Task Based

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE NICARAGUA
UNAN-LEÓN
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN Y HUMANIDADES

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
NAMES:
 Emily Delgado
 Justin
 José David Gómez Flores.
SUBJECT:
 DIDACTIC APPROACHES IN TEFL.
TOPIC:
 METHOD “TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEA RNING (TBLT)”.
PROFESSOR: JACQUELINE PÉREZ.
DATE: May 9nd, 2024.

Introduction
Task Based Language Teaching (TBL) is an educational approach that focuses on the practical use of
language through meaningful tasks. Instead of solely concentrating on teaching grammatical structures and
vocabulary in isolation.
Some of its proponents (e.g., Willis 1996) present it as a logical development of communicative language
teaching since it draws on several principles that formed part of the communicative language teaching
movement from the 1980s; For example: "Activities that involve real communication are essential for language
learning; Activities in which language is used for carrying out meaningful tasks promote learning; Language
that is meaningful to the learners supports the learning process"
Central idea
Overall, Task-Based Language Learning provides a learner-centered and communicative approach to
language education, focusing on the development of practical language skills within meaningful contexts.
Some of these key features of this language learning method are:
 Authenticity: Tasks are designed to simulate real-world activities that learners might encounter outside
the classroom, making the language learning experience more relevant and motivating.
 Basic element is purposeful activities and tasks that emphasize communication and meaning.
 Meaningful Communication: Learners are encouraged to communicate meaningfully while completing
tasks, focusing on conveying messages and achieving goals rather than solely on grammatical
accuracy.
 Activities and task can be either:
o Those that learners might need to achieve in real life.
o Those that have a pedagogical purpose to the classroom.
 Collaboration: Many tasks are designed to be completed in pairs or groups, promoting collaboration
and communication among learners.
Characteristics
According to Rod Ellis, a task has four main characteristics:
1. A task involves a primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning.
2. A task has some kind of 'gap (Prabhu identified the three main types as information gap, reasoning
gap, and opinion gap).
3. The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.
4. A task has a clearly defined, non-linguistic outcome.
Types of tasks
there are three main categories of task:
 Information-gap: which involves a transfer of given information from one person to another. The
activity often involves selection of relevant information as well, and learners may have to meet criteria
of completeness and correctness in making the transfer.
 Reasoning gap: which involves deriving some new information from given information through
processes of inference, deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns. The
activity necessarily involves comprehending and conveying information, as in information-gap activity.
 Opinion gap: which involves identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in
response to a given situation. The activity may involve using factual information and formulating
arguments to justify one's opinion.
In addition to this, several theorists have broken down task types into different classifications of tasks.
Willis (1996) introduced the following categories:
1. Listing
2. Ordering and Sorting
3. Comparing
4. Problem Solving
5. Sharing Personal Experiences
6. Creative Tasks
Structure
The core of the lesson or project is, as the name suggests, the task. There may be several effective
frameworks for creating a task-based learning lesson, here is a basic outline:
 Pre-task: The teacher introduces the topic and gives students clear instructions and guidelines on what
they will be doing. The instructors may also present a model of the task by either doing it themselves or
by presenting picture, audio, or video demonstrating the task.
 Task: Students get ready to do the task. Students are given what they need to complete the task
(handouts and written instructions) and are assigned to work in pairs or small groups while the teacher
monitors and offers encouragement when necessary. The teacher’s role is typically limited to one of a
coach, guide, and facilitator.
 Plan: The students make important decisions about their presentation and assign each person in the
group with a part of the task to present, so everyone takes responsibility during the next stage. The
teacher walks around, helps if needed, and takes notes on anything that needs to be addressed after
the presentations.
 Report: Students present their findings to the class in the form of a presentation or an activity.
 Feedback/Review: The class can ask questions or provide some quick oral feedback after each
presentation. The teacher also gives feedback on the content as well.
Teacher Roles
Throughout the task, the role of the teacher is to act as a guide or a monitor. The focus should be on the
learners and they should take the central role in the task. The teacher provides understanding and direction for
the task and then walks around, or sits slightly apart monitoring the students.
Student roles
Student are clear about the purpose of the given task. They are given the opportunity of playing with the
language that they are going to use, they get involved into logical thinking which they need to complete the
task, giving them an opportunity to engage in authentic speaking and listening and provide them with tools to
improve their speaking and comprehension.
Advantages
TBL provides the learner with an active role in participating and creating the activities offers more opportunities
for the students to display their thinking through their actions provides a shared focus for which students can
work together different views on the same situation and develop meaningful discussion on the matter.
Disadvantages
The simulation of a real life communicative situation can create a sense of pressure for a learner to express
themselves. "When there is pressure to communicate in real time interlanguage (IL) speaking may fail to
conform to target language forms." (Salmani-Nodoushan, 2008, p. 8) When a learner feels this pressure,
especially under a time limit, to express them in order to complete a task, they may tend to find "language
solutions" to what they can't express. In other words, they may find other ways to communicate their ideas,
rather than learning and applying complex language structures.
Conclusion:
TBLL offers a learner-centered and communicative approach to language education, promoting
meaningful communication, problem-solving, collaboration, and language awareness. While TBLL
presents challenges, its benefits in enhancing language learning outcomes make it a valuable
approach for language educators to consider in their teaching practice. Through careful task design,
assessment, teacher training, and flexibility, TBLL can effectively support learners in developing
practical language skills within authentic contexts.

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UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL AUTÓNOMA DE NICARAGUA

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN Y HUMANIDADES

PROFESSOR: JACQUELINE PÉREZ.

DATE: May 9nd, 2024.

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