Claudia Fernández

Hispanic and Italian Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Claudia R. Fernández is Clinical Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish Basic Language Program. In addition to teaching basic Spanish courses, she teaches Linguistic courses in the Spanish major and minor. She also teaches the required graduate class to train new Teaching Assistants on how to teach an additional language. Her research interests are on task-based language teaching, materials research, and processing instruction.

Fernández is a 2022-23 Action Research Scholar.

Claudia Fernández

Claudia Fernández

Investigating the design and outcomes of a task-based Spanish course Heading link

Abstract

This action research study aimed at evaluating the extent to which the final tasks that guide the Spanish 104 curriculum were effective in promoting language learning and were interesting and relevant to learners’ goals. Task evaluation rubrics, learning reflection assignments, and surveys were used to gather the data.

Findings revealed that students in greater or lesser degree used key linguistic resources while carrying out the tasks, but all found them valuable and interesting. However, differences were found in language use and perceived value that may have depended on the nature of the tasks.

Six years ago, we transformed the Spanish Basic Language Program (SBLP) at UIC from a traditional one based on grammar to an innovative one based on tasks following the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) framework (Long, 2015), under my direction. In this evidence-based and theoretically-grounded communicative approach, learners learn Spanish by using it to interpret, interact and express meaningful and purposeful messages via real-world tasks (see below for examples.). One of the main components in the implementation of TBLT is to conduct a needs analysis prior to designing the curriculum to find out the motivation, needs and interests of the learners and, based on these, design tasks that would resemble what they would have to do with Spanish beyond the classroom (Long & Norris, 2000). Due to my particular circumstances, we were not able to conduct a full-fledged needs analysis. However, based on informal talks with students and on a 5-session workshop with the faculty teaching in the program in the AY 2017-18, I learned that Spanish students at UIC had functional goals to learn the language, such as being able to have conversations in Spanish with family, friends, and at work (this has been corroborated in the subsequent student exit surveys conducted in the last five years). Based on this information, I designed the curriculum which is guided by diverse final tasks (FT) that serve as goals and tools for assessment. However, after six years of its implementation, a program evaluation is in order and one major question is the extent to which the final tasks are interesting to learners and relevant to their goals.

This action research study aimed at investigating this major question and other related ones at a smaller scale with one section of Spanish 104 in the Fall 2023.

Spanish 104 is the last of the four courses (Spanish 101-104) of the SBLP, and it is required for LAS students who wish to complete the language requirement in Spanish as an additional language and are placed into the program.

The final tasks for Spanish 104 were:

  • FT1: Write a letter to the authorities to raise awareness of a social problem and give suggestions
  • FT2: Transmit a message
  • FT3: Tell a story about something that went wrong in a trip
  • FT4: Writing a scene of a movie/play of an argument between two people and act it out
  • FT5: Design and present an object that resolves an everyday problem
  • FT6: Prepare and give a presentation about a social movement
  • FT7: Write a blog about a mystery with no scientific explanation and state your position
  1. To what extent are students able to carry out the final tasks?
  2. To what extent do students use key linguistic resources to carry out their final tasks?
  3. What are the students’ perceptions on the role of the different course components in preparing them to carry out the final tasks?
  4. What are the students’ perceptions on the value of the final tasks?

 

The class had 15 students but only 11 participated in the study. A demographic survey revealed that most of the participants had between 2 and 4 years of Spanish in high school, a factor that made the group particularly strong. Students completed 7 final tasks but the first final task was not included in the study because of the students’ switching classes during the add/drop period. Survey answers for FT7 were not included as only one student answered them.

Finding RQ1

Learners were able to carry out the final tasks to a very good extent, based on the task evaluation criteria used (i.e., rubrics). The average score on task performance was 86.3/100 When asked about task difficulty, the great majority responded from “challenging but doable” to “little” on all tasks.

Finding RQ2

Key linguistic resources are frequent expressions, vocabulary, and grammatical features of Spanish that speakers commonly use if asked to perform these tasks. Students are exposed to these resources and encouraged to use them through the various pedagogic tasks in class and for homework. On average and for all tasks, learners used key linguistic resources to a good extent based on the component of the rubric that evaluated this specific criterion (86.5/100 or “Meets expectations – Strong”). Both FT4 (done collaboratively) and TF5, which required a “here and now” description were the ones with the highest scores (“Exceeds expectations” or 94.4/100, on average). FT3 which required a “there and then” description had the lowest score (“meets expectations minimal” or 78/100 on average). When asked about their perception of language growth from the beginning of the unit until after the final task completion, the great majority of the participants reported “To a great extent” or “To a good extent”. Language growth due to the preparation for FT2 and FT3, were perceived as highest by all students, and for all students except one, for FT6.

Finding RQ3

Learners perceived that aspects of the course specially designed to prepare them to carry out the tasks such as the pedagogic tasks done in class and the online conversations with partners from Latin America were the ones which helped them “to a great extent”. Other aspects of the course designed to help students with the final tasks such as the online language focused activities and the online quiz were perceived as helpful “to a good extent”. Aspects of the course not designed to help them with the final tasks (but with other goals of the course) such as videos and graded readers were perceived as less helpful, which was expected.

Finding RQ4

All six final tasks were perceived by the majority of the students as interesting to “a great extent (FT4, FT5, FT6) or to “a good extent” (FT2 and FT3). Two students perceived two of the tasks interesting “to little extent” (FT2, FT3). In terms of perceived value to their professional future/personal goals, all students perceived all tasks valuable “to a great extent” or “to a good extent”. One student reported one task, FT2, to be valuable “to no extent”.

The study was presented in a guest panel in the class GC 593: Scholarly Approaches to Teaching on October 25, 2023.

Preliminary findings were presented at the Speaker Series organized by the Learning Sciences Research Institute on April 26, 2024.

The study will be presented at the Congreso Internacional de ASELE (Asociación para la enseñanza del español como lengua extranjera -Association for the teaching of Spanish as a foreign language) on July 17th, 2024 at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. It will also be presented at the 2024 Improving University Teaching Conference on July 31st in Milwaukee, WI.

This action research project has enabled me to analyze in depth the role that learning/teaching and assessment with tasks have in Spanish learning in the SBLP. As the curriculum designer, I have a general and holistic view and understanding, but by doing research in my own classroom I could get a much closer understanding of the impact on students’ learning through tasks and their perspective. This project has allowed me to give a first step, and has served as a foundation that will contribute to a larger program evaluation due in the near future. I have met colleagues from other departments and learned from their projects thanks to the opportunities that the project provided me.

Long, M. (2015). Second Language Acquisition and Task-Based Language Teaching. Wiley.

Long, M. & Norris, J. (2000). Task-based teaching and assessment. In M. Byram (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language teaching (pp. 597–603). Routledge.