Task based language teaching

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Task-Based Language Teaching: Sorting Out the Misunderstandings Rod Ellis Department of Applied language Studies and Lingu...

Scoping my talk <ul><li>Defining and classifying ‘tasks’ </li></ul><ul><li>Defining ‘task-based language teaching’ </li></...

PART ONE <ul><li>Defining and classifying ‘tasks’. </li></ul>

What is a task? <ul><li>A task is goal directed. </li></ul><ul><li>A task involves a primary focus on meaning. </li></ul><...

Types of Tasks <ul><li>Unfocused tasks </li></ul><ul><li>a. Pedagogic </li></ul><ul><li>b. Real world </li></ul><ul><li>...

An example of a pedagogic unfocused task <ul><li>Four students – each has one picture and describes it to the rest of the ...

Example of a real-world unfocused task <ul><li>Look at the e-mail message below. Listen to Mr. </li></ul><ul><li>Pointer’...

An example of a focused task <ul><li>You are the owner of a private language school and have advertised for a new English ...

Types of focused tasks <ul><li>Structure-based production tasks </li></ul><ul><li>Structure-based comprehension tasks </li...

Tasks and the four language skills <ul><li>A common misunderstanding of task-based instruction is that it necessarily invo...

PART TWO <ul><li>Defining ‘task-based language teaching’ </li></ul><ul><li>(TBLT) </li></ul>

What is ‘task-based language teaching’? <ul><li>TBLT is an approach to teaching a second/foreign language that seeks to en...

Focus on forms vs. focus on form <ul><li>1. Focus on forms </li></ul><ul><li>Focus on forms entails the prior selection o...

Three ways of focusing on form <ul><li>Reactive focus on form (error correction) </li></ul><ul><li>Teacher-initiated focus...

Types of Instruction Type Primary Focus Attention to form Focus on forms Form Intensive Task-based – incidental focus on f...

An important distinction <ul><li>1. Task-based language teaching involves ‘focus on form’ (i.e. attention to form occurs ...

Three Types of Task-Based Courses <ul><li>Entirely unfocused tasks (e.g. Prabhu 1987). </li></ul><ul><li>Entirely focused ...

Methodology of task-based language teaching <ul><li>Pre-task (e.g. opportunity for pre-task planning) </li></ul><ul><li>Ma...

Core and peripheral tasks (Mariko Boku) <ul><li>　　　 Core task Peripheral task </li></ul><ul><li>　　　 learner-centered ...

Core and peripheral tasks - sequence <ul><li>C1 P 1 C1 C2 P2 C2 C3 P3 C3 C4 P4 </li></ul>

The TBLT Cavaliers <ul><li>Long (1996) </li></ul><ul><li>Willis (1996) </li></ul><ul><li>Skehan (1998) </li></ul><ul><li>E...

Key Characteristics of TBLT (Swan 2005) <ul><li>‘ Natural’ or ‘naturalistic’ language use </li></ul><ul><li>Learner-centre...

Differences in TBLT approaches Characteristic Long (1996) Skehan (1998) Ellis (2003) Natural language use yes yes yes Lear...

PART THREE <ul><li>Addressing the misunderstandings </li></ul>

The TBLT roundheads <ul><li>Seedhouse (e.g. 1999; 2005) </li></ul><ul><li>Sheen (e.g. 1994; 2003) </li></ul><ul><li>Swan (...

Misunderstanding (1) <ul><li>Seedhouse (1999) argues that the interaction that results from tasks is </li></ul><ul><li>oft...

Response <ul><li>It all depends on the choice of task in </li></ul><ul><li>relation to the developmental level of the </l...

Misunderstanding (2) <ul><li>Seedhouse (2005) argues that ‘task-as-workplan’ has weak construct validity because the inter...

Response <ul><li>This is a serious criticism because, if </li></ul><ul><li>correct, it means that it will be impossible to...

The effects of task characteristics on complexity, accuracy, and fluency (Skehan 2001) Task characteristic Accuracy Comple...

Misunderstanding (3) <ul><li>Sheen (2003) claims that in TBLT there is </li></ul><ul><li>‘ no grammar syllabus’. </li></ul...

Response <ul><li>It is true that in some versions of TBLT (e.g. Long’s </li></ul><ul><li>or Skehan’s) there is no grammar ...

Misunderstanding (4) <ul><li>Sheen(2003) also characterizes TBLT as </li></ul><ul><li>requiring that any treatment of gram...

Response <ul><li>Only Long characterizes focus-on-form as involving brief corrective feedback (recasts). </li></ul><ul><li...

Misunderstanding (5) <ul><li>Sheen (2003) also claims and that in TBLT </li></ul><ul><li>any post-task grammar work is su...

Response <ul><li>In Willis (1996) and Ellis (2003) post-task work on grammar can take a variety of forms, including explic...

Misunderstanding (6) <ul><li>Sheen (2003) claims that ‘the only grammar to be dealt with (in TBLT) is that which causes a ...

Response <ul><li>This again reflects Long’s position not Skehan’s or Ellis’s. </li></ul><ul><li>Long relates attention to ...

Didactic Focus on Form <ul><li>T: What were you doing? </li></ul><ul><li>S: I was in pub </li></ul><ul><li>(2) </li></ul...

Misunderstanding (6) <ul><li>The theoretical rationale for TBLT is typically limited to the acquisition of grammar; vocabu...

Response <ul><li>This is false. There have been a number of studies that have focused on the acquisition of grammar throug...

Misunderstanding (7) <ul><li>TBLT puts the emphasis on output. </li></ul><ul><li>‘ It remains true that TBLT provides lear...

Response <ul><li>This is the most fundamental misunderstanding of TBLT because it assumes that tasks must inevitably invol...

Misunderstanding (8) <ul><li>‘ The thrust of TBLT is to cast the teacher in the role of manager and facilitator of communi...

Response <ul><li>Again, this depends on the version of TBLT one is considering. Swan’s comment is largely true of Long’s ...

Misunderstanding (9) <ul><li>Beginner learners need to be taught grammar because they will not be able to shift attention ...

Response <ul><li>Of course beginner learners will not be able to engage productively in discourse. But this is only a prob...

Misunderstanding (10) <ul><li>Both Sheen and Swan argue that there is no empirical evidence to support either the hypothes...

Response Hypothesis Research The online hypothesis Online attention to form does result in learning (Mackey and Philp 1998...

Response (cont.) <ul><li>Neither Sheen nor Swan make any reference to Prabhu (1987) and Beretta and Davies’ (1985) evaluat...

Part Four <ul><li>Some real problems and their solutions. </li></ul>

Pedagogic problems Problem Solution 1. Teachers often believe that TBLT is not possible with beginners. Teachers need to ...

Problems with the Educational System and Solutions Problems Solutions 1. Emphasis on ‘knowledge learning’ Educational phi...

Conclusions <ul><li>Task-based teaching offers the opportunity for ‘natural’ learning inside the classroom. </li></ul><ul>...

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