Additional Info

• Course Title: Working with tasks: Modern Foreign Languages, Common European Framework and ICT - Selecting, adapting, creating and implementing tasks for learning languages
• Rationale and justification for the course: Many Modern Foreign Language (MFL) teachers still experience problems with the implementation of the Common European Framework (CEFR). Working with language learning tasks is a tried and tested method for making language lessons less abstract and more appealing. By relating language learning tasks to the CEFR teachers can deliver classes at the right level. For this ICT is a useful tool.
• Investigation of the field (state of the art) and innovative character: There are courses for MFL teachers about working with tasks, about the CEFR and about ICT but to our knowledge there is no course that deals with these three topics together.
• Target groups: MFL teachers in primary and secondary education
• Outcomes: changes in practices, procedures or didactic materials: We hope that this course will enable teachers to deliver education at the correct CEFR level with the help of ICT.
• Contents: Session 1: Introduction Short survey of literature about Task Based Language Teaching (see bibliography). Task based language Teaching and its uses for teachers, learners, trainee teachers and schools. The roles of the CEFR and ICT. Experiences with Task based language teaching in the Netherlands. European Projects about Task based language Teaching (ETALAGE and PETALL). How to access the ETALAGE and PETALL databases. Discussion of a sample of good practice and the criteria of a successful task. Participants work in groups and study the databases and select a task that they believe is successful. Discussion: adapting a task to one’s own classroom situation. Individual work. Participants adapt the selected task to their own situation. The task is carried out in the school and is subsequently evaluated by the students. Session 2: Creating a task Participants report on how the selected and adapted task was carried out. On the basis of their findings they formulate their own criteria for a good task. Participants brainstorm in groups about a new task. Individual work. The new task is carried out in the school and is subsequently evaluated by the students. Session 3: Evaluating and improving a task. Planning a follow-up. Participants report on how their own task was carried out. They work in groups on the improvement of the tasks (where necessary). Participants make a plan for the introduction of tasks in their own classes, in those of their department and of their school.
• Methodologies: The approach is practical. There is a short plenary introduction followed by discussion in small groups; trying out in own class and reporting on experiences.
• Evaluation procedures: Participants fill in an evaluation form immediately after the course. To check if knowledge and skills remain in the longer term a second evaluation form will be filled in after a few months.
• Follow-up strategy: Participants can stay in touch with each other and the tutors via an on-line forum.
• Schedule: Timeframe : 0,5 European credit point: 14 hrs. Number of sessions: 3 Total number of hours for each type of session: 3 sessions of 2 – 2,5 hours each, supplemented with literature study and classroom work, approximately 2 – 2,5 hours.
• Approval by the national body: n/a
• Scientific advisor: n/a
• Bibliography and other resources: BRANDEN, K. VAN DEN, BYGATE, M., & NORRIS, J. M. (2009). Task-based language teaching: A reader. Amsterdam: Benjamins. ELLIS, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: OUP. GUCHTE, M. VAN DE. (2015). Focus on Form in task-based language teaching. Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam. ISBN: 978-94-6259-921-5. (http://dare.uva.nl/document/2/167211) LOPES, A. (2012). Changing teachers’ attitudes towards ICT-based language learning tasks: the ETALAGE Comenius project (the Portuguese case). The EUROCALL Review 20(1): 100-103. LOPES, A. (2014). PETALL: A European project on technology-mediated TBLT. In S. Jager, L. Bradley, E. Meima and S. Thouësny (eds.), CALL Design: Principles and Practice - Proceedings of the 2014 EUROCALL Conference, Groningen, The Netherlands. Dublin: Research- publishing.net: 209-213. NUNAN, D. (2004). Task-based Language Teaching. Cambridge: CUP. NUNAN, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom. Cambridge: CUP. SCHROOTEN, W. (2006). Task-based language teaching and ICT: Developing and assessing interactive multimedia for task-based language teaching. In: K. van den BRANDEN (ed.), Task-based language education: from theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 129-150. THOMAS, M. & REINDERS, H. (2010).Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching with Technology. Continuum Publishing Corporation. WILLIS, D. & WILLIS, J. (2007). Doing Task-Based Teaching (Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers). Oxford: OUP. WILLIS, J. (1996). A Framework for Task-Based Learning. London: Longman.