Task-Based Language Teaching

1. Real world or target tasks

They refer to uses of language in the
world beyond the classroom.
2. Pedagogical tasks
They include tasks that occur in the
classroom.
Task-based teaching has strengthened the following
principles and practices:
1. A needs-based approach to content selection
2. An emphasis on learning to communicate through
interaction in the target language.
3. The introduction of authentic texts into the learning
situation.
4. The provision of opportunities for learners to focus not
only on language but also on the learning process itself.
5. An enhancement of the learner’s personal experiences
as important contributing elements to classroom
learning.
6. The linking of classroom language learning with the
language use outside the classroom
 Pedagogical tasks
Pedagogical tasks are any structured language
learning endeavor which has a particular
objective, appropriate content, a specified
working procedure, and a range of outcomes for
those who undertake the task.
(Breen in Nunan, 2004)
A pedagogical task is a piece of classroom
work that involves learners in
comprehending, manipulating, producing or
interacting in the target language while their
attention is focused on mobilizing their
grammatical knowledge in order to express
meaning, and in which the intention is to
convey meaning rather than to manipulate
form.
(Nunan, 2004)
A task is a workplan that requires learners to
process language pragmatically in order to achieve
an outcome that can be evaluated in terms of
whether the correct or appropriate propositional
content has been conveyed. To this end, it requires
them to give primary attention to meaning and to
make use of their own linguistic resources, although
the design of the task may predispose them to
choose particular forms. A task is intended to result
in language use that bears a resemblance, direct or
indirect, to the way language is used in the real
world. Like other language activities, a task can
engage productive or receptive, and oral or written
skills and also varius cognitive processes.
 Experiential learning is
emphasized
- Transformation of knowledge within the learner rather
than transmission of knowledge from the teacher to the
learner.
- Small and collaborative groups
- Emphasis on process than product, learning how to
learn, self-inquiry, social and communication skills.
- Self-directed rather than teacher-directed learning
- Intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation
 A framework for task-based
language teaching
1. Principles of task-based language teaching
• Scaffolding
• Task dependency
• Recycling
• Active learning
• Integration
• Reproduction to creation
• Reflection
2. Developing units of work
• Schema building
• Controlled practice
• Authentic listening practice
• Focus on linguistic elements
• Provide freer practice
• Introduce the pedagogical task
3. Task components
• Content: the subject matter to be taught
• Materials: the things that learners can
observe/manipulate
• Activities: the things that learners and teachers
will be doing during a lesson
• Goals: the teachers’ general aims for the task
(these much more general and vague than
objectives)
• Students: their abilities, needs and interests are
important
• Social community: the class as a whole and its
sense of ‘groupness’
 Task types
There are some ways of classifying task
types. Among others:
A. Based on communicative language
use
1. The earliest one:
a. Information-gap activity
b. Reasoning-gap activity
c. Opinion-gap activity
2. The one proposed by Pattison (1987)
a. Questions and answers
b. Dialogues and role plays
c. Matching activities
d. Communication strategies
e. Pictures and picture stories
f. Puzzles and problems
g. Discussions and decisions
3. Proposed by Richards (2001):
a. Jigsaw tasks
b. Information-gap tasks
c. Problem-solving tasks
c. Decision- making tasks
d. Opinion exchange tasks
B. Based on the strategies underpinning them:
1. Cognitive
a. classifying
b. predicting
c. inducing
d. taking notes
e. concept mapping
f. inferencing
g. discriminating
h. diagramming
2. Interpersonal
a. co-operating
b. role playing
3. Linguistic
a. conversational patterns
b. practicing
c. using context
d. summarizing
e. selective listening
f. skimming
4. Affective
a. personalizing
b. self-evaluating
c. reflecting

5. Creative
brainstorming
EXAMPLE
 Task Difficulty
Easier More difficult
Learner
is confident is not confident
is motivated to carry out the task is not motivated
has prior necessary learning activities has no
can learn at pace required cannot
has necessary language skills does not have
has relevant cultural knowledge does not have
Easier More difficult
Tasks
Low cognitive complexity cognitively complex
Has few steps has many steps
Plenty of context provided no context
Plenty of help available no help available
does not require grammatical grammatical accuracy
accuracy required
Has as much as necessary has little time
 Easier More difficult

Text/Input

Is short, not dense (few facts) is long and dense

Clear presentation presentation not clear
Plenty7 of contextual clues few contextual clues
Familiar, everyday content unfamiliar content