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Language-learning tasks: teacher intention and learner interpretation
taught ESL/EFL for over fifteen years. At present, he teaches TESOL/Applied Linguistics, and directs the MA TESOL program at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, USA. He has taught at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages, India; the University of Michigan; and the University of Minnesota. He holds an MA in ELT from the University of Lancaster, and a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Michigan. His research interests include second/foreign language teaching methodology, teacher education, and second/foreign language acquisition.
Recent explorations in task-based pedagogy have pointed out that learning outcome is the result of a fairly unpredictable interaction between the learner, the task, and the task situation. From the teacher's perspective, then, achievement of success depends largely on the degree to which teacher intention and learner interpretation of a given task converge. The narrower the gap between teacher intention and learner interpretation, the greater are the chances of achieving desired learning outcomes. It is thus important that we understand potential sources contributing to the mismatch between teacher intention and learner interpretation. The present study attempts to identify potential sources of mismatch by exploring the learner's and teacher's perceptions of the nature, the goals, and the demands of selected language-learning tasks, and comes out with a list of ten sources: cognitive, communicative, linguistic, pedagogic, strategic, cultural, evaluative, procedural, instructional, and attitudinal. It is argued that a knowledge of potential sources of mismatch between teacher intention and learner interpretation will help us sensitize ourselves to interpretive density of language-learning tasks and help us facilitate desired learning outcomes in the classroom.
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