Task based language teaching

Profesora Estudiante
Aparicio Nahír Pérez Yicel

Consist in
learning from
the process.
Assure greater
Involves different skills
motivation of young
and knowledge.
learners.

Tasks: posters, Children’s autonomy,
murals, drawings, their likes are taken
crafts, paintings, etc. into account.

The teacher
Work in
guide. Not a
groups.
strict teacher.

Skehan (1996):
“Tasks […] are activities which have meaning as
their primary focus. Success in tasks is evaluated
in terms of achievement of an outcome, and
tasks generally bear some resemblance to real-
life language use. So task-based instruction
takes a fairly strong view of communicative
language teaching.”

Nunan (1989) describes the communicative tasks “
as a piece of classroom work which involves learners
in comprehending, manipulating, producing or
interacting in the target language while their
attention is primarily focused on meaning rather
than form. The task should also have sense of
completeness, being able to stand alone as a
communicative act in its own right”

The focus is on the process rather than the product.

Basic elements are porposeful activities and tasks that emphasizes
communication and meaning.

Learners learn language by interascting communicatively and
purposefully while engaged in activities and tasks.

Activities and tasks can be either:

• Those that learnes might need to achieve in real life;

• Those that have a pedagogical porpuse specific to the classroom.

Activities and task of a task-based syllabus are sequenced according
to difficulty.

Language is primarily a means of making meaning:
TBLT emphasizes the central role of meaning in
language use.

Multiples models of language inform task based instruction:
Advocates of task based instruction draw on structural,
functional and interactional models of language.

Lexical units are central in language use and language
learning: vocabulary is used to include the consideration of
lexical phrases, sentences, stems, prefabricated routines,
and collocations, and not only words.

“Conversation” is the central focus of language and the
keystone of language acquisition: the majority of task that
are proposed within TBLT involve conversation.

Tasks provides both the
input and output
processing necesary for
language acquisition.

Tasks activity and
achievement are
motivational.

Learning difficulty can
be negociated and
finetuned for particular
pedagogical porpuses.

The teacher helps students to
understand the theme and
objectives of the task, for
example, brainstorming ideas Students can be given
with the class, using pictures, preparation time to think about
mime, or personal experience to how to do the task.
introduce the topic.
Students can hear a recording of
Students may do a pretask, for a parallel task being done (so
example, topic-based, odd-word- long as this does not give away
out games. the solution to the problem).
The teachers may highlight useful
words and phrases, but would not If the task is based on a
pre-teach new structures. text, students read a part of it.

The task is done by students (in pairs or groups) and gives students a
chance to use whatever language they already have to express themselves
and say whatever they want to say. This may be in response to reading a
text or hearing a recording.

The teacher walks around and
The emphasis is on
monitors, encouraging in a
spontaneous, exploratory talk and
supportive way everyone’s
confidence building, within the
attempt at communication in the
privacy of the small group.
target language.

The teacher helps students to
Success in achieving the goals of
formulate what they want to say,
the tasks helps students’
but will not intervene to correct
motivation.
errors of form.

Planning prepares for the next If the reports are in writing, the
stage, when students are asked to teacher can encourage peer-
report briefly to the whole class editing and use of dictionaries.
how they did the task and what
the outcome was. The emphasis is on clarity,
organization, and accuracy, as
Students draft and rehearse what appropriate for a public
they want to say or write. presentation.

The teacher goes around to advise
Individual students often take this
students on language, suggesting
chance to ask questions about
phrases and helping students to
specific language items.
polish and correct their language.

The teacher asks some pairs to
report briefly to the whole class so
everyone can compare findings, or
begin a survey. Sometimes only
one or two groups report in full;
others comment and add extra
points. The class may take notes.

The teacher seats, comments on the
content of their reports, rephrases
perhaps, but gives no overt public
correction.

Students listen to a
recording of fluent speakers
doing the same task, and
compared the way in which
they did the task
themselves.

Task based language teaching

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Task based language teaching