SLA research over the past few decades has shown conclusively that meaningful interaction in the L2 is a key factor to language development — not only in terms of learning to express oneself, but also promoting syntactic understanding, lexical knowledge, and cultural insight (Canto et al). Among native speakers, this interaction takes place naturally; but in a language class with novice or intermediate learners, it emerges only gradually as students engage in increasingly complex L2 tasks. And in a remote teaching environment, where these tasks are mediated by technology, they must be structured accordingly.
González-Lloret and Ortega (2014) recommend that technology-mediated tasks should be:
- focused primarily on meaning; they may be seeded with target L2 syntactic and lexical elements, but the language focus should not be prominent to those engaging in the task
- goal-oriented, with a communicative purpose and an outcome resulting from task completion
- tailored to learners’ needs and desires, and to their linguistic, nonlinguistic and digital resources
- as authentic — that is, as related to the learners’ real world — as possible
- planned with a reflective component, “as part of the experimental learning framework that drives task-based language teaching (TBLT).”
[adapted from González-Lloret and Ortega, 2014]
“Technology-mediated collaborative tasks can provide a sound design framework to implement structured learning activities that facilitate group interaction, a crucial component of successful online learning … as well as build a sense of community, essential for online learning.”
González-Lloret, p. 261
Collaborative tasks can be planned for almost every language level. For example, students can be sent in pairs or small groups (using Breakout Rooms) to pre-selected internet sites in order to find:
- a book that might appeal to a person with interests specified by the instructor (making use of online reviews and short descriptions)
- a restaurant in the target culture featuring certain foods or at a specified price point
- appropriate clothing for a specific occasion (described in the L2 by the instructor)
- the current weather in a target-culture city
- activities advertised for the weekend in a specified city, within a given budget
Or they can work together to make recommendations based on internet sources for
- a vacation
- a piece of furniture
- a car
- a birthday gift for a friend
- an apartment in a specified target-culture city
- a Netflix series in the target language
— all of which would require ongoing interaction with the instructor, who would join each Breakout Room periodically, so that students could ask questions: “Would you prefer mountains or beaches for this vacation?” “What kind of furniture do you like?” “Should we get you a Lamborghini or a Honda Civic?”
More elaborate tasks might require online research outside of class, coupled with internet searches and discussion with a partner during the instructional hour to propose:
- a slogan to be written on a poster for a political demonstration
- an advertisement for a new product that takes into account culture-specific preferences
- a three-day tour of the highlights of a relatively unknown city in the target culture, including restaurants, hotel accommodations, etc.
Engaging in tasks like these requires not only a willingness to use the L2 with the partner — which must be emphasized as the task is explained and executed — but also the technical means of carrying it out successfully, i.e., stable internet connections, sufficient time and clear instructions.
References & Resources
Canto, S, de Graff, R, and Jauregui, I. (2014). Collaborative tasks for negotiation of intercultural meaning in virtual worlds and video-web communication. In M. González-Lloret and L. Ortage (Eds.), Technology-mediated TBLT: Researching Technology and Tasks (pp. 1-22). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins
González-Lloret, M. (2020). Collaborative tasks for online language teaching. Foreign Language Annals, 53, 260-269.
González-Lloret, M. and Ortega, L. (2014). Towards technology-mediated TBLT: An introduction. in M. González-Lloret and L. Ortega (Eds.), Technology-mediated TBLT: Researching Technology and Tasks (pp. 1-22). Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins