ENTRY 5 - PORTFOLIO - ORAL DEVELOPMENT

                                 Task-Based Lesson Plan

In this activity we developed a task-based lesson plan. The topic I chose was giving and asking for directions where one student was a tourist and the other was a local citizen. The tourist had to ask for directions to a museum, a hotel, and a restaurant. The local had to give clear directions using location vocabulary.                                 

              City Explorers – Giving and Asking for Directions

                

Pre-task

The teacher shows a picture of a lost tourist holding a map and asks students: Have you ever helped someone find a place? What did you say?

Task Parameters

The teacher explains that each pair will have one tourist and one local citizen. The tourist must ask for directions to three places: a museum, a hotel, and a restaurant. The local must give clear directions using location vocabulary. The teacher models the entire task with a volunteer student in front of the class so everyone sees exactly what to do. The teacher emphasizes that students will only speak during the task. There is no writing during the conversation.

Activation of Prior Knowledge

The teacher asks students how they give directions in their own language and writes their ideas on the board. Examples: Where is the museum? How do I get to the hotel? What street is it on? How far is it? The teacher also reviews direction phrases, including: go straight, turn left, turn right, walk two blocks, it is on the corner of, it is next to, it is across from.

And also, clarification strategies such as: Can you repeat? Do you mean left or right? Is it far? Finally, the teacher models a short dialogue with a student so all learners hear the language in action before they begin the task. The teacher tells students: During the task, just speak. Do not write anything. Focus on understanding and being understood.

Task Cycle

Each pair receives a different city map with some missing information. They also receive role cards. One card says Tourist and the other says Local Citizen.

The tourist must ask for directions to a museum, a hotel, and a restaurant. The local must give clear instructions using location vocabulary. The tourist must ask at least three WH questions and use at least one clarification phrase. The local must use go straight, turn left or turn right, and at least one location expression such as on the corner of or next to.

The teacher does not interrupt students during the task to correct small mistakes. Students must actively share information, negotiate meaning, and clarify directions. The teacher monitors the room and takes notes of common errors and good language use for the post task phase.

To ensure balanced participation, each student has a clear role. The tourist asks questions. The local gives answers. Both students must speak.

Planning

Pairs prepare a short role play of one to two minutes. They add details such as distance or landmarks. They practice fluency but not memorization. The teacher reminds students that using their own words is better than memorizing a script. Students do not write anything during planning. They only speak to each other.

Report

Pairs perform their role plays in front of the class. While other pairs perform, the listening students pay attention to two questions: Were the directions clear? Were WH questions used? This keeps all students engaged during the presentations.

 Post Task Phase

After all pairs have finished their spoken role plays, the teacher gives each pair the City Explorers Navigation Checklist. The teacher explains: Do not change anything you said. Just remember your conversation. The tourist, write the directions you heard. Both students, check the boxes that are true about what you said. This is not a test. It is just to help you remember what you did well.

Students complete the checklist from memory. This takes three to five minutes. The teacher collects the checklists as evidence that the outcome was achieved.

Language Review

During the task cycle, the teacher took notes of real errors that students produced. For example, a student might have said turn to left instead of turn left, or go straight in two blocks instead of go straight for two blocks. The teacher writes these exact errors on the board without saying which student made them. The teacher then asks the class to correct each error together.  The teacher uses a table on the board with two columns. The first column says What you said and the second column says How to say it better.

 I learned how to design a task-based lesson plan following Jane Willis framework: pre-task, task cycle, and language focus. Students do not write during the speaking task. They just speak. Checklists are for self-evaluation after the task, not before. Error correction comes from real student mistakes using a table with "What you said" and "How to say it better."

Comments

I felt excited because this lesson plan is practical and fun. The city map and role cards make it interesting for students, but designing it was challenging and deciding how much language to review before the task without turning it into a traditional grammar lesson was also hard. 

I learned to put communication first, not grammar. Students need a real reason to communicate, like a tourist who needs directions. Checklists help students evaluate themselves because error correction is more effective when it comes from their own mistakes.

Conclusion

City Explorers taught me that task-based learning works. Students learn by doing, not memorizing rules. I will design more lesson plans like this to develop my students' fluency, confidence, and communication skills.