Hello everyone, my name is Hao, Academic Cooperative Researcher. I would like to introduce a paper that we read in this English literature seminar and my impressions of it.

Summary
Constructivists advocate that knowledge is not something that can be simply transferred from one person to another. In recent years, a number of instructional approaches have emerged that target problem solving. Researches on task-based, problem-based, and project-based activities shift the focus from “form” such as grammar and vocabulary correctness, to “task” meaning being primary. However, previous studies have not been criticized because their learning tasks are not real and are limited to the inner-school, such as “finding the right title for the original text” or “putting pictures together”

Authentic learning is a learning activity based on the idea that there should be a close connection between the classroom activity and the outside world, which helps them to deeply understand what to learn.

Therefore, this study aims at providing teachers with principles for designing tasks to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world by investigating the impact of authentic activities on foreign language learning.

Method
A design-based research (DBR) study was conducted, with four phases (Reeves, 2006) forming a single cycle. The cycle involves investigating the problem, developing the learning environment, improving it, reflecting on the analysis of the data and summarizing the design principles. This cycle takes place twice; it takes six weeks per cycle.

Subject
10 students studying English at the preparatory school of the University of English Language Education in North Cyprus. They are aiming for the B1-Threshold level of language proficiency in the CEFR.

Learning Environment
Learners were required to conduct research individually or in pairs, collect data about socially significant issues, write an article for publication in a newsletter, and present their findings.
The structure of posters, videos, and articles are analyzed and support tools such as Moodle (asynchronous chat, platform) are utilized.

Result
The program was designed to enable students to improve their writing and speaking skills.

The online discussion learning approach gave students the opportunity to use a variety of language constructs. Through online discussions, students were able to gain a deeper understanding of what they were learning. Feedback given by the teacher during the online discussions helped focus the students’ attention. However, students often ignored the teacher’s feedback. Analysis of the participating students’ writing indicates that the learning environment helped the learners develop their writing skills (content, vocabulary, and grammar) to the required level of B1.

The students used their own PowerPoint presentations. The students reported that they were able to present the content written in the PowerPoint in the target language without any hesitation during the presentation.

Based on the findings of this study and the literature review, 11 design principles are derived from the first design principle of authentic activities in EFL.

– Must have real-world relevance

– Requires students to define the tasks and subtasks necessary to complete the activity in a sustainable manner

– Provides opportunities to examine tasks from different perspectives using a variety of resources

– Provides opportunities for collaboration

– Provides opportunities for reflection

– Go beyond domain- and skill-specific outcomes

– Integrates seamlessly with assessment

– Produce sophisticated work that is valuable in its own right, not as a preparation for something else

– Open-ended, allowing for a diversity of competing solutions and outcomes

– Facilitates both learning and communication

– Provides a motivational element

My impressions about the paper

I recently conducted a literature review of papers on authentic theory and language teaching. I chose this practice-based paper because I am also engaged in a practice-based study of instructional design (ID). As the authors themselves write in their limitations about this study, the small size of the practice and the fact that the design is only at the B1 level, I believe that the generality of the 11 characteristics derived in this article needs further discussion. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to “investigate the impact of authentic activities on foreign language learning and to provide teachers with guiding principles for designing tasks that go beyond exercises to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world.” So what classroom tasks are appropriate? How should these tasks be chosen? These questions remain unanswered even after reading this paper. Although I had my doubts, it also gave me new perspectives for writing my own paper. For example, there are many things to learn, such as the theory of ID can be used to design tasks to be used in the classroom and thus ensure the quality of the tasks, which I will use in my future doctoral dissertation writing.