2007: 12 states that task is a range of work-plans which have the overall purpose of facilitating language learning.
Furthermore, according to Richards and Renandya 2002: 94, tasks are activities that learners carry out using their available language recourses and
leading to real outcomes. To sum up, task can be defined as the piece of activity that learners do
in order to facilitate the language learning.
b. The Components of Task
Nunan 2004: 41 presents the diagram of task components as follows.
As presented on the diagram above, it can be seen that there are six components of task namely goals, input, procedures, teacher and learner
roles, and settings. 1
Goals Goals refer to general intentions behind any learning task that provide
a link between the task and the broader curriculum. Goals may relate to a range of general outcomes such as communicative, affective, or cognitive;
or may directly describe teacher or learner behaviour. TASK
Goals
Input
Procedures Teachers
Role Learner
Role Settings
Figure 2.3: The Components of Task
In addition, Nunan 2004: 44 states that the most useful goal statements are those that relate to the students not the teacher, and those
that are couched in terms of observable performance. 2
Input Input refers to the spoken, written, and visual data that the learners
work with in the course of completing task Nunan, 2004: 47. Teachers, textbooks, or some other sources can provide the data for the input.
Related to the teaching and learning of English in the classroom, teachers should provide the input which is authentic and appropriate with the
proficiency level and interest of the students. 3
Procedures Nunan 2004: 52 defines procedures as what learners will actually do
with the input that forms the point of departure for the learning task. 4
Teacher and learner roles Nunan 2004: 64 defines role as the part that learners and teachers are
expected to play in carrying out learning tasks as well as the social and interpersonal relationship between the participants. Breen and Candlin
1980, in Nunan, 2004: 67 state that there are three main roles of the teacher in the communicative classroom: a act as the facilitator, b act as
the participant, and c act as the observer and learner. Besides, Nunan 2004: 65 states the learner roles are as follows.
a Learners are passive recipient of outside stimuli.
