Authentic Tasks in the Classroom

I struggle with this everyday. Whether I like it or not, today's students (at least in U.S. public schools) must not only be challenged, but equally entertained. Many simply refuse to do anything that looks like work. I know, I know -- just give 'em an "F." Not so simple anymore. The public school teacher gets hauled in the principal's office if more than 25% of his/her students have Ds or Fs. That's the bad news.

The good news is that authentic tasks (even though simulated in my opinion) are entertaining and they work. Guariento and Morley quote Willis (1996:18) for students to achieve a particular communicative goal, employing authentic tasks is "far more likely to lead increased fluency and natural acquisition."

For my Praxis III Exam, where a trained observer is in the room, I had my students perform a fashion show in Spanish. We had just finished the unit on clothing and they already knew colors and some adjectives. Students were paired off and each was to be the presenter and then the model. As the presenter described each article of clothing their partner was wearing, the model had to point to and touch it as they walked up and down the runway. Although not required to wear special clothing, some of the students dressed up for the event. One student even wore a suit! He told me he wanted to stand out from everyone else. This was a kid who had been suspended multiple times and had even started that school year out on a two-week suspension held over from the previous year. I like to think that maybe, just maybe, that authentic task kept him for looking for attention in another way. But did the students learn the vocabulary? Yes, they did. Each of the 26 students in that class scored no less than 91% on the exam for that unit. Did they study for it? Maybe, maybe not. But I think the high scores have more do with the fact that each and every student had the opportunity to hear, see, and touch the vocabulary used in an "authentic" situation no less than 25 times. Hmmm, is that "natural acquistion?" It's natural enough for me.

I have noticed in the lower level classroom that normally apathetic students will participate in task-oriented exercises, even if they do grumble along the way. And authentic tasks are hard to design for lower level students. But Guariento and Morely point out that simple tasks can be used such as, "ordering coffee, booking a hotel room, or asking (directions)."

It's worked every time I've tried it. I just need to do more!