Task Based Language

Teaching
Definition and History
 Task
Longman English Dictionary:
• a piece of work that must be done, especially one that is
difficult or that must be done regularly.

• to give someone the responsibility for doing something.

Williams and Burden(1997) :
• any activity that learners engage in to process of learning a
language.

Breen(1987):
• a range of learning activities from the simple and brief
exercises to more complex and lengthy activities such as
group problem-solving or simulations and decision-making.
Prabhu(1987):
• An activity which required learners to arrive at an
outcome from given information through some process of
thought and which allowed teachers to control and regulate
that process.
 Task Based Language Teaching(TBLT)

TBLT is an approach
• which offers students opportunities to actively engage in
communication in order to achieve a goal or complete a

task.
• seeks to develop students’ interlanguage through
providing a task and then using language to solve it.
• is presented as a logical development of Communicative
Language Teaching.
Skehan(2003):
TBLT constitutes a strong version of Communicative Language Teaching.
Ellis(2003):
Teacher’s dominant authority turns into teacher’s guiding in TBLT
because, teacher centered learning becomes learner centered. It
can be seen as both a refinement of CLT and a reaction to the use
of PPP.
Harmer, J. The practice of English Language Teaching(2007) :

TBLT makes the performance of meaningful tasks central

to the learning process.

Instead of a language structure or function to be learnt,

students are presented with a task they have to perform or

a problem they have to solve.

Using tasks for teaching first appeared in the vocational

training practice of the 1950’s. Task focused here first

derived from training design concerns of the military
regarding new military technologies and  occupational

specialities of the period. Task analysis initially focused on

solo psychomotor tasks for which little communication or
collaboration was involved.
Later on in 1987 it was formally developed as a recognized
language teaching approach by N. Prabhu in Bangladore,
Southern India. Prabhu believed that students may learn
more effectively when their minds are focused on the real
life task, rather than on the language they are using.
Objectives
• to facilitate students’ language learning by engaging them in a
variety of tasks that have a clear outcome
• to give learners confidence in trying out whatever language they
know
• to give learners experience of spontaneous interaction
• to give learners the chance to benefit from noticing how others
express similar meanings
• to give learners chances for negotiating turns to speak
• to engage learners in using language purposefully and
cooperatively
• to make learners participate in a complete interaction, not
just one-off sentences
• to give learners chances to try out communication strategies
• to develop learners’ confidence that they can achieve
communicative goals
Key Principles
• Making errors is natural and is considered as a part of the
process in acquiring the target language.
• Exposure to comprehensible input is crucial.
• Learning tasks facilitating learners to engage in
interactions are essential.
• Learners need to be encouraged to produce the target
language as producing the target language facilitates
learning.
• Although language production may be encouraged from
the early stage in the learning process, it is reasonable to
allow a silent period.
• Focus on form is necessary.
• Second language teaching and learning pace should be
made reasonable for both learners with higher and lower
aptitude.
• Language learning tasks should be varied to cater for the
needs for both extrovert and introvert learners.
• Learning tasks should encourage learners to attend to
both meaning and form and be varied in order to
accommodate learners with different learning strategy
preferences.
• Teaching and learning processes should foster motivation
and minimize learner anxiety.
• The choice of teaching and learning tasks and content
should be based on learner age.
• Learning tasks should arouse and maintain learners’
learning motivation.
Techniques
Listing Tasks:
• Learners brainstorm and memorize sequentially.
Jigsaw Tasks:
• Learners form a whole from different information parts.
Information Gap Tasks:
In order to complete a task, members of the group
negotiate and find out each others’ information.
Problem Solving Tasks:
• Students solve a problem with a set of information
Decision Making Tasks:
• By means of negotiation and discussion students decide
on an outcome given with a problem.
Opinion Exchange Tasks:
• Learners exchange their ideas, but not to reach an
agreement.
Comparing Tasks:
• Learners try finding similarities and differences.
Role of Teacher and Learners
Teacher’s Roles:
• Selection and Sequencing Of Tasks
• Demonstration
• Preparing Learners For Tasks
• Providing background knowledge
• Consciousness-Raising
Learners’ Roles:
• Group Participant
• Decision making
• Peer correction
• Monitor
• Risk-Taking and Innovation
Other issues
Characteristics of the teaching/learning process:

Pre-Task
1. The teacher sets the task.
2. The teacher defines the aim of the task.
3. The teacher provides necessary information about the task.
4. Allow the students time to plan.
5. Provide a model.
6. Do a similar task.
7. Pre-teach key linguistic items.
 Task Cycle
1. Students fulfill the task by conscientiously making use
of their language knowledge and skills, the information
in their command, their creative ability and group
cooperation.
2. Students make use of various resources, such as
websites, libraries, newspapers, as well as human
resources.
3. Students prepare for their report back.
4. Students report back orally and/or in writing.
 Post-Task
1. Students give a report.
2. Repeat the task (e.g. students switch groups)
3. Consciousness-raising activities.
4. Students listen to a recording or watch a clip of fluent
speakers doing the same task, and compare their
tasks with theirs.
5. Teacher gives feedback and evaluates the success of
the task.
Merits and Demerits
The Advantages (Merits):
• TBLT is applicable and suitable for students of all ages and
backgrounds.
• Students will have a much more varied exposure to
language with TBLT.
• Students are free to use whatever vocabulary and
grammar they know, rather than just the target language of
the lesson.
• TBLT helps students pay close attention to the relationship
between form and meaning.
• TBLT allows meaningful communication.
• Students will be exposed to a whole range of lexical
phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language
forms.
• Encourages students to be more ambitious in the
language they use.
• The psychological dynamics of the group which works
together to complete a task will have a great influence on
the success.
The Disadvantages (Demerits):
• TBLT requires a high level of creativity and initiative on the
part of the task.
• There is a risk for learners to achieve fluency at the expense
of accuracy.
• TBLT requires resources beyond the textbooks and related
materials usually found in language classrooms.