Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 594

Proceedings of the 2021 3rd International Conference on Literature, Art and

Human Development (ICLAHD 2021)

Arguments for and Against Using Task-based

Approach to Foreign Language Teaching
The Appropriation of TBLT Adapt in the Chinese Context
Xiang Ji1* Lu Li1
1
School of Social Science and Public Policy, KING’S college London, Stamford St, London SE1 9NH, England
*Corresponding author. Email: xiang.ji@kcl.ac.uk

ABSTRACT
The need to enhance students' communicative competence has grown in recent years, and instructional strategies like
conventional pedagogy aren't meeting learner's needs. Thus, English school introduced and implemented Task-Based
Language Teaching (TBLT). This article is going to define the concepts 'task' and 'task-based language teaching' and
analyse the benefits and drawbacks of implementing the strategy, particularly its applicability in Chinese contexts. We
have discovered three results and will discuss them in this paper: (1) tasks provide sufficient input for learners to
achieve the communicative outcome through interaction with others; (2) authentic contexts and practices instil
motivation and confidence for language learners, as the teacher makes overt corrections without intervening with the
conversation. (3) TBLT assists learners in developing their communicative abilities and cognitive processes, enabling
them to communicate fluently with others. These findings add to the growing body of research demonstrating the
potential of TBLT for language learning. However, the results also indicate that TBLT is not universally adopted in
Chinese contexts, as the Chinese teaching concept is exam-oriented, form-focused, and grammar-centred. As a result,
teachers must incorporate traditional language-based approaches with the TBLT approach to ensure that learners
succeed in their language learning.

Keywords: TBLT, pedagogy, communicative competence, Chinese context.

the classroom through collaborating, discussing and

1. INTRODUCTION
engaging with their peers [2]. Additionally, Skehan
Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) a learner- identified five characteristics of activities [3]. To begin,
centred teaching method has become more prevalent in it is a meaning-based approach that emphasizes the
syllabus design, classroom teaching, and learner semantic and pragmatic levels of discourse. Moreover,
assessment worldwide [1]. This paper discusses the such communication issues involve completing
application of the TBLT method in the Chinese assignments, which requires students to have active
language teaching context. Firstly, the paper addresses communication with their partners to complete the set
the terms "task" and "task-based language instruction", task. For instance, one student can inquire about the
then examines the efficacy and challenges of location of the school library and during the exercise
introducing TBLT in English language teaching in session, they must communicate and receive
China. In the end, the paper concludes that TBLT is not information to demonstrate the direction, thus increasing
entirely acceptable for the Chinese environment and their communicative competence. Furthermore, tasks
recommending an alternative solution. are designed to be analogous to real-world events, and
the success of completing the task can motivate students
2. WHAT IS A ‘TASK’? to perform in real situations more confidently. A
communicative activity entails bridging a gap, such as
To better describe TBLT, we need to clarify the an information gap, a reasoning gap, or an opinion gap.
concept of the 'task' to have a firm grasp of the concept. learners must seek and interpret information from the
Willis defines the task as a means that students exercise provided knowledge and conversation to achieve the
target language to achieve communicative outcomes in

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license -http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. 305
 Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 594

goals. Ordering food, scheduling an appointment, or the meanings of TBLT may slightly vary from different
resolving an issue are both examples of tasks. scholars, the following parts of this article will rely on
Willis's version of TBLT.
Additionally, Ellis expands on Skehan's description
by listing six characteristics of tasks [4]. To simplify
those features, a task is a work plan that emphasizes the 4. TBLT TEACHING PROCEDURES
means of expression. Also, it aims for a communicative When planning courses based on the TBLT
result that incorporates all four language skills principle, teachers need to consider the procedures of
(speaking, listening, reading, and writing) and learners' the tasks. Numerous researchers have suggested a
cognitive processes. In brief, the job is oriented towards variety of different designs [2][3][5], however, they all
expressing meaning rather than rote memorisation of a share a similar principle that the TBLT teaching method
language's form and structure. Students develop a should divide into three phases: 'pre-task, task cycle,
variety of communicative skills when they practise and post-task', which emphasise on interpretation, rather
classroom tasks, allowing them to communicate their than on linguistic shape or structure. Teachers need to
thoughts and strengthen their cognitive processes. have clear goals for the outcomes to plan and assign
tasks to students.
3. DEFINITION OF ‘TASK-BASED
LANGUAGE TEACHING’ (TBLT) Willis popularised the TBL paradigm by dividing
tasks into three components: pre-task, task cycle, and
At its core, TBLT is a meaning-centred approach to language focus [2]. The pre-task stage involves subject-
teach students how to use the target language to have a related lexical resources preparations and the
meaningful and authentic conversation. Prabhu explanation of the desired goals to assist learners to
pioneered the introduction of TBLT in the 1980s, develop an understanding of the learning process. The
describing language learning as an implicit mechanism second stage - task cycle consists of three aspects as
that is best encouraged by the preoccupation with well. They are the task component, the preparation
meaning, saying, and doing [5]. He suggests that tasks phase, and the reporting phase. Learners will share their
in a classroom can stimulate learners' cognitive learning experience through written essays or
processes and natural mechanisms in second language presentations with their classmates on their learning
learning. He classified the mission into three categories: process and the linguistic and non-linguistic knowledge
information-gap activity, and reasoning-gap activity, and skills they have acquired. During the learning
and opinion-gap activity. An information gap occurs as process, teachers mainly focus on monitoring and
one partner exchanges information with another in assisting the students instead of directing or obstructing
communication. To accomplish the goals, students must students' activities. The final stage focuses on language
be capable of communicating accurate information. study and instruction, where learners explore basic
During the problem-solving process, students need to aspects of the text and practice new vocabulary,
use their reasoning skills to determine the existence of sentences, and forms. These three phases result in
an event from existing knowledge or to infer new students with adequate linguistic resources, for example,
information to bridge reasoning gaps. For instance, the A2 or B1 level students (see appendix1), are more
teacher might ask students to schedule a trip and justify capable of expressing more complicated thoughts in the
their choice. Opinion-gap activities often begin with a target language, which is extremely difficult to
subject with learners articulating their interests, beliefs, accommodate in mixed proficiency or all-aged groups'
opinions, or attitudes. Language learners usually have teaching contexts.
reached a certain level of proficiency at this point. The
objective is to develop learners' capacity for logical 5. ADVANTAGES OF TBLT
thought.
There are three primary benefits of TBLT as a
TBLT is a cutting-edge pedagogy that places a regular English teaching pedagogy in school
premium on achieving positive communicative environments. According to Prabhu, language
outcomes, emphasising verbal abilities and cognitive acquisition is an implicit mechanism that involves
processes [2]. The tasks aim to encourage learners to accidental learning [5]. Since TBLT encourages
utilise the target language in real-world scenarios [4]. engagements among learners during the study, it creates
TBLT is a learner-centred and experiential pedagogical implicit learning opportunities, specifically in the
approach, as described by East [6]. TBLT tasks can context of teamwork, collaboration, and conversation.
accelerate language learning by engaging learners in
authentic communicative contexts. As stated previously, Second, the three-phase approach of the TBLT
TBLT is a pedagogical technique that balances fluency method exposes students to an abundance of linguistic
and complexity in communicative experiences, thus content, creating meaningful language outcomes [2].
increasing learners' confidence in learning and These environments are essential for language
implementing the target language. Keeping in mind that learning/acquisition. Throughout the task, students can

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obtain topic-related materials in a variety of formats, grammatical information is not adequately developed.
including posts, video clips, messages, and audio. It Another criticism is that TBLT is that students at the
exposes them to four main language skills (listening, beginning of their language learning journey would lack
hearing, communicating, and writing), thus providing sufficient vocabulary to complete communicative
them with the language resources needed to construct activities [13]. Teachers, on the other hand, might have
their linguistic reserves [7]. issues over devising a task-oriented syllabus, as they
don't always have the freedom to choose their own
Thirdly, tasks provide a more conducive
materials based on the needs of creating task-based
environment for language learning than conventional
programs, especially in certain countries where the
pedagogies such as grammar-translation and audio-
syllabus is predetermined [9].
lingual approaches, in which the tutor is seen as the
authoritative figure and doesn't encourage learners to Another critique is the assessment, as TBLT does
communicate with classmates during the learning not emphasise language proficiency improvement [14].
process. Thus, the benefit of TBLT from a pedagogical Avoiding English and placing limited demands on
standpoint is that learners are inspired to utilise their language competence can pose difficulties in exam-
linguistic skills to express their opinions freely while oriented teaching contexts where linguistic elements
applying the target language, which fosters constructive such as grammatical rules and lexical variety are
collaboration opportunities during the task's completion. critical. Additionally, as the communicative result can
be assessed and improved, it is beneficial for students to
Correspondingly, there is significant support for
review their study progress, comprehension and
TBLT concepts in SLA research. Luo and Gong note
language skills [15].
that students who exposed to efficient team activities
during language learning, tend to excel more in their
target language performance [8]. Furthermore, TBLT is 7. APPROPRIATENESS OF TBLT IN THE
consistent with studies on second language learning, CHINESE CONTEXT
which demonstrates that language acquisition requires
While some educators and educational authorities in
intelligible input and substantive output [9].
China started implementing TBLT in the 1990s, TBLT
Besides this, authentic tasks recreate real-world has not been applied universally and accepted by
scenarios in the classroom, allowing and inspiring schools in China for a variety of reasons [16].
students to foster an interest in language learning [10].
One potential issue with applying TBLT in Chinese
As Richards points out, TBLT emphasises developing
contexts is that the method was originally intended for
learners' communicative capacity to accomplish the
second language teaching rather than foreign language
goals in communication [11]. The challenge creates a
instruction [17]. Thus, fully adapting the TBLT
real need for students to express themselves in the
approach in the classroom may not provide sufficient
conversation using the target language in a genuine
linguistic resources for learners to interact efficiently
situation. Therefore, TBLT based on SLA study has
with other students due to mispronunciation, lack of
shown great benefits on language learning. However,
vocabulary, and wrong grammar.
there are some challenges while adapting the method in
classroom teaching. The following segment addresses Additionally, Chinese students lack faith in their
these objections. ability to participate in communicative practices [18].
TBLT, on the other hand, allows learners to take the
6. CRITICISMS OF TBLT lead in communicative interaction to make use of prior
language capital. Furthermore, teachers' poor language
While TBLT has been introduced decades ago, proficiency limit the potential of the TBLT and
many teachers still use conventional pedagogy as their contribute to the failure of this language teaching
main teaching approach and may even reject TBLT. For method [19]. For instance, Zhang conducted a
instance, Foster points out some disadvantages that qualitative case study with Guangdong primary school
regard to TBLT and its implementation in teachers and witnessed teachers' adaption of TBLT in
second/foreign language classes may create potential the classroom [20]. Teachers, it turned out, did not
problems due to its emphasis on fluency over accuracy conflate assignments and goals in their language
[12]. Occasionally, non-verbal cues such as eye contact, teaching. One of the issues contributing to this
intonation, and body expression are overemphasised and widespread misunderstanding is the absence of an
precise utterance is considered less important in some authoritative manual and instructions on the use of
situations. As a result, learners would be discouraged TBLT in school settings [21]. As a result, teachers have
from speaking in the target language using well-formed trouble grasping the concept and implementing
sentences. communicative practices in the language classroom.
Additionally, TBLT can be inadequate for learners To better implement TBLT in language teaching,
to acquire correct language forms because clear some local educational authorities in China have

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attempted to conduct a series of training seminars in contexts. As discussed previously, tasks provide enough
numerous provinces to address the challenges with feedback for learners to achieve communicative results
tutorial classes, teaching practice, TBLT content, by interacting with others. Second, authentic contexts
textbook instruction, and presentations on TBLT, and activities increase language learners' enthusiasm
However, the results are little as these training sessions and confidence in using the target language, as the tutor
lack follow-up practice and further support [16]. Thus, provides corrections implicitly without interfering with
teachers are likely to stick to the practice instructional the students’ learnings and discussions. Thirdly, TBLT
strategies such as Present-Practice-Produce (PPP) and helps to strengthen learners' communicative skills and
the Grammar-translation process (GTM). cognitive mechanisms for them to interact fluently with
others. It is not widely accepted in Chinese contexts,
Additionally, integrating TBLT in countries with a
however, since the teaching concept is based on exam-
different educational culture than Western countries can
oriented, form-focused, and grammar-centred teaching
be challenging. English education in Asia is
concepts. As a result, teachers must combine
characterised as an examination-driven educational
conventional language-based techniques with the TBLT
culture. Chinese examinations focus on language
approach to aid learners' language acquisition success.
proficiency and translating abilities, and the Gaokao
(college entrance examination) does not measure
communicative competence [21]. As a result, both
AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS
teachers and students are driven by the success of Xiang Ji conceived of the presented idea and
achieving high scores in Gaokao instead of developing performed the results. Lu Li encouraged Xiang Ji to
communicative competence. investigate the appropriateness of TBLT in the Chinese
In terms of learning philosophy, some students, context and supervised the findings of this work. All
especially those at the beginner level, may find it authors discussed the results and contributed to the final
difficult to follow TBLT. In standard English classes, manuscript.
students are not required to achieve communicative
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