3

List of symbols and abbreviations

CAF - Complexity Accuracy and Fluency

CLT –Communicative Language Teaching

CBT - Cognitive Based Tasks

CTA -Cognitive Task and Analysis

ELL-English Language Learning

ELT-English Language teaching

EFL-English as Foreign Language

ESL-English as Second Language

TG -Traditional Grammar
 4

Dedication

To my family, colleagues and friends I dedicate this paper. A special feeling of gratitude is
addressed to Eusebio Roberto Balata for his words of wisdom and encouragement to deal
with academic matters. I exclusively dedicate this paper to my father, who always struggled to
send me to school and always attentive to my failure and success in my academic journey
 5

Declaration

I hereby declare that this work results from my personal efforts. Further, it has never been
presented at any place for attainment of any degree. All sources have been clearly cited and
referred to in the bibliography.

The Author

__________________________________________________

Gildo Horacio Luis

 6

Acknowledgments

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all people who directly or indirectly supported me in
my studies. I thank my parents for the fact that they gave me life and looked after me over the
years.

I am very thankful to my best friend, Eusebio Roberto Balata, for moral and financial support all
through the course.

I acknowledge my classmates for their collaboration over the course. I thank my supervisor, Ma
Dionisio Mavume, for all the assistance in the production of both Research project and the
monograph.
 7

Abstract

This study investigates on the use of cognitive based tasks in enhancing students’ speaking skills
at Morrumbene Secondary School. Thus, the paper will be looking extensively into the task based
activities evaluating to what extent the way the proposed activities can help the cognitive process
wholly and equip the students to be real users of the English language boosting language
interests. Needless to say, English language is one of the most dominant languages that all
countries teach in their schools to allow each citizen to communicate with the rest of the world.
However, oral communication gives room to pronunciation confusion that has to do with
intonation; rhythm and stress, thus, leading to problems in students´ speaking skills. In this study
we analyzed and discussed the students’ speech at Morrumbene Secondary School to see what
could be the possible causes of the difficulties in speaking skills. Apart from that, we propose
possible solutions to help the students speak with no barriers. Undoubtedly, to discuss these
issues, it was very crucial to go to cognitive based tasks which are the indicated subject that can
explain features that are being transferred by the students from the first language learned
“Portuguese” to English Language. Finally, we also propose the implementation of some
strategies that can be used in the classroom environment to enable students communicate
fluently. This study was conducted because students revealed that they have difficulties in
speaking English language.
Key Words: cognitive based tasks, speaking skills.
 8

Introduction

Humans are the unique animals on earth that use the language to communicate. Being so, it is
very crucial for them to have at least the essential features that are needed to convey any
message. English is the most dominant language that is being taught as foreign languages in any
country. Yet, Cognitive based tasks are the most recommended classroom activities that Scholars
such as (Piaget, Hymes, Larsen, Vigosky, Krashen)and so many others have come to conclude in
their analysis. In this perspective, it has been understood that English students and teachers from
Morrumbene Secondary School do not employ these activities in their teaching and this makes
them lack the vocabulary and some other grammatical items indispensable in speaking coherent
message any one desires to utter.

Krashen(1998) believes that, the ultimate goal of the teaching and learning is to have the learners
think by themselves and communicate the ideas they have of the things, circumstances they
encounter and are submerged in day in and out; meaning to promote creativity in students, and
thus course books designers must bear in mind when they are designing material for teaching
based on cognitive skills. And, remind that the language is well learnt in cognitive basing tasks
than in grammar basing tasks.

This work is about the use of cognitive based tasks in enhancing students’ speaking skills at
Morrumbene Secondary School. Moreover, this work is organized in five chapters, whereby the
first brings an overview about the design of the study. In this chapter we have a detailed
description of the aim, objectives and critical questions that have guided us in gathering the
essential data for this work. Further, we have the second chapter which is the literature review. In
the literature review we discuss several concepts brought by different scholars regarding the
issues that our study has to do with. The following chapter presents the research methods used in
data gathering. Additionally, we have the third chapter which presents, analyzes and discusses
data. In this chapter we have presented our experience in relation to this matter and how the
students and teachers from Morrumbene Secondary Schoolfind Cognitive based tasks as to
provide an appropriate outlet to accommodate them in the classroom environment.
 9

Aim

The focus of this study is to evaluate grade 12 course books whether they contain cognitive based
tasks which ultimately can boast students' skills.

Objectives
1. To examine whether the grade 12 course- books contain cognitive based tasks.
2. To explore on pedagogical impact of the cognitive based tasks in English learning.
3. To examine whether the cognitive based tasks on grade 12 course books respond to cognitive
leaning principles to boast speaking.
Research questions
1. Do grade 12 course-books have cognitive based tasks?
2. What is the pedagogical impact of cognitive based tasks in English Language Learning?
3. Do grade 12 course books respond to the cognitive learning principles aiming to boast
speaking?

Hypotheses
 Maybe grade 12 course books contain limited number of cognitive based tasks.
 Probably cognitive based tasks enhance speaking skills.
 Perhaps cognitive based tasks on grade 12 course books respond to cognitive learning
principles to boast speaking.

Rationale

During these four (4) years of different experiences in pedagogical arena on the branch of English
language teaching, principally in secondary schools from 8 up to 12 grades we dealt strictly with
grade 12 during the whole period of probation where, we were obliged to visit constantly the
variants of course books from grade 12 in charge. It was always surprising when we saw learners
succeeding in their English written tests but they could hardly utter a simple correct sentence in
English. On the other hand, we get stroked by knowing that in the program’s objectives one of
 10

most envied skills is speaking, but still learners’ finish grade 12 without minimal skills in
speaking English. By and by, we managed to understand the reasons behind this phenomenon
whereby the learners can do well in their written tests but fail to speak. At first, it was confusing
for them to write very well the provincial tests. We thought ahead, and suspected the learners the
former question contradicted our hypothesis again. Then, we tried to see the course books tasks
by then, the answer seemed not to be the same then we decided to carry out research to enrich our
understanding of this problem.

Justification

Course books are a valuable tool in language teaching therefore anything important that can be
said about this will be of a great benefit to the teachers because they are the people who are
directly dealing with students almost every day in the classroom. Nevertheless, the learners as
well as the course designers in different ways, and the research will be useful to the Ministry of
Education in order to be aware on evaluate grade 12 course books basing on cognitive learning
principles to boast speaking in English classes.
 11

CHAPTER I:LITERATURE REVIEW

We start our discussion by presenting the background of our key concepts: cognitive theory;
cognitive perspective; assimilation, accommodation; equilibrium; Cognitive based tasks,
Grammar perspective; Advantages of cognitive perspective and advantages of grammar
perspective:

1.1 The cognitive theory

According to Piaget (1987),language is learned separetely from cognitive skills and operates
according to principles that differ from most learned behaviors and this assumption is
represented in analyses of unique language properties such as developmental language order,
grammar, knowledge of language structures, social and contextual influences on language useas
well as the dinstiction between language acquisition and language learning. (Spolsky,1985) yet,
states that language and linguistic process are often viewed as interacting with cognition but
maintening a separate identity that justifies investigation independent from cognitive process.

In accordance with Neisser (1967), cognitive theories get inside of the child and propose the
types of mental structures and thinking processes that may be taking place, they argue that the
child cannot move on learning a new language skill until he/she is intellectually ready for the
next stage.Hence, the dominant aspects of cognitive theory involve the interaction between
mental components and the information that is processed through this complex network, as
individuals learners they actively create cognitive structures which determine their concepts of
self and the environment. However, the specific process of learning is not the primary area of
concern in cognitive research; instead, learning is viewed as solely one of the many processes
comprised by the human mind (Anderson, 1980).
Mayer (1981) says, cognitive theorists examine these functions to discover more about human
learning and behavior, they often differ regarding emphasis. Some approaches deal with detailed
analyses of information-processing skills, while others focus on mental models or cognitive
growth and development.Thus, cognitive psychologists do not adhere to a particular set of rules
or methodologies in their research.
 12

Nevertheless, Piaget (1987) argued that the child has to have a certain psychological capacity or
cognitive ability before he/she can learn particular aspects of using language in order to make
them understand. He furthers his viewsin language acquisition within the context of the child's
broader intellectual development. A child becomes aware of a concept, such as relative size, and
only afterward they acquire the words and patterns to convey that concept.

Therefore, simple ideas are expressed earlier than more complex ones even if they are
grammatically more complicated. An example is that a child must have the mental ability to
appreciate that people or things still exist even when they are out of sight, if they cannot
appreciate this, then it would be difficult. Nevertheless, for a child to understand and respond
appropriately to questions such as: Where is your mother? The child must have the mental ability
to understand that mother still exists and she exists in some place away from home in order to
explain where she is.
As a sum up, we believe in the scholars above and we bring our opinion by saying that it is clear
that the language can be used even without mastering a great number of grammar issues.

1.3Cognitive view on second language acquisition

Case (1992) believes that, a cognitive theory sees second language leaning as a conscious and
reasoned thinking process, involving the deliberate use of learning strategies. The learning
strategies are special ways of processing information that enhance comprehension, learning or
retention of information. This explanation of language learning strongly contrasts with
behaviorist account of language learning, which sees language leaning as unconscious, automatic
process. Still up to now, language involves more than knowing its forms; however, it involves
knowing how it functions. It may be considered from different thought complementary point of
view as the study of the language itself and the human ability to acquire and use it in concrete
situations. These aspects must be born in minds of L2 teachers if they are to help learners in their
process of learning the language.
1.4 Cognitive perspective on learning process
Cognitive perspective on knowledge emphasizes understanding of concepts and theories in
different subject matter domains and general cognitive abilities, such as reasoning, planning,
 13

solving problems, and comprehending languagehere are three traditions of research that are
considered to be branches of the cognitive perspective such as Gestalt psychology, which
emphasized the structural nature of knowledge and the importance of insight in leaning. The
following is constructivism, originally developed by Piaget and is focused on characterizing the
cognitive growth of children, specially their growth in conceptual understanding (idem)

ToResnick (1989) words, the cognitive view of learning also defends that the learning
environments can be organized to foster students constructing understanding of concepts and
principles through problem solving and reasoning ability to issues and problems that require
greater extensions of their intuitive capabilities, accomplishing conceptual growth by refining and
extending their initial understandings.

Cognitive development refers to a mental process by which knowledge is acquired, stored, and
retrieved to solve problems.

Piaget (1952) postulates that, the process of intellectual and cognitive development is similar to a
biological act, which is adaptation to environmental demands. He brought four factors such as
squemata, accommodation, assimilation and equilibrium to support his thought.

1.5 Assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium

Piaget used the same concept of biological equilibrium disequilibrium states to explain the causes
of cognitive reorganization in response to new learning experiences. When the child encounters a
new learning environment or a new situation with which the pattern he or she is not familiar, a
state of disequilibrium is created within the child’s brain that must be internally managed. In
order to create a comfortable state of equilibrium in the mental schemata, the child has to modify
or restructure his or her schemata to account for the new situation.

Assimilation is a cognitive process of integrating new information with existing knowledge. He

goes ahead by saying when children face with new learning situations:they use their prior
knowledge to make the new experience understandable. Prior knowledge is subsequently
restructured to make a new experience fit in the newly formed schema. The change that occurs in
the mental structure of the child is referred to as accommodation by (Piaget 1952).
 14

Piaget advocates that, as learners assimilate input from the environment, the new information is
not simply stored in the mind like information in files in a filing cabinet. Rather new information
is integrated and interrelated with the knowledge structure that already exists in the mind of the
child.

We resume our thought by stating that Piaget is right when he says children start from the prior
knowledge learn the new one because when such meter is new they tend to use their background
and what they have learnt or seen in life to connect to the new reality.

Nevertheless, apart from that Piaget brought vary crucial factors involved in cognitive process
such as esquemata* meaning the mental structure which adapts to environmental pattern;
assimilation when there is a integration of new information with the existence of the old one;
accommodation regards the whole changes that occurs in the mental structures and equilibrium.
However, I think assimilation supported by Piaget can cause a loss of the other information in the
sense that the old information can get in shock with the new and the children may not succeed
control this situation.

On the other hand, Piaget (1952) argued that children must continually reconstruct their own
understanding of phenomena through active reflection on objects and events till they eventually
achieve an adult perspective.Bruner (1966) proposed a process named "scaffolding” where
initially the adolescent is dealing with concrete subjects and the mentor provides a great amount
of support.

Still, the perspective above reflects also the analogy that the brain works in the same way as a
computer Boden(1988) and Johnson-Laird(1988), a view that inspired, and was perpetuated by,
several decades of research and development in artificial intelligence. This computational view of
cognition is based on several assumptions: 1st there is some direct relationship, or “mapping,”
between internal representations and the world outside, and this mapping includes representations
that are analogous to objects and events in the real world, that is, mental images look to the
mind’s eye like the perceived phenomena from which they were first created Kosslyn(1985); 2 nd
there is both a physical and phenomenological separation between the mental and the physical
world, that is, perception of the world translates objects and events into representations that
mental operations can work on, and the altered representations are in turn translated into
 15

behaviors and their outcomes that are observable in the external world. 3rd This separation applies
to the timing as well as to the location of cognitive action. Clark (1997) calls the way that
traditional cognitive theory conceives of the interaction between learner and environment “catch
and toss.”

Information is “caught” from the environment, processed, and “tossed” back without
coordination with or sensitivity to the real dynamics of the interaction. (4) Internal
representations are idiosyncratic and only partially accurate.Cognitive theorists believe that
learning involves the integration of events into an active storage system comprised of
organizational structures termed schemata Baron & Byrne, (1987).Schemata serve a number of
functions in human cognition. In addition to storing:

“Information in long-term memory, they formulate frameworks into which new

information must fit in order to be understood. Furthermore, schemata regulate attention;
organize searches of the environment, and fill in the gaps during information
processing”(Bell-Gredler 1986:160).
Thus, the mind uses schemata to selectively organize and process all the information individuals
receive from the world Baron & Byrne, (1987).

1.6 Cognitive based tasks

According toKlein,(1993) Cognitive based tasks are defined as activities that demand a lot of
concentration from the user such as decision-making, problem-solving, attention and judgment.

Skehan(2003) defines cognitive tasks as the process of analyzing or testing what level of thought
process a person has reached or is using to solve a specific problem.  Added, the cognitive task
analyses methods, analyze and represent the cognitive activities, users utilize to perform certain
tasks. Some of the steps of a cognitive task analysis are: the mapping of the task, identifying the
critical decision points, clustering, linking, prioritizing, and characterizing the strategies.
 16

This approach is mainly concerned with the psychological processes learners engage in when
performing a task. Researchers adopting this approach have investigated three main areas:
analyses of how others resources are used during task completion; the influence of task
characteristics on performance; and the effect of different conditions under which tasks are
completed (Skehan, 2003).
As to others resources, there exist two conflicting theories regarding how human mind works
while performing a task. The first and the widely accepted approach is Skehan and Foster‟s
(2001) Limited Attentional Capacity Model which argues that language learners possess a limited
processing capacity, so that there exist trade-offs between the three aspects of language
production, namely complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF). That is, it is not possible to achieve
these aspects of performance simultaneously. As a consequence, language learners have to
prioritize which aspect to achieve.

1.7 Grammar perspective

Richards (2006) stated, “CLT can be understood as a set of principles about the goals of language
teaching, how learners learn a language, the kinds of classroom activities that best facilitate
learning, and the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom”. Additionally,
traditionalgrammar (TG)emphasizes learning technical vocabulary for nouns, verbs, adverbs, and
adjectives; learners are taught grammatical rules to master sentence patterns. In this approach, a
grammar rule is explicitly presented to students and followed by a practice exercise to apply the
rule. So, the learners are in control during the practice and have less fear of drawing an incorrect
conclusion related to how the target language is functioning.

As Ellis (1995); Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991) suggested, this type of language learning may
not have major effects on sequences of acquisition, but it has facilitative effects on both the rate
and the ultimate level of second language acquisition.Similarly, other studies on the effectiveness
of second language instruction (Norris & Ortega, 2000) concluded that this type of explicit
instruction (presenting the structure, describing and exemplifying it, and giving rules for its use)
results in important improvements in the learning of target structures. However, implicit
instruction (usually consisting of communicative exposure to the target form) alone can delay
students to achieve their learning goals.
 17

According to Ulrich (1994), grammatical rules enable learners to know and apply how such
sentence patterns should be put together, and the teaching of grammar should focus its attention
on the way grammatical items or sentence patterns are correctly used. In other words, teaching
grammar should encompass language structure or sentence patterns, meaning and use. In fact, in
traditional language teaching, what students learn and how they learn are determined with
reference to the classroom situation, rather than with reference to the learners’ real
communicative needs in real situations. As a result, learners often have difficulty using what they
have learned, beyond the classroom.

For this reason, Skehan (1996) maintains that the belief on a precise focus of a particular form
leads to learning, but it doesn’t mean that to practice drills or diagram sentences has little
relevance to use grammar effectively. Besides, this type of logical approach encourages the belief
that learning a language is simply a case of knowing rules. However, the traditional methodology
can be combined with a new communicative teaching methodology since the latter brings
benefits to the students’ learning process.

1.8 Advantages of cognitive perspective.

Mind-centered models emphasize that learning can also be explained in terms of the “data” one
receives about a particular phenomenon and how those data become internalized.Cognitive
approaches to learning are concerned with how everyday experiences are transformed or
processed into mental images or sounds and stored for later use. In other words, they are
concerned with how information is processed.

1.9 Disadvantages of cognitive perspective

Citing Brown (1994), the students and teachers who had not had a lot of experiences with CBT
can be a bit frightening at first. So, by introducing CBT both teachers and students will soon see
the benefits of these activities. The most important aspect to remember is the activities must be
set up carefully and the learners must have very clear instructions on how to accomplish the
activity.Therefore, after the activity starts, the teacher’s role is to monitor the students, offering
assistance when necessary. However, it can be a bit daunting at first to try and keep an eye on
several students at once
 18

1.10 Advantages of grammar perspective

Language teachers must see grammar teaching strategies as a way to develop techniques to teach
the grammar subjects by implementing communicative activities in the classroom. An another
important aspect of grammar teaching is that it helps learners discover the nature of language,
i.e., that language consists of predictable patterns that make what we say, read, hear and write
intelligible. The grammar based teaching helps students also to gain an understanding of
grammar concepts: concepts such as subordination and coordination; concepts of expressing time
relationships through the use of verb forms; concepts of nouns and adjectives, subjects and verbs,
clauses and phrases.

The old-fashioned notion that teaching grammar is a matter of teaching "rules" has given way to
a recognition that grammar is, as Pennington says, "nothing more or less than the organizing
principles of a linguistic or (broader) communicational system, without which, there is no
system". The teaching of grammar means teaching how English works through helping students
to understand grammar concepts (i.e., the organizing principles of a linguistic communicational
system) as well as particulars. Pennington (2002), calls for the field to bring grammar "back from
the margins and into the heart of language and the language teaching profession where it
belongs".

1.10.1 Disadvantages of grammar perspective

Teaching grammar requires more than making students memorize lists of words, noun phrases,
verbal phrases, prepositions, articles and other grammatical structures. It urges the
implementation of effective and useful teaching methodologies to guide, help, and induce
students to visualize grammar as an efficient tool for transmitting their ideas in a clear and
precise way. Grammar can be the vehicle to encourage a student’s social integration into foreign
cultures and peer interactions. However, this perspective requires the memorization of the
contents which is not good for any language learner since the students will be just memorizing
the rules instead of knowing them in overall.

1.11 Impact of cognitive based tasks

Language is learned separetely from cognitive skills and operates according to principles that
differ from most learned behaviors (Spolsky, 1985). Hence, this assumption is represented in
 19

analyses of unique language properties such as developmental language order, grammar,

knowledge of language structures, social and contextual influences on language use, and the
dinstiction between language acquisition and language learning.Nevertheless, Language and
linguistic process are often viewed as interacting with cognition but maintening a separate
identity that justifies investigation independent from cognitive process.
Cognitive theories get inside of the child and propose the types of mental structures and thinking
processes that may be taking place, they argue that the child cannot move on learning a new
language skill until he/she is intellectually ready for the next stage.
Shalin(2000). Agrees that,cognitive task is the extension of traditional task analysis techniques to
yield information about the knowledge, thought processes and goal structures that underlie
observable task performance. It captures information about both overt observable behavior and
the covert cognitive functions behind it to form an integrated whole.” Cognitive task analysis
(CTA) uses a variety of interview and observation strategies to capture a description of the
knowledge that experts use to perform complex tasks. Complex tasks are defined as those where
performance requires the integrated use of both controlled (conscious, conceptual) and automated
(unconscious, procedural or strategic) knowledge to perform tasks that often extend over many
hours or days (see van Merriënboer, Clark, & de Croock, 2002).

The following sections contain descriptions of common CTA methods and brief explanations of
each type as it is used during each stage of the general process.
1.12Effective ways of boosting students speaking skills

In foreign language learning there are several ways that have to be employed by the teachers to
boost students' speaking skills. However, the activities that can be employed are found in drama
activities.

1.12.1 Drama activities

Clark(2013) advocates that, drama instruction is a commanding teaching and learning tool with
profound positive effects on a student’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.
The benefits of regular theatre arts instruction spill over into all school subjects and everyday life.
Creative drama is sound pedagogy that reaches students of multiple intelligences and different
learning styles. It is a multi-sensory mode of learning that engages mind, body, senses, and
 20

emotions to create personal connections to the material that improve comprehension and
retention.
According to Webster (1996), drama is a composition in verse or prose intended to portray life or
character or to tell a story usually involving conflicts and emotions through action and dialogue
and typically designed for theatrical performance. As a result, a definition of drama must
necessarily consider the different ways and means in which theatre and drama are used for
educational purposes.
1.12.2 The role of Drama activities in the classroom

Within the classroom environment, drama activities have several roles some of which are listed
below in accordance with the following authors: Richard (2002);Harmer (2007); Katamba
(1998),and Clark (2013).

 Drama is, experiential learning and engages mind, body, voice, and emotions to interpret
and convey to others information and ideas;
 Each sense that is engaged in drama activities provides an opportunity to remember the
information and the experience. Memory can be triggered from what the students saw,
smelled, heard, touched, or tasted during the game even if it was pretend or simulated.
Each sensory input provides another opportunity to learn and retain the information;
 Drama activities promote a deepening of understanding and improved retention of the
information. Comprehension and retention greatly increase by using drama. For example,
a student acts out the vocabulary word “slippery” in front of the class. She now has a
much improved chance of remembering the word and what it means than if she had to
memorize it for a written test. Rote memorization generally diminishes within a few
weeks. Most people have firsthand experience with this process;
 Bodies are alive and moving, energy is created and released, and muscles are exercised
during drama games. All of these factors increase the students’ motivation and attention
for learning.
 Drama provides a rich experience that engages body, emotions, and senses in dynamic
learning.
 By acting out the material, students who have difficulty with reading and writing can
avoid struggling with pen and paper, and may expose a previously unnoticed intelligence
 21

or ability. The following groups typically struggle academically, but often shine and
demonstrate their knowledge and creativity in drama. They can gain much needed self-
esteem and improve literacy skills by playing drama games.

Richard (2002) argues that, drama is a kinesthetic teaching method that benefits those students
who learn best by doing. Research provides ample evidence to support the importance of
movement for learning. Not only does movement reach the kinesthetic learners in the group, it
refreshes and energizes all participants, as follows:

 Drama is an effective Total Physical Response method with second language learners or
learning disabled students.
 Drama develops imagination and story-telling, which contribute to more detail in creative
writing.
 Acting training develops the expressive use of the voice to convey emotion, inflection,
attitude and other vocal elements. The regular use of drama significantly improves read
aloud skills by reducing monotone delivery and promoting loud and clear speech habits.
Hymes (2002)
 Re-enacting classroom literature, even in simple improvised dramatizations, greatly
improves reading comprehension, story analysis, vocabulary development, and story
recall.
There are numerous research studies that consistently demonstrate these same benefits.
Research shows that young children learn primarily through play. They develop social skills,
physical coordination, and cognitive understanding of their environment through play. Many
educators argue for an increased allotment of time for children to play during the school day,
especially in pre-school, primary, and elementary grades. Hymes (2002).

1.12.3 Types of drama activities used in ELT

There are many types of drama activities. In this work, only the main activities used in English
language teaching will be discussed, and they are: mime, simulation, role play and improvisation
without a script.

1.12.4 Mime
 22

Dougill in (Davis, 1990) defines mime as a non-verbal representation of an idea or story through
gesture, bodily movement and expression. Mime emphasizes the paralinguistic features of
communication. It builds up the confidence of learners by encouraging them to get up and do
things in front of one another. Mime helps develop students' powers of imagination and
observation, and can also be quite simply a source of great enjoyment, with students tending to be
very enthusiastic about this aspect of drama (Paul Davis, 1990).

Mime is a great way of reinforcing memory by means of visual association, and recall of
language items is assisted whenever an associated image is present. Mime can help to fix
language in the minds of the students, and the following activity demonstrates how vocabulary
items can be revised and reinforced (DOUGILL, 1987).

1.12.5 Simulation

Daves(1990) believes that, a simulation activity is one where the learners discuss a problem (or
perhaps a series of related problems) within a defined setting. In simulation activities, the
students are either playing themselves or someone else. Simulation activities are also interaction
activities with various categories of dialogues. One category would be social formulas and
dialogues such as greetings, partings, introductions, compliments, and complaints. Likewise,
Simulation exercises can teach students how to function in a social situation with the appropriate
social niceties; for example, students could practice how to turn down a request for a date. Even
if the students do not use the accepted convention of making up an excuse like ''I'm sorry, but I'm
doing something else", it is important that they are aware of these conventions (ibid).

1.12.6 Role-Play

According to Davis role-play normally involves students playing imaginary people in an

imaginary situation. Byrne in (Davis 1990) describes some of the ways of providing a framework
for the practice of role-play. Open-ended dialogues provide a frame for starting the role-play with
students free to decide how to develop the dialogues further (Davis, 1990). Also, Scenarios
outline the sequence of events without giving any of the words used. The events could be
presented through a series of pictures; the main point is that they should be concerned with
realistic everyday situations, such as a scene in a restaurant or cafe. With this type of role
 23

playing, the students, working in groups, will have to decide when the appropriate moment is to
talk, whether or not to modify the scenario, whether to work out what they think was actually
said, and how they are going to do the role-play (ibid).

In addition, the students will need to decide about the characters-who they are exactly, what they
look like, where they are going and have a clear idea about the setting.

1.12.7 Improvisation without a script

Improvisation is really a play without a script. Due to this lack of script, there is no dependency
upon reading or memory skills, and different levels of language students should be able to take
part in it and enjoy it (Davis, 1990).

Thoughts, feelings, and the language arising from them are emphasized in improvisation, and
learners create people and relationships by acting out situations using speech and movement, but
without a preconceived plan (ibid).1

Theoretical Framework

The study is based on cognitive perspective of learning supported by Piaget, Case, Skehan,
Resnick, Baron& Byrne. Piaget says that in this perspective, children must continually
reconstruct their own understanding of phenomena through active reflection on objects and
events till they eventually achieve an adult perspective and established squemata to represent a
mental structure that adapts to environmental patterns. Apart from squemata he brought other
factors such assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium (Piaget, 1952).

Case (1992) postulates that, Cognitive perspective on knowledge emphasizes understanding of

concepts and theories in different subject matter domains and general cognitive abilities, such as
reasoning, planning, solving problems, and comprehending language. There are three traditions
of research that are considered to be branches of the cognitive perspective such as Gestalt
psychology, which emphasized the structural nature of knowledge and the importance of insight
in leaning. The following is constructivism, originally developed by Piaget and is focused on

Ellis, R. (1994). The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
1
 24

characterizing the cognitive growth of children, especially their growth in conceptual

understanding. The last tradition is symbolic information processing, was developed by
Chomsky, Simon, Newell and others and was focused on characterizing processes of language
understanding, reasoning, and problem solving (Case, 1992).

Ulrich (1994) advocates that, grammatical rules enable learners to know and apply how such
sentence patterns should be put together, and the teaching of grammar should focus its attention
on the way grammatical items or sentence patterns are correctly used. In other words, teaching
grammar should encompass language structure or sentence patterns, meaning and use.

Pennigton believes that without grammar there is no communication because it concerns to an

organization of the principles of a linguistic communicational system.
 25

CHAPTER II: RESEARCH METHODS AND DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES

Whenever conducting research, it is relevant to collect data in order to analyze them. Thus, for
the accomplishment of this research and because of its nature, we describe the methods used as
well as how they were implemented so as the reasons of choosing such methods.

MacDonald and Headlam (1986) say that qualitative research is concerned with a quality of
information, so it attempts to gain an understanding of the underlying reasons and motivations for
actions and establish how people interpret their experiences. For that very reason it can be said
that it is more concerned with providing the insights into the setting of a problem generating
ideas.

According to (Pandey 2015: 7) research is a systematic investigation to gain new knowledge of

the facts that already exist. Pandey also points out that the research has a purpose of discovering
the answers to questions through the application of scientific procedure. However, it goes beyond
to find out the truth which is hidden and has not been discovered yet.

2.1 Qualitative and Quantitative research

The current study was held into quantitative and qualitative research in order to fulfill the
objectives designed above. Grill posts that the quantitative research is to test predetermined
hypotheses and produce general results and using statistical methods and its results can confirm
the refute hypotheses whereas Ascasps (2012) states that qualitative method provides added
value in identifying and exploring intangible factors such as cultural expectations, gender roles,
ethnic and religious implications and individual feelings and it explores relationships and
perceptions held by affected persons and communities.

2.2 Data collection Techniques

In order to gather the information for this study there are three data collection techniques used:
observation, interview and questionnaire. According to Chaleuvong (2009) data collection
techniques allow us to systematically collect information about our objects of study (people,
objects, phenomena) and about setting in which they occur.
 26

2.3 Observation

Observation consists of observing the target people during a certain period of time to obtain more
detailed and accurate information. Spradley (1980) says that observation connects the researcher
to the most basic human experiences, discovering through participation how and ways of human
behavior in a particular context. Cohen (1989) believes that observational technique is a
technique by which individuals or an ''individual gather firsthand data in processes, programs, or
behavior. Still they provide evaluators with an opportunity to collect data in a wide range of
behavior to capture a great variety of interactions. The observation was done into grade 12 class
in English lesson in order to see how the matter is processed.

2.4 Questionnaire

It is a toll for collecting data about a particular issue of interest made up of list of questions and
including clear instructions for answers. In accordance with Chaleuvong (2009), questionnaire is
a data collection tool in which written questions are presented that are to be answered by the
respondents in written form. They usually help the researcher to know whether the students are
interested or not to a certain area.

2.5 Interview

Merriam (1998) defines interview as a qualitative method of research used to obtain the
interviewee’s perception and attitudes to the issues. Chaleuvong (2009) sees interview as a data
collection technique that involves oral questioning of respondents, either individually or as a
group. Within the interview, we find three types which are: structured, semi-structured and
unstructured interviews. However, the structured interview is the one which was used for
gathering information in this work. It consists of following a set of specific questions which were
worked through systematically and the responses are direct, this is to say that here in this type of
interview, we went to the field with a specific set of questions and the answers that we need are
given to us directly and we write them down.

2.6 Population and Sample

Here we present the population and sample of our study, starting with population then sample.
 27

2.6.1 Population

This was done in Morrumbene Secondary School; the population was made up by 106 teachers
and 5014students.

2.6.2 Sample

In order to collect data for our study we worked with 4 English teachers and 50 students from
Morrumbene Secondary School.On the other hand, as to present and analyze the data collected,
we will use pie charts and in the form of percentages since we will have interview, and give
questionnaires to both teachers and students. In addition, with the pie charts and the data in form
of percentages, it will enable us to show the number of teachers or students.

This brings new view to the current and the future authors of the English course books of
secondary schools which can overcome the problems of speaking/interaction that our students
face in English language.
 28

CHAPTER III: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, we are going to present and analyze data gathered from the teachers and students
by means of interview, questionnaires and observations. Nevertheless, we have collected data
from 4 English teachers and 50 students with the purpose of understanding if they are aware of
Cognitive based tasks in enhancing speaking skills within the classroom environment.

3.1Data Presentation and Analysis

In this subtopic within the chapter III, we make a full presentation of the data gathered the three
means chosen to help in the validity of our investigation. We start presenting an overview of the
data collected through means of observations, then, the following is the data collected through
means of students’ questionnaires, and finally, we present the finding gathered from teachers’
interviews.

3.1.1 Data collected through observation guide

In 95% of the lessons observed the students were all able to show their skills when it comes to
writing. However, what seemed to be of a great deal was speaking skills as we could properly
witness in some cases where the teachers in all the lessons that we observed ask their students to
interact among them, and they could not even make a sound, but, when they asked to write
something, they made it 50% successfully.We also observed that 55% of the lessons consisted of
some communicative activities and 100% of the students find it easier to handle it (speaking), just
because, at least they enjoyed the activities, though, they could not communicate at all lower
range speaking skills.

3.1.2 Data collected through students’ questionnaires

In section, we basically present the data gathered through students’ questionnaire in pies,
graphics and charts following the numbering order of the questions from 1 up to 4, and the
question should be encountered in appendix 2.
 29

1. At what age did you start learning English language?

 7 students of 7 to 10 years old corresponding 14%
 25 students of 10 to 15 years old corresponding 50%
 15 students of 15 to 20 years old corresponding 30%
 3 students of any other age corresponding 6%
The data are illustrating in the figure1:
Figure 1: Graphic of ages of first contact with English

100
14%
90

80
50%
70
60 30%
50

40 5%
30
20
10

0
7 to 10 10 to 15 15 to 20 any other age

2. Do you like English language?

 30 students corresponding 60% said “Yes”
 20 students corresponding 40% said “No”
The data are illustrating in the figure2:
 30

Figure 2: chart regarding English language - likes and dislikes

60% Yes

40%
40% No

60%

3. How do you judge your English language course book? Choose the answer from the table
below:
 30 students corresponding 60% said “Good”
 13 students corresponding 25% said “Reasonable”
 7 students corresponding 15% said “Bad”
The data are illustrates in the figure3:
 31

Figure 3: chart regarding the judgment grade 12 course books

Answers
25%

15%
Reasonable
25%

Good 60%
Bad 60%
15%

4. Do you think there is something that has to be changed in your course book? If yes, choose
from the following list what has to be changed:

Answer: in this question above, 50 students which make up 100% rate answered the question
whereby, they were give options to choose of what to be changed in the course book (activities,
contents and appearances). 100% of the students answered to change the activities.

3.1.3Data gathered from teachers’ interview

We conducted an interview to 4 teachers from Morrumbene Secondary Schoolwith the purpose of

comprehending if they are aware of the Cognitive Based Tasks and their impact in boosting
students’ speaking skills. So, it comprises 4 questions that are to be discussed in the next
subheading. The first question that we have given to the teachers is concerned with the purpose
that they have in teaching English language.

1. What is your main purpose of teaching English language?

Teacher 1. “The purpose of teaching English language in our country is to make the students
communicate”
 32

Teacher 2. “Taking as the start point the fact that we live in the country surrounded by English
speaking countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and some others,there is a need for us to
teach English language so that the citizens get to communicate.”

Teachers 3.“It’s widely known that among the neighbor countries there is always a need of
cooperation, so, since we are always receiving tourists in our county whose language is English,
we need to make the students speak this foreign language so that they get to communicate
everywhere they go.”

2. Do you think grade 12 course books contain cognitive based tasks?

Answer:Intended for this question, all the 4 teachers corresponding 100% rate said "yes".

2.1 Are the activities in grade 12 course books helpful for teaching speaking?

 1 teacher corresponding 25% said “No”

 teachers corresponding 75% said “Yes”

The data are illustrating in figure 4:

Figure 4: chart regarding the helpfulness of the activities in grade 12

Answers

No

25%

Yes
75%
 33

3. What is the pedagogical impact of cognitive based tasks in English language learning?

Answers:

Teacher 1.“Help the students to speak the English language correctly.”

Teacher 2. “It allows students to communicate, express their emotions, thoughts and feelings.”

Teacher 3.“Itget students socialization, critical thinking, problem solving and improve oral
communication skills.”

1. Do cognitive based tasks in grade 12 course books correspond to cognitive learning

principles to boost speaking skills?

 1 teacher corresponding 20% “Disagree”

 2 teachers corresponding 40% “Agree”

 2 teachers corresponding 40% “Strongly agree”

The data are illustrates in the figure 5:

Figure 5.Graphic corresponding the cognitive principals to boast speaking skills

100

90
20% Disagree
80

70

60
40% Agree
50

40

30
40% strongly agree
20

10

0
teachers teachers teachers
 34

3.2. Analysis and Discussion of the findings

Speaking is the most important and interesting component of any language. It represents the most
natural and common form of communication among humans. Therefore we can easily say that
people speak more than they write, so speaking is also probably the main goal for anyone
studying a foreign language. Despite so, it can be often obstructed by a series of factors, such as
shyness, lack of self-confidence, fear of other people’s judgment, laziness, and so forth.
Sometimes it is not simple to overcome such difficulties people may have with oral
communication in a foreign language and this can often lead to stress, discouragement and lack
of interest in learning.
For that very reason, we have come into a decision of going to the field and observe lessons so
that so we come out with real facts that are bound to be faced by the students. However, during
the observation period conducted at “Escola Secundaria 1 o de Maio”, an evident issue has been
detected when dealing with speaking activities. Students seemed to use their first language most
of the time, making little or no effort at all when practicing their speaking skills. Also, they felt
embarrassed and contained from speaking in front of their mates, showing annoyance, bother and
no collaboration. As a consequence, we have come into a real decision of the implementation of
cognitive based theory which will give to the students a real motivation during the learning
process.

3.2.1 Analysis and Discussion from students’ findings

1. At what age did you start learning English language?

From the question in 1 (one), we expected the students to tell us the age in which they started to
learn English language so that we could start by all means to comprehend the problems that they
might have regarding the oral communication.Nevertheless, the correspondents that have been
inquired were 50 students of grade 12. Indeed all the students answered this question and from
their answers we had been let to believe that they started learning English in an acceptable level
which is grade 6. On the other hand we have had those who have been to the kindergartens which
can be considered as exceptions because not all the students have been there due to several
reasons one of which is the lack of interest or impossibility of the conditions thus leading to
financial problems.
 35

2. Do you like English language?

From this question we wanted to know from the students if they like English language or not so
that we will get to know the reasons behind their problems. However, the table bellow illustrates
the answers that the correspondents gave.
The table above illustrates that 60% of our participants said yes when asked whether they like
English language or not. However, they did not just stop there, so, they went further saying
English is an interesting language for them and they like it very much since the world nowadays
depends upon it, taking a look in the social networks for example, it can be seen that the unique
language that links the whole world is just English because the main features that such networks
use are presented in English. Another reason that makes them like this language is the fact that
we live in Mozambique, a country surrounded by English speaking countries which are always
visiting us for different purposes such as tourism, business and some other needs. However, most
of these visitors do not speak Portuguese and we need English to establish a convergence among
us through English. On the other hand, 40% of the correspondents said that they do not English
language due to the fact that it is very complicated language especially when it comes to
comprehend what one says.

3.How do you find your English language course book? Choose the answer from the table below:

a) Good;

b) Bad;

c) Reasonable.

As the graph above illustrates, the answers given by our correspondents vary according to one’s
point of view. Therefore, 60% of our correspondents said that English language is good and they
went further saying that they like this language because it connects them to the whole world since
it is considered as the global language. Moreover, the students referred to its importance
nowadays in the social networks, if we take a look around, we will notice that the unique
language that the machines that we use is English and it could very exiting if all the people could
speak it. On the other hand we have 15% of the students who said that English language is bad.
 36

However, these students went further saying that it is bad because they struggle to comprehend it,
even when it comes to speaking, writing or reading they always face difficulties. Furthermore we
have 25% of the correspondents who said that for them, English is a reasonable language,
because they always try their best to comprehend it in all the situations.

1. Do you think there is something that has to be changed in your course book? If yes, choose
from the following list what has to be changed:
a) Activities
b) Content
c) Appearance

This answer given by our correspondents lead us to our literature review where we find Piaget
who postulates that these kinds of activities get inside the child’s mind and provide the mental
structures and thinking processes that can make them learn effectively a new language. On the
other hand, since these drama activities can be grouped in: role play where the students will be
acting out within the classroom environment with their classmates, playing an imaginary
situation. Furthermore, this technique is very important for students' cognitive and social
development because it encourages understanding of the social and personal dynamics involved
in reaching a conclusion. Hence, it is as important as the role playing itself. The teacher and
students should explore how and why each person reached his or her decision, and whether this
situation could have been approached in other ways (Joyce & Well 1986).

In general, the students focused on drama activities where we have mime, simulation, and so
many other techniques that boost up the students’ speaking skills. In fact if we take grade 12
course book we will notice that there is a lack of these activities while they are very crucial to
students when it comes to speaking skills as Richard (2002) says in our literature review.

Moreover, the correspondents said that the appearance of grade 12 course book does not have to
be changed because it is good. However, there is nothing we can say regarding this answer that
our correspondents, we believe they have made a good point on that.
 37

3.2.2.Analysis and discussion from teachers’ findings

1. What is your main purpose of teaching English language?

From this question we expected our respondents to tell us in details the purpose that they have in
teaching English language in our country. Adding, our correspondents were 4 and they all have
given different answers concerned to the given questions.

Some of them said that the purpose of teaching English language in our country is to make the
students communicate, taking as the start point the fact that we live in the country surrounded by
English speaking countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and some others, there is a need for
us to teach English language so that the citizens get to communicate. Moreover, it’s widely
known that among the neighbor countries there is always a need of cooperation, so, since we are
always receiving tourists in our county whose language is English we need to make the students
speak this foreign language so that they get to communicate everywhere they go.

2. Do you think grade 12 course books contain cognitive based tasks?

From this question we expected the correspondents to tell whether the book that they use have
cognitive based tasks or not. However, regarding this question the respondents gave the very
same answer which is “yes”. They all agree in saying that the book that is being used in grade 12
has cognitive based tasks that make all the students interact within the classroom
environment.Furthermore, they listed the cognitive based tasks that the course book has which
are drama activities, thus, Drama is, experiential learning and engages mind, body, voice, and
emotions to interpret and convey to others information and ideas Richard (2002).

Each sense that is engaged in drama activities provides an opportunity to remember the
information and the experience. Memory can be triggered from what the students saw, smelled,
heard, touched, or tasted during the game even if it was pretend or simulated. Each sensory input
provides another opportunity to learn and retain the information. Drama activities promote a
deepening of understanding and improved retention of the information. Comprehension and
retention greatly increase by using drama. For example, a student acts out the vocabulary word
“slippery” in front of the class. She now has a much-improved chance of remembering the word
 38

and what it means than if she had to memorize it for a written test. Rote memorization generally
diminishes within a few weeks. Most people have firsthand experience with this process.

2.1 Are the activities in grade 12 course books helpful for teaching speaking?

Has the graph above illustrates; the correspondents have given different answers regarding the
given question. 25% of the correspondents said that the grade 12 course books do not have
cognitive based tasks. On the other hand, we have 75% of the teachers who said that in fact the
grade 12 course books have cognitive based tasks because there are lot of activities that require
the students to work in groups so that they can interact thus practicing the language. Such
activities are role plays, dialogues, illustrations, and so many others. Such activities could
probably be used in any or all stages of the typical five-stage lesson to take the focus away from
the teacher and put it on the students to give them the maximum amount of talking time. Drama
could be particularly effective in stages two to five of a lesson, above all in the fifth stage. In
stage two-the Presentation Stage-a new item of language could be presented by means of a
dramatized dialogue on video or audio cassette, as silent reading, or as reading while listening to
the teacher or to an audio cassette. This can be done in a regular classroom setting before any sort
of area for acting has been created. In the third stage-the Practice Stagethe new vocabulary,
structures, or lexis to be learnt can be practiced by means of connecting exercises. The students
match new vocabulary items on the left-hand side of the page with their definitions on the right
hand side. New structures or lexis could be practiced through connecting or information-gap
exercises and True/False exercises could test listening comprehension.

Pair and group role-play exercises using picture or written cues could then follow from this, and
the aim is for the learners to infer a rule or pattern from these activities practiced under controlled
conditions. In the fourth or Further Practice Stage, new situations and different cues are
employed to put the recently learnt language items into a new context. Substitution tables asking
students to complete gaps with appropriate content and language offer the possibility of making
creative use of expressions the learners practiced in stage three. In addition, dialogues could be
role-played by groups consisting of different members.
 39

In the final fifth or Free Stage, the teacher usually tries to create conditions in which the new
language items can be used freely by the students experimenting with the language they have
learnt. Students may organize and act out a scenario in groups centered on the new language. If
the class had just been learning how to ask for information in stages one to four of the lesson, one
possible way of practicing this would be a role-play activity similar to the one suggested by
(Dougill 1987) the class is divided into two groups, A and B. Group A is sent outside the room,
where its members are told by the teacher that they are all strangers in town wanting to find out
where the bus station is, how long it takes to get there, and when the next bus to Maputo is.
Group B is then told that its members are in their home town waiting for a bus at a bus stop and
that they are hard of hearing. Group B spreads itself out around the class imagining it is waiting
for a bus. Before bringing in Group A, the teacher tells its members they are walking down a
street when they see someone waiting at a bus stop to whom their questions should be directed.
The two groups pair off and interact, and the teacher finally compares what happened in various
pairs. This activity, which should last about ten minutes, draws upon three of the elements of
drama, namely the presence of conflict, the imitation of reality, and the practice of improvisation.
Purpose and tension is also supplied by employing an objective the other participants do not
know about, "a common technique in drama exercises (and plays)".

3. What is the pedagogical impact of cognitive based tasks in English language learning?

The pedagogical impact of cognitive based tasks in English language learning is witnessed by
numerous scholars such as (Dougill, 1987; Livingstone, 1985; Maley and Duff, 1982; Phillips,
2003) who believe that they are entertaining, fun and useful to motivate students learning. Maley
and Duff (1982) think that “these activities draw on the natural ability of every person to imitate,
mimic and express him or herself through gesture”. They also stimulate imagination and memory,
by letting the pupil express his or her past experiences, contributing to creating an interesting and
meaningful environment within the class. In addition, they provide a variety of different functions
of language, since they reproduce real situations, so students are introduced into an authentic
communicative context.

Moreover, drama activities allow the student to show his or her own feelings, personality and
creativity, to be used in the language class. Dramatizing also allows students to express their
emotions, thoughts and feelings, which can vary depending on the communicative situation. A
 40

sentence, for instance, can take a lot of different meanings according to “how and where you say
it”.

Drama activities foster pupils’ socialization, critical thinking, problem solving and improve oral
communication skills, by exploring different language styles and registers (Aldavero, 2008).
Another benefit coming from dramatization is that shy students can “hide behind” (Phillips,
2003) another character still while using their personalities, so they are actively involved with
these kinds of activities, because this “personalization makes language more meaningful and
memorable than drilling or mechanical repetition can”. Students also lose their inhibitions,
because, by playing a role, they are able to “escape from their everyday identity” (Phillips, 2003).
By giving them a special role, students, especially the shyest ones, feel encouraged and tend to
abandon their embarrassment and shyness (Phillips, 2003).

From a more specific linguistic point of view, drama allows students to “look at language from a
different angle, to go behind the words to the actions they are most likely to perform in the
language, the patterns of behavior that lie behind all languages” (Maley and Duff, 1982), namely
the functions, such as “persuading, agreeing, accepting” (p.10). Students are encouraged to speak
and have the chance to communicate, even with limited language, by using non-verbal
communication, such as body language gestures and facial expressions (Phillips, 2003).

There are other important aspects that make drama activities a powerful tool to be used in a
language classroom, since they not only involve the language itself, but also body, mind,
emotions and social interaction (Phillips, 2003). Drama activities manage to “bridge the gap
between the carefully controlled classroom work and the complexity of language in the outside
world” (Dougill, 1987), since they include the intellectual and the rational sphere from the one
hand, and the emotional and the imaginative domain on the other hand. Desiatova (2009)
underlines how drama brings the real world into the classroom, since the aim is more than
linguistic it can be a cross-curricular experience, as students can use topics from other subjects
and also discover the culture of a foreign language.
For all these reasons, dramatizing enhances students’ motivation and creates a joyful and pleasant
environment, both for students and for the teacher. Moreover, young pupils find it familiar,
 41

because it is part of their lives from a very young age, when they used to play by acting out
stories and scenes (Phillips, 2003).

Another advantage of using dramatic techniques is the possibility of employing language in a

context. In fact, in the classroom students are often exposed to small bits of language, such as
individual words, sounds, rather than whole phrases or situations (Phillips, 2003). When
speaking, they are not always “asked to combine the different structures they are learning”
(Phillips, 2003), so drama leads students to make an effort, by employing a huge variety of
language structures and functions, in order to have a successful communication. Desiatova (2009)
confirms that students can learn a foreign language through drama by constantly interpreting
meaning from a context, using their previous knowledge in a creative way, interacting with each
other and working with imagination and fantasy.

4.Do cognitive based tasks in grade 12 course books correspond to cognitive learning principles
to boost speaking skills?

As the graph above illustrates, the correspondents gave different views when asked whether the
cognitive based tasks in grade 12 course books correspond to cognitive learning principles to
boost speaking skills. 20% said that they do not correspond; 40% said that in fact they correspond
because it’s all about making the students speak English language without any limitation within
the classroom environment. However, cognitive based tasks establish a strong connection
between student and motivation and they say that if drama is motivating and we believe it is – the
reason may be that it draws on the entire human resources of the class and that each technique, in
its own way, yields a different, unique, result every time it is practiced. Drama is unpredictable,
since nobody can say what is going to happen during those kinds of activities in advance, what
type of language will be produced, or which feelings implied (Maley and Duff, 1982). In
addition, language is only one component of drama; the rest is determined by imagination,
spontaneous creation and collaborative work.
 42

CONCLUSIONAND RECOMMENDATIONS

Conclusion

In fact, there are several problems that could be noticed from grade 12 course book regarding the
cognitive based tasks. Nevertheless, it could be noticed that there are no activities that enable
students to interact and use the target language within the classroom environment. However, all
could be seen is the fact that lots of activities have to do with “yes” or “no” questions which are
not that relevant when it comes to learning new language.

Taking into a consideration the fact that English is being taught as a second language in
Mozambique, students do not have too much time to practice, they just speak in the classroom
environment and when they go home, they do not speak this language.

The majority of students from secondary school rarely speak English because of the way their
course books are designed. They bring lots of grammatical contents, which do not allow an active
interaction during English classes. Cognitive perspective supports the interaction as tool to
develop creativity of a learner or learners. The students need to be involved in the learning
process for them to develop creativity that will allow them speak. However, to make it possible,
the course-books should include cognitive activities where by the students or learners can feel
involved in the learning process and then their motivation to participate will be boosted.

The grammatical perspective keeps learners engaged in learning grammar and developing writing
skills. In this view, students hardly reach the level of interaction.

Cognitive learning theories also hold a unique place in history because they explore the
captivating depths of the mind from the perspective of process. According to these theories, one's
ability to learn stems from the way one perceives, organizes, stores, and retrieves information.
Cognitive approaches can be applied to any discipline. Primary emphases involve problem-
solving and the facilitation of storage and retrieval of information for application. The ongoing
study and enhancement of these processes can only benefit our ability to learn more efficiently
and effectively.
 43

Recommendations

To teachers

Rearrange the topics being more creative in adapting topics which have been previously
programmed in course books to suit the reality of the students and their needs;

They have to try their best to select materials that have cognitive based tasks so that the students
can be motivated;

Assume professionally the problems the course book might be having but still work in it
searching the benefits that can be taken so far, and focusing on the urgent aspects the students has
to know.

To material designers:

They have to include drama activities so that the learning process can be very interesting to the
students;

Take into a consideration that the students in charge come from different realities, societies and
culture then the language to be used, the preliminary, has to be designed to suit a bit of all the
basic aspects the language requires.
 44

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 46

Appendices

UNISAVE - Maxixe
Faculdade de Letras e Ciências Sociais
Questions for Class Observation guide in Morrumbene Secondary School
This appendix present (4) questions that should be responded according to my observation
guide.

Appendix 1: Class Observation guide

My name is Gildo Horacio Luis; I am a student of UNISAVE-Maxixe. I am conducting this

research on: The impact of grade 12 Course-Books in students speaking skills.

Characteristics Oral Written

a. Does the grade 12 course book have cognitive based Yes No Yes No
tasks?

Characteristics Oral Written

b. Do such tasks provide an entertaining atmosphere within Yes No Yes No
the classroom environment?

Characteristics Oral Written

c. Do students participate using the target language during
the lesson while doing activities? Yes No Yes No

d. Does the grade 12 course book boost students′ speaking skills?

Characteristics Comments
 47

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––––––––––––––––
 48

Unisave - Maxixe
Faculdade de Letras e Ciências Sociais
Questionnaire for students

This appendix present (4) questions that should be responded according to the students
background as well as the experience acquired during the leaning process.

Appendix 2: Guide Questionnaire for students

My name is Gildo Horacio Luis; I am a student of UNISAVE-Maxixe. I am conducting this

research on: The impact of grade 12 Course-Books in students speaking skills.

1. At what age did you start learning English Language?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
________________________

2. Do you like English language? Why?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

3. How do you find your English language course book? Choose the answer from the table
below:

Participants Answers

Answer Good Bad Reasonable

Percentages

4. Do you think there is something that has to be changed in your course book? Choose from
the following list:
a) Activities
b) Content
c) Appearance
 49

UNISAVE - Maxixe
Faculdade de Letras e Ciências Sociais
Questions for teachers’ interview

This appendix present (4) questions that should be responded according to the teacher
background as well as the experience acquired during the teaching process.

Appendix 3: Guide questions for English teachers’ interview

My name is Gildo; I am a student of Unisave-Maxixe. I am conducting this research on: The

impact of grade 12 Course-Books in students speaking skills.

1.What is your main purpose for teaching English

language?––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––.

2. Do you think grade 12 coursebooks contain cognitive based tasks?-

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––.

2.1 Are the activities in grade 12 course books helpful for teaching speaking?
How?–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––.

3. What is the pedagogical impact of the cognitive based tasks in English language
learning?––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

4. Do cognitive based tasks on grade 12 course books respond to cognitive learning principles to
boast speaking?
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 50

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––––––––––.