Winner - British Council Innovation in English Language Teaching Award 2006 This book was written for language teachers by language teachers, with a view to encouraging readers to use more tasks in their lessons, and to explore for themselves various aspects of task-based teaching and learning. It gives insights into ways in which tasks can be designed, adapted and implemented in a range of teaching contexts and illustrates ways in which tasks and task-based learning can be investigated as a research activity. Practising language teachers and student professionals on MA TESOL/Applied Linguistics courses will find this a rich resource of varied experience in the classroom and a stimulus to their own qualitative studies.
This volume extends the Task-Based Language Teaching: Issues, Research and Practice books series by deliberately exploring the potential of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in a range of EFL contexts. It is specifically devoted to providing empirical accounts about how TBLT practice is being developed and researched in diverse educational contexts, particularly where English is not the dominant language. By including contributions from settings as varied as Japan, China, Korea, Venezuela, Turkey, Spain, and France, this collection of 13 studies provides strong indications that the research and implementation of TBLT in EFL settings is both on the rise and interestingly diverse, not least because it must respond to the distinct contexts, constraints, and possibilities of foreign language learning. The book will be of interest to SLA researchers and students in applied linguistics and TESOL. It will also be of value to course designers and language teachers who come from a broad range of formal and informal educational settings encompassing a wide range of ages and types of language learners.
This book offers an in-depth explanation of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and the methods necessary to implement it in the language classroom successfully. Combines a survey of theory and research in instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) with insights from language teaching and the philosophy of education Details best practice for TBLT programs, including discussion of learner needs and means analysis; syllabus design; materials writing; choice of methodological principles and pedagogic procedures; criterion-referenced, task-based performance assessment; and program evaluation Written by an esteemed scholar of second language acquisition with over 30 years of research and classroom experience Considers diffusion of innovation in education and the potential impact of TBLT on foreign and second language learning
This book is based on educational research conducted by the Confucius Institute for Innovation and Learning at Aalborg University. It aims to bridge the gap between the traditional methods of teaching Chinese and the student-centred learning method in a non-native context such as Denmark. The establishment of a conceptual framework for Task-Based PBL offers an alternative approach that encourages innovative teaching practices and promotes research-based teaching in language education. Empirically, this book reports how teachers designed and conducted tasks, how the classroom setting was affected, and how students evaluated the course. Teachers’ reflections and recommendations are included, along with 20 ready-to-use tasks developed by our teachers to disseminate our experiences and methods with a broad range of teachers, students and educational contexts. This book suggests that the effectiveness of new teaching methods and the initiation of new subjects are contextual. Learning a foreign language (e.g. Chinese) is more than language acquisition; it is also understanding other cultures and participating in intercultural interaction and communication. Thus, education and learning (particularly a foreign language) is related to a broader social transformation in the process of globalisation and in the development towards a knowledge society.
Task-based language instruction has proven to be highly effective, but surprisingly underutilized. Theory can only go so far and hands-on experience can greatly speed and enhance the learning of a second language. Nineteen talented instructors who have successfully implemented task-based programs explain the principles behind the programs, discuss how problems were resolved, and share details on class activities and program design. Each chapter takes the reader through the different stages in designing and setting up such programs, adjusting them, and appraising and testing them in normal classroom conditions. This book covers TBI syllabus and program design and is based on actual classroom experience. Any one of the courses or programs discussed can serve as models for others. Many of the contributors are highly respected practitioners who are presenting their programs for the first time, while others are regular participants in today's ongoing dialogue about teaching methods. Full of concrete, adaptable models of task-based language teaching drawn from a number of countries and eleven different languages—including Arabic, Chinese, Czech, English, French, German, Korean, Spanish, and Ukrainian—Task-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education presents proven, real-world, practical courses and programs; and includes web-based activities. It demonstrates useful and practical ways to engage students far beyond what can be learned from reading textbook dialogue. TBI involves the student directly with the language being taught via cognitively engaging activities that reflect authentic and purposeful use of language, resulting in language-learning experiences that are pleasurable and effective. For all instructors seeking to help their learners enhance their understanding and grasp of the foreign language they are learning, Task-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education is a rich and rewarding hands-on guide to effective and transformative learning.
Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been gaining momentum around the world during the past twenty years. However, particularly lacking in the body of available publications on TBLT is empirical evidence of the actual activity, interaction and learning processes that tasks give rise to in real classrooms. This volume compiles a number of studies that describe what learners and teachers, in various educational contexts, actually do when they are asked to perform tasks as part of their regular classroom activity. As such, the volume provides valuable new insights into the implementation of task-based language teaching and vividly illustrates how classroom practice can inform future theory-building and research on TBLT. All the chapters in this book are based on papers that were presented during the first International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching, which was organised in Leuven in September 2005 by the Centre for Language and Education of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
