Rod Ellis | University of Auckland and Shanghai International Studies University
Conducting action research is not something that teachers always find easy. Nunan (1990) reported that teachers’ action research proposals tended to be rather grand and unmanageable because they had failed to identify specific research questions. I propose that one practical way in which teachers can research their teaching is by carrying out micro-evaluations of instructional tasks. In this paper I report my experience of requiring students enrolled in a course on task-based teaching as part of their MA studies to undertake an evaluation of a task. They were first asked to design their own task in groups. They then planned a micro-evaluation of the task, taught the task and in the process collected data for the evaluation, and finally wrote a report. I use examples of their reports to discuss how they planned their evaluations, the process of conducting the evaluations, and the kinds of findings they came up with. I also examine the utility of such micro-evaluations as a means of developing teachers’ understanding of task-based teaching.
Allwright, D. (2003). Exploratory practice: Rethinking practitioner research in language teaching. Language Teaching Research, 7, 113–141.
Allwright, D. (2005). Developing principles for practitioner research: The case for exploratory practice. Modern Language Journal, 89, 353–366.
Bloom, M. (2007). Tensions in a non-traditional classroom. Language Teaching Research, 11, 85–102.
Carr, W., & Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming critical: Education, knowledge and action research. London: The Falmer Press.
Chan, S.H. (1995). A micro-evaluation-based task evaluation. Unpublished MA paper,Temple University, Philadelphia, PA.
Coughlan, P., & Duff, P. 1994. Same task, different activities: analysis of SLA from an activity theory perspective. In J. Lantolf & G. Appel (Eds.), Vygotskian approach to second language research, pp. 173–194. Oxford: OUP.
Cox, D. (2005). Can we predict language items for open tasks? In C. Edwards & J. Willis (Eds.), (pp.171–186).
Eckerth, J. (2008). Task-based language learning and teaching – Old wine in new bottles? In J. Eckerth & S. Siekmann (Eds.), Task-based language learning and teaching: Theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical perspectives, (pp. 13–46). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.
Edwards, C., & Willis, J. (Eds.). (2005). Teachers exploring tasks in English language teaching. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan
Ellis, R. (1997). The empirical evaluation of language teaching materials. ELT Journal, 51: 36–42.
Ellis, R. (1998). The evaluation of communicative tasks. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching (pp. 217–238). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R. (2001). Non-reciprocal tasks, comprehension and second language acquisition. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second Language Learning, teaching and testing (pp. 49–74). Harlow: Longman.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ellis, R. (2011). Macro- and micro-evaluations of task-based teaching. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Materials development in language teaching, (2nd ed.) (pp. 212–35). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ellis, R., Basturkmen, H. & Loewen, S. (2001). Learner uptake in communicative ESL lessons. Language Learning, 51, 281–318.
Foster, P. (1998). A classroom perspective on the negotiation of meaning. Applied Linguistics, 19, 1–23.
Foster P., & Skehan, P. (1996). The influence of planning on performance in task-based learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 299–324.
Gass, S., Mackey, A. & Ross-Feldman, L. (2005). Task-based interactions in classroom and laboratory settings. Language Learning, 55, 575–611.
Johnston, C. (2005). Fighting fossilization: Language at different stages in the task cycle. In C. Edwards & J. Willis (Eds.), (pp.191–200).
Johnson, K. (2000). What task designers do. Language Teaching Research, 4, 301–21.
Lantolf, J. (2000). Introducing sociocultural theory. In J. Lantolf (Ed.), Sociocultural theory and second language learning (pp. 1–26). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Lee, S-M. (2005). Training young learners in meaning negotiation skills: Does it help? In C. Edwards & J. Willis (Eds.), (pp.103–112).
Li, S. (2010). The effectiveness of corrective feedback in SLA: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60, 309–365.
Loschky, L. (1994). Comprehensible input and second language acquisition: What is the relationship?Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 16, 303–23.
Loumpourdi, L. (2005). Developing from PPP to TBL: A focused grammar task. In C. Edwards & J. Willis (Eds.), (pp.33–39).
Mackey, A. (1999). Input, interaction and second language development: an empirical study of question formation in ESL. Studies in Second Language Acquisition,21, 557–87.
Mackey, A., & Goo, J. (2007). Interaction research in SLA: A meta-analysis and research synthesis. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition: A collection of empirical studies (pp.407–452). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Markee, N. (1994). Towards an ethnomethodological respecification of second language acquisition studies. In E. Tarone, S. Gass & A. Cohen (Eds.), Research methodology in second language acquisition (pp. 89–116). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
McGrath, I. (2002). Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Muller, T. (2005). Adding tasks to textbooks for beginner learners. In C. Edwards & J. Willis (Eds.), (pp. 69–77).
Nunan, D. (1990). The teacher as researcher. In C. Brumfit & R. Mitchell (Eds), Research in the language classroom. ELT documents 133 (pp.16–32). London: Modern English Publications.
Pica, T. (1997). Second language teaching and research relationships: A North American view. Language Teaching Research, 1, 48–72.
Pica, T., Kanagy, R., & Falodun, J. (1993). Choosing and using communication tasks for second language research and instruction. In. G. Crookes & S. Gass (Eds.), Tasks and language learning (pp.9–34). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Seedhouse, P. (2005). ‘Task’ as research construct. Language Learning, 55, 533–70.
Skehan, P. (1996). A framework for the implementation of task-based instruction. Applied Linguistics, 17, 38–62.
Slimani, A. (1989). The role of topicalization in classroom language learning. System, 17, 223–34.
Slimani-Rolls, A. (2005). Rethinking task-based language learning: What we can learn from the learners. Language Teaching Research, 9, 195–218.
Storch, N. (2002). Patterns of interaction in ESL pair work. Language Learning, 52, 119–58.
Van den Branden, K., Bygate, M. & Norris, J. (Eds.). (2009). Task-based language teaching: A reader. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Weir, C., & Roberts, J. (1994). Evaluation in ELT. Oxford: Blackwell.
Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. Harlow: Longman.
Willis, J. (2005). Introduction: Aims and explorations into tasks and task-based teaching. In C. Edwards & J. Willis (Eds.), (pp.1–12).
Wright, T. (1992). Classroom research and teacher education: Towards a collaborative approach. In J. Flowerdew, M. Brock, & S. Hsia (Eds.), Perspectives on second language teacher education (pp.187–209). Hong Kong: City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.
Cited by (8)
Cited by eight other publications
Mostafaei Alaei, Mahnaz & Abbas Mansouri
2024. Unraveling the differential effects of task rehearsal and task repetition on L2 task performance: the mediating role of task modality. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.