reading / writing / speaking task) to get students thinking about relevant vocabulary and the issues raised in the text. Note that the second given question has been carefully chosen to prime the students for the idea of the collusion of a (presumably) non-smoker with a smoker, which is a key concept in the text they will read. During the report stage you might want to extend the discussion to check that students know other key vocabulary (light a cigarette; kill; careful; addiction).
Here are the first two lines of a short poem. The poem was written by a man called James, and it tells a story about a woman called Jennie. What do you think happens in this story?	This, like the next three tasks, could be used for the students' first exposure to the mini saga (which at this stage in the lesson I would refer to as a 'poem' to keep things simple.) I have put them in what I think is a rough order of difficulty, although as you will see from the following comments, the level of challenge depends a lot on what they have already seen or done before starting the task. This prediction task starts by providing the lexically and structurally simple first two lines and serves to give students lots of thinking time, so by the time they do see the whole poem they are well prepared. In addition, they do not need to understand every word of the text in order to check their predictions. This task could therefore be done by even quite low level students, especially if some additional key vocabulary is taught first (light a cigarette; kill; careful; addiction). I would discuss the meaning of 'because I might have lost you' after this task - in fact it would make a good introduction to this past (hypothetical) use of a modal verb during the language focus. The question 'What do you think happens at the end?' is important as it allows you to check that students have understood what actually happened, as opposed to what James did or felt.
Here is a poem about a man and a woman, but some words are missing. Can you put the words from the box back into the right places?	This is harder than the last task as students see the entire text (minus the gap words) from the start. To replace the words correctly they must understand most of the lexis at this stage, so this would be better for a slightly higher level class. To make this gap-fill task much easier (and OK for lower levels again) you could do it after the prediction task above by giving students this gapped version to check their predictions against instead of the entire text. But you'd have to get them to cover the lines already given so they couldn't just copy the answers! They should be able to do the first four gaps from memory - easy, but confidence-boosting and good for helping weak students succeed. The last three words then also become much easier through a process of elimination.
Here are the lines of a poem about a man and a woman, but they have been mixed up. Can you put them back into the right order?	Because most of the lines break across sentences / clauses, this is not too hard for students who have a moderately good grasp of English sentence structure, but it is nevertheless quite a tough cognitive challenge (students might want to use their dictionaries during this task to check the meaning of 'betrayal'). Again, it can be made simpler by starting with the prediction task, so students would be reconstructing the first part of the poem from memory before tackling the remaining few lines that make up the second, unseen part. To make it even easier, they could also do the gap-fill and then treat this jumble as a memory challenge.
Variation 2: before seeing the complete version, students see this gapped version without the list of missing words and try to think of an acceptable word for each space.	This variation makes the challenge much tougher, and would be suitable for an upper-intermediate class who already had an extensive vocabulary for productive purposes.
Variation 1: after having read the complete poem once, students cover the complete version and try to remember the words that go in the spaces, without the help of the list at the end.	This is clearly a 'second exposure' task as it comes after the students have seen the text once, eg by doing the prediction task. As a simple memory challenge it is somewhat easier than variation 2 above, which would make it suitable for intermediate students.
Put away the copy of the poem that you have been working on. In your group, see how much of the poem you can write out from memory.	This is a post-reading task, but prepares students for a final exposure when they check their answers. However, the act of reconstructing the text could be considered as intensive exposure in its own right, as students work and rework the elements they have recalled into the complete text. Their final checking against the original is also likely to result in very close scrutiny of every word. The toughness of the challenge depends on how much exposure to the text the students have already had, but even assuming they have done three tasks on it, I would not give this to a class below intermediate level. This is because the reconstruction requires them to recall (ie produce, not just comprehend) one or two quite unusual words or phrases ('an act of love', 'betrayal') an uncommon use of 'for', and a complex structure in the final clause.
You have five minutes with your partner to think up a title for the mini-saga ...	This could (obviously!) only be done after the students had read the text at least once. Although it may look like a post-reading task, students are likely to refer back to the text during their group discussion to find vocabulary, check spellings, or check details of the story, so it may provide further exposure. It could be done with students at just about any level, but lower levels would almost certainly need more support from the teacher during the planning stage.The variation presents an opportunity to introduce some more sophisticated vocabulary for higher level learners.
With your partner, find at least three words to describe how James felt at the time of writing this poem. (Use a dictionary if you want to.)	This could be done at any level, and would be a good start for language focus work on building up a semantic field of vocabulary items. To increase the challenge for advanced learners, invite the class to call out suggestions and write them on the board (you'll get things like 'sad', 'angry', 'guilty'). When you have a few, ask them each to find three more that are not already on the board.

With your partner, answer the set of questions your teacher gives you (teacher allocates one set per pair of students, so one third of the class is doing each set.) You have five minutes. Have you ever felt that someone was standing too close to you?	This is a pre-reading task which aims to get students thinking about personal space and the spatial norms within their society. By asking some pairs to come up with specific measurements you are setting things up nicely for a comparison of data when they first see the text. This should motivate them to scan the text for the relevant bits in order to extract the numerical information they want without worrying about the rest; in fact, you will hardly need to instruct them to do this, as the natural tendency will be to compare their own findings with what the 'experts' say. It is not a difficult task and could be done from intermediate level upwards.
Look at this diagram of 'zone distances' (teacher shows complete diagram on OHP or gives out copies, minus the main text). What do you think it shows? You and your partner should try to agree on an answer.	This is another pre-reading task but as the diagram is a) strictly part of the text, and b) contains some text and numerical information, it is perhaps better considered as partial first exposure. Either way, it sets up a reason for students to read the text, this time not to make and check a prediction, but to make and check a hypothesis. Again, it is not difficult (probably even easier if you delete the four instances of the word 'zone' as it is likely to worry students unless they already know it) and could be used from intermediate level up.
Look at the passage about personal space. Some of the numbers have been blanked out. Now look at the diagram. The measurements are missing from this too. Can you guess what they are? You have two minutes to look at a text on 'Personal Space'. Which of the 'Zone distances' mentioned in the text applies to your classmates? Your teacher?	Both these tasks are suitable for initial exposure and require partial reading only. Students from intermediate level upwards should be able to do these quite easily as long as they feel comfortable about not needing to understand every word. For lower-level or less confident students you could give more time for the second task, but two minutes is actually ample (I tried it on a native speaker who had done no pre-task preparation at all - it took him one minute and three seconds. If students have already measured the distances they normally stand from each other and their teacher they should be able to match this time.)
Look at the text a second time. With your partner, decide whether the distances given for the four 'zones' are the same as you would expect where you come from. Can you explain why they are similar or different?	Again this does not require students to understand every word (eg some of the examples of people mentioned for each zone, like 'plumber') as long as they get the gist of the passage. Intermediate students should be able to cope with this, especially if the teacher is available to answer queries as they do the task.
On a sheet of paper, make four columns, headed 'intimate zone', 'personal zone', 'social zone' and 'public zone'. In the appropriate column, write the names (or descriptions) of at least two people ...	This offers a similar level of reading challenge to the task above. As long as the gist of the text is understood, the students should be able to fill in some names. However, I think the cognitive challenge is lower. Students are only asked to provide some personal examples and compare these with their partner's, not to compare zone distances for two cultures and attempt to provide an explanation. This means that the task would be more suitable for students at the lower end of the intermediate range, as they will already be presented with sufficient challenge in processing the text, without having a tough speaking task to do as well. It also means that the task might be more suitable for younger students, or as a quicker task that requires less thinking and speaking time for more advanced students.

Commentary 4.5.7
Example lesson outline for a writing-based lesson. (This lesson would be a good follow-up to the mini-saga reading lesson.)

Note: Although not many students would identify 'writing mini-sagas' as a necessary future writing skill in their target language, the activity is an entertaining way to practise selecting and summarizing essential information within a strict word limit. In academic writing, report writing, etc, this is an essential skill. When designing lessons and activities designed to directly address learners' target situation needs, remember that using target situation material and activities can quickly become dry and boring, whereas finding imaginative ways to develop the same skills can provide immediate motivation.

Pre-task: Tell class that they are going to write about their own lives, in the form of a mini-saga. Ask class to recall, or introduce, mini-saga 'rules' (50 words exactly, 15 words maximum in the title). Give the students a simple (slightly flawed) example that is about you, and ask them to check if it obeys the rules (mine doesn't - it has 51 words). Get students to work in small groups to find a way to make it fit the rules. Get feedback (reports) and agree on which are good solutions. Note these on the board.

Corony Edwards: A life story
Corony was born during the cold English summer of
1959.
At three months, she was taken to Africa: heat and
sun.
At three years, she returned to cold English summers
(and even colder winters).
At night, she still dreams of African sunshine. But on
waking, she can never remember her dreams.

Task cycle
Writing preparation
Students have two minutes to write down at least five words related to an important event, or events, in their lives. They show these to a partner and explain why they are important words. Partner gives feedback on which parts of the 'story behind the words' they think would make a good mini-saga.

Writing task draft 1
Students write a first draft of a mini-saga, using some or all of their 'important words', aiming for between 40 and 60 words in total. Show partner and discuss possible changes and clarifications. (Teacher circulates to help with vocabulary, accuracy of expression.)

Writing task draft 2
Redraft, improve, check word count is now exactly 50. Work with partner if this helps, consult teacher.

Write out a neat final copy.

Planning for Report 1
Pairs combine into fours and exchange mini sagas with each other. Allow time for some discussion - students may want to find out more about events described in their classmates' mini-sagas. Each group selects one mini saga from the four to read out loud to the class, with a brief explanation of why they made this choice.

Report 1
One student from each group reads out a mini-saga (preferably not their own) to class. Variation: omit mention of names and ask remaining groups if they can guess whose it is. Another group member explains why they chose this one to read.

Planning for report 2 / language focus
Back in groups of four, ask students to show each other their initial and final drafts and discuss strategies they used to make the final draft exactly fifty words long. Groups prepare to tell class about one or two strategies that they liked or found useful.

Report 2 / Language focus
As students report strategies and give examples, write these on board with those from the pre-task editing exercise. Eg phrases like 'when she wakes up -> 'on waking'. Either organize these into sets as they come up, for students to copy, or write up in the order they occur, and ask students if they seem to fall into sets.