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said as the goal. As stated by Richards and Rodgers 2001 that a task is an activity or a goal that is carried out using language.
Nunan 2004 divides tasks into real-world or target tasks and pedagogic tasks. Target tasks are the tasks that refer to the use of language in the world
beyond the classroom and pedagogic tasks are those that occur in the classroom. Nunan 2004 also says that if the real-world tasks occur in the classroom, the
real-world tasks become pedagogic tasks. However, not all real-world tasks can become pedagogic tasks. The tasks should require communication through
language. Richards and Rodgers 2001 state that a task is a vehicle for applying the
principles of the Communicative Language Teaching approach. They also state that involving students in a task serves a better context for the activation of
learning processes than form-focused activities, and then it ultimately provides better opportunities for the language learning to take place. It is supported by
Nunan 2004 that a task involves communicative language use where the user’s
attention is focused on meaning rather than grammatical form. It does not mean that grammatical form is not important, but both grammatical form and meaning
are highly related.
b. Component of Task
Nunan 2004 proposes five components which are useful to make up a task. They are goals, input, procedures, learners and teachers’ roles, and setting.
The explanation of each component is given as follows.
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1 Goals Goals can be defined as the general intentions behind the learning task.
They are more specific than macro skills interpersonal, transactional, and aesthetic and more general than performance objectives. Goals can be stated or
be inferred from the task itself. One goal can represent one task, but in some cases, like simulation tasks, one goal can represent more than one task.
2 Input Input is defined as the spoken, written, and visual data provided by
teachers, text books or some other sources and from the other wide range of sources. Input also needs authenticity which refers to the use of spoken or written
materials for communicative purposes. However, it is not a matter if the authenticity of the input is combined with appropriate written materials. It can
serve optimal learning opportunities. 3 Procedures
Procedures are what the learners intend to do with the input to achieve the objective of the learning task. Since procedures relate to the input, the authentic
input can affect the authenticity of the procedures. It means that the procedures are authentic if the procedures outside the classroom can be applied in the
classroom. 4 Learner and Teacher Roles
Role is a part that is expected to play by the learners and the teachers in order to accomplish the learning tasks. Nunan 2004 says that teacher and learner
roles are like “two sides of a coin” p. 67. It means that if the learners are more
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active, the teacher should adjust hisher role with the learners’ activeness.
Richards and Rodgers 2001 also add that the learners have roles as group participants, monitors, and risk-takers or innovators and the teachers have roles as
selectors and consciousness raisers. 5 Setting
Setting refers to the classroom arrangement in which the tasks are being specified. Setting is divided into mode and environment. Mode refers to whether
the learners operate the task individually or in groups, while environment refers to where the learning actually takes place.
The relationship between a task and its components is presented below.
Figure 2.2 A Diagram of the Relationship Among Task and Its Components Nunan, 2004, p. 41
The diagram indicates that the goals, the input, the procedures, the teachers’ and learners’ roles, and the setting are the components to compose one
single task. In addition, Nunan 2004 states that the goals, input and the procedures are the minimum requirements of tasks supported by the teacher
s’ and learner
s’ roles and the setting.
c. Varieties of Task
