Tasks in the Junior Cycle MFL Classroom

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Developing Students' Communicative Competence in MFL

Tasks in Junior Cycle MFL

Key features of a Junior Cycle MFL task

Some examples of tasks in MFL

Next Steps

What is a task in the MFL classroom?

How they support teachers of MFL?

How they support students of MFL?

A resource to support the design of tasks to support language development

Tasks to support student learning in junior cycle MFL

A task is a goal driven learning activity where the construction of understanding and meaning is central. In advance, learners are scaffolded to a point where they can use their learning to construct and communicate their own meaning and message. Within a task, there is a connection to authentic, real-world situations and there is in-built priority to completing the task. In terms of assessment, this is against the outcome in line with co-constructed success criteria.(Adapted from Skehan 1998)

‘A goal-oriented activity in which learners use language to achieve a real outcome. In other words, learners use whatever target language resources they have in order to solve a problem, do a puzzle, play a game, or share and compare experiences.’ (J. Willis 1996)

What is a task?

Skill Development

Target Language

Purpose

Inclusive

Goal

Some features of a communicative task

Students develop the relevant language skills alongside key skills

Students use their target language knowledge and communication strategies

Students are resolving a problem, completing an information gap or exchanging information & ideas

Each student should be able to achieve the task to their level guided by success criteria

There is a clear goal to guide the work and engage students supported by success criteria

Some features that distinguish a task from an activity in MFL

Teacher Testimonial

How tasks support teachers of MFL?

Tasks support our work with students in a number of ways:1. align intended learning in our unit of learning to a real-life, authentic and, ideally, culturally rich context2. apply learning developed to a new situation to deepen understanding3. use language for a communcative purpose4. apply learning in a practical way guided by success criteria that are later used to scaffold self and peer assessment as well as structure teacher feedback5. foster further student engagement by connecting with student interests.

Using tasks in the junior cycle MFL classroom can support student learning in various ways: 1. aligning tasks to the learning intentions for a unit of learning provides clarity for students on how they are achieving the learning 2. co-creating success criteria for a task clarifies for students what quality looks like and what is expected from them 3. scaffolds cognitive stretch for students to apply their learning in a new situation and communicative manner4. providing focused formative feedback in line with co-created success criteria guides students learning and progress.

Teacher Testimonial

How tasks support students of MFL?

How will I use success criteria to support students in understanding and completing the task?

Click on the icon to the right to access the Unit of Learning: What's going on?

Sample Task 4

UoL: What's going on?

Sample Task 3

UoL: What's going on?

Sample Task 2

UoL: What's going on?

Sample Task 1

UoL: What's going on?

Some examples of tasks in MFL

For consideration:

Next steps: individually and MFL department

Q. To what degree do I plan for, and use, tasks in my teaching?Q. How might tasks support student learning in my classroom to improve student learning? Q. How might I structure tasks, and their associated success criteria, to support all students in achieving the learning? Q. How do I provide students with feedback on a task?- peer to peer feedback- self assessment - feedback as part of the process- whole class feedback exploited as a teachable moment - recorded feedback in the Student Language Portfolio