Taking Text to Task

Abstract

This article argues that the construct of task can provide a principled and effective foundation for the development of extended, multi-year curricula and pedagogies for second/foreign language learning of adults. That assertion is made with an important condition: "task" must be expanded, both theoretically and empirically, toward issues that arise in conjunction with textuality and literacy rather than being grounded primarily in psycho linguistic, sentence-oriented processing considerations, as original proposals by Long and Crookes (1992) had suggested. The article presents that overall theoretical argument and then describes how genre-based tasks have been used (1) for selection and sequencing decisions within an existing contentoriented collegiate curriculum in the German Department at Georgetown University; (2) as a way to inform pedagogical choices that target advanced levels of L2 ability, particularly the crucial area of vocabulary development; and (3) to devise genre-based tasks that assess L2 learners' language abilities and content knowledge across the curriculum and also help to further specify learning objectives and curricular choices.

Using a Standard Reading Exercise in a Foundational Literacies Course

“…Familiarising students with many different text types empowers them, because in exposing students to a variety of different "contexts," the students can "learn a range of genres central to participation" in the creation of "political, social, and cultural realities (Byrnes, Crane, Maxim, & Sprang, 2006, p. 89). In this aspect, the selection of texts followed the example of Byrnes et al (2006) by integrating a range of texts, progressing from "familiar interactions" to "public, institutional, and professional settings" (p. 89). Byrnes et al (2006) define this as a "primary-secondary discourse continuum" (p. 93).…”

“…In this aspect, the selection of texts followed the example of Byrnes et al (2006) by integrating a range of texts, progressing from "familiar interactions" to "public, institutional, and professional settings" (p. 89). Byrnes et al (2006) define this as a "primary-secondary discourse continuum" (p. 93). "Primary discourses" comprise personal, experiential discourses such as blogs, email, or personal narratives.…”