Second Language Pedagogy--二语教学part 3

3TeachingInChapter2anattemptwasmadetoindicatehowtheprin-ciplesandproceduresoftask-basedteachingaroseatacertainstageoftheproject.Thepurposeofthischapteristostatewhatfurtherunderstandingofsuchteachingwasgainedinthecourseofsubsequentexperience.Whatisstatedheredoesnotthereforeconstituteastrictdescriptionofalltheteachingdone,butratheraninterpretationofthepatternofteachingwhichcametopre-dominateandwasfelttobeofparticularvalue.Reasoning-gapactivityItisnecessaryfirsttoclarifythesenseoftheterm‘task’forthepurposeofthisdiscussion.Meaning-focusedactivityintheclassroomcanbedividedbroadlyintothreetypes.1Information-gapactivity,whichinvolvesatransferofgiveninformationfromonepersontoanother–orfromoneformtoanother,orfromoneplacetoanother–generallycallingforthedecodingorencodingofinformationfromorintolanguage.1Oneexampleispairworkinwhicheachmemberofthepairhasapartofthetotalinformation(forexampleanincompletepic-ture)andattemptstoconveyitverballytotheother.Anotherexampleiscompletingatabularrepresentationwithinforma-tionavailableinagivenpieceoftext.Theactivityofteninvolvesselectionofrelevantinformationaswell,andlearnersmayhavetomeetcriteriaofcompletenessandcorrectnessinmakingthetransfer.2Reasoning-gapactivity,whichinvolvesderivingsomenewinformationfromgiveninformationthroughprocessesofinfer-ence,deduction,practicalreasoning,oraperceptionofrela-tionshipsorpatterns.Oneexampleisworkingoutateacher’stimetableonthebasisofgivenclasstimetables.Anotherisdecidingwhatcourseofactionisbest(forexamplecheapestorquickest)foragivenpurposeandwithingivenconstraints.Theactivitynecessarilyinvolvescomprehendingandconveyinginformation,asininformation-gapactivity,buttheinformationtobeconveyedisnotidenticalwiththatinitiallycomprehended.Thereisapieceofreasoningwhichconnectsthetwo.3Opinion-gapactivity,whichinvolvesidentifyingandarticulat-ingapersonalpreference,feeling,orattitudeinresponsetoagivensituation.Oneexampleisstorycompletion;anotheristakingpartinthediscussionofasocialissue.Theactivitymayinvolveusingfactualinformationandformulatingargumentstojustifyone’sopinion,butthereisnoobjectiveprocedurefordemonstratingoutcomesasrightorwrong,andnoreasontoexpectthesameoutcomefromdifferentindividualsorondif-ferentoccasions.Teachingontheprojectstartedwithapreferenceforopinion-gapactivity(asbeingthemostlikelytoensureapreoccupationwithmeaning)butsoonmovedtoinformation-gapandreasoning-gapactivities.Betweenthelattertwo,apreferenceforreasoning-gapactivitydevelopedgradually,althoughinformation-gapactivitycontinuedtobeused(forexampleinstructionstodraw)fromtimetotime.Inparticular,information-gapactivitywasseenasausefulpreliminarytoreasoning-gapactivity,eitherwithinatasksequencespanningseverallessonsorinasequenceofques-tions/exchangeswithinasinglelesson.Thefirsttasksonanewbodyofinformation(forexampleamaporasetofrules)wereusuallyrestrictedtoaninterpretationoftheinformation,asapreliminarytotaskswhichinvolvedinference,deduction,orapplicationtogivencases.Overall,itwasreasoning-gapactivitywhichprovedtobethemostsatisfyingintheclassroom,andthediscussionwhichfol-lowsisconcernedwithpossiblereasonswhy.Theterm‘task’willbeusedtorefergenerallytoreasoning-gapactivityandwillalsobeusedtorefertotheactivityinalessonasawhole,includ-ing‘pre-task’work,unlessindicatedotherwise.Apedagogicdifficultywithopinion-gapactivityisthatitisopen-endedinitsoutcomes,incomparisonwiththeothertwotypeswhichpermitagreeddecisionsaboutrightorwrongout-comes.Theknowledgethatthereisarightanswer,andaknow-ledgeofthecriterionbywhichitsrightnessistobeassessed,provideasenseofsecuritytolearnersandsupporttheireffortstoarriveatanswers.Thissenseofsecurityisimportantwhenlearnersgenerallyfeelinsecureaboutthelanguageinwhichtheactivityistakingplace.Further,objectivecriteriaofrightnessTeaching47andwrongnessenablesomelearnerstobenefitfromtheout-comesofotherlearners’efforts:conclusionscanbedrawnaboutrightorwrongoutcomesfromseeingwhatotherout-comesareassessedasrightandwrong;andsuchconclusionscanleadtoaperceptionoftherightproceduresforarrivingatoutcomes.Inferencingofthiskindismuchmoredifficultinanopen-endedactivitywheretherearenodecisionsontherightnessofoutcomestobeusedindeducingproceduresand,indeed,nologicalconnectionstobeestablishedbetweentheproblemfacedandtheprocedureadopted.Thevalueofopen-endedactivityforlinguisticdevelopmentcanperhapsberealizedbetterwithadvancedlevellearnersinasecondlanguage(anditsvalueinpersonaldevelopmentcannodoubtberealizedwellinmother-tongueinstruction)butintheearlystagesofsecondlanguagelearning,open-endedactivitytoooftenleadsonlytolearners’verbalimitationofoneanother,oroftheteacher,andthusceasestobegenuinelyopen-ended.Information-gapactivitygenerallytakestheformofaone-stepprocedure–fromcontenttolinguisticformulation,orviceversa–foreachpieceofinformationtobetransferred.Itistruethatthissinglestepofteninvolvestrialanderror,thusbringingincriteriaofsuccessoradequacy,anditmayalsoinvolvedeci-sionsontheselectionofinformationtobetransferred,thusbringingincriteriaofrelevance.However,suchprocessesinvolvelittlenegotiation,if