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Siekmann LING610 Family Portrait Spot-the-Differences Task I.

Rationale This family portrait spot-the-difference task is designed for adult German as a foreign language students. In this activity, students work in groups of three: two students work to identify 7 differences in two versions of a family portrait without looking at the other students picture; the third student takes notes. This activity supports language development through a) providing contextualized language, b) meeting the criteria for task based language teaching, c) requiring students to produce language output, and d) allowing students to focus on form in addition to meaning. A) Contextualized language OMaggio Hadley (2001) argues that language use in the classroomought to be contextualized (p. 141). The author continues to explain that contextualized language means that sentences are connected to each other in a logical sequence or relationship (p. 141). Not only does the immediate linguistic context need to be established, but according to Schema Theory (Carrell & Eisterhold, 1983) texts are also interpreted based on the larger understandings and background knowledge learners bring with them. Advance organizers, such as pictures generally enhance comprehension of a target-language text, particularly when learners are at a fairly low level of proficiency (OMaggio Hadley, 2001, p. 150). The family portrait spot-the-difference activity activates the students background knowledge by using visual advance organizers (family photographs) in conjunction with questions drawing out appropriate key vocabulary and sentence structures. The task itself is integrated into a larger thematic unit on the family. The language produced by the students focuses on the same picture, thereby establishing a logical connection for the entire conversation. The students are at a beginning level, so a visual advance organizer and review of key vocabulary should be effective on this context. B) Task Based Language Teaching Ellis (2009) summarizes the main tenets of TBLT as: 1. primary focus is on meaning, 2. there is a gap, 3. learners use own resources, 4. clearly defined outcome other than language use itself (p. 223). The family portrait activity focuses the students on finding the differences between two similar pictures, which establishes a focus on meaning (tenet 1) and also defines the outcome of identifying seven differences between the two pictures (tenet 4). The two different versions of the pictures create a gap (tenet 2), which the students should be able to bridge after the review of vocabulary in the pre-task phase (tenet 3). C) Output Hypothesis

Siekmann LING610 The family portrait activity requires students to talk to each other in order to solve a spot-the-differences task. As they try to identify seven differences between the pictures, students have to both interpret their partners input and produce comprehensible output. According to Swain (2000) this type of activity has the potential to support language development because learners have a chance to a) notice the gap between their own production and what they want to say, b) test their Interlanguage hypotheses and to c) reflect on the language they learn. D) Focus on form Clearly, especially in academic contexts, somehow bringing across ones meaning is not enough, the utterances also need to be correct. As a consequence, OMaggio Hadley (2001) argues that, The development of accuracy should be encouraged in proficiency-oriented instruction (p. 99). According to Gilmore (2007), The process of transcribing speech is a critical step for exploitation of spoken discourse in the classroom because it allows us to freeze the interaction and highlight salient features for the learners that would otherwise be lost in the normal, transient flow of communication (p. 102). This means that transcribing ones own speech and analyzing it with the teacher can help learners focus on form and increase accuracy. While students mainly focus on meaning during the spot-the-difference task, the note taker pays attention to form throughout. In addition, in the post task phase, students focus on form (adjectives, comparatives, etc.) more specifically, either through a whole group discussion lead by the teacher, or through transcribing their interaction for later analysis. II. Description 1. Pre-Task The teacher projects a number of family photographs and talks with the students about the people in the pictures. The teachers asks questions such as: Who is in the picture? Is this a grandpa/grandma/mother/father/son/daughter? What does grandpa/mother etc. look like? Is s/he tall/short/happy/sad Who is taller/shorter? What color is his/her hair? Is the hair curly/straight/short/long/dark/light? What is father/mother wearing? Who is sitting down/standing up? Who sits/stands next to whom? Is anyone wearing classes? What is the difference between different family pictures?

Siekmann LING610 2. Task Cycle Students work in groups of three. In each group, one student is given Family Portrait A (face down so other students cannot see the picture), one student in given Family Portrait B (face down), the third student is the note taker. Tell the students that they will do a spot-the-differences task using a family portrait. Students A and B each have a slightly different version of a family portrait. It is the goal of the activity to find 7 differences between the two pictures WITHOUT looking at each others pictures. The note taker keeps track of how many differences were found without looking at either of the pictures. This student also takes notes about language questions and problems occurring during the task. Alternatively, students can record their interaction to transcribe and analyze later. The two pictures:

When students have found all 7 differences (or after the allotted time has expired), students are allowed to look at both pictures side-by-side to confirm the differences they identified and to find additional differences if applicable. Writing extension (optional): All three students work together to create a written comparison of the two pictures. (This could also be an individual homework assignment.) 3. Language Focus Teacher projects both pictures. Each group verbally shares one difference they found until all differences have been identified (no pointing allowed).

Siekmann LING610 Note takers share their observations about the type of language used in their group. If group interaction was recorded, students transcribe their interaction. Students might be able to identify language errors once they listen carefully to what they said and write it down. Students share language questions with the teacher. Teacher identifies common mistakes to explain with the whole class (either based on oral sharing and note taker notes, or based on written transcripts). III. Reflection I can add this part after we implement the activity together in class.

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