Task Based Learning Project - Telling time in Mandarin Chinese

1. Background of the Target Student

This class is a combination class with second and third grade students. There are thirteen

second grade students and eleven third grade students. The language level of all students is

novice low. However, the third grade students still have higher language skill than the second

grade student since they have learned more vocabularies and sentences. Therefore, third students

have more ability and confidence on communication and reading. Telling time and daily routine

is a new content for all second grade and third grade students. All students in this class are

enthusiastic about Chinese class and eager to learn.

2. Designing the Task

a. Clarify your purpose:

The purpose of this task is enhancing student oral Chinese on telling time. There are two

objectives for students in this project:

 I can tell time in Chinese.

 I can make a poster and introduce my daily life in Chinese.

Words: 点, 分. Words of daily routine.

Sentences: 我____点____分____。(我八点十分去学校。I go to school at 8:10.)

b. Define your construct:

First class: review numbers and 点, 分. Introduce the story to student.

1. Review number: 1-100.

 2. Time: 点 分

3. Guide practice: Listen and write down time on white board.

4. Story: Listen to the story.

5. Formative Assessment: answer time in Chinese.

Second class: review telling time in Chinese, new content about daily schedule.

1. Review number: 1-100.

2. Time and the story

3. Guide practice: read the story with teacher.

4. Independent practice: read the story to your neighbors and then whole class.

5. New word: words of daily routine. Apply words into sentence.

6. Formative Assessment: ask and answer time in Chinese.

Third class: telling daily schedule in Chinese, start design poster of schedule in school.

1. Review number: 1-100 and time.

2. Main sentence: daily work with the sentence.

3. Guide practice: read and ask teacher’s schedule.

4. Independent practice: design their own schedules in Chinese.

Forth class: finish the poster and present to friends.

1. Review number: 1-100 and time.

2. Review main sentence: daily work with the sentence.

3. Doing project: finish their own schedules in Chinese.

 4. Read and communicate with friends.

5. Show to the whole class.

c. Select your target words:

Words: 点 分

Sentences: 我____点____分____。(我八点十分去学校。I go to school at 8:10.)

3. Process of the Project

There are three steps in this project: reviewing number, telling time in Chinese, telling

schedule in Chinese. All steps are finished in four lessons. From the result of assessment on

number, the third grade students can count more fluently with better pronunciation. None of

them need help on counting from one to one hundred. Comparing with third grade students,

second grade students in this class need more help on counting. There are four students can count

fluently like third grade students, five students need longer time and two students need help on

counting number. When I moved from reviewing number to telling time, this gap became more

apparently. I could see those students who had difficulties on numbers felt struggle on telling

times. Even they understand 点 and 分, they still couldn’t understand or say the time because

they need more time or don’t know how to say the number in the time. In the same time, their

weakness of number influenced reading. I videoed two students on reading book. After

reviewing numbers in lesson one and two, these student developed their speed on giving reaction

of listening time. However, they are still one step behind most students because they couldn’t say

a complete sentence of daily routine while most students can say it. Also, most students can ask

and answer time in Chinese. (你几点吃汉堡包？我九点吃汉堡包。) The two students who

was struggling on number can answer but cannot ask. In the third lesson, I move quickly from

daily routine work to the sentence instead of pre-teaching the vocabularies. Students still

obtained most words after they have practiced sentences in communication with others. When I

moved from the third lesson to the forth lesson, students have did many work on number. I

noticed the big development of the two students who felt struggle on number. They can say the

time and do presentation with telling time and routine in Chinese. In the end of the class, 90%

percent of the students can do presentation independently and 80% percent students can ask and

answer time in Chinese with the sentence: 你几点上学？我七点五十分上学。Without learning

words and grammar, students can meet objectives.

There is a problem in this task. Many students wants to put more daily routine depends on

their real life. However, there don’t know the vocabularies because the limit words in

curriculum. Therefore, some students cannot make an authentic daily routine based on their real

life.

4. Summaries Performance and Effect

In the task, scaffolding the knowledge and language is beneficial for most students. They can

build their knowledge and language by themselves. The gap between those student who can

count fluently and those who need help on number prove scaffolding is essential. If student

cannot count, they cannot tell time based on numbers. However, reviewing and keeping

repetition in the task can strengthen students’ language skills. The two students who couldn’t

counting improve their skills on numbers. They can count as fluent as third grade students

without any help in the end of the forth lesson.

 In the same time, students make a big development during the task based learning without

learning words and grammar. During the task based learning project, students are not taught the

grammar, they even didn’t pay a long time on new vocabularies. However, they absorbed the

language by listening and speaking in the communicate process. The input and output process

are exist in the whole class, especially when they talk in Chinese with each other.

5. Reflections on the Task Based Learning Project

The task-supported language teaching is cooperated with traditional language class. It provide

practice more practice for language on both new and old content, for both words and sentences

structures. It shows the importance of communication rather than words and grammars.

Meanwhile, students are encouraged in the learning process because they want to show their own

daily routine to others. In this way, they learned telling time and schedule purposely. On the

other hand, teacher need to think and prepare more for the details of the task. If students cannot

meet the linguistic demand of the task, they are losing their enthusiastic and purpose of the task.

Meanwhile, if students are struggled with the language, they also loss their confidence and

interest. Therefore, teacher have to prepare more completely before give the task to students.