小组合作中的任务类型.doc

小组合作中的任务类型教师手册：外语教学语境化Teachers Handbook: contextualized language instruction 可以看作是对美国外语教学标准的解读和实施指南，对我们的英语教学有很好的借鉴作用。本文摘自此书。 In order to complete these tasks, students use computer-mediated communication, i.e., chat rooms and the Internet. See the Teachers Handbook Web site for the link to a complete description of this lesson.Tasks may be based on a printed or oral text (see Chapters 6 and 7), on subject-matter content (see Chapter 3), on cultures (see Chapter 5), on sharing of information, or on discussion. Figure 8.9 depicts a taxonomy of task types, as suggested by Willis and Willis (2007) in helping teachers to think of different kinds of tasks on a specific topic. Note that the task types are not mutually exclusivefor example, problem-solving tasks could involve tasks such as matching, ordering, and listing. Willis and Willis also suggest that not all topics lend themselves well to all types of tasks and that teachers should se-lect the best three or four that link well together. The following are several examples of tasks, which can each be a part of a task sequence. Think-pair-share （思考对子活动分享）(Kagan, 1989): Students use the following response cycle in answering questions: (1) they listen while the teacher poses a question; (2) they are given time to think of a response; (3) they are told to pair with a classmate and discuss their responses; and (4) they share their responses with the whole group.Jigsaw Sequence（拼图游戏） (Kagan, 1989): Each member of the group assumes responsibility for a given portion of the lesson. These members work with the members from the other groups who have the same assignment, thus forming “expert groups.” Eventually, each member must learn the entire lesson by listening to and sharing information with others in the group. Figures 8.10A, 8.10B, and 8.10C depict a sample jigsaw activity, together with suggestions for how to form teams and expert groups. Notice that the expert groups refer to the first series of groups in which students become “experts” by learning their assigned content; each member of the group must have the knowledge for their grouplearning is not divided into separate assignments. The “home groups” refer to the second set of groupings of students, each of which is comprised of an expert from each of the expert groups; each group has the collective knowledge of all of the expert groups. Once in home groups, students use their collective knowledge in order to complete a task, such as the one shown in Figure 8.10C. See also the videotape entitled “Happy New Year!” for an example of a jigsaw activity in action (Annenberg/CPB, & ACTFL, 2003).Information-gap activities（信息沟活动） (IGAs) ( Johnson, 1979; Walz, 1996): One student has information that another student does not have but needs. For example, pairs of students might be given the task of finding an hour that they both have free this week to play a game of tennis. Each student might have a copy of his/her schedule of activities for the week, and each has to ask questions in order to find out when the other person is free. As they share the information, the students eventually find a time slot that works for both of them. See Figure 8.11 “Where are my glasses?” for an example in English. On the Teachers Handbook Web site, Appendices 8.5A and 8.5B (Dreke & Lind, 2000), 8.6A and 8.6B (Freed & Bauer, 1989), and 8.7A and 8.7B ( Jansma & Kassen, 2004) are sample information-gap activities in German, Spanish, and French, respectively. Note that Appendices 8.5A and 8.5B illustrate an IGA in German that is somewhat different from the other examples that follow in that it deals with storytelling. 4 Student B has a series of drawings arranged and numbered in the correct order to represent a story; he or she tells the story to Student A by describing the drawings. Student A asks questions as needed and numbers the drawings accordingly. This activity is repeated for a second story, but this time Student A tells the story as Student B numbers the drawings. At the end, students are asked to create a title for the stories and relate them to the class.Teachers should recognize that, in order for jigsaw activities and IGAs to be most effective, students need preparation before they begin to do them. Teachers should guide students in activating background knowledge and in recalling/reviewing key vocabulary and expressions that they will need in order to complete the task. If the activity includes visuals, students should have an opportunity to look at them to be sure that they understand what they are depicting and to brainstorm possible vocabulary. Furthermore, it is critical that students see a model of these activities before they engage in one themselves. The teacher might videotape students completing an information-gap activity and then show this video to students as an example of how this type of activity works. It is important to do several similar activities so that students can become comfortable managing intrapersonal communicationthat is, figuring out in their own minds how they will sustain their involvement in the task (Brooks, Donato, & McGlone, 1997). Fi-nally, students must be held accountable for these activities by being expected to perform a follow-up task, such as reporting back to the class. See a later section in this chapter on how to structure group tasks.Brooks (1992) describes another type of information-gap activity: “There are two parts to a whole diagram or picture, Part A and Part B. When both parts are superimposed, they form a complete diagram. One student receives Part A, the other Part B. The teacher then asks the students to talk to one another in the foreign language to find out how their part of the diagram is both different from and similar to that of the partner and to draw in or add the missing information so that, by the end of their conversation, they both have replicas of the same master diagram” (p. 67). Appendices 8.8A and 8.8B (on the Teachers Handbook Web site) provide examples of this type of IGA in which students draw the missing information from each drawing of the house so that, at the end of the activity, both students have the same drawing of the complete house. Appendix 8.8 also illustrates how the same jigsaw activity used in Figure 8.10A can be adapted for use as an information-gap activity of the kind described above.Information-gap activities provide a good opportunity for students to learn how to ask for clarification, how to request information, and how to negotiate when faced with misunderstandings. Teachers should realize, however, that not all IGAs are created equal. Some provide formulaic practice of language utterances and vocabulary, e.g., those that require students to give prices of items, while others, such as the ones included in this chapter, promote creativity and meaning-making.Problem solving（解决问题） (Willis & Willis, 2007): Group members offer advice and recommendations on problems ranging from general issues such as global warming to more specific problems such as what to do if your neighbors cat is causing trouble in your garden. These tasks stimulate discussion and serve as the basis for writing activities including note-taking, drafting, and finalizing proposals for solutions (Willis & Willis, p. 93). Sharing personal experiences（分享个人体验） Storytelling, anecdotes, reminiscences (Willis & Willis): Students work together to recreate a familiar story, add more details, and change the ending; they create a story with visuals. Students engage in social interactions by recounting their own experiences, making them entertaining and dramatic. Cooperative projects（合作项目） (Kagan, 1989): Group members work together to complete a group project such as a presentation, composition, or art project. Oxford (1992) describes the “Heritage Project,” a successful cooperative model for teaching culture in language classes, in which students design a culture-related project and have a large degree of freedom in topic choice, grouping, implementation, and time management.Movement activities（运动中的活动） (Bassano & Christison, 1987): Students get up from their seats and walk around the room in order to obtain information from classmates. For example, students might have a list of 10 activities in the present tense and ask classmates whether or not they do each activity (wake up at 6:00 A . M ., eat breakfast every morning, etc.); students share the information with the class afterward. Paired interviews（结对采访）: Students interview each other for specific information and share their findings with the class.Role-plays（角色扮演）: Students act out situations, such as a restaurant scene or a visit to a doctor. Beginning students can be given role-play cards with vocabulary/grammar hints, intermediate-level students can practice role-plays around survival situations, and advanced-level learners can present role-plays around a problematic situation in which someone must solve a conflict or persuade someone else to do something within a culturally specific context (DiPietro, 1987; Hadley, 2001). It is advantageous to present the situation card describing the role-play in the native language so that students completely understand the task. However, when preparing role-plays, students also benefit from well-organized instructions and guidance, such as a model situation and hints concerning vocabulary and grammar use. The extent to which the teacher offers specific suggestions will depend on the cognitive and linguistic levels of the students. Younger learners, for example, require more structured role-play directions in order to help them focus their ideas.While the advantage of the role-play is that it mirrors real life, it can prove challenging to learners because it asks them to solve a problem, and to act out a role simultaneously (Willis & Willis, 2007). A solution to this problem is to take learners through a sequence in which they first collaborate on how the problem might be solved, then learn to play a role, and, finally, learn to solve problems while playing a role (Willis & Willis). Discussion tasks（讨论任务）: Students share opinions, debate, narrate, describe, and explain. For example, students might discuss and share their opinions of a text or controversial topic. An opinion survey might be used to assist learners in formulating an opinion (Willis & Willis, 2007). It is important to note that the complexity of task-based discussions depends on the linguistic level of students. That is, the discussions that novices have are typically short and based on information collected in a task, whereas students at higher levels are able to exchange opinions and have more of an interactive discussion. Discussion tasks are particularly useful as students move into the advanced level of study, since they provide the impetus for self-expression, use of paragraph-length and extended discourse, and manipulation of more sophisticated vocabulary and grammatical structures.Imaginative activities（想象性活动）: Sadow (1987) developed a number of imaginative activities for the language classroom in which students are asked to “solve a problem they would not normally have to face, concoct a plan they would never have dreamt of on their own, reconstruct the missing parts of stories, and act in outlandish ways” (p. 33). When students first begin to do imaginative work, Sadow suggests that they work with structured paired activities, such as rewriting conversations or dialogues to change the characters, perhaps by switching male and female roles or altering age and status. Beginning-level students might be engaged in activities such as designing a mask with unusual facial features, designing half-built houses, or inventing a job interviewer they would like to encounter. At the intermediate and advanced levels, challenging problem-solving activities ca