John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 13. Incorporating a formative assessment cycle into task-based language teaching in a university setting in Japan
Abstract
This chapter explains how a formative assessment cycle can inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of pedagogical tasks in a task-based syllabus by reporting the results of a study that examined 46 Japanese university business students’ competence to deliver a PowerPoint presentation in English. A Many-Facet Rasch analysis of student ratings of the PowerPoint presentations combined with a discourse analysis of the presentations revealed a gap between the students’ English presentation and their PowerPoint design skills. A gap also existed between the students’ descriptive and explanatory skills. A formative assessment cycle can thus identify specific competencies that need further development to ensure a smooth transition from an EFL classroom to a real-world use of English in a business situation. The study presents a successful example of how a formative assessment cycle can provide the teacher and the students in an EFL TBLT program setting with informative feedback that identifies students’ level of competence to perform a given task, the difficulty of that task, and ways in which students can develop towards target task performances.
Abstract
This chapter explains how a formative assessment cycle can inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of pedagogical tasks in a task-based syllabus by reporting the results of a study that examined 46 Japanese university business students’ competence to deliver a PowerPoint presentation in English. A Many-Facet Rasch analysis of student ratings of the PowerPoint presentations combined with a discourse analysis of the presentations revealed a gap between the students’ English presentation and their PowerPoint design skills. A gap also existed between the students’ descriptive and explanatory skills. A formative assessment cycle can thus identify specific competencies that need further development to ensure a smooth transition from an EFL classroom to a real-world use of English in a business situation. The study presents a successful example of how a formative assessment cycle can provide the teacher and the students in an EFL TBLT program setting with informative feedback that identifies students’ level of competence to perform a given task, the difficulty of that task, and ways in which students can develop towards target task performances.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface xi
- Foreword xv
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Section I. Variables affecting task-based language learning and performance
- Chapter 2. Effects of task complexity and pre-task planning on Japanese EFL learners’ oral production 23
- Chapter 3. Measuring task complexity 43
- Chapter 4. Effects of strategic planning on the accuracy of oral and written tasks in the performance of Turkish EFL learners 67
- Chapter 5. Effects of task instructions on text processing and learning in a Japanese EFL college nursing setting 89
- Chapter 6. Task structure and patterns of interaction 109
-
Section II. Implementation of task-based language teaching
- Chapter 7. Patterns of corrective feedback in a task-based adult EFL classroom setting in China 137
- Chapter 8. Incidental learner-generated focus on form in a task-based EFL classroom 163
- Chapter 9. Qualitative differences in novice teachers’ enactment of task-based language teaching in Hong Kong primary classrooms 187
- Chapter 10. Implementing computer-assisted task-based language teaching in the Korean secondary EFL context 215
- Chapter 11. Task-based language teaching through film-oriented activities in a teacher education program in Venezuela 241
- Chapter 12. Task-based language teacher education in an undergraduate program in Japan 267
- Chapter 13. Incorporating a formative assessment cycle into task-based language teaching in a university setting in Japan 287
- Chapter 14. Language teachers’ perceptions of a task-based learning programme in a French University 313
-
Epilogue. What is next for task-based language teaching?
- Chapter 15. TBLT in EFL settings 345
- About the contributors 359
- Index 363
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface xi
- Foreword xv
- Chapter 1. Introduction 1
-
Section I. Variables affecting task-based language learning and performance
- Chapter 2. Effects of task complexity and pre-task planning on Japanese EFL learners’ oral production 23
- Chapter 3. Measuring task complexity 43
- Chapter 4. Effects of strategic planning on the accuracy of oral and written tasks in the performance of Turkish EFL learners 67
- Chapter 5. Effects of task instructions on text processing and learning in a Japanese EFL college nursing setting 89
- Chapter 6. Task structure and patterns of interaction 109
-
Section II. Implementation of task-based language teaching
- Chapter 7. Patterns of corrective feedback in a task-based adult EFL classroom setting in China 137
- Chapter 8. Incidental learner-generated focus on form in a task-based EFL classroom 163
- Chapter 9. Qualitative differences in novice teachers’ enactment of task-based language teaching in Hong Kong primary classrooms 187
- Chapter 10. Implementing computer-assisted task-based language teaching in the Korean secondary EFL context 215
- Chapter 11. Task-based language teaching through film-oriented activities in a teacher education program in Venezuela 241
- Chapter 12. Task-based language teacher education in an undergraduate program in Japan 267
- Chapter 13. Incorporating a formative assessment cycle into task-based language teaching in a university setting in Japan 287
- Chapter 14. Language teachers’ perceptions of a task-based learning programme in a French University 313
-
Epilogue. What is next for task-based language teaching?
- Chapter 15. TBLT in EFL settings 345
- About the contributors 359
- Index 363
