Reformulation and reconstruction: tasks that promote ‘noticing’
- Directs the teacher training department at International House, Barcelona. He has an MA TEFL from the University of Reading. He has written ELT materials for Longman and Heinemann, and has recently published a book of language analysis tasks, About Language (Cambridge University Press 1997).
- Received February 1, 1996.
Abstract
In various guises reformulation and reconstruction tasks have a long tradition in ELT methodology. Since both task types foreground meaning, they fit well into a task-based model of instruction, and because the starting point in both cases is whole texts, their use is consistent with a discourse-oriented view of language. However, their potential for focusing learners’ attention on form (that is, noticing both what is present in input and absent in output) has received little attention. This article rehabilitates techniques that exploit both the meaning-driven and form-focused potential of these two task types.
- © Oxford University Press
