Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning (TBLT) PDF

Task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT) Instructor: Nguyen Thi Bao Trang \ WHAT IS A TASK? A task: - Focuses primarily on meaning. - Creates a need for meaning to be made. - Allows learners their own choice of linguistic and non-linguistic means to complete the ta...

Task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT) Instructor: Nguyen Thi Bao Trang \ WHAT IS A TASK? A task: - Focuses primarily on meaning. - Creates a need for meaning to be made. - Allows learners their own choice of linguistic and non-linguistic means to complete the task. - Has a clearly defined outcome to be achieved by means of language, not language being an end in its own right (Ellis, 2009, p.223). A task vs. an exercise A task primary focus on trying to communicate There is a gap Learners use own linguistic resources Successful performance = outcome of task achieved An exercise primary focus on using language correctly There is no gap Text manipulating Successful performance = accurate use of target feature (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJexRQqaJg) Now which a task? Which is an exercise? 1. Work in pairs. Talk about what your sister/brother/ mother/ usually does in his or her free time. 2. Complete each sentence below with the correct form of the verb in brackets. - She often _________(watch) TV on Sunday. - My mother _________(work) hard every day. Open/closed tasks, focused/unfocused tasks Handout 1. Matching task types Key: 1. focused 2. unfocused 3. closed 4. open In one of the current English textbooks for high school students in Vietnam. Group 1. Find two focused tasks Group 2. Find two unfocused tasks Group 3. Find two open tasks Group 4. Find two closed tasks Real world tasks 1. Which tasks below are likely to represent real world activities? Ordering a meal Spotting the differences between two pictures Making a phone call Discussing what people in a picture are doing Matching the problems people face with corresponding advice Buying a train ticket Writing a letter requesting information Writing a CV Listening and decide whether each statement is true or false. Reading and putting the events in order of time 2. Work in groups, identifying 5 real world tasks in one current English textbook. Taxonomy of tasks (Willis & Willis, 2007) Matching Comparing/Contrasting Ordering and sorting Listing Problem-solving Sharing personal experiences Projects and creative tasks Groupwork. Handout 2. Group work. Explore speaking tasks in one current English textbook. Find occurrences of activities of each type. Then share your results with the whole class. Group 1. Matching; Comparing/Contrasting Group 2. Ordering and sorting; Listing Group 3. Problem-solving; Sharing personal experiences Group 4. Projects and creative tasks So where does grammar/language form teaching come about in TBLT? FOCUS ON FORM (FonF) “overtly draws students’ attention to linguistic elements as they arise incidentally in lessons whose overriding focus is on meaning or communication” (Long, 1991, pp.45-46). FonF could be realized through reformulation, recasting, or brief language explanations during the task Willis’s (1996) task-based framework (p.52) Pre-task Introduction to topic and task Task cycle Task Planning Public report Post-task (FOCUS ON FORMS HERE) Language analysis Language practice Willis’s (1996) task-based framework (p.52) Post-task (FOCUS ON FORMS (FonFs)) Language analysis Language practice Forms could be: -the target features (in focused tasks) -any language forms students have problems with during task performance TBLT Strong version: Tasks are teaching/learning activities that shape the syllabus Tasks are a core unit that drives language teaching and learning. Weak version= task-supported language teaching Tasks are used along with other traditional approaches Tasks are in the final P of the PPP paradigm *PPP = presentation –practice – production So, why TBLT? Meaningful communication drives learning. “People learn a language not only in order to use the target language for functional purposes, but also by doing so” (Van den Branden, 2012, p.133). By doing tasks, learners will engage naturalistic acquisitional mechanisms, cause the underlying interlanguage system to be stretched, and drive development forward” (Skehan, 1996, p.95). Principles Now think about TBLT and see if you can answer the following questions. 1. What are the roles of teachers who use TBLT? 2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students? 3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process? 4 What is the nature of student–teacher interaction? What is the nature of student–student interaction? 5. How are the feelings of the students dealt with? 6. How is the language viewed? How is culture viewed? 7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized? 8. What is the role of the students’ native language? 9. How is evaluation accomplished? 10. How does the teacher respond to student errors? Principles (Chapter 11, Material 1) Read the ten principles. And find the answers for yourself. Group 1. Principles 1-2 Group 2. Principles 3-4 Group 3. Principles 5-6 Group 4. Principles 7-8 Group 5. Principles 9-10 Discussion questions 1. What is the difference between CLT and TBLT? 2. Which version of TBLT do you like? Why? Homework Watch the video for more information about TBLT and project-based learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDJexRQqaJg References Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larsen-Freeman, D., & Anderson, M. (2011). Techniques and principles in language teaching (3rd ed.) (Chapter 11). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Long, M. H. (1991). Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. De Bot, R. Ginsberg & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 39-52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Skehan, P. (2003). Task-based instruction. Language Teaching Research, 36(1), 1-14. Van den Branden, K. (2012). Task-based language education. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to pedagogy and practice in second language teaching (pp. 132-139). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Willis, D., & Willis, J. (2007). Doing task-based teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.