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67-691: The CLB's 12 benchmarks are divided into 3 parts: Stage I: Basic Proficiency; Stage II: Intermediate Proficiency; and Stage III: Advanced Proficiency. The CLB cover four skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing. There is also a French version of the CLB. The theory behind the CLB is explained in the document the "Theoretical Framework for the Canadian Language Benchmarks and Niveaux De Compétence Linguistique Canadiens" and includes pragmatic knowledge, grammatical knowledge, textual knowledge, functional knowledge, and sociolinguistic knowledge. Each benchmark

134-408: A certain grammar is necessary to complete the activity, then instructors should incorporate that into the scavenger hunt. Although CLT has been extremely influential in the field of language teaching, it is not universally accepted and has been subject to significant critique. In his critique of CLT, Michael Swan addresses both the theoretical and practical problems with CLT. He mentions that CLT

201-442: A certain topic, then they will speak up and share. Respect is key with this activity. If a student does not feel like their opinion is respected by the instructor or their peers, then they will not feel comfortable sharing, and they will not receive the communicative benefits of this activity. A scavenger hunt is a mingling activity that promotes open interaction between students. Example: In doing this activity, students have

268-494: A doctor, conducting an interview, or calling customer service for help. Assessment is primarily based on task outcomes (the appropriate completion of real-world tasks) rather than on accuracy of prescribed language forms. This makes TBLT especially popular for developing target language fluency and student confidence. As such, TBLT can be considered a branch of communicative language teaching (CLT). Task-based language learning has its origins in communicative language teaching , and

335-553: A holistic approach to learners teaching through meaningful material. American educator Clifford Prator published a paper in 1965 calling for teachers to turn from an emphasis on manipulation (drills) towards communication where learners were free to choose their own words. In 1966, the sociolinguist Dell Hymes posited the concept of communicative competence considerably broadening out Noam Chomsky 's syntactic concept of competence. Also, in 1966, American psychologist Jerome Bruner wrote that learners construct their own understanding of

402-517: A more immediate reward was necessary, and they began to use CLT, an approach that emphasizes communicative ability and yielded better results. Already in the late 19th century, the American educator John Dewey was writing about learning by doing, and later that learning should be based on the learner's interests and experiences. In 1963, American psychologist David Ausubel released his book The Psychology of Meaningful Verbal Learning calling for

469-411: A perception of relationships or patterns. One example is working out a teacher's timetable on the basis of given class timetables. Another is deciding what course of action is best (for example cheapest or quickest) for a given purpose and within given constraints. The activity necessarily involves comprehending and conveying information, as in an information-gap activity, but the information to be conveyed

536-406: A pragmatic processing of language, using the learners' existing language resources and attention to meaning, and resulting in the completion of an outcome which can be assessed for its communicative function. David Nunan (2004) draws upon the definitions given by other experts, of two types of tasks: target tasks and pedagogical tasks. Targets tasks refer to doing something outside the classroom and in

603-529: A primarily communicative activity and giving the students communicative benefits. This is an activity that should be used primarily in the lower levels of language classes, because it will be most beneficial to lower-level speakers. Higher-level speakers should be having unpredictable conversations in the TL, where neither the questions nor the answers are scripted or expected. If this activity were used with higher-level speakers it wouldn't have many benefits. Group work

670-736: A revised version of the CLB was published and an updated theoretical framework. A team of writers and language experts worked on the revision in both English and in French. The CLB/NCLC theory was validated against the Common European Framework for Language, the ACTEFL and the Quebec version of the benchmarks. The validation showed that the CLB and NCLC are valid and reliable for use in a variety of contexts including community, academic and workplace. A set of benchmarks for literacy learners who have English as

737-657: A second language speaker can demonstrate in terms of language and communication. They usually cover the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. the CLB have been used for both formative and summative assessment and are defined for low-stakes or higher stakes uses. Canada has strict language requirements for immigration. Federal Skilled Workers are expected to have a minimum CLB level 7 score in order to be eligible for immigration. Canada accepts popular English testing reports of IELTS-GT and CELPIP-G and French testing reports of TEF/TCF for immigration purposes. The bands have to be converted to CLB /NCLC equivalent levels using

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804-639: A second language was first developed in 1996 and revised in 2000 by the Government of Manitoba. Another revision of the literacy benchmarks was done in fiscal 2013/2014 and was expected to be released once validation was complete in 2014. The CLB has also been used to identify the level of curricula, courses and requirements for entry into post-secondary training in some parts of Canada, e.g. in Manitoba, some Ontario community colleges and in British Columbia where it

871-477: A strict emphasis on correct linguistic forms, they have quickly gained in popularity among proponents of task-based language learning (TBLL). The CLB grew out of a federal government initiative undertaken in 1992, to support the language learning needs of immigrants to the country. In 1993, Citizenship and Immigration Canada established the National Working Group on Language Benchmarks. In November 1996,

938-495: A task-based learning lesson, here is a basic outline: In the pre-task, the teacher will present what will be expected from the students in the task phase. Additionally, in the "weak" form of TBLT, the teacher may prime the students with key vocabulary or grammatical constructs, although this can mean that the activity is, in effect, more similar to the more traditional present-practice-produce (PPP) paradigm. In "strong" task-based learning lessons, learners are responsible for selecting

1005-476: A textbook series to teach the target language but works on developing sound oral and verbal skills prior to reading and writing. The rise of CLT in the 1970s and the early 1980s was partly in response to the lack of success with traditional language teaching methods and partly by the increase in demand for language learning. In Europe, the advent of the European Common Market , an economic predecessor to

1072-400: A transfer of given information from one person to another – or from one form to another, or from one place to another – generally calling for the decoding or encoding of information from or into language. One example is pair work in which each member of the pair has a part of the total information (for example an incomplete picture) and attempts to convey it verbally to the other. Another example

1139-476: A way to learn the language. Those methods assumed that students aimed to master the target language and were willing to study for years before expecting to use the language in real life. However, those assumptions were challenged by adult learners, who were busy with work, and by schoolchildren who were less academically gifted and so could not devote years to learning before they could use the language. Educators realized that to motivate those students an approach with

1206-459: A workplace incident or a burglary. Descriptor : Write a paragraph to relate a familiar sequence of events, description of a person, object or routine. Write a paragraph for a class newsletter to inform readers about a new or useful service in the community (such as a new language class, community centre, childcare centre or food bank). Because such descriptor systems focus on the successful completion of communicative tasks, rather than on

1273-409: Is a collaborative activity whose purpose is to foster communication in the TL, in a larger group setting. Example: Students can feel overwhelmed in language classes, but this activity can take away from that feeling. Students are asked to focus on one piece of information only, which increases their comprehension of that information. Better comprehension leads to better communication with the rest of

1340-420: Is a subcategory of it. Educators adopted task-based language learning for a variety of reasons. Some moved to a task-based syllabus in an attempt to develop learner capacity to express meaning, while others wanted 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

1407-410: Is an endangered language. That criticism largely has to do with the fact that CLT is often highly praised and is popular though it may not necessarily be the best method of language teaching. Ridge also notes that CLT has nonspecific requirements of its teachers, as there is no completely standard definition of what CLT is, which is especially true for the teaching of grammar, the formal rules governing

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1474-478: Is associated with the interlocutors' ability in using communication strategies. CLT teachers choose classroom activities based on what they believe will be most effective for students developing communicative abilities in the target language (TL). Oral activities are popular among CLT teachers compared to grammar drills or reading and writing activities, because they include active conversation and creative, unpredicted responses from students. Activities vary based on

1541-420: Is completing a tabular representation with information available in a given piece of text. The activity often involves selection of relevant information as well, and learners may have to meet criteria of completeness and correctness in making the transfer. Reasoning-gap activity , which involves deriving some new information from given information through processes of inference, deduction, practical reasoning, or

1608-507: Is no objective procedure for demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no reason to expect the same outcome from different individuals or on different occasions. According to Jon Larsson, in considering problem-based learning for language learning, i.e., task-based language learning: Larsson goes on to say: Task-based learning benefits students because it is more student-centered, allows for more meaningful communication, and often provides for practical extra-linguistic skill building. As

1675-415: Is not an altogether cohesive subject but one in which theoretical understandings (by linguists) and practical understandings (by language teachers) differ greatly. Criticism of the theory of CLT includes that it makes broad claims regarding the usefulness of CLT while citing little data, it uses a large amount of confusing vocabulary, and it assumes knowledge that is predominately not language-specific (such as

1742-458: Is not identical with that initially comprehended. There is a piece of reasoning which connects the two. Opinion-gap activity , which involves identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation. One example is story completion; another is taking part in the discussion of a social issue. The activity may involve using factual information and formulating arguments to justify one's opinion, but there

1809-410: Is part of an articulation agreement. Since 2002, the CLB has been used as a scale to help define the language demands that are used in some occupations and professions. The first benchmarking projects were done at the provincial level by Red River College in Manitoba. In 2002, CCLB did the first national benchmarking project to identify the language demands of the nursing profession. This was followed by

1876-535: Is that it falsely implies that there is a general consensus regarding the definition of "communicative competence," which CLT claims to facilitate. Because there is no such agreement, students may be seen to be in possession of "communicative competence" without being able to make full or even adequate use of the language. That individuals are proficient in a language does not necessarily entail that they can make full use of that language, which can limit an individual's potential with that language, especially if that language

1943-657: Is the engine of learning. The idea behind the Dogme approach is that communication can lead to explanation, which leads to further learning. That approach is the antithesis of situational language teaching, which emphasizes learning by text and prioritizes grammar over communication. A survey of communicative competence by Bachman (1990) divides competency into the broad headings of "organizational competence," which includes both grammatical and discourse (or textual) competence, and "pragmatic competence," which includes both sociolinguistic and " illocutionary " competence. Strategic competence

2010-466: Is then described in terms of "Can do" statements or "Performance Descriptors". For example, the following are two task descriptors for Benchmark 5 in writing (from the 2012 version of the CLB): Descriptor : Write short business or service correspondence for routine personal needs. [Writing is about 1 paragraph.] Example: Write a paragraph to report a factual event or incident, such as an accident,

2077-669: Is typically limited to one of an observer or counselor—thereby making it a more student-centered methodology. If learners have created tangible linguistic products, e.g. text, montage, presentation, audio or video recording, learners can review each other's work and offer constructive feedback. If a task is set to extend over longer periods of time, e.g. weeks, and includes iterative cycles of constructive activity followed by review, TBLT can be seen as analogous to Project-based learning . According to N. S. Prabhu, there are three main categories of task: information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap. Information-gap activity , which involves

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2144-754: 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 . TBLT was popularized by N. S. Prabhu while working in Bangalore, India , according to Jeremy Harmer. Prabhu noticed that his students could learn language just as easily with a non-linguistic problem as when they were concentrating on linguistic questions. Major scholars who have done research in this area include Teresa P. Pica , Martin East, and Michael Long . A concept, earlier known as

2211-536: The European Union , led to migration in Europe and an increased number of people who needed to learn a foreign language for work or personal reasons. Meanwhile, more children were given the opportunity to learn foreign languages in school, as the number of secondary schools offering languages rose worldwide as part of a general trend of curriculum-broadening and modernization, with foreign-language study no longer confined to

2278-580: The Japan Association for Language Teaching has a special interest group devoted to task-based learning, which has also hosted its own conference in Japan. Communicative language teaching Communicative language teaching ( CLT ), or the communicative approach ( CA ), is an approach to language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study. Learners in environments using communication to learn and practice

2345-421: The "communicative activity" in 1970s and 1980s was later replaced by the term task has since been defined differently by different scholars. Willis (1996) has defined a task as a goal based activity involving the use of the learners' existing language resources, that leads to the outcome. Examples include playing games, and solving problems and puzzles etc. Ellis (2003) defines a task as a work plan that involves

2412-508: The "structure" of a language (the grammatical systems of the language). That priority can leave learners with serious gaps in their knowledge of the formal aspects of their target language. Swan also suggests that in CLT techniques, the languages that a student might already know are not valued or employed in instructional techniques. Further critique of CLT techniques in classroom teaching can be attributed to Elaine Ridge. One of her criticisms of CLT

2479-427: The TL in a low-pressure situation. Most students are more comfortable speaking in pairs rather than in front of the entire class. Instructors need to be aware of the differences between a conversation and an utterance. Students may use the same utterances repeatedly when doing this activity and not actually have a creative conversation. If instructors do not regulate what kinds of conversations students are having, then

2546-414: The ability to make educated guesses) to be language-specific. Swan suggests that those theoretical issues lead to confusion in the application of CLT techniques. Where confusion in the application of CLT techniques is readily apparent is in classroom settings. Swan suggests that CLT techniques often suggest prioritizing the "function" of a language (what one can do with the language knowledge one has) over

2613-413: The appropriate language for any given context themselves. The instructors may also present a model of the task by either doing it themselves or by presenting picture, audio, or video demonstrating the task. During the task phase, the students perform the task, typically in small groups, although this depends on the type of activity. Unless the teacher plays a particular role in the task, the teacher's role

2680-447: The below conversion chart or by using a CLB Calculator which converts IELTS/CELPIP-G/TEF/TCF scores to their CLB/NCLC equivalents: Second official language: Minimum level of CLB or NCLC 5. Task-based language learning Task-based language teaching ( TBLT ), also known as task-based instruction ( TBI ), focuses on the use of authentic language to complete meaningful tasks in the target language. Such tasks can include visiting

2747-595: The communication skills extrapolated from occupational competency documents, the Essential Skills and aligned to the CLB/NCLC. Many of these are available on the website Canadian Language Benchmarks and Essential Skills for the workplace. or by contacting the CCLB. The CLB has also been correlated to the Essential Skills. The CLB has been used since 1996 as the background of CLB-based assessments. CLB-based assessments reflect what

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2814-689: The development of a national test to verify the language competency of internationally trained nurses, the Canadian English Language Benchmarks Assessment for Nurses (CELBAN). Further research was done by the Centre for occupations in the following industries: travel and hospitality, trucking, trades, food and grocery, and professions like pharmacy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy, audiology and speech language pathology. Many of these profiles have been captured in documents called "Occupational Language Analyses" (OLAs), which reflect

2881-430: The elite academies. In Britain, the introduction of comprehensive schools , which offered foreign-language study to all children, rather than to the select few of the elite grammar schools , greatly increased the demand for language learning. The increased demand included many learners who struggled with traditional methods such as grammar translation , which involves the direct translation of sentence after sentence as

2948-602: The group published the Canadian Language Benchmarks (Working Document). This working group was eventually to become the Board of Directors of the Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks. The CCLB received its charter as a non-profit agency in March 1998. In 2000, the Canadian Language Benchmarks 2000, by Grazyna Pawlikowska-Smith, was published. It was the culmination of years of work by dozens of experts, and has since steadily grown in popularity with students, teachers and institutions. In 2012,

3015-430: The group, which improves students' communicative abilities in the TL. Instructors should be sure to monitor that each student is contributing equally to the group effort. It takes a good instructor to design the activity well, so that students will contribute equally, and benefit equally from the activity. Information gap is a collaborative activity, whose purpose is for students to effectively obtain information that

3082-543: The growth of the new method, which led to the Council of Europe creating a new language syllabus. Education was a high priority for the Council of Europe, which set out to provide a syllabus that would meet the needs of European immigrants. Among the studies that it used in designing the course was one by a British linguist, D. A. Wilkins, that defined language using "notions" and "functions," rather than more traditional categories of grammar and vocabulary. The new syllabus reinforced

3149-500: The idea that language could not be adequately explained by grammar and syntax but instead relied on real interaction. In the mid-1990s, the Dogme 95 manifesto influenced language teaching through the Dogme language teaching movement. It proposed that published materials stifle the communicative approach. As such, the aim of the Dogme approach to language teaching is to focus on real conversations about practical subjects in which communication

3216-788: The language they know and are learning, rather than just the 'target language' of the lesson. On the other hand, according to Loschky and Bley-Vroman, tasks can also be designed to make certain target forms 'task-essential,' thus making it communicatively necessary for students to practice using them. In terms of interaction, information gap tasks in particular have been shown to promote negotiation of meaning and output modification. According to Plews and Zhao, task-based language learning can suffer in practice from poorly informed implementation and adaptations that alter its fundamental nature. They say that lessons are frequently changed to be more like traditional teacher-led presentation-practice-production lessons than task-based lessons. As an outgrowth of

3283-438: The learning experience, in addition to the learning of the target language. According to CLT, the goal of language education is the ability to communicate in the target language. This is in contrast to previous views in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority. CLT also positions the teacher as a facilitator, rather than an instructor. Furthermore, the approach is a non-methodical system that does not use

3350-425: The level of language class they are used in. They promote collaboration, fluency, and comfort in the TL. The six activities listed and explained below are commonly used in CLT classrooms. Role-play is an oral activity usually done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' communicative abilities in a certain setting. Example: This activity gives students the chance to improve their communication skills in

3417-422: The linguist and anthropologist Dell Hymes developed the concept of communicative competence , which redefined what it meant to "know" a language. In addition to speakers having mastery over the structural elements of language, they must also be able to use those structural elements appropriately in a variety of speech domains. That can be neatly summed up by Hymes's statement: "There are rules of use without which

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3484-492: The model by adding discourse competence, which contains the concepts of cohesion and coherence . An influential development in the history of communicative language teaching was the work of the Council of Europe in creating new language syllabi. When communicative language teaching had effectively replaced situational language teaching as the standard by leading linguists, the Council of Europe made an effort to once again bolster

3551-499: The opportunity to speak with a number of classmates, while still being in a low-pressure situation, and talking to only one person at a time. After learning more about each other, and getting to share about themselves, students will feel more comfortable talking and sharing during other communicative activities. Since this activity is not as structured as some of the others, it is important for instructors to add structure. If certain vocabulary should be used in students' conversations, or

3618-601: The other hand, Long (1985) defines a task as things people do in everyday life. According to Rod Ellis , a task has four main characteristics: The core of the lesson or project is, as the name suggests, the task. Teachers and curriculum developers should bear in mind that any attention to form, i.e., grammar or vocabulary, increases the likelihood that learners may be distracted from the task itself and become preoccupied with detecting and correcting errors and/or looking up language in dictionaries and grammar references. Although there may be several effective frameworks for creating

3685-417: The real world; whereas pedagogical tasks refer to the tasks students perform inside the classroom and in response to target language input or processing. Nunan concludes that target tasks may be non-linguistic. He defines pedagogical task as a classroom activity that involves a student to understand and produce the target language while focusing on conveying the meaning and not being too concerned with form. On

3752-521: The rules of grammar would be useless." The idea of communicative competence stemmed from Chomsky's concept of the linguistic competence of an ideal native speaker. Hymes did not make a concrete formulation of communicative competence, but subsequent authors, notably Michael Canale, have tied the concept to language teaching. Canale and Swain (1980) defined communicative competence in terms of three components: grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Canale (1983) refined

3819-430: The standardized version of the language in question. Some critics of CLT suggest that the method does not put enough emphasis on the teaching of grammar and instead allows students to produce utterances, despite being grammatically incorrect, as long as the interlocutor can get some meaning from them. Stephen Bax's critique of CLT has to do with the context of its implementation. Bax asserts that many researchers associate

3886-424: The structural theories of language then prevalent could not explain the variety that is found in real communication. In addition, applied linguists like Christopher Candlin and Henry Widdowson observed that the current model of language learning was ineffective in classrooms. They saw a need for students to develop communicative skill and functional competence in addition to mastering language structures. In 1966,

3953-416: The students have not been well prepared for the task at hand, then they will not communicate effectively. Opinion sharing is a content-based activity, whose purpose is to engage students' conversational skills, while talking about something they care about. Example: Opinion sharing is a great way to get more introverted students to open up and share their opinions. If a student has a strong opinion about

4020-405: The students might not be truly improving their communication skills. An interview is an oral activity done in pairs, whose main goal is to develop students' interpersonal skills in the TL. Example: This activity, since it is highly structured, allows for the instructor to more closely monitor students' responses. It can zone in on one specific aspect of grammar or vocabulary, while still being

4087-585: The target language by communication with one another and the instructor, the study of "authentic texts" (those written in the target language for purposes other than language learning), and the use of the language both in class and outside of class. Learners converse about personal experiences with partners, and instructors teach topics outside of the realm of traditional grammar to promote language skills in all types of situations. That method also claims to encourage learners to incorporate their personal experiences into their language learning environment and to focus on

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4154-512: The tasks are likely to be familiar to the students (e.g.: visiting the doctor), students are more likely to be engaged, which may further motivate them in their language learning. According to Jeremy Harmer, tasks promote language acquisition through the types of language and interaction they require. Harmer says that although the teacher may present language in the pre-task, the students are ultimately free to use what grammar constructs and vocabulary they want. This allows them, he says, to use all

4221-409: The use of CLT techniques with modernity and so the lack of CLT techniques as a lack of modernism. That way, those researchers consider teachers or school systems that fail to use CLT techniques as outdated and suggest that their students learn the target language "in spite of" the absence of CLT techniques, as if CLT were the only way to learn a language, and everyone who fails to implement its techniques

4288-640: The widespread interest in task-based teaching, the Biennial International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching has occurred every other year since 2005. Past conferences have been held in Belgium, the United States, England, New Zealand, Canada, with the 2017 conference scheduled to take place in Barcelona, Spain. These events promote theoretical and practical research on TBLT. In addition,

4355-429: The world based on their experiences and prior knowledge, and teachers should provide scaffolding to promote this. Bruner appears to have been influenced by Lev Vygotsky , a Russian psychologist whose zone of proximal development is a similar concept. Later in the 1970s British linguist M.A.K. Halliday studied how language functions are expressed through grammar. The development of communicative language teaching

4422-442: Was bolstered by these academic ideas. Before the growth of communicative language teaching, the primary method of language teaching was situational language teaching , a method that was much more clinical in nature and relied less on direct communication. In Britain, applied linguists began to doubt the efficacy of situational language teaching, partly in response to Chomsky's insights into the nature of language. Chomsky had shown that

4489-558: Was previously unknown to them, in the TL. Example: Completing information gap activities improves students' abilities to communicate about unknown information in the TL. These abilities are directly applicable to many real-world conversations, where the goal is to find out some new piece of information, or simply to exchange information. Instructors should not overlook the fact that their students need to be prepared to communicate effectively for this activity. They need to know certain vocabulary words, certain structures of grammar, etc. If

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