ABriefIntroductionofTask-BasedLanguageTeaching

A Brief Introduction of Task-Based Language Teaching 中图分类号： h319 文献标识码： a 文章

编号：1672-1578（2011)11-0001-02

1 introduction

task-based language teaching (tblt) refers to ‘an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching’ (richards and rodgers, 2005: 223). emerging in the 1980s, tblt has gained much popularity among a great number of teachers and learners. as quality-oriented education is advocated in china at present, tblt has been gradually supported and promoted as an ideal approach to teaching english. this essay will present some theories concerning this approach and explore some of its advantages and weaknesses.

2 what are tasks

tasks, considered as ‘basic building blocks in the language curriculum’ (nunan, 1989: 5), are classroom activities that involve learners’ comprehension, manipulation, production or interaction using the target language (nunan, 1989). breen (1987) defined tasks as activities which aim at helping language learners to improve

their language skills through progressing from simple tasks to more complex ones. specifically, a task is an activity requires learners to conduct meaningful negotiations and naturalistic communications. real-life language may be used in the process of completing various tasks, such as giving directions or instructions, writing a letter etc. (richards and rodgers, 2005). tasks are ‘used as the basic unit of analysis at the levels of goals (syllabus), educational activities (methodology) and assessment’ (van den branden, 2006: 12).

3 a framework of task-based syllabus

jane willis (1996) has presented a framework of tblt composed of three phases: pre-task, task cycle and language focus. in a pre-task phase, the teacher gives instructions on how to fulfill the tasks and help the learners to understand the topic-related area so that their ‘schematic language’could be activated (skehan, 1998:127). during this phase, the teacher could introduce some words and phrases by doing some pre-task activities, which exposes the learners to the actual usage of the language and raise their awareness of the correct form of language (skehan, 1998). a task cycle consists of

three stages. in the first stage, the teacher (who acts as a monitor) asks the learners to work in groups to complete the tasks. next, in the planning stage, the teacher (language advisor) helps the learners to report the results of the tasks i.e. giving some suggestions or encouraging the learners to help each other etc. in this stage the learners could learn from each other in rehearsals (skehan, 1998). the last stage is called the report stage, during which the learners report the results of the activities. the teacher acts as a chairperson and summarizes the answers and offer feedback after the learners’ presentation. in the end, the teacher presents the learners with various language-focused activities in order to strengthen the learner’s understanding of the language items. skehan (1998) suggested that it is necessary to carry out some language activities after tasks, which indicates that those language items are required in the process of communication rather than in syllabus.

4 sla and pedagogical theories related to tblt

due to its distinctive features, tblt has been supported