Rod Ellis is a Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize-winning British linguist. He is currently a research professor in the School of Education, at Curtin University in Perth, Australia. He is also a professor at Anaheim University, where he serves as the Vice president of academic affairs. Ellis is a visiting professor at Shanghai International Studies University as part of China’s Chang Jiang Scholars Program and an emeritus professor of the University of Auckland. He has also been elected as an honorary fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Education Ellis began his post-secondary education at Nottingham University where he obtained an undergraduate degree. He received a Master of Arts from the University of Leeds, a Master of Education from the University of Bristol, and a doctorate from the University of London.
Career After obtaining his undergraduate degree, Ellis moved to Spain where he taught at a Berlitz language school before returning to London to teach at an elementary school. In 1967, Ellis moved to Zambia where he taught for 3 years. Following his first masters degree, Ellis returned to Zambia as a teacher trainer. Ellis then went on to teach linguistics and TESOL at St. Mary's College in London. Ellis taught as a professor at Temple University in Japan until 1993 when he relocated to Temple University in Philadelphia. He taught here for 5 years before filling a professorship position at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where he established the University of Auckland's English Language Academy. He has held university positions in six countries and has also conducted numerous consultancies and seminars throughout the world.
Research During his 30 years of research, Ellis has authored and co-authored more than 40 distinct publications. His published work includes articles and books on second language acquisition, language teaching and teacher education. His latest book is Becoming and Being an Applied Linguist (John Benjamins). Other recent publications include Language Teaching Research and Language Pedagogy in 2012 (Wiley-Blackwell), Exploring Language Pedagogy and Second Language Acquisition Research in 2014 (with Natsuko Shintani) (Routledge) and Understanding Second Language Acquisition 2nd Edition in 2015 (Oxford University Press). He has also published several English language textbooks, including Impact Grammar (Pearson: Longman). He is a leading theorist of task-based language learning, and has published two books and more than a dozen articles on the subject. His research interests include: Second language acquisition, individual learner differences, form-focused instruction, teacher education, course design and methodology of language teaching.
Task-Based Language Teaching A leading theorist in his field of study, Ellis has focused much of his research on task-based language teaching (TBLT). In defining a task, Ellis draws off the definitions provided by others scholars (namely David Nunan and Graham Crookes) by focusing on the successful conveyance of language. Ellis defines the key features of a task as being:
A workplan: there is a set of teaching materials and activities which are designated for the learning process. A primary focus on meaning: there is a gap of communication or reason that must be filled through interaction. Students are given the freedom to use the language of their choosing rather than focusing on grammatical form. A real world process of language: the task can take the form of an interaction that is likely or less than likely to happen in the real world. The language process should exhibit real-world communication. One that involves any of the four languages skills (reading, writing, listening or speaking). One that engages cognitive processes: students must utilize cognitive processes through their engagement with the task, such as ordering, analyzing and selecting. A clearly defined communicative outcome: the goal of the activity includes a non-linguistic negotiation for meaning. In his explanation of a task, Ellis careful to illustrate its contrast with an activity, with the former being primarily meaning focused and the latter placing more emphasis on form. This distinction also affects the role of each participant, as a task requires students to act as language users. Alternatively, an activity requires the students to act as language learners.
10 Principles of Instructed Language Learning
Through his research, Ellis has worked to provide comprehensive guidance for language teachers. Ellis maintains that despite the theoretical contributions made by Stephen Krashen, Robert DeKeyser, Michael Long and Bill VanPatten to the field of second language acquisition, there is no agreement on form-focused instruction or corrective feedback. In 2004, he compiled a set of 10 principles of instructed language learning that have been considered and challenged by other SLA scholars. These principles include:
instruction must enlarge the student's use of formulaic expressions while maintaining a focus on rule-based competence. instruction must ensure meaning-focused input and output. instruction must ensure that students also focus on form. instruction must aim to create a balance between implicit and explicit knowledge of the language. Instruction must account for the student's built-in syllabus (noting the Natural approach to learning developed by Stephen Krashen). Instruction must include extensive L2 input. Instruction must include opportunities for output. Interaction with the language is the basis of proficiency-building. Instruction must consider the individual differences of learners. Assessment should include both free and controlled production. The basis for this list is grounded in various theoretical perspectives, though namely the computational model of L2 learning developed by James Lantolf. This model has its limitations according to Ellis, as it does not account for social relations and contexts. However, it provides an appropriate basis for establishing a set of principles for language instruction.
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