UNIT 17 PRACTICE ACTIVITIES AND TASKS FOR LANGUAGE AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

PRACTICE ACTIVITIES AND TASKS FOR LANGUAGE AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT 

There are different tasks or activities used to practice the language. However, these activities can be categorized into three parts according to how much control the teacher gives to each activity. Firstly, controlled activities which are based on accuracy or can help learners to focus on form of the language using repeated activities such as copying sentences, transformation, substitution, individual and chorus drills. Secondly, free activities are focused on fluency. Therefore, when teachers give free activities to his/her students they cannot predict what language learners are using which means that these type of tasks could not be used with specific language. For example, discussions, sharing and comparing ideas, rank ordering and prioritizing. Finally, freer activities which are in the middle of controlled and free activities giving us the idea that is a bit of both; These activities encourage students to integrate the language they have with the new one to make more challenging their learning process even though these activities give less guidance and support. Examples of this activity are role- plays, sentence completion, surveys, etc. 

Teachers can vary these tasks depending on learners´ needs and what the teacher intend to develop in the class. Meanwhile, there are some teachers who mix tasks depending on the lesson goals. If the teacher wants to develop fluency he/she would use free activities which use the language to interact and communicate by a class discussion. On the other side, if the teacher wants to focus on form in the class controlled activities will be the best choice because learners can copy some sentences in their notebook to emphasize on form.

For more information check these sources: 

• prezi.com,. (2014). Unit 17 Practice activities and tasks for language and skills development. Retrieved 6 December 2014, from https://prezi.com/fyfhay4r2zel/unit-17-practice-activities-and-tasks-for-language-and-skills-development/
• Ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com,. (2014). Retrieved 6 December 2014, from http://ptgmedia.pearsoncmg.com/images/97802055
• Teaching English Games,. (2014). How to Teach English For Different Learning Styles. Retrieved 6 December 2014, from http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Lea
• YouTube,. (2014). Teaching Activities - British Council - BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Gyd9NEa9M