4.5 Text-based tasks
4.5.1 	Preliminary prediction task
All the activity cycles in this module so far have opened with a menu showing the sub-sections of the cycle, followed by a statement of the outcomes for the cycle.
	This one (as you can see!) starts immediately with a short prediction task for you to do. From the title can you predict the following?
•	the outcome(s) for the activity cycle;
•	which of the four skills (reading writing, speaking and listening) will be considered for task design purposes.
Jot down your answers in note form. To check your predictions, go to the next page, read the titles of the sub-sections and look up the description of the outcomes.

4.5.1 	Preliminary prediction task
4.5.2 	Outcome
4.5.3 	Reading tasks
4.5.4 	Listening tasks
4.5.5 	Choosing texts and grading tasks 
4.5.6	Writing in task-based lessons 
4.5.7 	Summary
4.5.8 	Readings 
4.5.9   References 
4.5.10	 Assessment task
4.5.11	 Commentaries

4.5.2 Outcome
•	one or more complete task-based lesson plans with classroom materials and instructions that are based on reading and / or listening texts and / or written language output, together with a commentary explaining the rationale behind each lesson stage and activity. These can be presented as evidence that you have fulfilled learning objectives 4), 5), 6) and 8).

Details of how to do this are given in 4.5.10. 

This activity cycle touches upon issues in the DELPHI modules on Understanding and developing reading in a foreign language, Working with written texts in the language classroom and Developing foreign language writing skills. We will not go into detail here on general issues of reading, listening and writing, but will focus mainly on how activities involving these skills can form the basis of tasks within a task-based lesson framework.

4.5.3 Reading tasks 

4.5.3.1 Reflection 
Think of a language lesson that you have recently taught where the students read a text of some kind. 
•	What were they reading?
•	Was the text authentic, or specially written for teaching purposes?
•	What did the students have to do with the text? 
•	How successful were the text-based activities? 
•	Why were they (un)successful? 
•	What do you think the students gained from doing the activities?

4.5.3.2 Belief check
•	What do you think are the most useful ways to help learners develop their reading skills in a second language? 
•	Are there any approaches to reading in the language classroom that you believe are not helpful? For example, what do you think about reading comprehension questions? Translation? Reading aloud? Pre-reading work? Reading for gist / detail? Skimming and scanning? (Don’t worry if you don’t know all these terms – they are just here to jog your memory in case you do!) 
•	Are there any specific techniques that you especially (dis)like? Why do you feel this?
•	What do you think reading in a second language can contribute to a learner’s overall language development?

4.5.3.3 Jumble task
Here is a jumble task for you to try. But first, it may be helpful to refer back to section 4.4 to remind yourself of the stages of a task-based lesson suggested by Jane Willis, and decide at what point in the cycle you might give the students tasks based on a written text during a task-based lesson. 
	Now read these three paragraphs about text-based TBL and put them in the right order: 

USING WRITTEN TEXTS IN A TASK-BASED APPROACH

 A	Because a reading text is such a rich source of language input, and because we can read at different ‘levels’ (skimming for gist, selecting small sections for detailed reading, or intensive reading of the whole text), students can usually also be set a second, more challenging task that requires a second, or even third, more detailed reading (although this won’t work for very short, simple texts).

B	When we use a reading text (one which was originally designed to be read for pleasure, information etc, not a simplified text or one specially written to illustrate vocabulary or grammar points), the reading becomes part of the task. As in the type of reading skills lessons with which you are probably familiar, students begin with pre-task activities (vocabulary input, schema activation, prediction, etc). In fact, this stage may be a mini-speaking-task cycle in itself. This preparation helps students to understand the text when they read it for the first time, and it also gives them a reason to read. Reasons could be to check their predictions, to find answers to questions they would like answered, to find information necessary to complete another task – just the same kind of reasons we have for reading outside the language classroom.

C	By the end of this stage, students will be quite familiar with the text – what it means, and where the different bits of information can be found in it. They are then ready to move on to the final stage of the TBL cycle: the language focus, when they will finally look at the structures found in the text.

For feedback, see Commentary 4.5.1.  Were you right about the stage at which you could use a text?

4.5.3.4 Why did you read the text?
When you read this text you had two reasons to read it. What were they? 
See Commentary 4.5.2. 

4.5.3.5 Missing section
When I was preparing the following text, I cut out the section made up of paragraphs A, B and C for the task you have just done. Can you identify the place this section came from?

TEXT-BASED TBL

In the preceding activity cycles of this module, we considered lessons based on speaking tasks where, after the planning and report stages, students listen to tapes and study transcripts of fluent speakers doing the same task. It is the listening/transcript study which provides the main source of input or exposure to new language from which the students can learn.  

This approach, based mainly on spoken language, is attractive because it fills many ‘gaps’ left by other lesson types and teaching materials: there is plenty of real communication as students struggle to complete the task; by having the input after the students have done the tasks, they are really motivated to attend to the input, and they learn by comparing how they said things with the way that more sophisticated speakers expressed the same ideas; thirdly, the quality of the input is vastly superior to the often stilted, unnatural language of specially written/recorded dialogues in textbooks, and it contains the natural features of spoken language. It is not too difficult for even low-level students to understand: they know perfectly well the gist of what is being said, as they have just done the task themselves; finally, it is a radical move away from traditional books where most of the input is through reading passages followed by comprehension questions, exercises, grammar practice, etc. 

However, written texts can also offer a very useful – and different – source of input for students, and reading as a skill should not be abandoned altogether just because the importance of spoken language has been recognized.  But if we are to incorporate authentic reading texts into our task-based framework, we will need to adapt the framework. This is because we cannot expect students during lesson time to produce a piece of writing on a topic and then compare it with a text written by an expert! Instead of motivating students, this would probably be very off-putting.                      

So in a text-based TBL lesson, students don’t just depend on their imaginations and general knowledge, or pictures and clues given by the teacher to complete a speaking task; they have to get information from a text. The tasks they work on may involve discussion with other students, as in a speaking-based TBL lesson, but because the main focus of the lesson is on the written language, it doesn’t have to. Students may be working individually to complete a table, draw a graph, answer questions, solve a problem, etc. But it would seem a shame to waste the opportunity for at least some genuine speaking between students, so they might at least compare their answers after doing the task, or when planning their reports. And then, of course, the result is a genuinely communicative integrated skills lesson into the bargain.

For feedback on this task, click on Commentary 4.5.3.  

4.5.3.6 Restoration tasks
The activity you have just done illustrates another of the task designs you could use for your own student: a restoration task, where a part of the text is removed and has to be restored in the correct place by the students. 

4.5.3.7 Types of text-based tasks
Now go back over the material presented so far in this activity cycle and make a list of all the text-based task designs mentioned so far; for example, the cycle started with a prediction task. You will need your list for the next sub-section of this cycle.

4.5.3.8 Reasons to read
You can find more detailed descriptions of  text-based task designs in Willis, (1996: 75–81), or any good book on developing reading skills will give similar ideas for reading based activities, including Modules 7 and 8 of DELPHI. The key thing to remember is that students have a reason to read –  and that reason is created by presenting them with a specific, non-linguistic outcome to achieve, just as for speaking tasks.

4.5.3.9 Reading task outcomes
Apart from restoring texts that have been doctored in some way, outcomes could be anything from:
•	‘Look at the picture that accompanies the newspaper article you are about to read. Write down three questions you would like to find the answers to. Read the text and see if you can answer your questions’
to 
•	‘Here are five very short stories written by children for a competition. Read them and with your partner, decide which should be the winner and why’ 
to 
•	‘You have five minutes to read this text and memorize as much information as you can. After reading, you will be asked to write three quiz questions based on the text. We will then have a class quiz using all the groups’ questions to see which team has the best memory.’ 

4.5.3.10 Reading for meaning
In these three examples, students will be reading for meaning in a way that means something to them (because they have the immediate motivation to do so), not so they can comb the text for examples of a linguistic feature, or answer a set of tricky and boring comprehension questions that may even be answerable without the student really understanding either the question or the answer! These traditional approaches to using texts just encourage learners to read a text a word at a time, often with a dictionary in one hand, which is both disruptive to the reading process and demotivating.

4.5.3.11 Collaborative outcomes, integrated skills
An important feature of a task-based approach to using written texts in the classroom is that, as for speaking tasks, students often work collaboratively to achieve the outcome. This immediately transforms the task into a reading and speaking task, and often requires writing too (for the report stage). This is a very natural way of integrating skills use in the classroom; indeed, it is difficult to have a task-based lesson that is not also an integrated skills lesson!

4.5.3.12 Reflection
When you are planning lessons do you ever have lesson aims that relate specifically to developing one or more of the four language skills? If you do, find or try to recall some recent lesson plans that do this and think about how the activities were used to practise skills or sub-skills. 
•	Could they be considered as tasks according to our definition? 
•	Were any of the lessons ‘integrated skills’ lessons? If so, did the integration of two (or more) skills arise automatically from the design of a single task, or was each skill introduced in a separate activity? 
•	Which of these two possibilities do you feel is a) more natural, and b) better from a pedagogic perspective?

4.5.3.13 Optional reading
This is a good point to do the first recommended follow-up (see 4.5.8, Recommended reading 1). 

4.5.4 Listening tasks

4.5.4.1 Reflection
Think of a language lesson that you have recently taught where the students listened to spoken language. 
•	Who were they listening to? 
•	Was it live or recorded? 
•	Was it spontaneous, natural speech, or scripted?
•	If scripted, was it authentic (eg a newsreader reading an autoprompt) or specially written for teaching purposes?
•	What did the students have to do? 
•	How successful were the listening activities? 
•	Why were they (un)successful? 
•	What do you think the students gained from doing the activities?

4.5.4.2 Belief check
•	What do you think are the most useful ways to help learners develop their listening skills in a second language? 
•	Are there any approaches to listening in the language classroom that you believe are not helpful? 
•	Are there any specific techniques that you especially (dis)like? 
•	Why do you feel this?
•	What do you think listening in a second language can contribute to a learner’s overall language development?

4.5.4.3 Sources of listening material and task types
You will recall that we began to consider how listening activities fit into a task-based approach in activity cycle 3 (see 4.3). In that unit, we considered how and when you could use recordings of fluent speakers doing the tasks that students have just completed. But there are many other more conventional sources of listening material that can be used: tapes that come with coursebooks, recordings from the radio or TV, songs, even recordings of spontaneous speech that you or the students have made. These can be exploited in very similar ways to those suggested for reading. Look back at the six task design types that can be used with a written text (the list you made in section 4.5.3.7 above) and decide which could be also be used for listening. 

For feedback, see Commentary 4.5.4. 

4.5.4.4 Task-based listening lessons
Just as for a task-based lesson built around a reading text, students need to start with an introductory, pre-task stage before moving on to the task cycle itself. 
	So far, the sequence and types of activities are likely to be very similar, or the same as, those you would use in a ‘listening skills’ lesson (see Module 5). It is after the listening task that the lesson begins to look different. At this point the students will move on to a planning stage, as they would after a speaking task, to prepare for the report stage. Normally, as you will recall, this is done collaboratively by students working in pairs or small groups. However, if the report is to be made in writing (see below), it is possible (but not essential) for students to plan their reports individually in the first instance. 
	In addition, because of the need to listen to (or read) the text more than once, you might have as many as three or four mini task-plan-report cycles with each one requiring more intensive, detailed processing of the text. Once the task cycle has been completed, you can move on to language focus work based on the text as described in activity cycle 4.4.  

4.5.4.5 Optional reading
You may now like to do some follow-up reading on ‘Listening’ (see 4.5.8, Recommended reading 2). 

4.5.5 Choosing texts and grading tasks

4.5.5.1 Sources of texts 
It is important to give learners exposure to an appropriate range of language. Some coursebooks already provide a good range of text types, both spoken and written, so you may not need to find too much supplementary material yourself, but many books, especially those for lower level learners, provide only very limited quantities of authentic material. For advice on how to select appropriate texts for your learners, see Module 8 (section 8.2). 

4.5.5.2 Grading tasks
I believe that it is far preferable to adjust the difficulty of a task rather than to simplify or cut down a text. Some texts might be considered difficult from the ‘readability’ point of view, because they contain unknown words or phrases, or familiar words used in a colloquial or metaphorical way, or complex phrase or clause structures. (Note this is not the same as long words or long sentences; a long, but simply constructed, compound sentence containing some long but familiar words could be easier to understand than a short simple sentence containing two complex noun groups and unfamiliar vocabulary.) But even a ‘difficult’ text can be rendered ‘readable’ in pedagogic terms if we do not expect students to process it in too much detail. 

4.5.5.3 Levels of text processing
This reflects the way that in everyday life we process texts at different levels depending on our purposes. For example, when listening to a weather forecast we will probably only pay close attention to the forecast for our region, and pretty much ignore the rest; reading a newspaper we will skim the pages, reading the headlines to find items of interest for closer reading; reading a light novel we will probably read all of each page, but quite rapidly and without the same care as when following the instructions in a recipe we have not made before, and where we are likely to read each section several times, before we start and as we complete each step. 

4.5.5.4 Tasks for extensive and intensive reading
You can set tasks for students that mirror this range of extensive to intensive (and repeated) reading / listening, and whole text to part coverage only. You can also make the reading or listening much more manageable by including sufficient preparation in the form of pre-tasks, when you can supply some of the essential background knowledge, check that key words or phrases are known and will be recognized, that immediate motivation is kindled, and that a clear purpose is established for the listening or reading. As Willis (1996: 71) says, ‘grading a text by attempting to assess its level makes no pedagogic sense ... unless one knows the purpose for which the information is to be used.’

4.5.5.5 Two example authentic texts
Here are two examples of authentic written texts (retyped) that I would consider using in a language class. Who might each text be suitable for?

Text 1: This is taken from ‘The Book of Mini Sagas’. Mini sagas were introduced as a competition by the Telegraph Sunday Magazine in 1982. The rules were that the story must be exactly 50 words long, the titles must be no more than fifteen words, and a story should be conveyed. The best entries were published as a collection in 1985.

TO BE CAREFUL,
TO BE CARING
When she walked, I watched.
When she talked, I listened.
Lighting her cigarettes
was an act of love. And a
betrayal, for they killed her.
I was careful, Jennie. You 
were my only addiction. I was
afraid to ask you
to be careful, too.
Because I might have lost
you.

James Cawthorn
LONDON W 10

The Book of Mini Sagas with an introduction by Brian Aldiss, 1985, Allan Sutton Publishing, Gloucester, p 15.

Text 2: This is a section taken from a book about body language.

PERSONAL SPACE
Most animals have a certain air space around their bodies that they claim as their personal space. How far the space extends is mainly dependent on the conditions in which the animal was raised. Like other animals, man has his own portable ‘air bubble’ that he carries around with him and its size is dependent on the density of the population in the place where he grew up.

Zone Distances
The radius of the air bubble around suburban middle class white people living in Australia, New Zealand, England, North America and Canada is generally the same. It can be broken down into four distinct zone distances.
1.	Intimate Zone (between 15 and 45 centimetres or 6 to 8 inches) 
Of  all the zone distances, this is by far the most important as it is the zone that a person guards as if it were his own property. Only those who are emotionally close to that person are admitted to enter it. This includes lovers, parents, spouse, children, close friends and relatives. There is a sub-zone that extends up to 15 centimetres (6 inches) from the body that can be entered only during physical contact. This is the close intimate zone.
2.	Personal Zone (between 46 centimetres and 1.22 metres or 18 to 48 inches) 
This is the distance that we stand from others at cocktail parties, office parties, social functions and friendly gatherings.
3.	Social Zone between 1.22 and 3.6 metres or 4 to 12 feet) 
We stand at this distance from strangers, the plumber or the carpenter doing repairs around our home, the postman, the local shopkeeper, the new employee at work and people whom we do not know very well.
4.	Public Zone (over 3.6 metres or 12 feet)
Whenever we address a large group of people, this is the comfortable distance at which we choose to stand.

Figure 9 Zone distances	
	
INTIMATE ZONE
15 - 46cm	

PERSONAL ZONE
46cm- 1.2m	

SOCIAL
ZONE
1.2 - 3.6m	

PUBLIC
ZONE
over 3.6m		

Body Language by Allan Pease, 1981, Sheldon Press, London, pp 20–21.	

For feedback, see Commentary 4.5.5.  

4.5.5.6 Example reading tasks
Here are some task descriptions / instructions that you could use with each of these texts, but I’ve presented them as a jumble task – ie each set of descriptions is mixed up. 
•	Put each set into the order in which you would use them if you were going to use them all (I wouldn’t advise you to really use them all – it would take far too long and become boring!) 
•	Identify which are pre-reading tasks and which are reading tasks. 
•	Finally, decide which tasks (if any) could be used with students of any level from elementary up, which would be suitable for intermediate level and above, and which could be used for advanced students only.

‘Mini-saga’ tasks
Here are the first two lines of a very 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? Tell your partner your ideas.

When she walked, I watched.
When she talked, I listened.

Now look at the next part of the poem. Do you want to change your ideas about the story? How do you think the story might end?

Lighting her cigarettes
was an act of love.

Now read the whole poem and see if your story is the same.	
You have five minutes with your partner to think up a title for the mini-saga (remember that the title must be fifteen words or fewer). We will then take a class vote on who has invented the best title. (Note: students will not have seen the original title.)
Variation: Which of these titles do you think is the best one for this poem? Why?
Regret
Smoking kills.
To be careful, to be caring
Addicted to love
Addiction
	
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.)	
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. Then go round the class to get your answers. (Note to teacher: in a large class you might like to vary the first two questions among groups, or ask each pair to ask just one or two of the questions, to avoid all students asking each other the same questions).
1) How often do you smoke cigarettes? EVERY DAY / SOMETIMES / NEVER
2) For people who answered NEVER: A friend who smokes asks you to buy cigarettes for them. Do you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Why?
3)
4)
5)	
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.	
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?

Lighting her cigarettes 
were my only addiction. I was
When she walked, I watched.
To be careful, too.
Betrayal, for they killed her.
Was an act of love. And a
you.
I was careful, Jennie. You 
When she talked, I listened.
Afraid to ask you
Because I might have lost
	
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?

When she walked, I .................
When she ............., I listened.
Lighting her ................
was an act of ............... And a
betrayal, for they killed her.
I was ............., Jennie. ............
were my only addiction. I was
.............. to ask you
to be careful, too.
Because I might have lost
you.

 You   love   cigarettes   afraid   careful   talked   watched   

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.

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.

‘Personal space’ tasks
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?	
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.	
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.
a	Have you ever felt that someone was standing too close to you? Who was it? How close were they? Where were you and what was the occasion or event? Write down in note form Who, How close, Where, Event. See if you can think of two examples each.
b	In class, or out of class, how close do you normally stand to your friends? (Use a ruler to help you estimate the distance.) How close do you stand to your teacher? When you have agreed on the measurements, do a quick survey of two or three other pairs near you and note their answers.
c	Is the distance you stand from another person important? Why (not)? What might happen if someone stands too close or too far away? Write down three things that might happen if someone stands at the ‘wrong’ distance.
After the teacher tells you your discussion time is up, prepare a short report with your partner so you can tell the others in the class what you thought or found out.	
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?	
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 who have entered each of your four zones in the last week. Compare your list with your partner’s.	
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?

 (NB Students would not see the complete text or diagram before doing this task. Students to be given text with all measurements blanked out.)

INTIMATE ZONE
15 - ……..	

PERSONAL ZONE
………………	

SOCIAL
ZONE
………………….	

PUBLIC
ZONE
………. 3.6m		
Now look at the complete text and see how close you were! (Students to be given full version of text).

For feedback, see Commentary 4.5.6. 

4.5.6 Writing in task-based lessons 

4.5.6.1 Reflection
Think of a language lesson that you have recently taught where the students wrote a text of some kind. 
•	What did they have to do?
•	Who read the text after they had finished?
•	How successful were the writing activities? 
•	Why were they (un)successful? 
•	What do you think the students gained from doing the activities?

4.5.6.2 Belief check
•	Do you think that second language learners should always learn to write in the target language? 
•	What do you think are the most useful ways to help learners develop their writing skills in a second language? 
•	Are there any approaches to writing in the language classroom that you believe are not helpful? 
•	Are there any techniques that you especially (dis)like? 
•	Why do you feel this?
•	What do you think writing in a second language can contribute to a learner’s overall language development?

4.5.6.3 Reasons for writing
There are two main reasons why you might ask students to write in the target language during class time or for homework: 
•	to help them to acquire a skill they will need to use in their jobs, studies or examinations, etc (assuming they will need to write for these purposes at all);
•	to help the learning process, since for many people, writing something down can aid memorization and understanding. 
An alternative way of looking at classroom writing is to consider to what extent activities are mainly for controlled writing practice (with the focus mainly on form and accuracy) or writing for real communication (meaning-focused, but with a degree of form focus depending on audience and purpose). 

4.5.6.4 Relating writing to students’ immediate and future needs
If your students have indicated that they like to write things down to help them make a record of what of was covered in class, to help them memorize words and phrases, to practise constructing examples of particular language forms, or to provide samples of their work for you, the teacher, to mark and correct, then traditional written exercises may well be appropriate. These are likely to form part of the language focus stage in a task-based lesson. In the remainder of this section, the emphasis is on communicative writing tasks. 
	If students’ future needs include the ability to write in the target language then devising writing tasks that reflect the nature of these future needs is obviously a good idea. Writing out sentences to demonstrate mastery of particular structures and writing ‘compositions’ of the type often set in a traditional grammar translation approach are unlikely to provide this targeted practice.

4.5.6.5 Written task reports
Within a task-based lesson framework, writing follows on very naturally from speaking and / or text-based tasks, if the report is to be delivered in written format. If you are planning lessons to include a specific type of written output, you can plan your lessons ‘backwards’, thinking about the writing task, and then planning the speaking / listening / reading tasks that will precede this. 

4.5.6.6 Stages in a task-based writing lesson 
The following diagram (based on one in Willis 1996: 62) shows the stages in a task-based lesson which has writing as its main focus. See Commentary 4.5.7  for an example lesson outline based on writing a mini-saga.

Could be a short speaking or reading task.

Pre-task
Discuss topic and situation
Teacher sets written task

ie another speaking task

Writing during the task stage is writing for real communication

Task cycle
Task
Students discuss task orally in pairs or groups to decide content
Planning / drafting 1
Pairs draft notes, discuss outline, write first draft. Exchange draft with another pair and ask them to suggest improvements.
Planning / drafting 2
Redraft, improve, make final checks. Final draft ready for audience.
Report
Pieces of writing read by all, for a set purposes. Class discussion of findings. Summing up.

The planning / drafting stages will need plenty of time: keep other stages short.

ie not just a report but also a reading task.

Language focus
eg collect and note down some useful words, phrases and patterns from each others’ work

As the planning / drafting takes time, keep this stage simple and short. May include writing as a medium for language practice work.

Figure 4.5.1 Framework for task-based writing lesson

4.5.6.7 Outcomes and purposes in writing tasks
Writing tasks, like tasks involving the other three language skills, should have a clear purpose and outcome. This means that students need to know who they are writing for (their ‘audience’, often their fellow classmates); the form that the finished product should take (paper document to be copied and distributed, entry on a website, email to a discussion group, wallposter, ephemeral handwritten report on the board, etc), and what the piece of writing should achieve.  

4.5.6.8 Planning and drafting writing
In addition, students should have sufficient planning time and drafting opportunities to produce a well-written piece, for example by following the stages suggested for a ‘process writing’ approach (see White and Arndt (1991) and DELPHI Module 9). This involves making successive drafts, improving each one on the basis of feedback from peers and / or the teacher. White and Arndt (1991) suggest that this feedback should preferably be a response to the content of the text, perhaps with suggested reformulation, rather than traditional structural error correction. 

4.5.6.9 Teacher input during writing
It is during this drafting and redrafting process that students are likely to request lots of ad hoc input from the teacher on how to say what they what to express, and for this reason, the planning stage in a writing-based lesson is the most important in terms of pushed output. Neat writing up of a final draft (or typing and posting to a website, etc) could be done as a homework task if lesson time is short, with the report and language focus taking place in a subsequent lesson. This will clearly be necessary if larger-scale project work (ie a macro-task, consisting of a series of several smaller micro-task cycles) is undertaken.

4.5.6.10 Writing tasks as part of an integrated skills approach
You will see from this section that writing within a task-based framework is not radically different from current approaches described in the ‘language skills’ literature. The main difference is in incorporating writing activities into a task-based lesson framework so that this skill is not treated in isolation from the other language skills, and the resulting integration of the four skills occurs in a natural and logical sequence of inter-related activities.

4.5.6.11 Optional reading
This would be a good point to complete recommeded readings 3 and 4 for this activity cycle (see 4.5.8).

4.5.7 Summary

4.5.7.1 Language skills in TBL
In this activity cycle we have seen how reading, listening and writing activities fit into a task-based approach, and how together these result in integrated skills lessons, where each activity not only gives learners the opportunity to use one or more of the four language skills, but is part of a logical sequence of activities, where each activity prepares for, and leads in to, the next. 

4.5.7.2 Belief check
Now that you have finished this activity cycle, in what ways (if any) have your beliefs about, or understanding of, the development of reading, listening and writing in a second language changed?

4.5.8 Readings
Recommended reading 1
If you have David Nunan’s Second Language Teaching and Learning  (1999), you may like to read chapter 9 on ‘Reading’.
Recommended reading 2
If you have David Nunan’s Second Language Teaching and Learning (1999), you may like to read chapter 7 on ‘Listening’.

Recommended reading 3
If you have David Nunan’s Second Language Teaching and Learning (1999), it would be useful to read chapter 10 on ‘Writing’.
Recommended reading 4
If you have a copy of Jane Willis’s book A Framework for Task-based Learning (1996), I recommend that you now read pages 61–63 (‘Writing in the task cycle’) and chapter 5 (‘Text-based tasks’, pages 66–85).

4.5.9 References
Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning, Newbury House Teacher Development, Clevedon
White, R and Arndt, V (1991) Process Writing, Longman, London
Willis, J (1996) A Framework for Task-based Learning, Longman, London

4.5.10 Assessment task 
Design a complete task-based lesson suitable for your students that is built around a written text, and / or that requires students to complete some written work. Write out the lesson plan(s) and instructions for the teacher, and prepare any materials needed by the students. Include on the plan(s) notes of the main teacher and student roles at each stage, and a brief rationale for each activity. (You may find it convenient to design your plan as a series of five columns, headed Stage, Activity description. Materials, Teacher / student roles, Rationale, or similar.)

These materials will form the fifth entry for your materials file. If you are using the materials file template provided, these items should be numbered 2.2 and should be placed in part II.

4.5.11 Commentaries
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.
a)	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?	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.)	
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?		
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.