TASK BASED LEARNING:A COMMUNICATIVE ALTERNATIVE FOR EFL TEACHERS AND LEARNERS

Abstract

TBL is an approach that makes the task the basic unit for planning and teaching. It contrasts with approaches that are centred around grammar because it involves the specification not of a sequence of language items, but of a sequence of communicative tasks to be carried out in the target language. TBL aims to engage learners in real language use. This can be done by designing tasks which require learners to use the language for themselves. Tasks hold a central place both in current SLA research and in language pedagogy. Tasks serve to provide learners with a natural context for language use. As learners work to complete a task, they have opportunities to interact, which are thought to facilitate language acquisition. The difference between traditional approaches to teaching English, such as PPP, and TBL is that in TBL, the focus on language form comes at the end as the communication task is the central point to the framework. Therefore, a typical TBL lesson consists of ‘pre-task’, ‘task cycle’ and ‘language focus’ stages. This paper aims to explain the content of the stages, giving English language teachers some ideas about the kind of activities for each of them.