A Comparison of the Effectiveness of a Closed Task and an Open Task

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of a task, by comparing how a closed task and a more open task affect high school students' grammar acquisition. An experimental study was conducted with high school students of relatively low-level English proficiency. As a closed task, play-acting was chosen. As an open task, a skeleton dialogue and interview were chosen. In the play-acting task, students memorized a model dialogue to have a conversation. In the skeleton dialogue task, students filled in blanks with their own words and continued free conversation, while in the interview task, they were required to interview their classmates and have free conversation. The results showed that both types of task were effective for grammar acquisition, and it was revealed that the closed task was more effective than the open tasks. However, students were more communicative in the open tasks. Potential explanations of the findings were also discussed.