Abstract
It is the aim of this article to discuss the nature and classification of tasks, and the way in which they are graded and sorted, to design a conceptual framework for task-based grammar education in Afrikaans Home Language grade 4. Teachers will be able to use the framework to teach grammar communicatively by basing the entire teaching and learning experience on tasks – this is known as task-based grammar education. The motivation for this framework is the endeavour to understand how task-based grammar education can be utilised in the Afrikaans Home Language classroom to contribute to the development of a new approach in the teaching of Afrikaans Home Language in the Intermediate Phase.
The article is guided by the following research question: What are the principles on which a conceptual framework for task-based language education in Afrikaans Home Language grade 4 should be based?
Language is described as an instrument for thought and communication which affords learners the opportunity to collect knowledge, to share their identity, feelings and ideas with self-confidence, and to manage their own reality. Language enables speakers to express their cultural differences, while it also supports the building and development of social relationships (Department of Basic Education 2011:8). The Department wanted to use this declaration to lead the way for learners to obtain the necessary knowledge and skills, and to use them in such a fashion that they would be meaningful in their lives.
These guidelines cannot, however, address the true deficiencies in grammar education in the grade 4 Afrikaans Home Language class. The current curriculum does not place any emphasis on the teaching of grammar, and this could lead to grammar education’s completely falling to the wayside.
The task-based approach has been used with great success in the Additional Language classroom, but it is our opinion that the possibilities for the implementation of this approach in the grade 4 Home Language class are endless. The task-based approach lends itself to the incorporation of all aspects of language as one overarching pedagogy. This holistic approach can accommodate the multi-faceted nature of language – spoken and written discourse, lexis, grammar and phonology. Several international researchers, such as Bygate, Adendorff and Ellis, have already undertaken extensive research on learning and teaching that have tasks as their basis. This research, as well as new research being published, provides a vast theoretical base as starting point for the current study.
Existing research has shown that there exists a wide variety of definitions and descriptions of tasks; however, there is a golden thread through all of these definitions: All tasks must include communicative use of language, with the focus on the transfer of meaning. We will, therefore, for the purpose of this article, use this definition as a guiding principle in the drafting of the conceptual framework.
It would be impossible to set a conceptual framework for a task-based approach in teaching grammar without an in-depth discussion of the nature, classification, grading and sorting of tasks. We therefore base our article on the research of, among others, Ellis (2003, 2009, 2017) and Pica, Kanagy and Falodun (1993), without ignoring the importance of task and cognitive complexity.
The authors share the opinion of Van der Merwe (2014:229) that there is insufficient guidance for teachers in both the language curriculum and language textbooks on how to teach grammar in the Afrikaans Home Language Intermediate Phase. There is currently no accessible theoretical source with grammar guidance for teachers who teach grade 4 Afrikaans Home Language.
According to Ellis (2009:222) task-based grammar education is based on the principle that the most successful learning of a target language will occur if the goal is to put contexts in place where the natural language proficiency of learners can be utilised, instead of their acquiring the target language bit by bit. Ellis’s research (2009) can be linked to Goldberg’s constructionist approach to the teaching of language and specific grammar aspects (2003:219). Constructionist approaches aim to take the entire span of the characteristics of language into account, without the assumption that a specific set of data forms part of the important “core” of language. Researchers in this field all share the opinion that less common constructions can shed more light on the more common examples of language. This could then lead to a comprehensive framework of what is required to give a full account of language.
The task-based approach is defined by researchers such as Kruger (2006) and Samuda and Bygate (2008) as a direct result of the communicative approach. Bygate (2016:384) describes the communicative approach as an educational approach which aims to provide activities for learners in which authentic communication is presented, whether between learner and learner, learner and teacher, learner and the society outside the classroom, and learner and text.
In this article the nature and classification of tasks, and the way in which tasks are graded and sorted, are discussed in detail to design a conceptual framework for task-based grammar teaching in Afrikaans Home Language grade 4. Different aspects of task-based learning and teaching are discussed to develop a better understanding of the applicability of the task-based approach to language teaching in the Afrikaans Home Language classroom for grade 4 learners. Our research question at the beginning of the article was: What are the principles on which a conceptual framework for task-based language teaching in Afrikaans Home Language grade 4 should be based? We were able to answer this question at the end of the article based on the information gathered from a wide variety of researchers.
It is quite clear from this literature study that the task-based approach to the teaching of grammar can be integrated with great success in the Afrikaans Home Language classroom, and that not only can it enable learners to engage interactively with texts, but it can also improve their critical and creative thinking skills.
Keywords: Afrikaans Home Language; grade 4; grading and sorting of tasks; language structures and conventions; nature and classification of tasks; task-based grammar education
- This article’s featured image was created by Brittani Burns and obtained from Unsplash.
Lees die volledige artikel in Afrikaans:
Taakgebaseerde taalkunde-onderrig in Afrikaans Huistaal graad 4: ’n vernuwende benadering