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K-12 Content Teachers Designing Language Tasks: A Follow-Up to Erlam, 2016

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Title: K-12 Content Teachers Designing Language Tasks: A Follow-Up to Erlam, 2016
Language: English
Authors: Magda Tigchelaar (ORCID 0000-0001-7528-4958), Virginia David, Amira Eldemerdash, Selena Protacio, Susan Piazza
Source: Language Teaching Research. 2026 30(1):220-237.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 18
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) (ED)
Contract Number: T365Z1700217
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Elementary Education
Secondary Education
Junior High Schools
Middle Schools
High Schools
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, English (Second Language), Methods Courses, Inservice Teacher Education, Second Language Instruction, Task Analysis, Middle School Teachers, High School Teachers, Elementary School Teachers
DOI: 10.1177/13621688221148449
ISSN: 1362-1688
1477-0954
Abstract: This study, a follow-up to the research reported by Erlam, investigated K-12 content teachers' ability to design tasks for content instruction in U.S. schools. Thirty-nine K-12 teachers who were enrolled in an English as a second language (ESL) teaching methods course participated in the study and each designed two language learning tasks. Two researchers rated the tasks following Ellis and Shintani's four task criteria, as in Erlam. The study addressed the questions: (1) How successful are content teachers in designing tasks that satisfy Ellis and Shintani's criteria? (2) Which of the criteria do teachers find easiest and most difficult to satisfy? and (3) Do the teachers improve in meeting the criteria in a second round of task designs? Ninety-two percent and 95% of the tasks satisfied three of the four criteria in task designs 1 and 2, respectively. The teachers excelled most at creating contexts for meaningful communication (92%) and including an information gap (92%) in their first tasks. Incorporating a clearly defined outcome was the most difficult criterion (66%) for teachers to achieve. There was no significant improvement from Task 1 to Task 2 in successfully incorporating the four criteria. The content teachers incorporated more of the task features than the foreign language teachers in Erlam. Over 90% met the majority of the criteria, compared to 82% in Erlam's study. Another important difference was that participants in Erlam's study found the easiest criteria to address was including an outcome, and they struggled most to allow learners to use their own linguistic resources and incorporate a gap. The content teachers in the follow-up study struggled most to include an outcome, but consistently incorporated communication gaps and grew in their ability to ensure that learners use their own linguistic resources. This suggests that language teachers may focus more readily on language forms, while content teachers focus more on meaningful content than on language, providing support for learners to focus on meaning.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1494226
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: K-12 Content Teachers Designing Language Tasks: A Follow-Up to Erlam, 2016
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Magda+Tigchelaar%22">Magda Tigchelaar</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7528-4958">0000-0001-7528-4958</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Virginia+David%22">Virginia David</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amira+Eldemerdash%22">Amira Eldemerdash</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Selena+Protacio%22">Selena Protacio</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Susan+Piazza%22">Susan Piazza</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Language+Teaching+Research%22"><i>Language Teaching Research</i></searchLink>. 2026 30(1):220-237.
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  Data: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Secondary+Education%22">Elementary Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Junior+High+Schools%22">Junior High Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Middle+Schools%22">Middle Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1177/13621688221148449
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  Data: This study, a follow-up to the research reported by Erlam, investigated K-12 content teachers' ability to design tasks for content instruction in U.S. schools. Thirty-nine K-12 teachers who were enrolled in an English as a second language (ESL) teaching methods course participated in the study and each designed two language learning tasks. Two researchers rated the tasks following Ellis and Shintani's four task criteria, as in Erlam. The study addressed the questions: (1) How successful are content teachers in designing tasks that satisfy Ellis and Shintani's criteria? (2) Which of the criteria do teachers find easiest and most difficult to satisfy? and (3) Do the teachers improve in meeting the criteria in a second round of task designs? Ninety-two percent and 95% of the tasks satisfied three of the four criteria in task designs 1 and 2, respectively. The teachers excelled most at creating contexts for meaningful communication (92%) and including an information gap (92%) in their first tasks. Incorporating a clearly defined outcome was the most difficult criterion (66%) for teachers to achieve. There was no significant improvement from Task 1 to Task 2 in successfully incorporating the four criteria. The content teachers incorporated more of the task features than the foreign language teachers in Erlam. Over 90% met the majority of the criteria, compared to 82% in Erlam's study. Another important difference was that participants in Erlam's study found the easiest criteria to address was including an outcome, and they struggled most to allow learners to use their own linguistic resources and incorporate a gap. The content teachers in the follow-up study struggled most to include an outcome, but consistently incorporated communication gaps and grew in their ability to ensure that learners use their own linguistic resources. This suggests that language teachers may focus more readily on language forms, while content teachers focus more on meaningful content than on language, providing support for learners to focus on meaning.
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