Focused communication tasks defined by the task-naturalness, task-utility and task-essentialness design criteria¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Focused communication tasks are communicative tasks "designed to elicit production of a specific target feature in the context of performing a communicative task", also called structure-based communication tasks. The article adopts Loschky and Bley-Vroman's three design criteria: task-naturalness, where the construction may arise naturally but the task can be performed without it; task-utility, where the structure makes the task easier; and task-essentialness, where the task cannot be successfully performed unless the structure is used. The study's fourth treatment lesson applied these criteria to elicit the third conditional without telling learners which structure to use.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Tasks must be constructed to meet the three requirements of task-naturalness, task-utility and task-essentialness, which the article reports was a strenuous and demanding design process

Constraints¶

If design procedures fail to elicit the target feature, methodological choices such as brief explicit instructions and clarification requests may be needed, which the article notes threatens the communicative nature of the task

Target Learners¶

advanced (B2+) foreign language learners of English

Learning Goals¶

implicit knowledge of specific grammatical structures, e.g. past unreal conditionals

Claims¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Broszkiewicz, A. (2011). The effect of focused communication tasks on instructed acquisition of English past counterfactual conditionals. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 1(3), 335-363. http://www.ssllt.amu.edu.pl

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`focused-communication-tasks-design-criteria`
`title`	`Focused communication tasks defined by the task-naturalness, task-utility and task-essentialness design criteria`
`description`	`Focused communication tasks are communicative tasks "designed to elicit production of a specific target feature in the context of performing a communicative task", also called structure-based communication tasks.`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-11-02`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `broszkiewicz-2011`

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