Exploratory Talk and Task-based Learning: A Case Study of a Student’s Learning Journey on an MA (Education) English Language Teaching Course

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article records and evaluates a student’s learning journey in two modules on an MA (Education) English Language Teaching (ELT) programme: an Oracy and ELT Pedagogy module and an Educational Technologies module. The notions of ‘exploratory talk’ and ‘task-based learning’ are explored using a single case study with material drawn from the student’s autobiography and diary, the spoken and written assignments, and the student and lecturers’ reflections on completion of the modules. We show, through the use of autobiography and critical reflection, what the student brings to the course and how this reflection allows him to use and transfer knowledge from one module to another. We analyse the ways in which the modules complement each other and how this influences the student’s learning and teaching practice. We then identify the key features of his learning in relation to ELT pedagogy.