Comparing Tasks and Skills in Developing Discussions.

Autor/inn/en	Robinson, Peter; Strong, Gregory; Whittle, Jennifer
Titel	Comparing Tasks and Skills in Developing Discussions.
Quelle	(2000), (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Cognitive Style; College Students; English for Academic Purposes; English (Second Language); Experiential Learning; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Individual Differences; Learning Processes; Learning Strategies; Mediation Theory; Nonverbal Communication; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Teaching Methods; Verbal Learning; Japan + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Cognitive styles; Kognitiver Stil; Collegestudent; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Experiental learning; Erfahrungsorientiertes Lernen; Ausland; Hochschulbildung; Hochschulsystem; Hochschulwesen; Individueller Unterschied; Learning process; Lernprozess; Learning methode; Learning techniques; Lernmethode; Lernstrategie; Mediationsverfahren; Non-verbal communication; Nonverbale Kommunikation; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Verbales Lernen
Abstract	Developing the skills necessary to participate in academic discussions is an important goal in many programs of English for academic purposes. However, there has been little empirical investigation into how verbal and nonverbal aspects of discussion abilities might be developed. This paper reports the results of a semester-long effect of instruction study at a Japanese university. Two methods of developing student discussions were employed: one, task-based, or derived from an analytic model of a syllabus design; the other, skill-based, from a more familiar synthetic syllabus. In addition, this paper also examines the interactions between learning discussion skills through task-based and skill-based approaches and measures of individual aptitude, anxiety, personality, and motivation. Research suggests a relationship between individual differences and success in language learning. Students learn discussion skills equally well under both task-based teaching models, incorporating focus-on-form activities, and traditional skills-based teaching in this study, with skills-based teaching having the slight advantage over the former. Three tables, "Operational Distinction between Task-Based and Skill-Based Approaches,""Sample Activities in the Task-Based and Skill-Based Approaches," and Rating Scale Used To Assess Oral Discussions," are included. (Contains 35 references.) (Author/KFT)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC