The Significance of Task―Based Language Teaching in an EFL Context

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Abstract： With the development of the communicative teaching approach， task-based language teaching （TBLT） has aroused the interest of many ESL/EFL teachers. Using TBLT could make learners be able to communicate more effectively in English.

Key words： Task-based language teaching； significance； EFL context； Communicative language teaching

中图分类号：G718 文献标识码：C DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672-8181.2013.18.063

1 Introduction

This paper firstly illustrates detailed teaching approaches and implications of how to implement TBLT in an effective way. Following that， it discusses some of the challenges and difficulties teachers may face when using TBLT.

2 Teaching Methods and Implications for task-based Teaching

At present， most countries’ teaching syllabus and curriculum standards have adopted TBLT due to its immense advantages. Task design should be interesting and authentic and connected to the real life of students （Estaire， 1994）. If tasks are detached from the students’ real life， they will not evoke students’ learning interest. Various designs of task-based lessons have three principal phases including pre-task， task cycle and language focus （Willis，1996）. The first phase is pre-task， which is to explain the purpose and utility of the task to students. The task cycle is the core part of TBLT. In this step， Lee （cited in Ellis， 20003） strongly advocates time limits. Many researchers （Stiggins， 1998） demonstrated that students would use the time to revise their utterances without time pressure. These points are very relevant to me. I recall a situation in my first few English-teaching classes when I had little experience in language teaching and paid less attention to time limits during the phase of task cycle. When going over the text named "Three bears" in New Standard English， I designed a task， which involved the students in acting out their favorite characters. Interestingly， the students scrambled for acting as the mother bear， the father bear and the baby bear. But I forgot to set the time limit and after they finished the task， most of them changed their attention to something else because there was no time to highlight the language features of the story and that class was unfortunately a failure.

3 Challenges and difficulties of Using Task-Based Teaching

According to Littlewood （2007）， many teachers have difficulty dealing with the relationships between the need to control and the need to facilitate task-related work when conducting TBLT in big classes with large numbers of students within the limited time. Secondly， Littlewood （2007） claims that students are apt to rely on their mother tongue or use simple strategies which make fewer language demands to resolve problems.

In many cases， efl teachers themselves lack confidence and admit that their own proficiency is not sufficient to conduct communication activities or manage students’ unforeseen needs.

In addition， from an EFL teacher’s point of view， I notice that the group allocation is essential and students should be grouped according to practical situation， which refers to the students’ relationships， interests， personalities and their achievements in the process of applying TBLT. When students are engaged in independent， task-related work， I have difficulty resolving the need for teacher control and the need to facilitate pupil-centered learning and I am always concerned about the amount of noise and lack of discipline during TBLT activities. Furthermore， when I organize TBLT， some students just sit there idling their time and some students who have already known most of the information required are able to complete an assigned survey task in silence. Consequently， I have to pull them back to grammar and exercise activities. To sum up， teachers should be aware of these practical issues when using TBLT thereby enhancing quality of teaching.

4 Conclusion

In conclusion， as teachers become more and more aware of significance of TBLT， it is hoped that TBLT will be applied more widely and teachers should explore TBLT in their classes and they need to adapt new ideas and develop methodologies which are suitable to their own specific situations.

References：

[1]Ellis， R. Understanding Second Language Acquisition [M]. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 1995.

[2]Ellis， R. The methodology of task-based teaching. In Task-based Language Learning and Teaching [M]. Oxford： Oxford University Press， 2003：243-278.

[3]Estaire， S. and Zanon， J. Planning Classwork： A task-based Approach [M]. Oxford： MacMillan Heinemann， 1994.

[4]Littlewood W. Communicative and Task-based Language Teaching in East Asian Classrooms [J]. Lang. Teach. 2007，（40）：243-249.

[5]Stiggins， R. Teaching to the （Authentic） Test [J]. Educational Leadership， 1998，42（5）：42-48.

[6]Willis， J. A Framework for Task-Based Learning [M]. London： Longman， 1996.

作者简介：徐菲菲，教育硕士，研究方向为英语教育，江苏省宿豫中等专业学校，江苏宿迁 223800