G.

CRMEF

REPORT ON TASK-
BASED APPROACH
TO LANGUAGE
TEACHING/LEARNIN
G
LESSON PLANNING COURSE
Prepared by : 1/ aicha OUIJJANE
9/ Keltoum JERRADI
13/ Lamyae ETAZI
14/ Lamyae GHEZZOU
15/ Lenda BEN-SAID
29/ Moulay Said OUMANSSOUR
39/ Hind ELBAALLAOUI

Professor : Dr. BERNOUS

Table of content:

I. Theoritical background:_____________________________________________3

1. Origins:______________________________________________________________3

2. Definition:____________________________________________________________3

a. What does the term « task » mean?____________________________________________3

b. « Task » in TBT :____________________________________________________________4

3. Principles:____________________________________________________________4

4. Criticizm:_____________________________________________________________4

II. Design___________________________________________________________5

1. Procedure:____________________________________________________________5

a. Pre-task phase:_____________________________________________________________5

b. Task (During task):__________________________________________________________5

c. The Post-task phase:_________________________________________________________6

2. Types of activities:_____________________________________________________6

3. Roles:________________________________________________________________7

a. Teacher:__________________________________________________________________8

b. Learner:___________________________________________________________________8

c. Instructional material:_______________________________________________________8
 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

I. Theoritical background:

1. Origins:

Task based approach finds its roots in the communicative language teaching, where
teaching is done entirely through communicative tasks. Historically speaking, task based
instruction was first popularized in the 80s by Prabhu, an Indian teacher and researcher, in his
work (1987) “second language pedagogy.” He suggested that language acquisition is “an
unconscious process which is best facilitated by bringing about in the learner a preoccupation
with meaning, saying and doing”. Prahbu also believed that using tasks would help tap into
learners’ natural mechanisms for second language acquisition. Other proponents of task based
instruction include Breen 1987; Long 1985 and Nunan 1989.

2. Definition:

Task-based language teaching (TBLT), also known as task-based language learning

(TBLL) or task-based instruction (TBI), focuses on the use of authentic language and on
asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language.

a. What does the term « task » mean?

There are many definitions of the term “task” from which we cite:

Nunan says: a task is a “classroom activity, which involves learners in comprehending,

manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is
principally focused on meaning rather than form ». (Cited by Zan Mao (2012), P. 12)

Skehan (1996), as cited by Shams, H. and Rahban, M. (2012), believes that « tasks …
are activities, which have meaning as their primary focus. Success in tasks is evaluated in
terms of achievement of an outcome, and tasks generally bear some resemblance to real-life
language use. So task-based instruction takes fairly strong view of communicative language
teaching ». (P. 20)

According to Willis, « a task is an activity where the target language is used by the
learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome. It is more
effective to use a meaning-based approach than a form-based approach ». (Cited by Shams, H.
and Rahban, M. (2012), P. 24)

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 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

The primary focus of classroom activity is the task, and language is the instrument the
students use to complete it. The task is an activity in which students use language to achieve a
specefic outcome. The activity must reflect real-life, and learners focus on communication.

b. « Task » in TBT :

Task-based language teaching is a student-centered approach to second language

instruction. It is an offshoot of the communicative approach, wherein activities focus on
having students use autheintic target language in order to complete meaningful tasks. These
tasks are projects that may include visiting the doctor, making a phone call, ordering food in a
restaurant, and conducting an interview in order to find answers to specific questions. The aim
here is to help learners develop implicit knowledge of the language while doing tasks . This
knowledge will enable them to participate easily and naturally in real-life communication.

3. Principles:

 A task involves a primary focus on pragmatic meaning.

 A task has some kind of gap.
 The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.
 A task has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.
 Activities that involve completion of a real world task promote learning.
 learners learn by doing; The teacher should not dominate the class time.
 Learners are given the opportunity to be creative.
 Focus on form is necessary.

4. Criticizm:

The traditional learning methods, such as Grammar translation and audio-lingual

methods focus on the language itself rather than meaning. Meanwhile, Task-based approach
emphasizes learning a language through multiple tasks. Few people would ask about the
usefulness of employing tasks as a way for promoting communication and authentic
language use in second language classrooms. This approach, however, has its own
drawbacks.

Being a new developed approach, Task-based Approach raises different critics. First,
Swans’ (2005) points out that there is no sufficient teaching time to ensure that learners learn
all the grammatical structures in the syllabus especially in the countries where only one hour
session is dedicated to English teaching. For this reason, it is necessary to rely on explicit

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 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

grammar teaching. Second, Skehan (1996) who stated that task based approach holds some
drawbacks if implemented carelessly. To clarify, using Task-based approaching
communication inappropriately and without clear instructions to learners makes
communication more narrowed and doesn’t allow the speaker to go beyond the particular task
given. Finally, Task Based interaction among learners keeps them busy in communicating
meaning rather than the form that they use to produce their meaning.

II. Design

1. Procedure:

The framework of TBL lesson may take various forms, with lightly different
characteristics. However, it is usually composed of the following phases: Pre-task phase, Task
phase, and Post task phase.

a. Pre-task phase:

The pre-task phase of a TBL lesson exemplifies the moment when the teacher sets the
task, contextualizes the topic at focus, raises students’ interest, and prepares learners to carry
out the task. In this stage, when preparing their students to complete a task, teachers’ might
need to provide their students with the help regarding content and language. This can be
achieved through activating students’ schemata on a particular topic and via enabling students
to anticipate the type of language they will need to carry out the aimed task. Therefore, it is
extremely significant that students realize the objectives of the task during this phase.

c. Task (During task):

In this stage of the TBL lesson, students carry out the suggested task. In this sense,
learners are expected to perform the task in small groups or pairs, using their previously
established knowledge of language to express themselves in a spontaneous way. Seeing that
the focus is communication, the teacher is not supposed to execute extensive error correction
at this stage, but should supervise and afford support. Successively, when students finish
carrying out the task, they need to plan how they are going to report it to the class. They might
rehearse and research the language necessary to share the outcome of what they had done.
Finally, students report the outcome of the task to other students.

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 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

d. The Post-task phase:

During this stage, students evaluate their performance. This can be fulfilled by
receiving effective feedback from the teacher and subsequent practice of language items that
emerged from the task. It is vital to emphasize that structure-focused language work should be
in response to students’ production. That is to say, the teacher will not teach a grammar lesson
and expect that learners employ that exact structure while performing the task; neither should
the teacher work on a pre-selected language item in this phase of the lesson. This makes the
role of the teacher as a monitor extremely significant in TBL.

2. Types of activities:

In order to decide on the aim and choose a task, teachers should first acknowledge and
grasp the different components of a task. This section is going to explain how a task is
constructed and illustrate some examples of plausible tasks.

There are main six elements in a task: goal, input, activity, teacher role, learner role,
and setting. The fact that the emphasis in TBLT approach is communication and
communicative activities, does not eliminate that some of the input data included in the task
might be non-verbal. As an instance: dialogues, reading passages ...etc. It can also include
verbal input data, as in a picture sequence. In order to process the data, the task should contain
an activity that is derived from the input itself. The role of the activity is to demonstrate what
the learners are going to do in relation to the input. The activity does not only define the role
of learners, but also the one of teachers. The roles of both teachers and learners and the goal
of the task can be stated implicitly or explicitly. 

Once teachers understand how tasks are constructed and what their elements are, they
have a variety of tasks they can choose from. In fact, scholars came up with different sets of
types. For instance Prabhu (1987) argued that there can be eighteen specific tasks, whereas
Willis & Willis (2007) propose seven categories that encompass the various tasks. They argue
that a good task generates interest and creates opportunities for learners to experience and
activate language. Their seven categories are as follows: 

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 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

Categories  Tasks Examples

Listing  - Brainstorming, fact - Teachers ask students to work in pairs,

finding, memory and agree on a list of four people who are
guessing games.  important in the country and give at least
one reason for including each person.

Ordering and - Sequencing, ranking - Teachers select four pictures,then ask

sorting  order, classifying. students to work in pairs and put the pictures
in a sequence to tell a story. Students need to
be prepared to tell their story to other pairs.

Comparing and - Games finding - Teachers give students different pictures,

contrasting  similarities and and ask them to describe it to their pair, then
differences, graphic discuss the differences and similarities.
organisers.

Problem - Logic problem - Teachers ask students to work in groups

solving  prediction, alternative and come up with 3 alternative solutions to
solutions to the same traffic in the city. Then decide on the best
problem.  one and share it with the classroom.

Projects and - Newspapers, posters, - In groups students need to decide which

creative tasks  survey fantasy.  poster is the best for a campaign to raise
funds for the battle against cancer, then
present the campaign. 

Sharing - Storytelling, anecdotes, - In pairs students talk about the last time
personal reminiscences. they visited a restaurant. They will state
experiences  why they were there and why they
recommend it.

Matching  - Words and phrases to - Students are asked to read a four sections
pictures, short notes or text. Then match suggested headlines to
headlines to longer texts.  each section, and justify their choice to the
class.

3. Roles:

The roles assigned for each participant in the phases of this approach are specified, and
some of them overlap with the general roles assumed in Cummunicative Language Teaching.
However other roles are designed with the focus on task completion as a central learning
activity.

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 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

a. Teacher:

The roles assigned to the teacher are as follow :

 Selector and sequencer of tasks: the teacher may need to addapt tasks, or create
new one. These tasks are then formed into an instructional sequence that caters
for the needs, interests, and language level of the learners.
 Preparing learners for tasks : some learners may not be used to working in
groups. Moreover, some componants of the task may require pretask
preperation/cuing. This preparing could take the form of topic introduction,
clarifying task instruction, or providing partial demonstration of task procedures
 Consciousness-Raising : learners should notice critical features of the target
language used. However, that does not mean doing a grammar lesson before
partaking in a task. It simply means the use of form-focusing techniques to help
the learner acquire the target language.

e. Learner:

The primary roles assumed of the lerner are :

 Group participant: since tasks are carried out in groups or pairs, Learners
accustumed to individual/ whole-class work may need time to adjust to this.
 Monitor not only of the message of the task, but also its form. Learners need to
pay attention to the way language is used in communication.
 Risk taker in creating and interpreting messages. Learners will definitely have
some lacks in linguistics resources to complete some tasks, which might
necessitate: guessing from linguistic and contextual clues, asking for clarification,
and consulting with other learners.

f. Instructional material:

The material that can be used for instruction in TBLT is unlimited. Some part of the
pedagogical material provided by the syllabus designers, however, may require adapting or
replacing with others, which are more appropriate to the learners’ needs and interests. Realia,
for instance, is an abandent sources of material for teachers to choose from. IT is an authentic
material that helps in keeping up with the changes in learners’ interests and needs. It could
come from newspapers, television, or the internet.

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 REPORT ON TASK-BASED APPROACH TO LANGUAGE TEACHING/LEARNING
Lesson planning course

References:

Shams, H., and Rahban, M. (2012). A New Trend in Education: Task-Based Methodology for
Teachers and Learners. International Conference on Management and Education
Innovation, 37, P.20.
Shams, H., and Rahban, M. (2012). A New Trend in Education: Task-Based Methodology for
Teachers and Learners. International Conference on Management and Education
Innovation, 37, P.24.
Prabhu, N. S. (1987). Second Language Pedagogy. Oxford : oxford University Press.
Richards, J. C., and Rodgers T. S. (2016). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching.
2nd ed. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
Skehan, P. (1996). A Framework for the Implementation of Task-Based Instruction.Applied
Linguistics17 (1), 38-62.International Journal of English Studies,vol. 4 (l). 39-71.
Swan, M. (2005). Legislation by Hypothesis: The Case of Task-Based Instruction. Applied
Linguistics26 (3), 376–401.International Journal of English Studies ,vol. 4 (l). 39-71.
Willis, D. and Willis, J. (2007). Doing Dask-Based Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Zan Mao (2012). The Application of Task-Based Teaching to English Reading Classroom.
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, N° 11, P.10.