Learning Opportunities

Implementing Tasks in the French Classroom: An Introduction to Task-Based Language Teaching

Presented By

Greg Ogilvie, Jean Brochu, Melanie Hawkins & Brianna Richards

Series Sessions

Date Time
Friday, January 26, 2018 8:45 AM - 11:45 AM

Location

In Person Best Western Service Plus Inn 209 41 Street S, Lethbridge, AB

In this interactive workshop, French language educators will be exposed to the principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and introduced to materials developed to deliver the Alberta French as a Second Language Program of Study using tasks. Second language acquisition (SLA) research demonstrates that practice does not lead to perfection and language acquisition is an organic process not directly correlated with instruction; therefore, attempts to dictate language acquisition through explicit instruction on discrete linguistic elements may not have the desired results. Conversely, TBLT views language learning as being facilitated by engaging in meaningful communication in the target language. As a result, TBLT fosters learning opportunities through the completion of tasks, rather than using teaching points (e.g., grammatical forms) as the basis for instruction. Implementing TBLT in the language classroom is often difficult for teachers due to the absence of models experienced during their time as language learners. This workshop will attempt to overcome this lack of exposure by introducing French educators to the approach and tangible models in which TBLT has been applied to teaching FSL in Alberta to grade 4-8 students. The hope is that language educators will leave the workshop with a better understanding about the approach and awareness about a variety of resources that can assist them in adopting a principled approach to second language instruction in their classrooms.

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