Reasoning gap activity, which involves deriving some new information from given information through processes of inference, deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns. One example is working out a teacher’s timetable on the basis of given class timetables. Another is deciding what course of action is best (for example cheapest or quickest) for a given purpose and within given constraints. The activity necessarily involves comprehending and conveying information, as in information-gap activity, but the information to be conveyed is not identical with that initially comprehended. There is a piece of reasoning which connects the two.
Opinion gap activity, which involves identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation. One example is story completion; another is taking part in the discussion of a social issue. The activity may involve using factual information and formulating arguments to justify one’s opinion, but there is no objective procedure for demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no reason to expect the same outcome from different individuals or on different occasions.
The researcher agrees with his opinion and continues to compare other language investigators works based on TBLL.
Different investigations about TBLL
TBLL seeks to develop learners’ inter-language through providing a task and then using language to solve it. Most language investigators and teachers have analyzed the Task-based language learning and they came to different opinion:
According to Jon Larsson:
...one of the main virtues of TBL (Task based learning) is that it displays a significant advantage over traditional methods in how the communicative skills of the learners are improved. The general ability of social interaction is also positively affected. These are two central factors in language learning. By building a language course around assignments that require learners to act, interact and communicate it is hopefully possible to mimic some of the aspects of learning a language “on site”, i.e. in a country where it is actually spoken. Seeing how learning a language in such an environment is generally much more effective than teaching the language exclusively as a foreign language, this is something that would hopefully be beneficial.
Larsson goes on to say:
Another large advantage of TBL (Task based learning) is that it encourages learners to gain a deeper sense of understanding. Superficial learning is often a problem in language education, for example when learners, instead of acquiring a sense of when and how to use which vocabulary, learn all the words they will need for the exam next week and then promptly forget them. In a TBL classroom this is stopped by always introducing the vocabulary in a real-world situation, rather than as words on a list, and by activating the learner; learners are not passive receivers of knowledge, but are instead required to actively acquire the knowledge. The feeling of being an integral part of their group also motivates learners to learn in a way that the prospect of a final examination rarely manages to do.
In Larsson’s opinion the researcher could find some similar features with her opinion. He says that “Superficial learning is often a problem in language education, for example when learners, instead of acquiring a sense of when and how to use which vocabulary, learn all the words they will need for the exam next week and then promptly forget them. In a TBLL classroom this is stopped by always introducing the vocabulary in a real-world situation, rather than as words on a list, and by activating the learner; learners are not passive receivers of knowledge, but are instead required to actively acquire the knowledge “. The researcher also considers that the teacher should just lead the learner, but the learner should work on himself and be active during the class than the teacher. The teacher is just constructor and just by directing he can manage the aim, that the learner may feel more self-confident and feel the responsibility for his actions. Task-based learning is advantageous to the learner because it is more learner-centered, allows for more meaningful communication, and often provides for practical skill building, which may further motivate them in their language learning.
However, the researcher could find some difficulties in the following idea of Larsson:
“it is hopefully possible to mimic some of the aspects of learning a language “on site”, i.e. in a country where it is actually spoken. Seeing how learning a language in such an environment is generally much more effective than teaching the language exclusively as a foreign language, this is something that would hopefully be beneficial.”
According to the researcher’s opinion, the teacher should teach the learner, but not just made him travel about different countries where it is spoken.
Being a learner the researcher was interested in activities that help her to produce whole pieces of communication, to link and develop information, ideas, or arguments for a particular reader or a group of readers. And in the following saying by Nunan D (1989) the researcher came across with the same opinion in “Desining tasks of the communicative classroom”: “In Task-based instruction, learners participate in communicative tasks in English. Tasks are defined as activities that can stand alone as fundamental units and that require comprehending, producing, manipulating, or interacting in authentic language while attention is principally paid to meaning rather than form. For instance, learners work together to write and edit a class newspaper, develop a television commercial, enact scenes from a play, or take part in other joint tasks.2”
This can be managed through dividing them into pairs or groups. As the result learners may feel themselves more self-confident and use their creativity.
According to Jeremy Harmer:
“TBL promotes language acquisition through the types of language and interaction they require. Harmer says that although the teacher may present language in the pre-task, the learners are ultimately free to use what grammar constructs and vocabulary they want. This allows them, he says, to use all the language they know and are learning, rather than just the 'target language' of the lesson.”
In researcher’s point of view, such usage of a language can provide to improve the fluency more than accuracy. Fluency is much more important than accuracy, because the learner will be able to overcome the language barrier by improving the fluency. Most language learners suffer from lacking of self-confidence and they have language barrier.
Jane Willis (1996), in her book “A Framework for Task-Based Learning”3, outlines that Task-based learning (TBL) is typically based on three stages. The first of these is the pre-task stage, during which the teacher introduces and defines the topic and the learners engage in activities that either help them to recall words and phrases that will be useful during the performance of the main task or to learn new words and phrases that are essential to the task. This stage is followed by what Willis calls the "task cycle". Here the learners perform the task (typically a reading or listening exercise or a problem-solving exercise) in pairs or small groups. They then prepare a report for the whole class on how they did the task and what conclusions they reached. Finally, they present their findings to the class in spoken or written form. The final stage is the language focus stage, during which specific language features from the task and highlighted and worked on.
On the other hand, according to Loschky and Bley-Vroman, tasks can also be designed to make certain target forms 'task-essential,' thus making it communicatively necessary for learners to practice using them. In terms of interaction, information gap tasks in particular have been shown to promote negotiation of meaning and output modification. The researcher also considers that designing the task is important in TBL, especially if we want to develop speaking and listening skills. In researcher’s opinion communication is much more important than other skills while learning the language. Because the main aim in learning the language is to speak, to communicate, to express one’s opinion to others.
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