Assessment 1: Module consisting of three tasks
Pre-Intermediate Adult-learner Tasks – “Clothes"
Introduction:
The three tasks in this module are designed to be used by teachers of Pre-intermediate
adult learners. This module is developed to assist busy teachers at the center with readily
available materials for every stage of each task with a communicative outcome in mind. The
topic covered is “Clothing” which is very common in learners’ daily life and essential to
successful communication. Collins (2004) states that one of the principles of teaching adults is
that they look for relevancy and practicality in learning content, which is why this specific topic
is chosen and aimed at helping them recognize how they can use this knowledge for different
situations in life such as going shopping or preparing certain clothes for special events.
Moreover, the tasks in this module all contain three stages - pre-task, main task and post-task -
each of which is created to aid adult students with incidental learning, which Ellis (2018)
describes as the process of learning and picking up language by the exposure to different
occasions when communication is necessary and learners pick up language items without too
much conscious effort of learning them intentionally.
The three tasks in this module are designed strictly based on Task-based Language
Teaching methodology and every main task is planned to satisfy the four set criteria by Ellis
(2018) of what is defined as a task. The main objective is to have students learn naturally through
the process of doing tasks and hopefully develop Implicit knowledge, which Ellis (2018)
determines necessary for easy, flexible and spontaneous communication. This then, in turns,
increases students’ confidence in speaking and reduces reluctance to oral activities. The
examples of implicit knowledge development in the following tasks are when learners need to
describe the clothing items they wear to their partner relying mostly on their own linguistics and
non-linguistics resources or when describing to other classmates why a certain choice of clothes
is appropriate for an event. The topic is appropriate for this level of Pre intermediate adult
learners.
Student background and Instructional Context:
The students are of different age ranges from university students, working adults to older
adults enrolling in VUS (Vietnam USA Society) English center. Their mutual goal is to achieve
fluent communication in different situations both in their professional and social life. The
learners here have all received public school education which focuses on form rather than
meaning and most teachers there have been applying Grammar Translation method mostly. As a
result, even though all of them have learnt English since they were in grade six and have a good
understanding of grammar rules, they cannot communicate effectively in English. Therefore, this
learner population is very keen on looking for an alternative teaching method focusing on
communication purposes as well as enabling them to accelerate fluency over time. As stated in
the Introduction, these learners are in Pre-intermediate level. Regardless of their age range, they
must at least be able to use English to communicate in familiar situations because (British
Council, n.d.) states that learners in this level “can communicate in simple, everyday tasks that
require only simple and direct exchanges of information on familiar topics”. Prior to joining this
course, all of them have had to sit in a placement test in form of spoken assessment for learning
in line with the aforementioned criterium by British Council.
VUS is NEAS (National Education Assessment System)-accredited and one of the most
prestigious commercial English centers, with roughly 80 centers across Vietnam. VUS’s
“English Hub” program, also known as their communicative course, is endorsed by NEAS. Their
classrooms are fully equipped with facilities needed for a smooth learning and teaching process
including computer, wireless connection and a projector in form of a large screen TV. For this
Pre-Intermediate course, its objective is to help students develop the four English language skills,
improve pronunciation, communicate in everyday situations with commonly-used vocabulary
and build students’ confidence to communicate in English at basic level.
Curriculum and Tasks:
Ellis (2018) comments that the difference between a task-supported and a task-based
syllabus is that the former has to state clearly the language items as well as grammatical
structures students need to learn coupled with focused tasks for the production stage, whereas the
latter only lists tasks to be used. In addition, Ellis (2021) notes that tasks within the curriculum
should be sequenced from easy to difficult. This is why the three tasks in this assessment is
designed with level of difficulty in ascending order from task one to task three. For the purpose
of this assignment, an extract of the curriculum related to these three tasks is provided below:
Table 1. Curriculum extract containing the three tasks:
Topic area Main Tasks
Clothes Students list the items of clothing they see in
a photo. Then give a ranking from the most to
the least often that they wear them.
Clothes Students compare the clothes they wear in
different situations.
Clothes Students plan outfits for a 4-day business trip
combined with vacation, with limited number
of items given.
Descriptions of the three tasks:
In a three-hour session at VUS English center, students will have the opportunity to
practice all three tasks in order. Below is the detail of each task:
Task 1: Listing and Ordering
Pre-task: Students are given a picture of a group of people, teacher will then describe one
person in terms of what they wear and then students have to decide who it is.
Main task:
1. Individually, students list all the items of clothing they can see from each person in
the photo, head to toe.
2. With the readily filled note, the learners then work individually to rank these on how
often they wear them in their daily life, with 1 being the most often and 5 the least.
Then, in small groups, they share their ranking for at least five items they chose.
Afterwards, the group decide the kind of clothes all of them wear very often (e.g., T-
shirt).
Post task: In this stage, the students refer back to the picture they were given during the
pre-task. However, this time they would not listen but rather describe a person’s clothes
without specifying who that is. Moreover, in this second performance the task’s
participatory structure will not be Teacher-class but Student-student.
Task 2: Comparing
Pre-task: In groups of five, each student is given two cards with two types of clothes on it
(e.g., t-shirt and shoes) and as a group, a mini board and a marker. Then, each student has
to draw the card given to them to let others in the group guess the name of the clothing
item. During this process, the drawer can also give verbal clues to help everyone in the
group figure out the items. For example, while drawing a hat, drawer can say “You wear
this on your head”
Main task: The teacher will present a slide with three different situations (at home – at
work – on vacation). Students need to find three photos in their phone which match with
these three situations. Then, they talk about the outfits they wore in these three photos
and also give a brief explanation why they chose these certain items. Their partner needs
to listen to see if they can draw the outfits again correctly.
Post task: In this phase, students are given a mistake-correction sheet, with the former on
the left side and the latter on the right. The mistakes have already been filled out by
teacher during the observation of the main task phase. As a class activity, teacher and
students discuss appropriate correction for these.
Task 3: Problem-solving
Pre-task:
1. Each student is given a brainstorming sheet. On one side of the sheet is a table with
two columns and four rows. On each left side row, there is a brainstorming question
including: things to wear on head/first half of the body/second half of the body/feet.
Students are given five minutes to work on this. Once the time is up, they would turn
to the other side of the sheet. On this side, they will find a table with two
brainstorming questions with one example for each, the first question is Things to
wear in a formal event (e.g., suits) and the second is things to wear in informal events
(e.g., flipflops). Then, they are given five minutes to work on this and stop once the
time is up.
2. Afterwards, students are assigned to the same group of five as in Task 2, they then
pick out seven items they believe are the most practical and can be worn in different
situations.
Main task: In this phase, students are given a situation as followed:
“Mary is going on a four-day business/vacation trip. However, she only has a suitcase
large enough for seven items. You need to look at her schedule below and plan
appropriate outfits for her activities/events. For hygiene reasons, Mary cannot wear an
item more than three times.”. Below this description, students will also see Mary’s
timetable with some blank space so that they can plan the outfit.
Post task:
1. Each of these five-member group will stand in front of the class and present their
choices of outfit for different activities in the order of her schedule from day one to
day four as well as from day to night. In addition, they need to give a brief
explanation for each outfit choice. The class then have a vote with different criteria
such as “Which group is the most creative?”, “Which group is the most practical?”
2. As a homework assignment, each student will write a short paragraph describing the
outfits they would wear on a three-day holiday to Da Lat, one of the coldest places in
Vietnam.
Main tasks:
Table 2. Task type, psycholinguistic classifications, and design features
Task type
- Pedagogic – interactional
authenticity
- Focused – there are
predetermined vocabulary about
clothes in the photo Design features
+ Simple input
Psycholinguistic classifications + Familiar topic
- Input-based – (stage 1) + Here and now
Task 1 - Output-based – (stage 2) - Few elements
- Closed outcome – (stage 1): - Structured information
there is only a certain number of - Single demand
clothing items in the picture. - Reasoning demands
- Open outcome – (stage 2): - Simple outcome
different orders of the frequency
of an item.
- Information gap task
- Learner generated content:
Listing and ordering of clothes.
Task type Design features
Task 2
- Real-world – situational + Simple input
authenticity + Familiar topic
- Unfocused - no expectation of + Here and now
what clothing items students - Few elements
would choose to describe + Structured information
Psycholinguistic classifications - Single demand
- Output-based - Reasoning demands
- Open outcome: many possible - Simple outcome
clothing items to wear in these
situations
- Information gap task: describe
the outfits on different occasions
- Reasoning gap task: explain the
choices for these outfits
- Learner generated content:
Describing their clothes in photos
Task 3 Task type Design features
- Real-world – situational - Simple input
authenticity + Familiar topic
- Unfocused - no expectation of + Here and now
what clothing items students - Few elements
would choose for each activity in + Structured information
Mary’s schedule - Single demand
- Reasoning demands
Psycholinguistic classifications - Simple outcome
- Output-based
- Open outcome: many possible
clothing items to wear for these
activities
- Opinion gap task: decide what
clothes are appropriate for
different activities
- Reasoning gap task: explain the
choices for these outfits
- Learner generated content:
Choices of outfit for different
activities
REFERENCES
British Council. (n.d.). A2 Pre-intermediate. https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-
levels/understand-your-english-level/a2-pre-intermediate
Collins, J. (2004). Education Techniques for Lifelong Learning: Principles of Adult Learning.
Radiographics, 24, 1483-1489. http://dx.doi.org/10.1148/rg.245045020
Ellis, R. (2018). Reflections on Task-Based Language Teaching. Bristol, Blue Ridge Summit:
Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781788920148
Ellis, R. (2021). Options in a task-based language-teaching curriculum: An educational
perspective. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/task.00002.ell
Appendix
Task 1: Listing and ordering
Pre-task
a. Materials
A group photo of people wearing different clothes
Image: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/diverse-group-people-wearing-casual-outfit-apparel-
ad_15476387.htm (photocopied and distributed as handouts)
b. Instruction to the students
“Please look at the picture on your hand then think and describe in your head what
each person is wearing. After you have done so, listen to me and let’s find out whom
I am talking about.”
Task 1: Listing and ordering
a. Materials
A sheet containing three tables (each table is distributed to 1 student)
Item of clothing How often do you wear it?
(1 being the most and 5 being the least
often)
%------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item of clothing How often do you wear it?
(1 being the most and 5 being the least
often)
%------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Item of clothing How often do you wear it?
(1 being the most and 5 being the least
often)
b. Instruction to the students
Stage 1:
“Please look at the photo again. What clothes can you see? Write them on the left
side of your sheet”
Stage 2:
“You have written down some clothes you see in the photo. But how often do you
wear each? Write 1 next to the name of clothes you wear most often all the way to 5
being the clothes you least often wear.”
Stage 3:
“You have got your own answers of how often you wear these clothes. Now compare
your answer in group and then discuss with each other to choose the most frequent
item of clothes that your group wear.”
Task 1: Listing and ordering
Post-task:
a. Materials
A group photo of people wearing different clothes
Image: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/diverse-group-people-wearing-casual-outfit-apparel-
ad_15476387.htm (photocopied and distributed as handouts)
b. Instruction to the students
“In the beginning, you listened to me talking about a person’s clothes and guess who
they are. It is now your turn to think of a person in this photo, but don’t tell your
friend who that is. Now start talking about the clothes they wear.”
Task 2: Comparing
Pre-task:
a. Materials
Each group will be given a mini board and a marker
Each member of the group will be given two random cards cut out from the table
below:
b. Instruction to the students
“Look at the two cards given to you. Each of you will come to the front using the mini
board and marker to draw a picture of the item you have for your group to guess
what it is. You can also say something to describe it.”
Task 2: Comparing
Main task:
a. Materials
A Powerpoint slide with three different situations
A blank piece of paper
b. Instruction to the students
Stage 1:
“Can you guess where the woman is in each photo by her clothes? Very good! She’s
at home, at work and on vacation. What do you wear when you are at these places?
Find three photos in your phone when you were at home, at work or school and on
vacation. Talk about the clothes you wore in each and tell your partner why you
chose these clothes. And as one person is talking, the other needs to listen carefully
and try to draw the clothes again.”
Task 2: Comparing
Post-task:
a. Materials: Mistake – correction sheet
(each sheet contains 2 tables, each table is distributed to 1 student)
%------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mistakes Suggested correction
(written by teacher)
%------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mistakes Suggested correction
(written by teacher)
b. Instruction to the students
Stage 1
“When you were working with your partner, I have written some mistakes I’ve heard
many students made. Work with your partner again to discuss how to correct these
mistakes you see on the board.”
Stage 2
“We’ve discussed how to correct these mistakes we made, now you write them down
on your sheet to memorize and avoid these mistakes next time.”
Task 3: Problem-solving
Pre-task:
a. Materials: Brainstorming sheet
You can wear these You can wear these You can wear these You can wear these
on your head on your upper body on your lower body on your feet
hat shirt pants socks
First side:
Second side
Formal
event clothes
Informal
event clothes
b. Instruction to the students:
Stage 1:
“Look at the sheet you have, what do you wear on your head? Write it down on the
first column “You can wear these on your head”. You come up with more items that
people can wear for all the body parts on your sheet.”
Stage 2:
“Please turn to the other side your sheet, what clothes do you wear when you have a
job interview? Suits? So, you write it down under “formal event clothes”. What about
when you are at home? Write that down under “informal event clothes”. You have
five minutes to do this.”
Stage 3:
“You are going to work in the same group that you did the task of comparing clothes
in your photos. You now compare your brainstorming answer with each other and
write down on your notebook the seven different items you believe can be worn in
many different situations as a group.”
Task 3: Problem-solving
Main task:
a. Materials: Mary’s timetable for business-holiday trip (each table is distributed to one
group)
b. Instruction to the students:
“Mary is going on a business trip combined with vacation. She will be going for four
days but only have a suitcase large enough for seven items of clothes. Plan each
outfit (from head to toe) that you choose for her and then write them down under
each activity on her timetable. Note that she will have to reuse the items, but only
maximum three times for hygiene reasons.”
