An Intercultural Task-based Approach to EFL through Collaboration

These materials were used in my presentation, An Intercultural Task-based Approach to EFL through Collaboration, given at the TESOL Greece 2009 30th Annual Convention, held at the Hellenic American Union, Athens, Greece on March 14-15, 2009.

An Intercultural Approach to Task-based Learning
through Collaboration

Greece TESOL Convention
March 14-15, 2009

David L. Brooks, Associate Professor of English
Kitasato University, Japan

Summary

Overcoming personal and cultural barriers to producing language for students in monolingual educational environments is a major challenge. This session introduces a broad outline for setting up an intercultural approach to task-based, performance- focused learning. Design of performance tasks and ways to enhance them through student collaboration is the main focus.

Presentation Abstract

A central challenge we face is the problem of getting students to actually produce language – that is, to be able and willing to use the English they have learned for purposes of authentic communication, self-expression and personal enjoyment. This presentation will address this important lifelong goal by expanding teacher methodologies and instructional resources needed for task-based EFL learning through collaboration. It will focus broadly on the following classroom tenets and actual instructional practices for establishing an intercultural approach to task-based learning:
1. Selling the intercultural, collaborative task-based approach to reluctant speakers.
2. Selecting, organizing, and managing authentic tasks and meaningful performances for large classroom groups.
3. Preparing students for success in performance tasks involves how to effectively ‘train,’ both meta-cognitively and through actual instructional tasks, students unaccustomed to a task-based approach to gain the strategies, skills and confidence needed.
4. Setting standards for evaluation and incorporating self, peer and teachers assessment into the performance tasks.
5. A brief demonstration of appropriate type of performance tasks and guidelines for maximizing student achievement and teacher efficacy will be discussed. These include model conversations, role-plays, simulations, poster talks, storytelling, action research presentations, pair discussions, group debate, making video programs, speeches, dramatizations, and Internet-based collaborations.
6. Technology and classroom infrastructure can enhance the instructional environment in achieving task-based collaborative approach.
The target audience will be teachers of ESOL whose students in secondary schools and university are not accustomed to being asked to become actively engaged in the process of learning by ‘doing’.

See the Powerpoint presentation below that was used in the session delivered in Room 308-309, HAU Building on March 14, 16:45-17:30 in Athens, Greece.