Short summary
How can we transform textbook grammar into real-world tools? This study operationalizes the conference theme by connecting a junior high school classroom with an external ALT dispatch company. Students submitted tour proposal videos to the company, received authentic content-focused feedback, and then used "textbook grammar" (infinitives/reasons) to refine their plans for a final live negotiation task. The presenter demonstrates how linking external community resources with internal curriculum creates a genuine need for communication.
References
Long, M. H. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Wiley-Blackwell.
Keywords
Audience awareness
ALT
Task-based language teaching
Secondary school
Abstract
Traditional speaking tasks often lack a genuine "need" to communicate. This presentation reports on a TBLT cycle that connected a public junior high school classroom with an external ALT dispatch company, effectively operationalizing the theme "Building Language Competencies Through Community."
The project consisted of two phases. In Phase 1, 41 second-year students (CEFR A1) created video pitches for a "Sapporo Sightseeing Plan" and submitted them to the ALT company for a contest. The external judges (ALTs) provided content-focused feedback, selecting winners but also highlighting information gaps.
This feedback created a genuine communicative need (Long, 2015). The teacher utilized this timing to introduce textbook grammar—infinitives of purpose and causal conjunctions—not as rules to memorize, but as necessary tools to answer the ALTs' questions. In Phase 2, students applied these forms in a live, individual speaking test where they negotiated meaning using a map.
Analysis of student performance and feedback reveals that authentic connection with the external community transformed learners' audience awareness. High-performing students significantly increased their use of reason and purpose clauses to bridge the knowledge gap. Attendees will learn how to design tasks that turn textbook grammar into vital communicative resources through community linkage.
| Scheduling preference | Anytime on Saturday or Sunday |
|---|---|
| Title | Connecting Classrooms to Companies: Authenticity Through ALT Feedback |