Delphi module

6.6.4
Ensuring progression

6.6.4.1
Assessing the difficulty of a task

Activity 12

Look at the five oral tasks listed below and put them in order, according to how difficult you think the tasks would be, and which sort of task would be appropriate to the level(s) that you teach.

Both students have photographs which are almost identical. The speaker has to describe what is in the photographs as accurately as possible in order that the listener can identify in what way his / her photograph differs from the one which the speaker is describing.
The speaker has a piece of paper on which a diagram [in two colours] has been drawn. The listener has a blank sheet of paper, a black pen and a red pen. The speaker has to instruct the listener to reproduce the diagram as accurately as possible on his / her sheet of paper. The listener has to listen carefully and to follow the speaker's instructions.
The speaker has a cartoon strip story. The listener has a set of pictures which show scenes or the characters from the story and some from different stories. The speaker has to tell the story so that the listener will be able to identify which scenes or characters fit the account he / she hears.
The speaker has a set of photographs depicting a sequence of events leading up to a car crash. The listener has a road layout design on which he / she has to draw the locations and movements of the cars involved in the crash.
The learners watch a short piece of video film in which a teacher expresses a fairly strong opinion that corporal punishment is necessary in school to ensure that teachers can do their work and that students can learn. Having watched the film, learners have to say what they think about the matter.

From Nunan, 1991: 60 (who in turn adapted it from Brown and Yule, 1983b)

Brown and Yule (1983b: 107-109) give, as a general rule of thumb, the following checklist for assessing the difficulty of a speaking task: the easiest would be a straight description, followed by telling a story, and finally justifying an opinion. The first is a static task (dealing with fixed relationships, stable properties), while the second is dynamic (involving changes of character, times, location, a progression in events), and the third is abstract (expressing ideas, opinions, constructing an argument). Nunan shows that the tasks in Activity 10 are already in increasing order of difficulty according to these criteria.

Most degree (post-A level) activities might well be abstract tasks, so something further might be needed to distinguish between levels. More advanced programmes might want to introduce topic-based activities, with a view to laying emphasis on a research element: for example, you could start with a static relationship task in first year (eg Describing a picture / advertisement / photograph), then in second year require a presentation, prepared in advance, on a topic chosen and researched by student, followed by a presentation with no preparation for final year.