Language Teaching Methodology: Task-Based Language Teaching

David Nunan

I am quite sure that people who are reading this post are likely to be aware of the concept of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT). In order to remind you of this so-called “learner-centered approach”, I will share the idea which I got from David Nunan (born 11 October 1949 in Broken Hill, Australia), an Australian linguist who is well known as an expert on the teaching of English. In his book entitles “Task-Based Language Teaching”, Nunan explained the definition about TBLT through the following quotation:

“The task-based approach (upon which the curriculum is built) aims at providing opportunities for learners to experiment with and explore both spoken and written language through learning activities that are designed to engage learners in the authentic, practical and functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Learners are encouraged to activate and use whatever language they already have in the process of completing a task. The use of tasks will also give a clear and purposeful context for the teaching and learning of grammar and other language features as well as skills. The role of task-based language learning is to stimulate a natural desire in learners to improve their language competence by challenging them to complete meaningful tasks”. (CDC, 1999: 41)

The citation above was a quote from Hong Kong Ministry of Education and this becomes one of the proofs that most countries in Asia-Pacific Region claimed that task-based teaching was a central principle driving their English curricula (Nunan, 2003). In reference to the quotation above, it can be said that TBLT is an approach (which is also in the form of curricula) which offers various “target language tasks” which are worked as a facilitation to build learners’ ability to use the target language.

In order to make it clearer, we can see the following principles for TBLT which is written based on what Nunan established on his book.

SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING

Principle 1: SCAFFOLDING

• Lessons and materials should provide supporting frameworks within which the learning takes place. At the beginning of the learning process, learners should not be expected to produce language that has not been introduced either explicitly or implicitly •

A basic role for an educator is to provide a supporting framework within which the learning can take place. This is particularly important in the case of analytical approaches such as TBLT in which the learners will encounter holistic ‘chunks’ of language that will often be beyond their current processing capacity. The ‘art’ of TBLT is knowing when to remove the scaffolding. If the scaffolding is removed prematurely, the learning process will ‘collapse’. If it is maintained too long, the learners will not develop the independence required for autonomous language use.

Principle 2: TASK DEPENDENCY

• Within a lesson, one task should grow out of, and build upon, the ones that have gone before. The task dependency principle is illustrated in the instructional sequence above which shows how each task exploits and builds on the one that has gone before •

In a sense, the sequence tells a ‘pedagogical’ story, as learners are led step by step to the point where they are able to carry out the final pedagogical task in the sequence. Within the task-dependency framework, a number of other principles are in operation. One of these is the receptive-to-productive principle. Here, at the beginning of the instructional cycle, learners spend a greater proportion of time engaged in receptive (listening and reading) tasks than in productive (speaking and writing) tasks. Later in the cycle, the proportion changes, and learners spend more time in productive work. The reproductive-to-creative-language principle is also used in developing chains of tasks. This principle is summarized separately below.

Principle 3: RECYCLING

• Recycling language maximizes opportunities for learning and activates the ‘organic’ learning principle •

An analytical approach to pedagogy is based on the assumption that learning is not an all-or-nothing process, which mastery learning is a misconception, and that learning is piecemeal and inherently unstable. If it is accepted that learners will not achieve one hundred per cent mastery the first time they encounter a particular linguistic item, then it follows that they need to be reintroduced to that item over a period of time. This recycling allows learners to encounter target language items in a range of different environments, both linguistic and experiential. In this way they will see how a particular item functions in conjunction with other closely related items in the linguistic ‘jigsaw puzzle’. They will also see how it functions in relation to different content areas. For example, they will come to see how ‘expressing likes and dislikes’ and ‘yes/no questions with do/does’ function in a range of content areas, from the world of entertainment to the world of food.

Principle 4: ACTIVE LEARNING

• Learners learn best by actively using the language they are learning •

A key principle behind this concept is experiential learning. This approach let learners learn best through doing – through actively constructing their own knowledge rather than having it transmitted to them by the teacher. When applied to language teaching, this suggests that most class time should be devoted to opportunities for learners to use the language. These opportunities could be many and varied, from practicing memorized dialogues to completing a table or chart based on some listening input. The key point, however, is that it is the learner, not the teacher, who is doing the work. This is not to suggest that there is no place at all for teacher input, explanation and so on, but that such teacher-focused work should not dominate class time.

Principle 5: INTEGRATION

• Learners should be taught in ways that make clear the relationships between linguistic form, communicative function and semantic meaning •

Until fairly recently, most approaches to language teaching were based on a synthetic approach in which the linguistic elements – the grammatical, lexical and phonological components – were taught separately. This approach was challenged in the 1980s by proponents of early versions of communicative language teaching who argued that a focus on form was unnecessary, and that all learners needed in order to acquire a language were opportunities to communicate in the language. This led to a split between proponents of form-based instruction and proponents of meaning-based instruction, with proponents of meaning-based instruction arguing that, while a mastery of grammar is fundamental to effective communication, an explicit focus on form is unnecessary. More recently, applied linguists working within the framework of systemic-functional linguistics have argued that the challenge for pedagogy is to ‘reintegrate’ formal and functional aspects of language, and that what is needed is a pedagogy that makes explicit to learners the systematic relationships between form, function and meaning.

Principle 6: REPRODUCTION TO CREATION

• Learners should be encouraged to move from reproductive to creative language use •

In reproductive tasks, learners reproduce language models provided by the teacher, the textbook or the tape. These tasks are designed to give learners mastery of form, meaning and function, and are intended to provide a basis for creative tasks. In creative tasks, learners are recombining familiar elements in novel ways. This principle can be deployed not only with students who are at intermediate levels and above but also with beginners if the instructional process is carefully sequenced.

Principle 7: REFLECTION

• Learners should be given opportunities to reflect on what they have learned and how well they are doing •

Becoming a reflective learner is part of learner training where the focus shifts from language content to learning processes. Strictly speaking, learning-how-to-learn does not have a more privileged place in one particular approach to pedagogy than in any other. However, I feel this reflective element has a particular affinity with task-based language teaching. TBLT introduces learners to a broad array of pedagogical undertakings, each of which is underpinned by at least one strategy. Research suggests that learners who are aware of the strategies driving their learning will be better learners. Additionally, for learners who have done most of their learning in ‘traditional’ classrooms, TBLT can be mystifying and even alienating, leading them to ask, ‘Why are we doing this?’ Adding a reflective element to teaching can help learners see the rationale for the new approach.

(For Language Teacher: try to evaluate the materials or textbook you are currently using or one that you are familiar with in terms of the seven principles written in this blog)

REFERENCE

CDC. (1999). Syllabuses for Secondary Schools: English language secondary 1–5. Hong Kong: Curriculum Development Council, Education Department.

Nunan, D. (2003). The impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 4, Winter 2003.

Nunan, David. (2004). Task-Based Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press.

PICTURE

http://tesolforum.edublogs.org/files/2010/06/David_Nunan_Photo.jpg