Teacher Language Awareness

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Teacher language awareness refers to pedagogical implications of teachers’ knowledge about language and can have effects on teachers’ behavior and their decision-making (Andrews, 2007). A teacher who has more knowledge about language can perform better in his/her practices. Wright and Bolitho (1993) believe that a teacher with sufficient language awareness is capable of preparing lessons and activities, assessing and evaluating learners’ performance, adapting / adopting / writing materials, and even designing the syllabus and curriculum for her/his class. A linguistically aware teacher has a powerful and safe position to fulfill different tasks (Wright & Bolitho, 1993). The manifestation of lack of teacher language awareness is obvious in different …show more content…

Different tasks are available for all of these components that help facilitate the use of language in different contexts. These components can be applied in respect to the four skills of language (speaking, listening, reading and writing).

2.3. Task-based Language Teaching and Learning Foster (2009) indicates that in the last thirty years or so, the link between task-based language teaching and learning has caused many language teaching researches and second language acquisition (SLA) studies. Ellis (2009) believes that task-based language teaching (TBLT) has drawn researchers and teacher educators’ attention since Candlin and Murphy’s (1987) seminal collection of papers. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach suggests that a “task” should be the main unit for both designing a language program and planning individual lessons (Ellis, 2003).
Ellis also believes that in order to consider a language-teaching activity to be a task the following criteria should be met:
1. The primary focus should be on meaning.
2. There should be a gap.
3. Learners should largely rely on their own resources in order to complete the activity.
4. There is a clearly defined outcome other than the use of …show more content…

A pedagogical task is “an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language” (Richards, Platt, & Weber, 1986, p.289). Different pedagogic classification of tasks can be found which are developed by different experts such as Gardner and Miller (1996) and Willis (1996). Ellis (2003) believes that the classification made by Gardner and Miller (1996) is useful for incorporating the task construct into traditional language courses. The danger of this classification is that the tasks will lose their “taskness”, which means that they will find the characteristics of exercises focusing on discrete aspects of language (Ellis,

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