EDU 04.2 NLP & TBLL

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP)

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) is an approach to communication, personal development, and psychotherapy created by Richard Bandler and John Grinder in California, United States in the 1970s. Its creators claim a connection between the neurological processes ("neuro"), language ("linguistic") and behavioral patterns learned through experience ("programming") and that these can be changed to achieve specific goals in life. Bandler and Grinder claim that the skills of exceptional people can be "modeled" using NLP methodology, then those skills can be acquired by anyone. Bandler and Grinder also claim that NLP can treat problems such as phobias, depression, habit disorder, psychosomatic illnesses, myopia,allergy, common cold and learning disorders, often in a single session.

Main components and core concepts

NLP can be understood in terms of three broad components and the central concepts pertaining to those:

Subjectivity. According to Bandler and Grinder:

–        We experience the world subjectively thus we create subjective representations of our experience. These subjective representation of experience are constituted in terms of five senses and language. That is to say our subjective conscious experience is in terms of the traditional senses of vision, audition, tactition, olfaction and gustation such that when we—for example—rehearse an activity "in our heads", recall an event or anticipate the future we will "see" images, "hear" sounds, "taste" flavours, "feel" tactile sensations, "smell" odours and think in some (natural) language. Furthermore it is claimed that these subjective representations of experience have a discernible structure, a pattern. It is in this sense that NLP is sometimes defined as the study of the structure of subjective experience.

–        Behavior can be described and understood in terms of these sense-based subjective representations. Behavior is broadly conceived to include verbal and non-verbal communication, incompetent, maladaptive or "pathological" behavior as well as effective or skillfull behavior.

–        Behavior (in self and others) can be modified by manipulating these sense-based subjective representations.

Consciousness. NLP is predicated on the notion that consciousness is bifurcated into a conscious component and a unconscious component. Those subjective representations that occur outside of an individual's awareness comprise what is referred to as the "unconscious mind".

Learning. NLP utilizes an imitative method of learning—termed modeling—that is claimed to be able to codify and reproduce an exemplar's expertise in any domain of activity. An important part of the codification process is a description of the sequence of the sensory/linguistic representations of the subjective experience of the exemplar during execution of the expertise.

Task-based language learning

Task-based language learning (TBLL), also known as task-based language teaching (TBLT) or task-based instruction (TBI) focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language. Such tasks can include visiting a doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcome (in other words the appropriate completion of real world tasks) rather than on accuracy of prescribed language forms. This makes TBLL especially popular for developing target language fluency and student confidence. As such TBLL can be considered a branch of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).

TBLL was popularized by N. Prabhu while working in Bangalore, India. Prabhu noticed that his students could learn language just as easily with a non-linguistic problem as when they were concentrating on linguistic questions.

According to Jane Willis, TBLL consists of the pre-task, the task cycle, and the language focus.

The components of a Task are:

1. Goals and objectives
2. Input
3. Activities
4. Teacher role
5. learner role
6. Settings

Task-based language learning has its origins in communicative language teaching, and is a subcategory of it. Educators adopted task-based language learning for a variety of reasons. Some moved to task-based syllabi in an attempt to make language in the classroom truly communicative, rather than the pseudo-communication that results from classroom activities with no direct connection to real-life situations. Others, like Prabhu in the Bangalore Project, thought that tasks were a way of tapping into learners' natural mechanisms for second-language acquisition, and weren't concerned with real-life communication per se.

Definition of a Task

According to Rod Ellis, a task has four main characteristics.

A task involves a primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning.

1. A task has some kind of ‘gap’ (Prabhu identified the three main types as information gap, reasoning gap, and opinion gap).
2. The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.
3. A task has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.

A Task-based approach

Task -based learning offers an alternative for language teachers. In a task-based lesson the teacher doesn't pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. The lesson follows certain stages.

Pre-task
            The teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. The pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. This gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. The students can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.

Task
            The students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.

• Planning
  Students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They then practise what they are going to say in their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.
• Report
  Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare.
• Analysis
  The teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.
• Practice
  Finally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.

Principles of Course designing

The overall purpose of task-based methodology is to create opportunities for language learning and skill-development through collaborative knowledge-building. The following principles can be used to guide the selection of options for designing lessons:

1.       Ensure an appropriate level of task difficulty.

Ensuring that a task is pitched at an appropriate level of difficulty is not just a matter of course design. Teachers can adjust the difficulty of a task methodologically e. g. by incorporating a pre task phase into the lesson􀊣. Teachers can also ensure that students possess the necessary strategies to engage in task-based interaction.

2.      Establish clear goals for each task-based lesson

As Skehan1998 has made clear, it is not sufficient to engage learners with tasks on the basis that they will develop their interlanguages simply as a result of using the L2. Methodological options e. g. strategic vs. on-line planning can be selected to help prioritise different aspects of language use e. g. fluency vs. accuracy

3.      Develop an appropriate orientation to performing the task in the students

Students need to be made aware of why they are being asked to perform tasks. They need to treat them seriously not just as ‘fun’. In this respect post-task options may play a crucial role as they demonstrate to the students that tasks have a clear role to play in developing their L2 proficiency and their ability to monitor their own progress.

4.      Ensure that students adopt an active role in task-based lessons.

One of the major goals of task-based teaching is to provide learners with an opportunity to participate fully by playing an initiating as well as a responding role in classroom discourse. A key element of being ‘active’ is negotiating meaning when communicative problems arise.

5.      Encourage students to take risks

When students perform tasks they need to ‘stretch’ their inter-language resources. This requires students are prepared to experiment with language. Methodological choices that encourage the use of private speech when performing a task, that create opportunities for ‘pushed output’ and that help to create an appropriate level of challenge in an affective climate that is supporting of risk-taking will assist this.

6.      Ensure that students are primarily focused on meaning when they perform a task

The main purpose of a task is to provide a context for processing language communicatively i. e. by treating language as a tool not as an object. Thus, when students perform a task they must be primarily concerned with achieving an outcome, not with displaying language. This can only be achieved if learners are motivated to do the task. One way in which this can be achieved is by varying task-based lessons in terms of design options.

7.      Provide opportunities for focusing on form

Both Willis and Skehan emphasize the need to attend to form in a task-based lesson. In this chapter, various options at the pre-task, during-task and post-task phases of a lesson have been proposed for achieving such a focus. In particular, it has been emphasized that attention to form is both possible and beneficial in the during-task phase and need not conflict with Principle 

8.      Require students to evaluate their performance and progress

As Skehan points out, students need to be made accountable for how they perform a task and for their overall progress. A task-based lesson needs to engage and help to foster metacognitive awareness in the students.

The advantages of TBL

Task-based learning has some clear advantages

• The students are free of language control. In all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item.

• A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them.

• The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL. They will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.

• The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.

• It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating.
• It is enjoyable and motivating.