Task Based Language Learning

What is Task Based Language Learning?

Task-based language teaching focuses on the

use of authentic language and on asking
students to do meaningful tasks using the
target language
Calls for students active participation in pair
and group work.
 Defining tasks

“TASKS are activities where the target language

is used by the learner for a communicative
purpose (goal) in order to achieve an
outcome” as defined by Willis.
 Task as an Everyday Piece of Work

Long (1985) defined a task as “… a piece of

work undertaken for oneself or for others,
freely or for some reward . . . By ‘task’ is
meant the hundred and one things people do
in everyday life, at work, at play, and in
between”
 Task as a Behavioral Framework for Classroom Learning

In an instructional setting, following Vygotskian

concepts, a task consists of the instructions or directions
that the teacher gives students for learning—that is, the
behavioral blueprint provided to students in order to
elicit learning. In this context, an activity is what
students actually do with these instructions, that is, the
behavior (regardless of whether it is overtly observable
or purely mental) that occurs when students perform a
task that has been presented to them.
 There are many viewpoints about and
definitions of task.
• Initially the definitions involved a piece of
work, everyday activity, job responsibility, or
general activity for learners. In L2 teaching
and learning, task is now often viewed as an
outcome oriented instructional segment or as
a behavioral framework for research or
classroom learning.
Tasks have a specified objectives that must be
achieved, often in a given time. They are’ goal-
oriented’ . In other words , the emphasis is on
understanding and conveying the meanings in
order to complete the task successfully .When
the learners do the task, they use language in
a meaningful way.
All tasks should have an outcome.
Some examples follow. The first would be
suitable for beginners learning English
(instructions could be given in L1), since most
of the words are internationally known
All these are English words. How many ways
can you classify them?

hotel football taxi disco jeans

sandwich tennis music
hamburger video internet goal
museum Pepsi dollar basketball
radio computer
Think of a teacher from your early schooldays whom
you remember well.

Write down three things you remember about

him or her. Then, in pairs, tell each other
about them. Try to find two things your
teachers had in common.
One topic can give rise to a number of different tasks,
and these might be linked in order to provide a
thematic `unit' of study.
For example, the topic `Families' could, depending
on the level of your students, give rise to:
 Family survey: find out if there are more males
than females in your partner's family.
 Memory challenge: show your partner a
photograph of your family. Tell them the names of
five or six people in your family, including those in
the photo. Turn the photo over. How many can they
remember? And what relation are they to you?
• Family birthdays: tell your partner all the family
birthdays you can remember. Do any of their
family have birthdays in the same month or on the
same day? Make groups of six and do the same.
• Find out what kinds of work people in your
partner’s family (past and present) do, hope to do
or have done. Write a list to help you remember.
Compare with people in your family. Do they have
anything in common?
• It is important to note that each of the above
tasks has an identifiable outcome, and a goal
to be achieved that can be shared: a list of
categories for ‘international’ words, two
things the teachers had in common, the
number of questions answered, a survey
result to report, a memory challenge
completed.
 Practice activities
• Tasks – as defined above – do not include activities which
involve language use for practice or display, such as
‘Describe the picture using some of the phrases below.’
Or ‘Ask your partner if he likes the foods below using the
forms ‘Do you like’ ‘Yes I do,’ ‘No I don’t.’ or role-plays
which are pre-scripted, where there is no outcome or
purpose other than practicing pre-specified language.
These might make perfectly good practice activities but
they would not count as tasks, as here the main focus is
on using particular forms, not exchanging meanings to
achieve an outcome.
 Seven types of tasks:

• Listing, Ordering & Sorting (sequencing,

ranking, classifying)
• Matching
• Comparing
• Problem solving
• Sharing personal experiences
• Projects
• Creative tasks.
 Types of tasks 1. Listing

• Brainstorming
• Fact-finding
• Games based on listing: quizzes, memory and
guessing.
Outcome: Completed list or draft mind map.
 Types of tasks 2. Ordering and sorting

• sequencing
• ranking
• categorising
• classifying
Outcome: Set of information ordered and sorted
according to specified criteria
 Types of tasks 3. Comparing

• matching
• finding similarities
• finding differences
Outcome: Could be items appropriately
matched or assembled, or the identification of
similarities and/or differences
 Types of tasks 4. Problem solving

• reasoning
• decision making
• analysing real situations
• analysing hypothetical situations
Outcome: Solutions to the problem, which can
then be evaluated.
 Types of tasks 5. Sharing personal experiences

• exploring and explaining attitudes, opinions,

reactions
• narrating
• describing
• story telling
• anecdotes
Outcome: Largely social.
Types of tasks 6. Projects and Creative Tasks

• Newspaper
• Posters
• Survey fantasy
Outcome: End product which can be
appreciated by a wider audience
 Components of the TBL framework
Pre-task Introduction to topic and task
Teacher explores the topic with the class, highlights useful words and
phrases. Help students understand task instructions and prepare .
Learners may be exposed to examples.
The task cycle Task
Students do the task in pairs or small groups. Teacher monitors; mistakes
do not matter.
Planning
Students prepare to report. Accuracy is important, so the teacher stands
by and gives advice.
Report
Students exchange or present report. Teacher listens and then
comments.
Language focus Analysis
Students examine and discuss specific features of the text or transcript
of the recording .
Practice
Teacher conducts practice of new words, phrases and patterns
occurring in the data ,either during or after analysis
 Lesson plan
Task Based Language Learning
Steps Aims Procedure Interaction Time

Pre task. To introduce the topic Ask students to discuss the questions in Ex 1.and Whole class 0-5 min
guess what is the text about
Students report answers

Task Students read the text and Students read the text carefully. Pairs 10 mins
answer the questions Ask each other any unfamiliar words. T monitors
Check the answer for the following questions
a)What is the environment?
b) What is waste?
c)Why Reduce, Reuse and Recycle? D)How
will the three R’s rule help us save the
environment?

Planning Students write the Tells the students to write the answers Pairs. 10mins
answers and and compare with a partner T monitors and makes
suggestions
compare
Steps Aims Procedure Interac Time
tion
Report Students read out their Each pair reports to the whole class. Other Whole 10min
answers to the rest of the students listen and may ask questions class s
class

Language Complete the Teacher tells the students to complete Individu 10

focus sentences from the the sentences from the text al mins
Analysis text 1) You will save enough energy to run
and a TV for three hours.
practice 2) You__________ save 10 million
liters of water a day.
3) One ton of recycled paper______
let wild birds die.
4) How _____ the three R’s rule save
the environment?
Listen and repeat Students work on intonation
Ex 6

Describing the Tells students to look at the pictures

results of situations to write down as many results of the
situations as possible. Use the verbs
will or won’t.
• The task I chose for the plan was adapted from a textbook О.
Р. Балута, Ч. А. Абдышева,
Г. Д. Назарбекова, А. А. Жолчиева, “ АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК 6”
.
 Pros:

• provides practical linguistic skill building

• motivates and engages students
• learn language through problem solving.
• An approach to teaching a second language that
seeks to engage learners in interactive authentic
language use by having them perform a series of
tasks.
• Calls for students' active participation in pair or
group work
 Cons:

• no acquisition of new grammar or vocabulary

features
• some students need more guidance and may
become lost
• students may use native language rather than
target language on tasks
 Teacher Role:

• acts as facilitator and guide

• builds background knowledge
• identifies learners' needs and sets appropriate
tasks
 Student Role:

• participators, risk takers, and innovators

• speak among themselves to organize and
complete tasks
• prepare written or oral report to present
• responsible for selecting appropriate language
for the context
 Theory

1. Language is primarily a means of making meaning.

2. Multiple models of language inform task-based
learning.
3. "Conversation" is the central focus of language
and the keystone to language acquisition.
4. Teacher uses a variety of linguistic forms based on
the task.
5. The focus is on task completion rather than on the
language used in the process.
 Conclusion
A task- based approach aims to provide learners with a natural context
for language use. As learners work to complete a task, they have
abundant opportunity to interact. Such interaction is thought to
facilitate language acquisition as learners have to work to understand
each other and to express their own meaning. By so doing, they have to
check to see if they have comprehended correctly and, at times, they
have to seek clarification. By interacting with others, they get to listen
to language which may be beyond their present ability, but which may
be assimilated into their knowledge of the target language for use at a
later time. As Candlin and Murphy (1987: 1) note, 'The central purpose
we are concerned with is language learning, and tasks present this in
the form of a problem-solving negotiation between knowledge that the
learner holds and new knowledge.'
 References

 
1.Edwards, C. and J. Willis (eds) 2005. Teachers Exploring Tasks in ELT.
Palgrave MacMillan. Prize winner - British Council ELT Innovations
Awards 2006
2.Willis, D. and Willis, J. 2007. Doing Task-based Teaching. Oxford
University Press
3.Willis, J. 1996. A framework for task-based learning. ebook edition
2012:
4.Willis, J. 2009. The TBL framework: the task cycle. In K.Van den
Branden, M. Bygate, J. Norris (eds) Task-based Language Teaching –
a reader. John Benjamin’s Publishing Company