Learner-Centered Tasks in the Foreign Language Classroom

Abstract

Learner-centered tasks in the foreign-language classroom are examined, with focus on communicative language teaching & self-directed learning. Also presented is an analytical framework utilized for task design that is based on the work of David Nunan (Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom, New York: Cambridge U Press, 1989). Methods by which classroom tasks can be analyzed are delineated. A case study of first-year Japanese language students (N = 220) is presented that describes a learner-centered communicatively based task with increased self-directed learning. A task description of a "Japanese language study interview" is exemplified & suggestions are made for the learner's role, the teacher's role, the process of the task, the learning of skills, & learner output. It is concluded that the application of communicative, process-oriented, learner-focused, self-directed learning is realistic for commonly found institutional settings. H. L. Stidger.