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1 Naturalness: where the use of a structure during a task would be unforced, and where alternative structures would do equally well.
2 Utility: where the use of a particular structure would help the efficiency of the completion of the task, but could be avoided through the use of alternative structures.
3 Essentialness: where, in order to complete a task, a particular structure has to be used. They propose that the teacher has to use the third of these conditions and device tasks which force the use of particular structures to ensure a focus on form.
More recently, Willis (1996, a) proposes that the task should be approached through three stages: pre-task, during task and post task phases. He advocates starting with the task in order to create a need for language. He also stresses the importance for learners to analyze after the task is done. Although Willis’s approach consists of a wide range of activities and guidance as to how instruction can proceed in such a way as to bring form into focus, it does not link effectively with a clear comprehensive foreign language theory. However, the approach adopted by Willis (1996a &b) was the starting point from which Skehan (1998), the proponent of the cognitive approach, started his work.
The cognitive approach assumes that if task-based instruction is to be viable, it has to be situated within a theoretical viewpoint more grounded in contemporary information processing perspective. This will lead to adopting an intermediate position for tackling tasks, in which naturalness of tasks still has importance, but attempts are made, through task choice and methodology, to focus attention on form (Skehan, 1998: 42).
3 The cognitive approach to language teaching
This section aims at sketching out the cognitive (psycholinguistic) approach of foreign language learning. This includes presenting the basic concepts underlying this approach and shedding light on the stages of information processing model suggested by the cognitive approach to interpret both language learning and use. Finally, the implications of the cognitive approach in terms of speaking instruction are addressed.
The cognitive approach and language learning
The cognitive approach attempts to apply the principles of contemporary cognitive psychology to the domain of second/foreign language learning. In this sense, the theory is derivative as it applies a broader framework to the domain of second/ foreign language research (McLaughlin, 1988: 33). The cognitive approach searches for explanations of foreign language cognition in terms of mental representations, attention and information processing. It gives due concern to language performance not just competence- a domain that has received less attention than that of competence within the language processing field (Skehan, 1998b: 62).
Interestingly, the cognitive approach deals with the foreign language as a special phenomenon different form first language. As McLaughlin (1990: 113) and Ellis (1994: 26) argue, in the case of foreign language learning the following generalizations apply:
* There is an existing knowledge system (the L1).
* The FL learner has considerably greater cognitive abilities and schematic knowledge than the first language learner.
* Ongoing performance may have an impact upon the nature of language learning.
Concepts underlying the cognitive approach
Before presenting the cognitive approach interpretation of foreign language learning and use, it is necessary to highlight some concepts underlying the 68 information processing model adopted by the cognitive approach. These are as follows:
* The Inter language system: This concept is concerned with the linguistic development the foreign language learner undergoes. The development of this inter language system is related to cognitive processes capable of manipulation or change. These processes are divided to those concerned with planning processes and those concerned with monitoring their operation (Skehan, 1998 b: 4).
* Restructuring: Fundamentally, what makes the learner restructure his inter language is the emergence of a new principle that the existing inter language violates in some way. The process of restructuring is governed by a set of inference strategies and hypothesis testing (McLaughlin,1990: 146 and Adams, 2003: 352).
* The limited attentional system: The cognitive approach assumes that the human attentional system is a limited mental resource or capacity. One chooses to attend to some thing at the expense of others, and the use of attentional resources themselves has costs as far as the processing of potential material is concerned (Schmidt, 1993). Relying on the previous concepts, the cognitive approach describes language learning and use in terms of an information processing model.
The information processing model
The information processing model constitutes of three stages: input processing, central processing and output processing. These stages express what happens in the learner's mind during language learning and use- especially during speaking. The information processing model hence attempts to offer explanation of the operations working at each stage:
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