Task - Based

Language Teaching
Current communicative
approaches

BACKGROUND
Task-Based Language teaching refers to an approach based on the use of
tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching.
Some of its proponents present it as logical development of Communicative
Language Teaching.
Principles:
Activities that involve real communication are essential for language
learning.
Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks
promote learning.
Language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning process.

An interest in tasks as potential building blocks of second language

instruction emerged when researchers turned to tasks as SLA research tools
in the mid-1980s.
SLA research has focused on the strategies and cognitive processes
employed by second language learners.
Reassessment of the role of formal grammar instruction.
Task work provides better context for the activation of learning process.
Not just comprehensible input but tasks that require students to negotiate
meaning and engage in naturalistic and meaningful communication.

The key assumptions of task-based instruction are summarized by Feez as:

The focus is on process rather than product.
Learners learn language by interacting communicatively and purposefully
while engaged in the activities and tasks.
Activities and tasks can be either:
those that learners might need to achieve in real life;
those that have a pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom.
The difficulty of task depends on a range of factors including the previous
experience of the learner, the complexity of the task the language required to
undertake the task, and the degree of support available.

TASK
Task-Based Language Teaching proposes the notion of task as a
central unit of planning and teaching.
Nunan's definition: The communicative task is a piece of classroom
work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating,
producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is
principally focused on meaning rather than form.

APPROACH
Theory of Language
TBLT is motivated primarily by a theory of learning rather than a theory of
language.
Language is primarily a means of making meaning.
Multiple models of language inform TBI.
Structural (Skehan)
Functional (Berwick)

Interactional (Pica)

Lexical units are central in language use and language learning.

Vocabulary plays a more central role in second language learning than
was traditionally assumed.
Conversation is the central focus of language and the keystone of
language acquisition.

Theory of Learning
Some learning principles in TBLT theory are:
Tasks provide both the input and output processing necessary for
language acquisition.
TBLT proposes that the task is the pivot point for stimulation of input
- output practice, negotiation of meaning, and transactionally focused
conversation.
Learning difficulty can be negotiated and fine - tuned for particular
pedagogical purposes.
Specific tasks can be designed to facilitate the use and learning of
particular aspects of language.
Task activity and achievement are motivational.
Task are also said to improve learner motivation and therefore
promote learning.

DESIGN
TBL approach designs the syllabus
needs
Selection of tasks
learners.

learners

Real world needs of

e.g: booking a room in a hotel

conventional syllabus
outcomes.

content and learning

TYPES OF TASKS
NUNAN suggests two types of tasks:
Real- world tasks
Pedagogical tasks
PICA, KANAGY and FALODUM (1993) classify tasks according to the
type of interaction:
1)Jigsaw tasks
2)Information-gap tasks
3)problem-solving tasks
4)Decision-making tasks

LEARNER ROLES
1)Group participant
2) Monitor
3) Risk- taker and innovator

TEACHER ROLES
1) Selector and sequencer of tasks
2) Preparing learners for tasks
3) Consciousness- raising

ROLE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

1) Pedagogical materials
2) Realia
Newspaper
television
internet

authentic material.

PROCEDURE
Richards and Willis propose ways in which task activities can be
designed. The example from Richards comes from a language program
built around tasks for Japanese college students studying in the United
States. Tasks were focused on interactions the students needed to be
able to carry out in English, including:
- Basic survival transactions
-Face to face informal conversations
-Telephone conversations
-Interviews on the campus
-Service encounters

A set of role-play activities was then developed focusing on these situations. The
format includes pretask activities, the task itself, and posttask activities.
-Pretask activities
These activities are to introduce the topic and the situation of the role-play. These
include: brainstorming and problem-solving tasks, in order to generate vocabulary.
Learners can also read a dialogue on a related topic since it models the kind of
transaction and language that they will later use.
-Task activity
Learners perform a role-play.
-Posttask activities
Learners listen to a recording of native speakers performing the same role-play and
compare differences.

Willis recommends a similar sequence of activities:

-Pretask activities
The teacher helps the students understand the topic and objectives of the task,
brainstorming, miming. using pictures, etc. Students may play topic-based games,
hear a recording of a similar task being done, or read a part of the text, if the task
is based in one.
-Task
Students express themselves in pairs or groups after reading a text or hearing a
recording. The teacher monitors and encourages communication.
-Planning
Planning prepares for the next stage, when students are asked to report how they
did the task. Students rehearse what they want to say or write. The teacher helps
to correct their language. The focus is on clarity, organisation and accuracy.

-Report
Teacher asks students to report briefly to the whole class so everyone can
compare findings or begin a survey (there must be a purpose for others to listen).
The class may take notes.
-Posttask listening
Students listen to a recording of fluent speakers doing the same task and compare
it with the way they did the task themselves.
-Analysis
The teacher sets language-focused tasks based on what students have read or
listened to. The teacher helps and writes vocabulary on the board. Students may
take notes.
-Practice
The teacher conducts practice activities based on the language analysis already on
the board or using examples from the text or recording.

ACTIVITY
Divide the following tasks into pedagogical task or
real world task:
Answering the phone
Positioning hands on a clock to show a given time
Booking a flight
Ordering sentences according to a dialogue
Combining different pieces of information to form a
whole