problem). - If the task is based on a text, Ss read part of it.
The task cycle
Task
- The task is done by Ss (in pairs or groups) and gives Ss a chance to use whatever language
they already have to express themselves and say whatever they want to say. This may be in
response to reading a text or hearing a recording.
- T walks round and monitors, encouraging in a supportive way every one's attempts at
communication in the target language.
- T helps Ss to formulate what they want to say, but will not intervene to correct errors of
form.
- The emphasis is on spontaneous, exploratory talk and confidence building, within the
Practice
- T conducts practice activities as needed, based on the language analysis work already on the
board, or using examples from the text or transcript.
- Practice activities can include:
choral repetition of the phrases identified and classified
memory challenge games based on partially erased examples or using
lists already on blackboard for progressive deletion
sentence completion (set by one team for another)
matching the past-tense verbs (jumbled) with the subject or objects they had in the text
Kim's game (in teams) with new words and phrases
dictionary reference words from text or transcript
Conclusion
Few would question the pedagogical value of employing tasks as a vehicle for promoting
communication and authentic language use in second language classrooms, and depending on
one's definition of a task, tasks have long been part of the mainstream repertoire of language
teaching techniques. for teachers of many different methodological persuasions. TBLT,
however, offers a different rationale for the use of tasks as well as different criteria for the
design and use of tasks. It is the dependence on tasks as the primary source of pedagogical
input in teaching and the absence of a systematic grammatical or other type of syllabus that
characterizes current versions of TBLT, and that distinguishes it from the use of tasks in
Competency-Based Language Teaching, another task-based approach but one that is not
wedded to the theoretical framework and assumptions of TBLT. Many aspects of TBLT have
yet to be justified, such as proposed schemes for task types, task sequencing, and evaluation
of task performance. And the basic assumption of Task-Based Language Teaching - that it
provides for a more effective basis for teaching than other language teaching approaches -
remains in the domain of ideology rather than fact.