CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

This chapter focuses on some related theories and rationale. The theory will

focus on theories of the nature of teaching writing, the nature of text, the nature of

narrative text, the concept task-based teaching, and the procedure of teaching

narrative text by task-based teaching. Further explanation are given as follows.

A. The Nature of Teaching Writing Descriptive Text

1. The Concept of Writing

a. Definition of Writing

Some experts have given many definitions about writing. Writing

is more than putting spoken language into written form. This is in line

with Brookes and Grundy (in Maarek, 2009: 7) who state that “written

language was thought by some to be spoken language put into written

form.….“ Furthermore, the assumption that writing is putting the

spoken language into written form is only true for activities like taking

down dictation or transcribing a tape.

Meanwhile, Rohman (in McDonald and McDonald, 2002: 7)

states that “writing is usefully described as process, something which

shows continuous change in time like growth in organic nature.”

Furthermore, Sitko (in Hamman, 2005: 15) also state that writing is a

complex activity. It is of fundamental importance to learning, to

personal development, and to achievement in the education system.

9
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Teachers need to strive continually to find the best way to help pupils

find fulfillment as writers.

According to Hedge (2005: 19),

writing is a process. In fact, it is a complex process with a

member of operations going on simultaneously. Moreover, some
writers seem to have a much better understanding of how to make
the process work effectively for them and consequently produce
more successful pieces of writing.”

From those definitions above, the researcher can conclude that

writing is a process which involved complex activities and fundamental

towards education system going on simultaneously to produce

successful piece of writing.

From all of the explanation above it can be concluded that writing

is a complex process and activities to arrange and produce written form

in which the writer uses certain convention of variables of linguistic

aspects (word spelling, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.) in order to

express idea, thought, opinion, and feeling so that people, as readers,

can understand.

b. The Process of Writing

According to Oshima and Hogue (1999: 3-12), the writing

process is divided into three stages: prewriting, writing, and rewriting.

Simply stated, prewriting is what the writer does before he begins his

first draft; rewriting is what he does when he is revising that draft into a

finished essay. In prewriting he is trying to get clearly in mind what he

wants to do and how he wants to do it. In writing he works out these

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decisions in detail through the first draft. In rewriting he reconsiders

what he has done and tries to improve it.

Harmer (2004: 4-5) states that the writing process is divided into

four stages: planning, drafting, editing, and final draft.

1) Planning

Planning is a series of strategies designed to find and produce

information in writing. It is also called pre-writing. In this stage, the

writer selects a topic and gathers information or ideas. In short,

planning is the first step of writing process that helps the writers

uncover, explore, and evaluate the topic.

2) Drafting

Drafting is a series of strategies designed to organize and

develop a sustained piece of writing. In drafting, the writer should

make decision about the main idea that will be expressed. Then, the

writer will focus on the outline in which they organize the content of

writing in order to be coherent. Finally, giving the title, introducing,

and making paragraph into the complete writing.

3) Editing (reflecting and revising)

Once writers have produced a draft they then, usually read

through what they have written to see where it works and where it

doesn’t. perhaps the order of the information is not clear. Perhaps the

way something is written is ambiguous or confusing. They may then

move paragraphs around or write a new introduction. They may use

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a different form of words for a particular sentence. More skilled

writers tend to look at issues of general meaning and overall

structure before concentrating on detailed features such as individual

words and grammatical accuracy. The letter two are, of course,

important and are often dealt with later in the process. Reflecting and

revising are often helped by other readers (or editors) who comment

and make suggestions. Another reader’s reaction to a piece of

writing will help the author to make appropriate revisions.

4) Final version

Once writers have edited their draft, making the changes they

consider to be necessary, they produce their final version.

c. Aspects of Writing

According to Spratt, [Link] (2005:26), writing involves two

subskills, i.e. accuracy and having a message. Accuracy means using

correct forms of language. Writing accurately also involves spelling

correctly, forming letters correctly, writing legibly, punctuating

correctly, using correct layouts, choosing the right vocabulary, using

grammar correctly, joining sentences correctly and using paragraph

correctly. In short, writing is not only about accuracy, but also having a

message and communicating it to other people successfully.

Meanwhile, Brown (2001: 357) states that there are many

constituent parts that should be considered by students in writing. There

are at least six aspects of writing:

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1) Content: related to the ideas, the development of ideas through

personal experience, illustration, facts and opinions.

2) Organization; deals with effectiveness of introduction, logical

sequence of ideas, conclusion, and the length of the writing.

3) Discourse; consist of topic sentences, paragraph unity transitions and

structure.

4) Syntax; related to the sentence structure or word order.

5) Vocabulary; refers to the word choice or diction in writing.

6) Mechanics; contain spelling, punctuation, effectiveness, and

appearance.

In short, writing comprises five important elements namely

content, organization, vocabulary, language use, and mechanics.

However, they can be simplified into three aspects namely ideas,

grammatical features, and organization. From the statements above, it

can conclude that students can improve their writing skill by having

good understanding those aspects.

c. The Characteristics of Good Writing

To make a good writing, it needs some criteria. Briefly, from our

experiences in the education field, a good writing means writing that

contains no bad mistakes which are no errors of grammar, punctuation,

or spelling. In addition, Hyland (2003: 5-6) mentions some criteria of

good writing, they are:

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1) Accuracy and clear exposition. Both of them are the main criteria of

good writing.

2) The actual communicative content, the thing that must be

considered after accuracy and clear exposition.

3) Syntactic complexity and grammatical accuracy, one of the best

measures of good writing.

In writing, learners must concern at least five aspects of good

writing are: content, organization, grammar, word choice, and

mechanics. Oshima and Hongue (1999: 31) have the opinion “unity is

very important element of a text”. In short, if a text is about a thing or

certain object, all the sentences in the paragraph should talk about that

object, so the paragraph expresses relevant meaning. The second aspect

of good writing is organization. In making a text, it must use three basic

parts: introductory, body, and concluding paragraph. Oshima and

Hongue (1999: 3) state that “a text or essay has three main parts: an

introductory paragraph, a body (at least one, but usually two or more

paragraphs), and concluding paragraph”. In this part, the researcher

concern with organization of descriptive text. Grammar is the third

important aspect in writing. Good writing must show correct basic

grammar pattern. In this case, the researcher focus on grammar that is

used in writing hortatory exposition text that is included in significant

grammatical patterns. Then, the next important aspect in writing is

word choice. Word choice should have the correct idiomatic

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vocabularies and correct word forms. Students have to choose

appropriate dictions to express ideas or mind in their writings. The last

important aspect in writing is mechanics. They consist of punctuation

marks, indentation, and capitalization of letter. When writing a

paragraph, we must use correct punctuation marks. In order to use the

correct punctuation marks, learners must concern with sentence

structure. They also must concern with the indentation and capital

letters. For example, indentation is used when making new paragraph

and a capital letter is used to start a sentence.

As stated by Boardman (2004: 10-11) there are five points to be

concerned in writing paragraph:

1) The first paragraph is started from five aspects to the right or called

indentation.

2) Next, sentences are always started with a capital letter and ended

with a period, a question mark, or exclamation.

3) Each sentence begins where the previous sentence ends, a new

sentence does not automatically begin on the next line.

4) Another important point is to write on every other line. This is

called double spacing.

5) Finally, there should be margins around a paragraph. There should

be about one inch of space on each side of paper.

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Briefly, those five aspects of good writing should be learnt,

mastered, and practiced by the learners for arranging words into

sentences and good sentences into good writings.

2. The Concept of Teaching of Writing

There are four reasons for teaching writing to students of English as

a foreign language. According to Harmer (1998: 79) reinforcement,

language development, learning style and writing as a skill are the reasons

why the teacher must teach writing.

a. Reinforcement

Some students acquire languages in a purely oral way, but most of

them benefit greatly from seeing the language written down. Students

often find it useful to write sentences using new language shortly after

they have studied it.

b. Language development

The actual process of writing helps learners to learn as they go along.

The mental activity they have to go through in order to construct

proper written texts is all part of the ongoing learning experience.

c. Learning style

Writing is appropriate for learners who take little longer time at

picking up language just by looking and listening. It can also be a quiet

reflective activity instead of the rush and bother of interpersonal face-

to-face communication.
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d. Writing as a skill

Teaching writing is a basic language skill just as important as

speaking, listening and reading. Students need to know how to write

letters, how to reply advertisement etc. They also need to know some

of writing’s special conventions such as punctuation, paragraph

construction etc.

According to Nation (2009: 93-95), there are three teaching

principles that must be taken into account by a teacher during teaching

writing.

a. Meaning-focused input

In meaning focused input, it is believed that a successful writing

process is if the writers are well prepared for what they are going to

write. Learners should bring their experiences and knowledge during

writing. Before they do writing, learners will choose a topic.

b. Meaning-focused output

Learners will be expected to do lots of writing in many kinds of

writing genres in order to do practices for many aspects in the writing

skills. The aim of writing is to convey a message to reader, so the

learners must be taken into account the communicative purposes

during the writing process. Writing should interest the learners.

Learners use writing for increasing their language knowledge.

Learners can use technology in order to develop the writing skills.

Writing instructions should be based on careful needs analysis which

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considers what the learner needs of writing are, what they can do now,

and what they want to do.

c. Language focused learning.

In language focused learning, a learning process focuses on the micro

skill of languages, and the parts of writing processes.

From all of the explanations above, it can be concluded that writing

skill is technical competence to arrange and produce good written form in

which the writer uses certain convention of variables of linguistic aspects

(word spelling, punctuation, sentence structure/language use, etc.) in order

to express idea, thought, opinion, and feeling so that people, as readers,

can understand.

3. Assessment in Writing Skill

Furthermore, to make a good writing, a writer should pay attention

on the precision of choosing and using words, appropriateness to the title,

text cohesion and paragraph unity.

According to Brown (2004: 241-246), there are three scoring

methods for responsive and extensive writing. They are, holistic scoring,

primary trait scoring, and analytic scoring.

a. Holistic Scoring

Holistic scale is assigning a single score to a script based on the overall

impression of the script. Holistic scoring results in a more general

description for categories, but includes the different elements of writing

implicitly or explicitly.
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b. Primary Trait Scoring

This method of scoring focuses on how well the students can write

within a narrowly defined range of discourse. This type of scoring

emphasizes on how the writers achieve the goal of the text. In second-

language writing assessment, primary trait assessment has not been

widely used, and little information exists on how primary trait scoring

might be applied in second-language testing.

c. Analytic Scoring

Analytic scoring helps the teacher to recognize the weaknesses and

strengths of the learners. This scoring type can be applied in the

classroom evaluation. Analytic scoring offers writers a little more wash

back than a single holistic or primary trait score. In formulating the

rubric, the five aspects that are organization, logical development of

ideas, grammar, mechanics, and style of expression should be scaled.

Weigle (2002:114) says that analytic scoring schemes thus provide

more detailed information about students’ writing abilities in different

aspects of writing. He also argues that analytic scoring is particularly

useful for second language learners, who are more likely to show a marked

or uneven profile across different aspects of writing: for example, a script

may be quite well developed but have numerous grammatical errors or a

script may demonstrate an admirable control of syntax but have little or no

content.
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Meanwhile, to analyze the quantitative data which were in the form

of students’ writing performance task scores, the researcher used a writing

rubric adapted from Jacobs et al. in Weigle (2002: 116). The rubric

provides four aspects of writing namely content, organization, vocabulary,

language use and mechanics in which each of them is scaled from 1 to 4.

Hence, the maximum score is 20, while the minimum score is 5.

Table 2.1. The Scoring of Writing

No. Categories Score Criteria Description

1. Content 4 Excellent to Knowledgeable, thorough
very good development of thesis, relevant
to the topic
3 Good to Some knowledge of subject,
average limited development of thesis,
mostly relevant to topic, but
lacks detail
2 Fair to poor Limited knowledge of subject,
inadequate development of topic
1 Very poor Does not show knowledge of
subject, not enough to evaluate
2. Organization 4 Excellent to Fluent expression, ideas clearly
very good stated, well-organized, logical
sequencing, cohesive
3 Good to Loosely organized but main
average ideas stand out, limited support,
logical but incomplete
sequencing
2 Fair to poor Non-fluent, ideas confused or
disconnected, lacks logical
sequencing and development
1 Very poor Does not communicate, no
organization, not enough to
evaluate
3. Vocabulary 4 Excellent to Sophisticated range, effective
very good word choice, word form mastery
3 Good to Adequate range, sometimes
average errors of word choice, usage but
meaning not obscured
2 Fair to poor Limited range, frequent errors of
word choice, usage but meaning
confused or obscured
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No. Categories Score Criteria Description

1 Very poor Essentially translation, little
knowledge of English
vocabulary, not enough to
evaluate
4. Language use 4 Excellent to Effective complex
very good constructions, few errors of
agreement, tense, number, word
order, articles, pronouns and
preposition
3 Good to Effective but simple
average constructions, minor problems
in complex constructions,
several errors of agreement,
tense, number, word order,
articles, pronouns and
preposition
2 Fair to poor Major problems in
simple/complex constructions,
frequent errors of negation,
agreement, tense, number, word
order, articles, pronouns and
preposition, meaning confused
or obscured
1 Very poor Almost no mastery of sentence
construction rules, dominated by
errors, does not communicative,
not enough to
evaluate
5. Mechanics 4 Excellent to Few errors of spelling,
very good punctuation, capitalization, and
paragraphing
3 Good to Occasional errors of spelling,
average punctuation, capitalization, and
paragraphing
2 Fair to poor Frequent errors of spelling,
punctuation, capitalization, and
paragraphing
1 Very poor Dominated by errors
Source: Jacobs et al. in Weigle (2002: 116)

B. The Nature of Text

When we talk about writing, it cannot be separated from the term

“text”. Many events or knowledges are informed through texts. Mark and
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Kathy Anderson (1997: 1) simply state that a text is created when words are

put together to communicate meaning.

More complicated definition of text is proposed by Hyland (2002: 47)

who states “texts have a structure, they are orderly arrangements of words,

clauses and sentences, by following the principles which guide the correct

arrangement of elements, writers can encode a full semantic representation

of their intended meanings”.

It can be concluded that text is formed of structured words, clauses, or

sentences, which contains the writer’s ideas, in order to communicate

information to readers.

There are many types of text within text itself. They are called genre.

Gerot and Wignell (1994: 17) states that a genre can be defined as “a

culturally specific text-type which results from using language (written or

spoken) to (help) accomplish something”. Another definition of genre is

proposed by Kress and Threadgold (in Paltridge, 1997:42). They argue that the

notion of genre offers an “interface between the socio-cultural world and

textual form”.

A number of genres are proposed by Gerot and Wignell (1994: 192-

218). They are spoof, recount, report, analytical exposition, news item,

anecdote, narrative, procedure, descriptive, hortatory exposition, explanation,

discussion, and reviews.

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From the explanation above, there are a lot of genres in written

language and every genre has their social function. Then, narrative text is

chosen as a genre of text to be discussed for carrying out of the study. The

further explanation about narrative text is as below.

C. The Nature of Narrative Text

1. Definition of Narrative Texts

Anderson and Anderson (1997: 8) say that narrative text is a piece

of text which tells a story and in doing so entertains and informs the

reader or listener. Meanwhile, Percy in Permana and Zuhri (2013: 2) state

that narrative is a type of essay that tells a story or a series of events in

which they occur. Its purpose is to give meaning to an event or a series of

events by telling story. From these statements it can be inferred that

narrative texts is concerning with a story. The story includes some events

which is presented to amuse the readers or listeners. So, written narrative

texts are aimed to entertain the readers.

According to Ayres (2008: 2), narrative texts are a form of discourse

that has been fixed by writing. Meanwhile, Parera (1993: 5) states that a

narrative is one of the forms of developing writing, for example

characters told the history of something based on the development of

writing from time to time. In addition, Keraf (1989: 136) states that

narrative is a form of composition, which has the main objectives in the

form of activities that are tied together to become an event that

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happened in a certain time. From these opinions, it can be said that a

narrative text is usually a product of writing which is developed and tied

together to become a story which happened in a certain time in the past.

From the statements above, it can be concluded that a narrative

text is a text which contains a story ordered chronologically. In order that

the text can be enjoyed by the readers, the writer should arrange the text

interestingly. The purpose of telling the story is to give meaning, and to

entertain the readers.

2. Steps of Writing Narrative Texts

Derewianka (1990: 32) states that the steps for constructing a

narrative are:

a. Orientation, in which the

writer tells the audience about who the character in the story are, where

the story is taking place, and when the action happens.

b. Complication, where the

story is pushed along by a series of events, during which we usually

expect some sort of complication or problem to arise. It just would not

be so interesting if something unexpected did not happen. This

complication will involve the main character(s) and often serves to

(temporally) toward them, for reaching their goal. Narratives mirror the

complications we face in life and tend to reassure us that they are

resolvable.
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c. Resolution. In a “satisfying

“narrative, a resolution of the complication is brought about. The

complication may be resolved for better or for worse, but it is rarely left

completely unresolved (although this is of course possible in certainly

types of narrative, which leave us wondering (how is the end?).

Meanwhile, Anderson and Anderson (1997: 8) show the steps for

constructing a narrative text. They are: (1) Orientation, it is the opening

story which tells about the characters, the setting of time and the setting

of place. (2) Complication, that contains events of the story which

stimulates the reader to guess what will happen in the story. (3)

Sequence of events, where the characters react to the complication. (4)

Resolution, where the characters finally solve the problem in the

complication. (5) Coda, that contains a comment or moral values which

can be learned from the story, but this is an optional step. In addition,

Koffman and Reed (2010: 1) state that narratives have been described as

having several common components including a setting, plot (series of

episodes based on goals, attempts, outcomes), resolution or story ending.

Based on the statements above, it can be concluded that the

generic structures of narrative texts are: (1) Orientation which introduces

the main characters and possibly some minor characters. Some indication

is generally given of where the action and when an action happened. (2)

Complication where the writer tells how the problem arises, sometimes
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something unexpected events will happen. (3) Resolution which is an

optional closure of event. The complication may be resolved for better or

for worse, but it is rarely left completely unresolved. The writer can

conclude that resolution is the end of a story.

D. The Concept of Task Based Teaching

1. Definition of Task Based Teaching

In language teaching, there are many designs of learning materials

approaches. One of the learning materials methods is by using Task-Based

Language Teaching or Task-Based Instruction. Richards (2006: 23) states

that Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is an approach which is

based on communicative competence by using interactive tasks in

language instruction. The core of developing materials by using Task-

Based Instruction emphasizes the learning materials by using tasks as the

primary unit that is used.

Task-Based Language Teaching can be applied for developing

materials, because many experts have proposed many therories about

TBLT. Those experts believe that the approach are fitted with the students’

needs, because it emphasizes the students’ needs and the authentic

materials in order to develop the learning materials, activities, tasks and

etc. In line, Nunan (2004: 74) purposes six principles of Task-Based

Language Teaching as follows:

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a. A needs-based approach to content selection.

b. An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the

target language.

c. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.

d. The provision of opportunities for students to focus not only on

language but also on the learning process itself.

d. An enhancement of the students’ own personal experiences as

important contributing elements to classroom learning.

e. The linking of classroom language learning with language use outside

the classroom.

Therefore, designing learning materials by using Task-Based

Instruction is suitable for the students because the tasks are based on the

target needs (Long, 1995: 89). Developing the learning materials based on

the students’ needs makes the students can understand the materials easily.

In addition, TBLT also focuses on how the students communicate in their

daily life or outside the classroom in their learning materials by using an

authentic text, because the students are expected to be able to

communicate with other people outside the classroom.

2. Definition of Task

Task-Based Language Teaching is related to designing many tasks as

the core of learning materials. Tasks can be divided into two namely

pedagogical tasks and real-world tasks. Real world tasks refer to tasks that

reflect a real-world language use such as role play, while pedagogical tasks
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refer to tasks that are designed for classroom language teaching by using a

specific types of language such as presentation (Richards, 2006: 77).

A task is a work plan to achieve an outcome that can be evaluated in

terms of whether the correct or appropriate propositional content has been

conveyed or not. In addition, Richards, et al (1996:289) purpose that a

pedagogical task is an activity or action which is carried out as the result of

processing or understanding language. In line, Ellis (2003: 5) defines a

pedagogical task as tasks that occur in the classroom. Based on Nunan

(2004: 56), he defines a pedagogical task as a piece of classroom work that

involves students in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or

interacting in the target language. A pedagogical task is a task that can be

used in the classroom during the teaching learning process. The

pedagogical task is not suitable to be used outside the classroom because

the content is more rigid.

There are actually many types of tasks. According to Willis (1996:

1), he proposes six types of tasks as the basis for Task-Based Instruction as

follows:

a. Listing tasks: the processes of explaining their ideas by brainstorming

and fact-finding. For example, the students have to make up a list of

things they would bring if they were going to school.

b. Sorting and ordering: the activity is doing by group work consists of

two students and they have to sequence the tasks to set an information

ordered and sorted according to specific criteria.

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c. Comparing: this task involves comparing information of a similar

nature but from the different sources by matching and finding

similarities or different.

d. Problem-solving: analyzing the situation of the problem, giving a

reason, and making a decision to solve the problem.

e. Sharing personal experiences: these tasks encourage students to talk

more freely about themselves and share their experiences with others

f. Creative tasks: a project that involves the students to work in group in

order to do a free creative work.

Based on the statements above, it can be concluded that a task is a

work plan to achieve an outcome that can be evaluated in terms of

whether the correct or appropriate propositional content has been

conveyed or not. The types of tasks as the basis for Task-Based

Instruction are listing tasks, sorting and ordering, comparing, problem-

solving, sharing personal experiences, and creative tasks.

3. Task Grading and Sequences

The content of learning materials are usually graded in various ways.

Decisions on what to teach first, what second and what last in the materials

reflect the beliefs of the materials development or syllabus designer about

grading, sequencing and integrating tasks. According to Richards (2001:

96), gradation is concerned with the grouping and sequencing of teaching

items in a syllabus. Gradation will affect the order in which words, words’

meanings, tenses, structures, topics, functions, and etc are presented.

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Gradation might be based on the complexity of an item, its frequency in

written or spoken English, or its importance for the students. In other

words, what is taught at the beginning of a lesson is selected, because it

occurs frequently or because the students needs are immediate for real-

world communication.

In line, Richards, Platt and Weber in (Nunan, 2004: 102) explain that

grading is the arrangement of the content of a language course or textbook

so that it is presented in a helpful way. The aim of grading and sequencing

the task is to decide which content that comes first and which comes later.

It is also used to give the different level of difficulty, so the students can

improve their ability better.

Based on Richards (2001: 102), he proposes the criteria for

sequencing content in a language course. Here are the criteria of

sequencing task:

a. Simple to complex

In sequencing tasks, the commonest ways used is sequencing by the

level of difficulty.

b. Chronology

Content might be sequenced according to the order in which events

occur in the real world.

c. Need

Content might be sequenced according to the students are most likely

needs. The topics are contextualization based on the students needs.

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d. Prerequisite learning

The sequence of content might reflect what is necessary at one point as

a foundation for the next step in the learning process.

e. Whole to part or part to whole

In some cases, materials at the beginning of course might focus on the

overall structure or organization of a topic before considering the

individual components that make it up. Alternatively, the course might

focus on practicing the parts before the whole.

f. Spiral sequencing

This approach involves the recycling of items to ensure that students

have repeated opportunities to learn them.

From the statements above, it can be concluded that grading in task

grading and sequences is the arrangement of the content of a language

course or textbook so that it is presented in a helpful way. The aim of

grading and sequencing the task is to decide which content that comes

first and which comes later. It is also used to give the different level of

difficulty, so the students can improve their ability better. There are the

criteria for sequencing content in a language course: simple to complex,

chronology, need, prerequisite learning, whole to part or part to whole,

and spiral sequencing.

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4. The Concept of Teaching Writing Narrative Text by Task Based

Teaching

Teaching English as foreign language, especially writing, is not

easily to be done. The gaps between those two different language cultures,

the mother language and the target language, also sometimes abuse the

process of mastering the target one. Or, in other words, it is a complex

process in which the teachers need to integrate all of the components of

methods, teaching and learning atmosphere, and effective teaching and

learning activities. And not to mention, the role of media is also

unavoidable for their contribution to help transferring the message of the

materials being taught easily. Thus, the success of the attainment of

teaching and learning objectives are influenced by many factors integrated

within its process.

In this modern language teaching approach, Task-Based Instruction

has the different approach to the traditional one like P-P-P (Presentation,

Practice, and Production). Task-Based Instruction has its own framework

which uses a meaningful interaction that can build the students’ language

awareness and the language development. According to Willis (1996: 2-3),

there are three sequences of activities that can be followed in developing

the materials by using Task-Based Instruction.

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Pre Task

Task Cycle
Task Planning Report

Language Focus

Analysis Practice

Figure 1: A Framework for TBLT (Willis, 1996: 3)

In Task-Based Instruction, the focuses of learning are divided into

three sequences namely Pre Task, Task Cycle and Language Focus. Each

sequence has different purpose to engage the learning materials to the

students. Pre Task activities, also called as the introduction to topic, mean

as the first step to make the students understand about the theme and

objectives. In this step, the materials given are related to the warming up

process by using some pictures, mime or the students’ experience to gather

their ideas. In this step, the materials consist of many questions that can

help the students to think about the topic in general.

Task cycle is when the students perform the task by doing problem

solving exercises in pairs or small groups. The students then prepare a

report for the whole class on how they did the task and what conclusions

they reached. In composing the tasks, the materials should be divided into

three phase namely Task, Planning and Report.

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Firstly, task is an initial phase that should be given to the students. In

task, the students are given a text, then they have to express everything

related to the text in a small group without any grammatical correction.

The emphasis of this phase is that the students will be able to express

something spontaneously without any intervention from others and they

can build their self-confidence when they express their perspectives in

written or oral form.

Planning is the second stage of task cycle where the students have to

report the reason of why they give their opinion. In this stage, the teacher

gives some corrections and advises for the students to make an

improvement in the students’ writing product. The teacher can ask the

students to do a peer-editing as one of the writing task. By doing a peer-

editing, the students can give a correction for other’s work and learn a

correct grammar by themselves.

The last stage of task cycle is report where the students are ready

with their findings and they have to present in front of the class in a brief

report. While a group explains a presentation, other group can give

comments or questions related to the presentation. At the end of the

presentation, the teacher should comment the content of the students’

reports as an improvement for other group presentations. The purpose of

this stage is the students are trained to be a good public speaker and also

build their self-confidence.

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Before composing a good writing product, the students have to

understand about the English grammar which is also called as language

focus. In language focus, there are two aspects that should be concerned by

the students namely analysis and practice. The teacher focuses on the

language tasks based on the texts that write by the students. In analyzing

the language, the teacher asks the students to find the grammar used in a

certain text such as find words or phrases related to the topic, find the

tenses and etc and reviews what the students found at the end. The second

is practice activity based on the language analysis. The practice activities

include choral repetition, sentence completion, matching, and etc.

There are three stages in implementing the task-based instruction,

namely, pre-task activities, during-task activities and post-task activities

(Miao Hai-yan, 2014: 65-66). It is worth pointing out that time allotment is

also very important, as it can press students forward. The time available

for this class is two hours, and the students are required to write their after-

thoughts on “Turning off TV: a Quiet Hour”, Unit 4, College English I.

Aim : To write a short article about 150 words in English

Topic : No set topic, but write on their after-thoughts

Time : Two hours

a. Stage 1: Pre-task activities (20 minutes)

Pre-task activities have two purposes. One is to teach, mobilize or make

prominent the language that relates to the task itself, for example, the

useful vocabulary or important functionality sentence patterns. Another

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is to provide students with some background knowledge so as to help

them recall schematic knowledge when completing the task. The

teacher may hand out materials on related topics, such as “leisure time

after work”, “means of entertainment”, “family activities after supper”,

to reduce the cognitive load on the part of the students.

b. Stage 2: During-task activities (80 minutes)

1) Pair Work (15 minutes)

At this stage, the students are encouraged to engage as much as

possible in the tasks and to complete them. The teacher may write

some questions on the blackboard for the students to discuss, for

example: What impresses you most in this article? Do you think it

necessary to turn off TV for a quiet hour in America? What if this

happens in China? And your predictions? Then the teacher can

divide the students into pairs to discuss these questions. Meanwhile,

the teacher should not intervene in the students’ discussion so as to

allow natural language acquisitional processes to operate; but

whenever the students need help, the teacher should stand out. After

this preliminary discussion, the students may be asked to report the

results of their pair work.

2) Group Discussion (15 minutes)

Compared with pair work, the advantage of group discussion is self-

evident: every participant has his share of information to contribute

to the communication process, and therefore more participants will

 37

make the communication more lively and more meaningful. At the

same time, the teacher should monitor the whole process and offer

help if possible. The students may be divided into small groups of

more than three people to re-discuss the above questions and to

determine what they will write. Upon deciding the topic to write

about, the students may embark on their writing.

3) First Draft (30 minutes)

Students can think over what they have discussed up till now, and

plunge directly into writing. At this moment, the students should not

worry about grammatical mistakes, and all they should do is to put

down their ideas. At this stage, the teacher should withdraw so as not

to prevent the natural flow of the students’ ideas and their

expressiveness. This is also done to elicit personal opinions from

students so as to get them more involved in the completion of the

task. As for this kind of writing, students’ task is to put the

information onto paper in a logical manner, not worrying about

grammar, spelling or handwriting.

4) Discussion of the Product (20 minutes)

After the completion of the first draft, the students are divided into

small groups, and a group leader is nominated. Students are required

to exchange their first drafts of writing and criticisms concerning

vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, structure and logic are welcome.

 38

It is then the group leader’s duty to report the results of the group

discussion.

c. Stage 3: Post-task activities (20 minutes)

Before this stage, the emphasis is on the meaningfulness and fluency of

the communication process, and the expressiveness of ideas. However,

this alone cannot guarantee good writing in itself, as we also need

accuracy and refined language to call our writing good. Therefore at

this stage, the teacher should direct the students’ attention to the

accuracy of language and the way of restructuring their sentences so as

to better their writing. Based on the group leader’s report, the teacher

may get a brief idea of the students’ weaknesses and strengths. In order

to present in a more clear way, the teacher can write down the language

points, chunks or functionality patterns on the blackboard. To make

sure that the students have grasped all that is being taught, the teacher

may offer the students some exercises in order to check on the students.

The design of a task-based lesson involves consideration of the

stages or components of a lesson that has a task as its principal component.

Various designs have been proposed (Estaire and Zanon in Ellis, 2006: 19-

20). However they all have in common three principal phases, which are

shown in Figure 1. These phases reflect the chronology of a task-based

lesson. Thus, the first phase is ‘pre-task’ and concerns the various

activities that teachers and students can undertake before they start the

task, such as whether students are given time to plan the performance of
 39

the task. The second phase, the ‘during task’ phase, centres around the task

itself and affords various instructional options, including whether students

are required to operate under time-pressure or not. The final phase is ‘post-

task’ and involves procedures for following-up on the task performance.

Only the ‘during task’ phase is obligatory in task-based teaching. Thus,

minimally, a task based lesson consists of the students just performing a

task. Options selected from the ‘pre-task’ or ‘post-task’ phases are non-

obligatory but, as we will see, can serve a crucial role in ensuring that the

task performance is maximally effective for language development.

Phase Examples of Options

A. Pre-task  Framing the activity (e.g. establishing
the outcome of the task)
 Planning time
 Doing a similar task
B. During task  Time pressure
 Number of participants
C. Post-task  Learner report
 Consciousness-raising
 Repeat task

Figure 2: A Framework for Designing Task-Based Lessons

(Ellis, 2006: 20).

Access to a clear framework for a task-based lesson is of obvious

advantage to both teachers and learners. How many experienced teachers

adhere to a maxim of planning (Plan your teaching and try to follow your

plan) A framework such as the one outlined in Figure 1 caters to both

 40

needs. It provides a clear structure for a lesson and it also allows for

creativity and variety in the choice of options in each phase.

According to the theories of task based teaching procedures in

teaching writing above, in the current study, the task based teaching is

implemented in teaching writing narrative text. The teacher implemented

the advance organizer model by some following steps:

a. Stage 1: Pre-task activities (20 minutes)

The teacher may hand out materials on related topics, such as “leisure

time after work”, “means of entertainment”, “family activities after

supper”, to reduce the cognitive load on the part of the students.

b. Stage 2: During-task activities (80 minutes)

1) Pair Work (15 minutes)

At this stage, the students are encouraged to engage as much as

possible in the tasks and to complete them. The teacher may write

some questions on the blackboard for the students to discuss. Then

the teacher can divide the students into pairs to discuss these

questions. After this preliminary discussion, the students may be

asked to report the results of their pair work.

2) Group Discussion (15 minutes)

Compared with pair work, the advantage of group discussion is self-

evident. The students may be divided into small groups of more than

three people to re-discuss the above questions and to determine what

 41

they will write. Upon deciding the topic to write about, the students

may embark on their writing.

3) First Draft (30 minutes)

Students can think over what they have discussed up till now, and

plunge directly into writing. As for this kind of writing, students’

task is to put the information onto paper in a logical manner, not

worrying about grammar, spelling or handwriting.

4) Discussion of the Product (20 minutes)

After the completion of the first draft, the students are divided into

small groups, and a group leader is nominated. Students are required

to exchange their first drafts of writing and criticisms concerning

vocabulary, grammar, punctuation, structure and logic are welcome.

It is then the group leader’s duty to report the results of the group

discussion.

c. Stage 3: Post-task activities (20 minutes)

Before this stage, the emphasis is on the meaningfulness and fluency of

the communication process, and the expressiveness of ideas. Therefore

at this stage, the teacher should direct the students’ attention to the

accuracy of language and the way of restructuring their sentences so as

to better their writing. In order to present in a more clear way, the

teacher can write down the language points, chunks or functionality

patterns on the blackboard. To make sure that the students have grasped
 42

all that is being taught, the teacher may offer the students some

exercises in order to check on the students.