What is Task-Based Language Teaching?

 Refers to the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in
language teaching.
 An approach to language education in which students are given functional
tasks that invite them to focus primarily on meaning exchange and to use
language for real-world, non-linguistic purposes (Van den Branden, 2006).
 Shares with CLT the following principles:

     (a) Activities that involve real communication are essential for language
learning.
     (b) Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks
promote learning.
     (c) Language that is meaningful to the learner supports the learning
process.
 

NOTES:

 Task-based instruction is not monolithic; it does not constitute a single methodology.  It is a m

creatively with different syllabus types and purposes.
 In practice, some proponents may implement the approach only partially and combine it with
advocates of TBLT often seek to contrast the two.

1. Unlike PPP, the students are free of language control. In all 3  stages, they must use all t
practicing one pre-selected item.
2. A natural context is developed from the student's experiences with the language that is p
PPP it is necessary to create contexts in which to present the language, and sometimes
3. The students will have a much more varied exposure to language with TBL.  They will be
phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms.
4. The language explored arises from the students' needs. This need dictates what will be c
decision made by the teacher or the coursebook.
5. It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of tine communicating
centered by comparison .

Key Assumptions of TBI /TBLT (p. 17, Feez, 1998)

1. The focus is on process rather than product.

2. Basic elements are purposeful activities and tasks that emphasize
communication and meaning.
3. Learners learn language by interacting communicatively and purposefully
while engaged in the activities and tasks.
4. Activities and tasks can be either those that learners might achieve in real
life; those that have a pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom.
5. Activities and tasks are sequenced according to difficulty.
6. The difficulty of a task depends on a range of factors including the
previous experience of the learner, the complexity of the task, the
language required to undertake the task, and the support available.

What is Task?

 A task is an activity in which a person engages in order to attain an

objective, and which necessitates the use of a language (p. 4, Van den
Branden, 2006).
 Edwards and Willis (2003) give a much fuller explanation:

o In carrying out a task the learners' principal focus is on exchanging and

understanding meanings, rather than on practice of form or
prespecified forms or patterns.
o There is some kind of purpose or goal set for the task so that learners
know what they are expected to achieve by the end of the task, for
example, to write a list of differences, to write an assessment report
etc.
o The outcome of the completed task can be shared in some way with
others
o Tasks can involve any or all four skills: reading, speaking, reading, and
writing
o The use of tasks does not exclude language-focused study at some
points in a TBL lesson, though a focus on specific grammar rules or
patterns will not generally come before the task itself, as this could well
detract from the real communicative purpose of the subsequent
interaction.

While TBLT initially focused on learning the language via occupational tasks,
academic tasks have received considerable attention in general education
and have the following dimensions:
1. The products students are asked to produce
2. The operations they are required to use in order to produce these products
3. The cognitive operations required and the resources available
4. The accountability system involved

Theoretical Bases of the TBLT  Approach

A. Theory of Language
1. Language is primarily a means of making meaning.
2. Language is a means of achieving real-world goals.
3. Lexical units are central in language use and language learning.
4. Spoken interaction is the central focus of language and the keystone of
language acquisition.
5. Language use involves the integration of skills.
B. Theory of Language Learning
1. Language learning is determined by the learner.
2. Language learning is an organic process. It gradually develops where the
learner passes through several stages.
3. A focus on form can facilitate language learning; however, grammar is not
taught as an isolated feature.
4. Negotiation of meaning provides learners with opportunities for the
provision of comprehensible input and modified output.
5. Tasks provide opportunities  for learners to "notice the gap" in their
linguistic repertoire
6. Interaction and communication through tasks provide opportunities for
scaffolded learning.

Design
A. Objectives

 TBLT advocates the use of needs analysis to determine the focus of the
course and specific lessons.
 The selection of tasks should be based on a careful analysis of the real-
world needs of learners.

B. Syllabus
     TBLT syllabus can be developed with two types of tasks according to
Nunan (1989):

1.  Real-world tasks: designed to practice or rehearse those tasks that are

found to be important in needs analysis and turn out to be important and
useful in the real world.  This would be the case with the course for
learners who have clearly identifiable needs. (e.g. using the telephone)
2. Pedagogical tasks: have a psycholinguistic basis in SLA theory and
research but do not necessarily reflect real-world tasks. This would be the
case for learners who do not have clearly identifiable needs such as with
young learners (information -gap activity)

 
Willis ( 1996, as cited by Zhou, 2016)  came up with six types of pedagogical 
tasks:
1.   Listing. Listing can produce a great amount of language use, such as,
brainstorming, finding out the fact. This kind of task can proceed in the whole
class, or          in groups or in pairs. 
2.  Ordering, Sorting and Classifying. This kind of task requires students to
sequence according to the time or logical relation, order according to some     
standards,  classify according to the types. And this process needs students
to have a very strong analyzing, concluding and comprehending ability. 
3.  Comparing, Matching. Students compare the similar things and find out
the similarity and difference. 
4.  Problem Solving. This kind of task needs students to use English to solve
possible problems that may occur in real life according to their knowledge
and                reasoning ability. But the key is not the only answer, and it is a
kind of open type task and creative task. It always gives people satisfaction
after they 
      complete the task. 
5. Sharing Personal Experience. This is a frequently-used task in people‟s
daily life in which learners discuss and exchange opinions in the topic and
they need          not reach an agreement. This kind of task can encourage
students to use their learned language to tell personal experience, which
belongs to a kind of 
    open task. 
6. Creative Tasks. It often appears as the pattern of projects, including a lot
of subtasks, in which students experience :
    “condition→ input→ process experience → output” exploration pattern.
EXAMPLE:
Course: English for the Professions ( English for Tour Guides)

Tasks Subtasks Classroom Activities

1. Meeting tourists at the airport 1. Simulations/Role Pla

Taking tourists to the hotel
2. Giving information on the way to the hotel 2. Information Gap
for check-in
3. Helping tourists with registration 3. Filling out Forms
 1. Meeting Tourist at the lobby 1. Jigsaw Reading
Taking tourists on a day 2. Describing the Itinerary 2. Listening practice
tour 3. Describing sites 3.
4. Taking Tourists to Restaurants Dialogues/Conversatio

Procedure
The activities in TBLT lessons are sequenced in this order. ( See also Corpuz
for Willis framework)
1. Introducing the task. This phase of the lesson has three functions:
    a. motivating learners to perform the task
    b. preparing the learners to perform the task by discussing pre-supposed or
useful knowledge of the world
    c.  organizing the performance phase by providing clear instructions on
what the purpose of the task is, and how it should or can be performed.
2.  Supporting task performance. This involves:
     a.  interactional support in which the teacher mediates between task
demands and the learner's current abilities.
     b.  support interventions focusing on clarifying meaning or guiding the
choice of language
     c.  combining focus on meaning with focus on form
3. The post task-phase. This can involve:
     a.  reflection on the task and how it was accomplished.
     b.  focus on form.
 
Read further on the components and procedure from Corpuz, 2013.  Study
also the sample lesson plan. This will serve as your template for thelesson
plan you are going to prepare for the learning task given.