TBLT Paper

An Brief Introduction of Task-Based Language Teaching

1.

Introduction

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an approach to the design of

language

course

in

which

its

core

unit

of

planing

and

instruction

in

language teaching is a collection of tasks, instead of an organized list of

linguistic items.

（

Richards and Rodgers,2005:223

）

During the 1970s, communicative approach(Brumfit &Johnson 1979)

acquired

considerable

development

within

language

that

time,it

was

assumed

that

it

was

not

enough

to

focus

only

on

language

structure,the development of capacity to express meaning also needed to

be concerned.(Widdowson 1978)

In

the

1980s,two

major

developments

occurred.

First,the

basic

?

unit

?

,

communicative

activity,

which

was

shared

by

communicative

approaches and second language acquisition researchers, was replaced by that

of

?

task

?

.

Second,

the

two

forms

of

task- based

approach

to

instruction

emerged: strong form and weak form. In general, those who take weak view

of tasks tend to assume that tasks are not the driving force for syllabus design

and

that

the

use

of

tasks

is

an

adjunct

to

structure-based

teaching.

(Skehan 2003) While proponents of strong form take a contrastive view. The

early actual application of a task-based approach in language teaching was the

Bangalore Project (Prabhu,1987), which marked the origin of TBLT.

2.

Defining tasks

2.1

Definition of task

Various

definition

of

?

task

?

exist.

Long(1985),for

instance,suggests

that

a

task

is

?

meant

the

hundred

and

one

thing

people

do

in

everyday

life,at work,at play,and in- between

?

. From this ponit of view ,examples of

tasks

include

borrowing

a

library

book,

buying

a

new

shirt,

asking

the

way, taking a hotel reservation,and so on. The tasks Long defined above

are

real-world

tasks,

the

sorts

of

things

that

individuals

typically

do

outside the classroom.

Nunan(1989)refers

to

task

as

a

piece

of

classroom

work

which

involves learners in comprehending,manipulating,produing, or interaction

in the target language in which their intention is to convey meaning rather

than

to

manipulate

form.

In

Nunan

?

s

classroom

tasks,

learners

will

not

only do the sorts of things in class that individuals typically

do outside

the

classroom,or

real-world

tasks,but

also

will

do

many

things

in

class

that are designed intentionally for

promoting learner

?

s general language

proficiency, like listen-and-repeat task.

In Willis(1996) a task is an activity in which target language is used

by

the

learners

for

communicative

purpose

to

achieve

an

outcome.

Although tasks have been defined in a variety of ways, it

?

s the fact that

there

exists

something

in

common

among

various

definitions.

Probably

the best way to unfold the veil of task will make a list of a set of essential

characteristics as follows(Ellis 2008:818)

1.

A task is primarily focus on meaning as opposed to form.

2.

Through

performance

of

a

task

some

kind

of

gap

like

information,

opinion needs to be filled.

3.

In order to perform the task learners need to take advantage of their

own linguistic resources.

4.

A clearly defined communicative outcome is formed at the end of the

task rather than the display of

?

correct

?

language.

For a present purposes a task is taken to be a activity in which meaning

is primary,there is sort of relationship to the real world,task completion

has

some

priority,and

the

assessment

of

task

performance

is

in

term

of

task outcome.(Skehan 1996)

2.2

Task type

Nunan

（

1989

）

drew

a

distinction

between

pedagogical

tasks

and

real-world tasks according to their content nature. While real- world tasks

are

designed

for

practice

or

rehearsal

of

real

world

communication.

Pedagogical

tasks

that

have

a

psycholinguistic

basis

in

SLA

theory

and

research

do

not

necessarily

reflect

the

real

world,

but

facilitate

the

development of learner

?

s linguistic proficiency.

In

Ellis(2003)

he

distinguished

two

kinds

of

tasks:

unfocused

and

focused. Unfocused tasks may predispose learner to choose from a range

of

forms,but

not

designed

for

the

use

of

a

specific

form

(including

pedagogical tasks and real-world tasks).In contrast,focused tasks provides

opportunites

for

communication

using

some

specific

linguistic

feature

(including

structure

based

production

tasks,

comprehension

task

and

consciousness-raising tasks).

Kris

Van

den

Branden(2009:31)offered

four

suggestions

for

a

task

typology. Type1: Focus on learner training (cf.W

enden,1985); Type2: Focus on

information- sharing(n&Edelhoff,1982);Type3:Focus on research

and

experimentation(,1981);Type4:Focus

on

learner

strategy

(,1974).

From the view of different task variables, various kinds of tasks shall

be

obtained

such

as

required

information

exchange

task

and

optional

information

exchange

task,

one-way

information

exchange

task

and

two-way

exchange information task, open task and closed task.(see Ellis(2003))

2.3

Features of Tasks and Their Implementation

Candlin

(1987

)

described

certain

key

features

of

tasks

that

task

designers should be able to abide by and that teachers could provide, to

optimally promote classroom learning:

?

Input. This is the written, visual, or aural information that learners

performing a task work on to achieve the goal of the task.

?

are

the

roles

that

learners have

in performing

a

task,

such as information-giver and information-receiver.

?

are

the

grouping

arrangements

in

and

outside

of

classrooms for which pedagogy prepares learners to communicate.

?

are the procedures to follow in performing the task

or

the

various

steps

that

learners

must

take

along

the

road

to

task

completion.

?

is the supervisory process of ensuring that the task

performance remains on track.

?

are the oral, written, and/or behavioral outcomes

in which the task is intended to result.

?

Feedback. This includes evaluation of the whole or parts of a task

performance

by

the

teacher

or

other

learners,

including

corrective

feedback on language use as well as other helpful feedback.

3.

Description of TBLT

3.1 The framework of TBLT

It

is

also

necessary

to

consider

how

tasks,once

chosen,are

actually

(1996),Skehan(1996) and Ellis(2003)all propose a three-

stage framework in such a methodological implementation: Pre-task, during-

task

and

gh

they

bear

slightly

different

steps,

their

main

principles is to lead learners to have access to comprehensible input,to engage

in

communication

of

meaning,

and

to

complete

an

outcome.

Moreover,the

detailed

framework

proposed

by

Willis

for

the

TBLT

lessons

in

widely

adopted in analyzing TBLT and designing task-based lessons. The paper will

take Willis for illustration.

1)

Pre-task: The teacher gives an introduction to topic or task through

pre-task

activities

such

as

brainstorming

ideas,miming,ranking

exercise,using

picture,

then

some

necessary

input

like

useful

words,y

the

teacher

confirms

that

all

students

understand what topic involves and what outcome they are required

to achieve.

2)

During- task(also: task cycle)(1)Task: The teacher(as a monitor) asks

the learners to carry out the task in pairs or group.(2)Planning: The

teacher(as a advisor) help learners to prepare how to report the results

of the task to the whole class.(3)Report: Learners reports the results

of the task,during which teacher serves as a chairperson to summarize

the results and offer a feedback after learner

?

s presentation.

3)

Post-task(also:Language focus): Students carry out various language-

focused avtivities in order to strengthen the undertanding of language

practice

activities

include

sentence

completion,memory

challenge games, matching the past- tense verbs with subject or object

in the text, dialogue and role-play.

3.2 The principles of task design

Nunan (1999) proposes five pedagogic principles of TBLT:

The Authenticity Principle: A task should be authentic to the needs of

the learners, related to the work and life of participants or some situations

they find themselves involved in.