Implementation of an Uncontrolled, Real‐World Task: Vocabulary Learning Opportunities and Students’ Perceptions

Abstract

AbstractTask‐based research has shown the benefits of using tasks in various instructional contexts across different age groups. Although task‐based language teaching promotes language learning through authentic real‐world tasks, previous research has mainly used controlled pedagogic tasks. The current exploratory, intact‐classroom, multi‐case study examined the extent to which 13 Korean adolescent learners of English used and learned new English lexical items while carrying out an uncontrolled, real‐world, multimodal, video‐creation task. It further investigated students’ perceptions of performing such a task. Target items included 93 English lexical items that appeared in realia at a historical site in Korea. The video‐creation task was carried out over 5 days and included pretask planning, a field trip to the Korean historical site, and creation of a travel guide video for the site in a computer lab. Students’ interactions were recorded digitally. Results revealed that the degree of target‐item production varied by participant, but overall target lexical items were not greatly used by students. Students’ perceptions of the benefits of the uncontrolled, real‐world task seemed to relate to task‐as‐process, which was directly influenced by learner‐generated workplans. Pedagogical implications for designing and implementing real‐world tasks requiring task performance inside and outside of the classroom are discussed.