A task is a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward. Thus, examples of tasks include painting a fence, dressing a child, tilling out a form, buying a pair of shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a library book, taking a driving test, typing a letter, weighing a patient, sorting letters, taking a hotel reservation, writing a cheque, tending a street destination and helping someone across a road. In other words, by 'task' is meant the hundred and one things people do in everyday life, at work, at play, and in between.
Clark, Scarino and Brownell (1994: 40) believe that a task has four main components: a purpose, a context, a process and a product.
a purpose: making sure the students have a reason for undertaking the task.
a context: this can be real, simulated or imaginary, and involves sociolinguistic issues such as the location, the participants and their relationship, the time, and other important factors.
a process: getting the students to use learning strategies such as problem solving,reasoning, inquiring, conceptualizing and communicating.
a product: there will be some form of outcome, either visible (a written plan, a play, a letter, etc. ) or invisible (enjoying a story, learning about another country, etc. ).