Task Types in EFL Listening Class: Realizing Learners’ Prospects

Abstract

Selection of task types in learning listening certainly affects the quality of
learners’ necessities. The seven types of tasks offered by Willis (2007) are often
not simply applicable because different class characteristics always present
different burdens in determining the right types of task. The goal of this study
is to describe learners’ prospect of task types in teaching listening skill at EFL
class for university students. A listening class consisting of thirty students which
had experienced different task types in four years was chosen. To achieve the
objective, the researchers collected the data by observing the teaching learning
process and interviewing both the teacher and the learners. The result of data
analysis revealed that there were four types of task implemented in the listening
class, those were; listing task, sharing personal experience task, comparing
task and creative task. The class used listing task by asking the learners to
mention the information they have got from the short video. Comparing task
was implemented by asking the learners to match the information between
the video and what they have got. In sharing personal task, the class asked
the learners about their personal experience that was related to the discussed
material. The last was creative task in that learners were to find their own video
about the topic they have decided and asked the learners to present their video
in front of class by telling the audience about the content of the video. In short,
the final end of employing task types is on helping learners grasp their learning
prospects so in designing the task types the class has to stick to the objective of
the task, the materials and level of difficulty and the learners’ capability.