Task-based Language Teaching Principles Research Articles

Empowering Chinese high school students: Transformative reading lessons with the task-based learning approach

This essay investigates the implementation of the task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach in Chinese high school English as a Second Language (ESL) reading lessons. Despite China’s Ministry of Education’s endorsement of TBLT, its application in the Chinese language classroom remains challenging due to factors such as traditional examination systems and teachers’ limited knowledge of TBLT principles. Drawing on the author’s experience as an English teacher, the project aims to explore how TBLT can be effectively integrated into ESL reading instruction. The objectives include explaining the main characteristics of TBLT, identifying issues in the Chinese EFL context, providing rationales for TBLT use, and constructing three reading lesson plans that adopt the TBLT approach. The lesson plans, which incorporate authentic materials and a variety of tasks, are designed to promote fluency in reading for information and to develop students’ awareness of real-world issues. The essay concludes that TBLT, with its learner-centered and goal-oriented nature, can enhance motivation and engagement in language learning, and that it is particularly suitable for contexts where students are preparing for overseas studies and need to develop communicative skills and creativity. The project also emphasizes the critical role of teachers in facilitating TBLT lessons and the need for ongoing professional development to support the effective implementation of TBLT in Chinese EFL teaching.

Task-Based Supplementary Materials Design for English Learners’ Reading Skills

This study aims to design and develop supplementary materials using the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) approach to improve students’ reading skills. The study focuses on the students’ needs analysis of the reading skills in the Comprehensive English (CE) course at one university in China. Then, the supplementary materials are designed and developed based on students’ needs. Following the ADDIE model, this study utilized Design and Development Research (DDR). The research was carried out in three phases: needs analysis, design and development, and implementation and evaluation. Sixteen first-year English education students were selected through a purposive sampling technique. By employing a qualitative approach, the research involves the design of the TBLT supplementary materials, followed by data collection through focus group interviews, classroom observations, and students’ feedback. Preliminary findings suggest that using the TBLT supplementary materials positively meets the students’ needs for reading skills, including learning objectives, teaching procedures, teaching activities, and supporting resources to the textbooks they use. However, they are unsatisfied with the formative assessment in reading instruction. This study underscores the importance of developing supplementary materials aligned with TBLT principles to promote effective English reading teaching at a university in China. Future research is needed to explore the long-term effects of TBLT implementation on students’ language development that supports successful language learning in various educational contexts.

Teaching English Reading to EFL Students in Grade Nine: A Task-based Language Teaching

Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT), emerging in the 1980s, is a new type of language teaching approach emphasizes ‘learning by doing’, focusing on the student’s main status, and achieving the teaching goal through the assistance of teachers. In the first part of this article, brief introductions of TBLT, tasks and the teaching principles are respectively given. In the second part, guided by three of the teaching principles of TBLT proposed by Nunan, including learning to communicate through interaction in the target language, focusing on the learning process and attaching importance to the learner’s own personal experiences, a reading teaching plan for the grade nine students is presented. Learners are inspired to discover rules by experiencing language, and use the target language to communicate and solve problems in the process. Under the guidance of TBLT in this reading class on tea culture, we can find that during the most of the time in class, students can not only perform communication actively about tea topic but also perceive more related linguistic knowledge and consolidate reading skills in the process of completing a series of tasks independently or in cooperative ways. Thereby, the student-centered principle can be realized.

Foundational Principles of Task-Based Language Teaching

Foundational Principles of Task-Based Language Teaching

Assessing the Efficacy of Task-Based Language Teaching in TESOL Settings

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a promising approach to English language teaching that has the potential to enhance English language learning outcomes in Kuwaiti higher education institutions. However, it is important to consider the Kuwait-specific factors that can influence its effectiveness. This study investigated the effectiveness of TBLT in Kuwait and the Kuwait-specific factors that can influence its effectiveness. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with the selected educators. The study involved 12 educators from Kuwait's higher education sector. Participants were purposefully selected based on their experience in TBLT implementation to ensure that their insights and experiences aligned with the research focus. The study's findings suggest that TBLT is an effective approach to teaching English in Kuwait. Students who participated in the study reported that TBLT helped them improve their English language skills in several ways, including improved communication skills, increased fluency and accuracy, developed critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and increased motivation and engagement. The study also identified a number of Kuwait-specific factors that can influence the effectiveness of TBLT. These factors include learner characteristics, teacher perspectives, and curriculum design. It is important to design TBLT tasks that are appropriate for all learners' needs, provide teachers with training and support to help them implement TBLT effectively, and align the Kuwaiti curriculum with the principles of TBLT. The study concludes with recommendations for promoting the effective implementation of TBLT in Kuwaiti higher education institutions. These recommendations include providing TBLT teachers with training and support, aligning the Kuwaiti curriculum with the principles of TBLT, designing TBLT tasks that are appropriate for the needs of all learners, and conducting further research to investigate the long-term effects of TBLT on English language learning outcomes. Finally, the study's findings have implications for educators in Kuwaiti higher education institutions. By understanding the effectiveness of TBLT and the Kuwait-specific factors that can influence its effectiveness, educators can promote the effective implementation of TBLT and enhance English language learning outcomes for Kuwaiti students.

Foundational principles of task-based language teaching

Since its emergence in the 1980s, task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been regarded as a language pedagogy that fosters genuine communication and has the capacity to cultivate learners’ communicative competence. Consequently, TBLT research has become a vibrant and evolving field with numerous researchers exploring its theoretical foundations and gathering empirical evidence to support or challenge its effectiveness as a language teaching approach (e.g., Ellis, 2017; Erlam, 2016). In his recent publication, Foundational Principles of Task-based Language Teaching, Martin East adeptly navigates through the theoretical bases, implementation and assessment of TBLT. By delving into the book, readers will embark on a journey of deepening their understanding of TBLT while gaining valuable insights that inform pedagogical decisions and advance research within this domain.

A curta-metragem como recurso didático na aula de PLE Duas propostas didáticas

This article presents a case study developed with the purpose of investigating the relevance of using short films as educational material for teaching Portuguese as a Foreign Language. The study was conducted with an A2 level class, of the Annual Course of Portuguese for Foreigners for the academic year 2016-2017, during the Pedagogical Internship undertaken within the scope of the Master in Portuguese as Second Language/Foreign Language, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Porto. Considering the State of the Art together with the analysis of the intervention context, two educational proposals using short films were planned and implemented, following the methodological principles of Task-based Language Teaching. Data was then collected and analyzed. The results obtained confirmed the wide possibilities of using short films for the design of motivational activities aimed at different syllabus content thus providing a relevant tool for the integrated practice of primary language activities and for the development of the different communication skills.

De l’usage raisonné des ressources documentaires numériques pour le développement de la sous- compétence instrumentale dans la didactique de la traduction spécialisée : retours d’expérience et perspectives en contexte LANSAD

The Reasoned Use of Digital Documentation Resources for the Development of Instrumental Sub-competence in the Teaching of Specialised Translation: Feedback and Perspectives in a LANSAD context
 Within the framework of university teaching, the practice of translation takes the form of an activity essentially based on solving problems involving linguistic knowledge. In the last two decades, the theoretical-experimental studies proposed by textual linguistics and pragmalinguistics have made essential contributions to translation didactics through methodological proposals based on an operational vision of interlinguistic communication, according to which the act of translation must be considered as an act of enunciation carried out for a given purpose, addressed to a specific addressee and inscribed in a particular socio-cultural context. A similar conception is found in sociolinguistic and functionalist approaches that focus on the expectations of the hypothetical client and on the analysis of the source text (ST) at the textual and pragmatic-communicative level. The practical dimension of translation as well as the contextualisation of the assigned tasks are also emphasised in methodological proposals inspired by the principles of task-based language teaching, an approach centred on the realisation of linguistic tasks that emphasise the pragmatic aspect. Similarly, cognitivist approaches to translation, which have emphasised the value of metacognitive sub-competence, aspire to the active participation of learners in the teaching/learning process. To achieve this goal, they are encouraged to reflect on the different preparatory phases of the translation work in which the strategy to be followed in writing the CT is chosen based on certain criteria, such as the purpose, the target audience, the function of the text and its structure. The development of theoretical-methodological competence is thus encouraged, whereby the transition from declarative knowledge, i.e. being aware of the problems a learner may encounter, to procedural knowledge (know-how), i.e. being able to find the most appropriate solution, takes place. Within the framework of translation studies, the practice of translation thus takes the form of an activity essentially based on the resolution of problems involving linguistic, cultural, cognitive, and metacognitive knowledge. Beyond the different perspectives, it seems to us that the most recent approaches to the didactics of translation have identified common training needs and methodological criteria that can be applied in an integrated way in all university courses, whether in LLCE courses for students of foreign languages, literature, and translation or in common or professional language courses for specialists in other disciplines (LANSAD). In this contribution we propose a reflection on the acquisition of skills related to the documentation phase of the translation process in a university context, through the study of a text translated from French into Italian by students of a French Language course for specialists of other disciplines (LANSAD). After reviewing the concept of translational competence and its various subcategories, we present an experimental didactic path based on the use of digital documentary resources and corpora applied to specialised translation, with particular attention to the development of the instrumental sub-competence.

Martin East's essential bookshelf: Task-based language teaching

Martin East is Professor of Language Education in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics, the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to this, he spent ten years as a language teacher educator in the University's Faculty of Education and Social Work. He has also taught languages at a broad range of proficiency levels and in a variety of contexts, including leading a school languages department in the UK. His numerous publications in the field of language education include two books dedicated to the phenomenon of TBLT: Task-based language teaching from the teachers’ perspective (John Benjamins, 2012) and Foundational principles of task-based language teaching (Routledge, 2021).

CALL-Mediated task-based language teaching: A speaking project with online audience in Indonesia

Tasks and technology are reciprocally related since the integration of technology can benefit task-based language teaching (TBLT) implementation. This study investigates students’ speaking performance, learning experiences, and perceptions in a speaking course specially designed with video recording activities involving online audiences based on the principles of TBLT. Thirty-eight undergraduate students majoring in English and enrolled in the speaking class served as the respondents. The data were collected through speaking tests, Likert scale questionnaires, and interviews. The findings indicated that the students developed their speaking performance after experiencing speaking class through a computer-assisted language learning (CALL)-mediated TBLT with video recording activities. They were also able to find their strengths and weaknesses by watching their own video recordings on YouTube. The findings also showed that the students had positive learning experiences and perceptions of video recording activities with online audiences on YouTube. Nevertheless, a further investigation of the online interactions toward the use of tasks and digital learning platforms with online audiences is highly advised.

The Distinguishing Characteristic of Task-based Language Assessment

Since its advent, the principles of Task-Based Language Teaching have been extended to assessment giving rise to Task-Based Language Assessment. Despite the growing body of research on the efficacy of Task-Based Language Teaching in instruction, the application of the assessment based on the tenets of Task-Based Language Teaching has been mainly neglected in some studies owing to their lack of use of Task-Based Language Assessment to measure the effectiveness of Task-Based Language Teaching (viz., Li, et al., 2016). The present study emphasizes the importance of Task-Based Language Assessment and highlights the feature that distinguishes this type of assessment from other assessments. The study concludes that while the performance-referenced feature of Task-Based Language Assessment is an essential characteristic thereof, it is, in fact, the holistic and direct feature of Task-Based Language Assessment that distinguishes it from other assessments. The more the assessment measure is incorporated in the performance of assessment tasks, the more the assessment tasks are based on the tenets of Task-Based Language Assessment. Therefore, the holistic and contextualized assessment tasks improve the confidence with which language teachers could generalize the results of the assessment tasks to real-life situations.

From task-based training to task-based instruction: Novice language teachers’ experiences and perspectives

This study investigated the relationship between task-based teacher training and novice English language teachers’ cognitions and implementations of tasks in Honduran bilingual schools. After participating in a four-week training program on task-based language teaching, teachers with little or no prior teaching experience designed task-based lessons and were video-recorded implementing those lessons with English language learners ages 5 to 12. Following the classroom observation, teachers participated in a stimulated recall interview. A rubric aligned with 10 key principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) as outlined by Long (2015) was used to rate teachers’ performance and code stimulated recalls. Ratings of video observations showed varied success in TBLT implementation after training, with some teachers’ lessons clearly aligned with key TBLT principles, and others relying on focus on forms strategies. Analysed data also uncovered a link between previous training and teaching experiences and the success of teachers’ implementations. Stimulated recalls showed that teachers focused primarily on maintaining a cooperative learning environment, and less on reactive aspects of TBLT such as providing corrective feedback. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for teachers and teacher training programs seeking to implement TBLT as an approach to language teaching.

Task-Based Language Learning and Beginning Language Learners: Examining Classroom-Based Small Group Learning in Grade 1 French Immersion

Elementary French immersion (FI) language arts teachers often organize instruction around small learning groups. Students rotate through learning stations/centres and work independently with their peers on L2 literacy skills. This study examined how principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) can be used and/or adapted to further support beginning L2 learners working independently at various literacy stations. This classroom-based study employed a pragmatic ‘research design’ methodology. Researchers worked alongside Grade 1 FI teachers (n=3) in the development and classroom implementation of language/literacy tasks designed around TBLT principles for use in literacy centres. Data collected included classroom observations in two Grade 1 FI classrooms, samples of students’ work, teacher interviews, and task-based lesson plans. Findings suggest that integrating/adapting TBLT principles to small group independent learning stations was particularly impactful in supporting young beginning language learners with extended language output, peer interaction, learner autonomy, emerging spontaneous language use, and student engagement. Additional instructional focus on corrective feedback, oral communication skills, and focus on form and function were also reported.

Impacts of a one-shot training program for in-service teachers on the application of Task-based Language Teaching

Tieng Anh:Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been recently implemented as a potential language teaching method for language education in Vietnam. However, research into the training for teachers on the application of TBLT has remained scarce. This study, therefore, aims to examine how Vietnamese in-service teachers implement the insights from a one-shot training program on TBLT in their classroom-based teaching practices. Three in-service teachers at a university in Vietnam participated. Data were collected through a video-taped classroom observation activity. Findings indicate that the teachers on the whole were unable to transfer the theoretical knowledge of TBLT principles that they had built up during the training program into their actual teaching practices. In addition, the teachers failed to perform TBLT teaching roles throughout the lesson. Accordingly, this study suggests pedagogical implications and insights with regard to the issue of teacher training on TBLT in the context of language education in Vietnam.Tieng Viet:Phuong phap giang day co ten la "Task-based language teaching" (TBLT) duoc thuc thi gan day tai Viet Nam va duoc danh gia la mot phuong phap giang day ngon ngu rat tiem nang. Tuy nhien, den nay van khong co nhieu nghien cuu tim hieu ve hoat dong dao tao, tap huan giao vien de co the ung dung TBLT vao hoat dong giang day tren lop. Vi the, nghien cuu nay tap trung vao viec tim hieu muc do hieu qua cua hoat dong tap huan, cu the la hinh thuc tap huan ngan han (one-shot training) cho giao vien ve phuong phap TBLT, lieu giao vien co the ung dung duoc TBLT vao dieu kien giang day thuc te tren lop sau khoa tap huan hay khong. Ba giao vien giang day mon tieng Anh tai mot truong dai hoc o Viet Nam dong y tham gia vao nghien cuu. So lieu duoc thu thap thong qua hoat dong quay video ve hoat dong giang day cua giao vien tren lop. Ket qua nghien cuu cho thay nhin chung giao vien khong co kha nang thuc thi kien thuc TBLT (nguyen tac cot loi, vai tro giao vien) ma ho da duoc tap huan vao hoat dong giang day thuc te tren lop hoc cua minh. Tu ket qua do, nhom nghien cuu de xuat phuong huong, giai phap va ke hoach hanh dong cho hoat dong tap huan giao vien trong viec ung dung, thuc thi TBLT trong dieu kien giang day ngoai ngu tai Viet Nam.

Improving EFL Learners’ Oral Production through Reasoning-gap Tasks Enhanced with Critical Thinking Standards: Developing and Implementing a Critical TBLT Model, Pre-Task Plan, and Speaking Rubric

This study aims to design and implement a speaking task model following the principles of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Critical Thinking (CT). The study mainly investigated to what extent the use of critical thinking standards had an impact on the students’ oral performance with respect to the linguistic trilogy of fluency, accuracy, and complexity. Experimental research design was conducted to examine the differences in research foci between the non-treatment and treatment groups. Data were drawn from 16 students of the English Language Teaching department and collected through the designed task rubric, speech samples, and semi-structured interview protocols. The findings indicated that adherence to relevant intellectual standards in reasoning-gap tasks had a positive effect on the oral performance of the speakers of the target language. Additionally, concerning two linguistic dimensions of accuracy (p=.00) and complexity (p=.00), MANOVA results showed a statistically significant difference between two main research groups. Based on the semi-structured interview findings, all participants in the treatment group reported positive views regarding their learning experiences and oral performance supported with critically enhanced reasoning-gap tasks. This study proposes language teachers a synthesized TBLT model enhanced with critical thinking standards. With this task model, suggested pre-task plan, and speaking rubric, they can boost their students’ intellectual agility and make them more intellectually and linguistically active in their oral performance.

Implementing task-based language teaching (TBLT) to teach grammar in English classes in China: using design-based research to explore challenges and strategies

ABSTRACTThis paper aimed to develop culturally appropriate TBLT practices to enable teachers and students in China to employ TBLT to teach grammar in English classes. The study deployed design-based research with a total of 122 students at a Chinese university. The mixed-method study utilised questionnaires with 122 students, interviews with 10 students as two focus groups and autiotaoped group discussions of the focus groups. The findings disclosed several mismatches between teaching and learning traditions in China and the principles of TBLT: (1) The students failed to acquire implicit knowledge while TBLT aimed to enable students to understand what was not explicitly described; (2) The students depended on the teacher’s presentation while TBLT required students to learn independently; (3) The students were reluctant to work in group while TBLT emphasised student-centred learning in group work; and (4) The students required related grammatical input while TBLT required students to obtain holistic acquisition of knowledge. To address these mismatches, main adjustments of TBLT were made: adding grammatical input, encouraging the students to focus on form, to discuss grammar matters and to provide mutual corrective feedback, and emphasising the teacher’s participation into tasks as a facilitator. The study developed new tools that could assist teachers and students to adopt TBLT in a non-Western context.

Designing Task-Based Syllabus For Writing Class

Writing is viewed as the most complex skill to learn and to teach. Beside learner factors, teacher, materials and syllabus may also affect the process of learning language as foreign language. Syllabus, in general, can be defined as a set of what is taught (content) and the way it is taught (procedure. This current research aims to design a task-based syllabus for writing class at university level. This study was conducted by qualitative descriptive design with 92 students and 4 lecturers as respondents. As part of research and development project in one private university in Jakarta, a developed task-based syllabus was based on need analysis and the principles of task-based language teaching. Students’ proficiency levels are fair with sentence patterns and grammar as the most difficult aspects. Academic writing is more preferable orientation with the small portions of creative writing. Then, the developed task-based syllabus has been proposed for writing class which covers the components of goal (learning outcome), course description and objectives, a set of writing tasks, features of content focus and language focus and course evaluation. The developed syllabus, then, can guide the lecturers in designing lesson plan and selecting materials for writing class.

Applying Task-based Language Teaching in Introductory Level Mandarin Language Classes at the College of The Bahamas

In foreign-language teaching and learning, there exist a number of methodologies and approaches. The idea and principles of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the task-based framework in language teaching and learning have proven to be effective in classrooms. The three pedagogic goals for task-based approaches—communication, restructuring and fluency—are also the goals of Mandarin learners. This paper explains, using examples, that the Task-based Language Teaching applied in introductory level Mandarin classes at the College of the Bahamas is helpful and that enthusiastic Bahamian learners can improve their Mandarin skills by completing various activities and tasks within the task-based framework. Observations and results obtained through using this strategy have shown that TBLT is effective in classroom Mandarin teaching and learning for Bahamian college students and adult learners, though some issues exist, which warrant further discussion.

Sustaining innovation in school modern foreign language programmes: teachers’ reflections on task-based language teaching three years after initial teacher education

ABSTRACTThe communicative language teaching approach that informs many school modern foreign language programmes has been realised in different ways as theorists and practitioners have sought to identify the most effective combinations of instruction and use [Mitchell, R. 2000. Applied linguistics and evidence-based classroom practice: the case of foreign language grammar pedagogy. Applied Linguistics 21, no. 3: 281–303]. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is one such realisation. TBLT’s learner-centred and experiential emphasis on use contrasts with more directly instructional models such as presentation-practice-production (PPP). Given the prevalence of practices such as PPP, the effective realisation of TBLT is challenging. This article presents findings from a small-scale study among practising teachers (N = 7) three years after an initial teacher education focus on TBLT. Semi-structured interviews explored how the teachers understood and enacted task-based principles in their classrooms; their perceptions of the barriers to successful implementation; and their responses to perceived barriers. Findings suggest that TBLT principles can be successfully enacted by teachers who are open to the innovation, but that theoretical, practical and contextual constraints limit that enactment. Implications for sustaining innovative practices are presented.

Teachers’ Beliefs About Task-Based Language Teaching in Japan

As task-based language teaching (TBLT) has grown in popularity in many Asian EFL countries, it has sometimes been the target of criticism from locally situated researchers and teachers, who question its appropriateness for such contexts (Burrows, 2008), often in contrast to more traditional methods, such as the “presentation, practice, production” (PPP) approach (Sato 2009). Partially in response to this criticism, the Task Based Language Learning Special Interest Group (TBLSIG) of the Japanese Association for Language Teachers was formed in 2010 in order to contribute to research into the implementation of TBLT in Japanese and Asian EFL classrooms. As the majority of TBLSIG members are teachers, presently interested in using TBLT in classrooms, they provide an ideal source of insight into how the approach can be implemented effectively in Japan, and by extension, in other similar EFL countries in Asia. This study investigated these teachers’ beliefs about TBLT in Japanese classrooms through an online survey. The aim of the study was to add to existing research on teacher beliefs by not only investigating teachers’ understanding of the principles of TBLT, but also by enquiring into what special considerations practicing teachers have made when implementing TBLT in Japanese classrooms.