Flexibility Continuum: Where Do IT-Involved Language Tasks Fall?

Criteria of good tasks

Three features of Candlin's (1987) criteria of 'good' tasks are of great salience in planning IT-involved language tasks:

• Allow for flexible approaches to the tasks, offering different routes, media, modes of participation and procedures;
• Involve language use in the solving of the task;
• Promote a critical awareness about data and the process of language teaching.

Closed and restricted tasks

It is easy to come up with closed or restricted IT-involved language tasks. For instance, EFL teachers who teach general English at tertiary level may ask students to write an email about certain matter, or post their opinions or ideas toward a specific topic or issue on a designated web space. In doing so, students are given more freedom as to when and how they will do the tasks, and as a result, the task itself promotes information sharing and collaboration among students. A restricted task may require students to give a presentation on a specific topic by incorporating a range of multi-media tools. They may have choices of using slide shows (with images, audio or video files), posters, or self-directed role plays to facilitate their presentation.

Liberated and free tasks

It is really hard to have liberated or complete free language tasks in any situation. But IT-involved tasks are making it more possible than ever. A writing blog, for example can be regarded as a liberated language task in the sense that teachers ask students to write about the things they choose to write. As students write with a certain target of readers in mind, they are more motivated and more conscious of the writing process. It can be a great tool for continuous assessment or portfolio assessment. A complete free language task, however, is not meant to be assessed. While it promotes students' self-study motivation, it really needs greater devotion and commitment from students. It will be great if teachers can allow students to do a group project as a demonstration of what they have learned in one specific course. As long as students are freed from their worries of assessment, their minds will be freed, creating wonderful language miracles.

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