Cover not available

Article published In: Language Teaching for Young Learners
Vol. 4:1 (2022) ► pp.92–117

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required
Research article

Task design in online one-to-one classes with young learners

 | TEFL Training Institute
Published online: 25 January 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.21002.tho
Abstract
This study investigated how effective four tasks were in supporting meaningful spoken language production between young learners and their teachers. The context of the study, online one-to-one lessons, is commonplace but largely unresearched. Transcripts from seventeen teacher-student dyads using four tasks were analysed using conversation analysis. These were then coded and the number of instances of meaningful communication counted. The number of instances of pushed output and negotiation of meaning were also noted. The most successful task was an open opinion-gap task, which motivated the young learners. Crucially, the task outcome (a plan of a shopping centre) allowed learners to check their teachers had understood them. Teacher misunderstandings gave learners opportunities to take control of the discourse and negotiate meaning. Aspects of task design which impeded meaningful communication included sentence stems, which resulted in drill-like interactions. Task topics familiar to learners but unfamiliar to teachers hindered meaningful communication. Also, tasks located near the end of a lesson sequence tended to result in less meaningful communication than those nearer the start.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Online materials design
    • 2.2Meaningful communication
    • 2.3Communicative task design
  • 3.Research questions
  • 4.Methods
    • 4.1Context
    • 4.2Participants
    • 4.3Tasks
    • 4.4Analysis
  • 5.Results
    • 5.1Quantitative results
    • 5.2Qualitative results
      • 5.2.1Negotiation of meaning
      • 5.2.2Pushed output
      • 5.2.3Timing
      • 5.2.4Drill-like interactions
    • 5.3Summary of results
  • 6.Implications
  • 7.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (25)
References
Arnold, W., & Rixon, S. (2008). Materials for Teaching English to Young Learners. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), English Language Learning Materials (pp. 38–58). Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blake, R. J. (2017). Technologies for Teaching and Learning L2 Speaking. In The Handbook of Technology and Second Language Teaching and Learning (pp. 107–117). John Wiley & Sons. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cunningsworth, A. (1998). Evaluating and Selecting EFL Materials (1st ed.). Heinemann.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeKeyser, R. (2007). Practice in a Second Language: Perspectives From Applied Linguistics and Cognitive Psychology (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (1999). Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Task-based language teaching: Sorting out the misunderstandings. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 19(3), 221–246. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Task-based Leanguage Learning and Teaching (2nd ed.). Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Introducing Task-based Language Teaching (1st ed.). Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, R., & Shintani, N. (2014). Exploring Language Pedagogy through Second Language Acquisition Research (1st ed.). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., & Lambert, C. (2019). Task-based language teaching: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ghosn, I.-K. (2003). Talking like texts and talking about texts: How some primary school coursebook tasks are realized in the classroom. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), Developing Materials for Language Teaching (pp. 291–305). Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hampel, R. (2006). Rethinking task design for the digital age: A framework for language teaching and learning in a synchronous online environment. ReCALL, 18(1), 105–121. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2009). Training teachers for the multimedia age: Developing teacher expertise to enhance online learner interaction and collaboration. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 3(1), 35–50. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Johnson, K. E. (1995). Understanding Communication in Second Language Classrooms (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. (1983). Process and Product in ESL Program Evaluation. TESOL Quarterly, 171, 409–25.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Second Language Acquisition and Task-Based Teaching (1st ed.). John Wiley and Sons, Inc..Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nunan, D. (1987). Communicative language teaching: Making it work. English Language Teaching Journal, 411, 136–45. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oliver, R. (1998). Negotiation of meaning in child interactions. The Modern Language Journal, 82(3), 372–386. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oliver, R., & Azkarai, A. (2017). Review of Child Second Language Acquisition (SLA): Examining Theories and Research. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 371, 62–76. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pinter, A. (2011). Children learning second languages. Research and practice in applied linguistics (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shintani, N. (2014). Using tasks with young beginner learners: The role of the teacher. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 8(3), 279–294. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swain, M. (1995). Three functions of output in second language learning. In Principle and practice in applied linguistics: Studies in honour of H. G. Widdowson (pp. 125–144). Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomlinson, B. (2020). Assisting Learners in Orchestrating their Inner Voice for L2 Learning. Language Teaching Research Quarterly, 191, 32–47. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomlinson, B., & Masuhara, H. (2018). The complete guide to the theory and practice of materials development for language learning (1st ed.). Wiley and Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ziegler, N. (2016). Synchronous Computermediated Communication and Interaction: A Meta Analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 381, 553–586. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Tigchelaar, Magda, Virginia David, Amira Eldemerdash, Selena Protacio & Susan Piazza
2023. K-12 content teachers designing language tasks: A follow-up to Erlam, 2016. Language Teaching Research DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue