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ESL forum >
Ask for help > ELT pedagogy
ELT pedagogy
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piranhac
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ELT pedagogy
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Hi guys I have been teaching EFL for ten years but I still find some points in ELT unclear because our ispectors want us to teach according to what they trained us to do Hoever, when reading ELT books i find that they are a bit narrow-minded and hostile to change I want to post my questions here and get feedback (theory -anchored feedback please) my first question is : Do you consider a find the difference between two pictures task a communicative task? |
7 Oct 2019
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cunliffe
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Well, I am not really into theory and stuff, so whether the exercise qualifies as a communicative task... Let�s see. First of all, it is a great task, because the language can be tailored, e.g there is/are... isn�t/aren�t... or really roughly tuned, e.g. one person has a nose slightly less hooked than the other person. Putting students into pairs and insisting they don�t point, but explain the differences, is a great language teaching opportunity, because you can go round, listen in and pick up points of language. Treating the exercise as a barrier game, that is, in pairs, each has one picture and can�t see the other�s, certainly involves communication, as they must ask each other questions, give each other clues, prompts and praise etc... Interesting question!
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7 Oct 2019
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douglas
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If they have to communicate the differences that they found to another person, yes. |
7 Oct 2019
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piranhac
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thanks a lot Cunliffe and Douglas for you comments you really cleared the point ( my inspector said that it is not a communicative task) |
7 Oct 2019
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redcamarocruiser
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https://www.tefl.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=63 lists spotting the differences as a communicative activity. |
7 Oct 2019
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cunliffe
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Well done, Mary. @piranhac, your inspector sounds like an ass. |
7 Oct 2019
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FrauSue
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I agree - it is a communicative task if you structure it in a way that requires the students to communicate. In most cases, it would be a pair work activity, where each partner doesn�t know what the other has. In this set-up it is effectively an information gap activity, so definitely communicative. |
8 Oct 2019
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memarta
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According to theory, a communicative task is one such task that resembles real life situations in the sense that the student HAS A REASON TO SPEAK (other and more meaningful than merely "speaking for the teacher to listen and correct") So, what defines a task as communicative is PURPOSE. I think describing differences would be communicative under such definition. Having said that, in EFL classes there are moments when "less communicative" practice makes sense, for other teaching aims, such as practising pronunciation - that is why a drill would also be adequate. It all depends on what you - as a teacher - are aiming at. Hope I was helpful |
8 Oct 2019
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piranhac
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Thank you very much for your valuable comments you are a wonderful community and I feel proud and lucky to receive such enlightening comments Also this opens my appetite for more questions |
9 Oct 2019
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