The Study of Task-based Teaching Method.doc

任务型教学方法的研究the study of task-based teaching methodcontentsabstract.1key words1i. introduction .1ii. definition and advantages22.1 what is task-based language teaching?.22.2 definition of task .32.3 the advantages of task-based language teaching.42.4 what makes task-based learning different？.52.4.1 present practice produce (ppp)52.4.2 the problems with ppp.52.4.3 a task-based approach.52.4.4 task-based learning has some clear advantages.62.5 tasks and exercises7iii. task-based language teaching in practice.8iv. conclusion.10references11the study of task-based teaching method摘要: 基于任务型的教学方法, 新的教学思想认为，中国教师应该变知识传授为能力培养，在教学中刺激.促进学生的自我活动能力，使他们自己动脑.动手学习，从而使他们的智力得到发展，能力得到培养。举例说明基于任务型教学方法的研究和特定的工作设计。关键词: 任务 任务型教学 教学方法 abstract: task-based teaching keeps an important position in second language teaching because it fits well with communicative language teaching, and it is gaining popularity in china. this article attempts to illustrate tblt and the specific task designs in order to benefit from the valuable suggestions and principles of tblt.key words: task task-based teaching teaching methodi. introductionconsidering from the learners point of view, learning is most effective when they take an active role in the learning process and learners will successfully learn the rules from meaningful and practical contexts or tasks. so in 1980s, when people in increasing numbers began to question the outcome of the traditional language teaching methodology, it is not surprising that task-based language teaching (tblt) emerged and has been becoming more and more popular in second language acquisition circles.tblt seems to remain an important position in second language teaching because it fits well with communicative language teaching, the dominant paradigm in the field. this fit comes about because tblt provides opportunities for purposeful communication among students. tblt is a new teaching method. “task” is a special term in language teaching and its different from language exercise. it has its specific features, forms and teaching steps. there are varieties of tasks in english teaching, but the focus of every task is on solving a communicative problem, which has some connections with a real world of learners life and learning experience, and which can arouse learners interest and participation. the development of process of tblt represents a change of focus a revolution in syllabus design. it starts from the learners needs and emphasizes learning language by doing things. the basic principles for task-based syllabus design are authenticity, form-function integration and task dependency. the aim of this paper is to introduce tblt and it also seeks to carry out the method of tblt in junior english classes.ii. definition and advantages2.1 what is task-based language teaching?david nunan(1999) stated: “ task-based language teaching is an approach to the design of language courses in which the point of departure is not an ordered list of linguistic items, but a collection of tasks. it reflects the experiential and humanistic traditions as well as the changing conceptions of language itself. ” and the essence of task-based teaching is setting specific tasks for students so that they act as if they were using the language in real life.task-based syllabus design has interested some researchers and curriculum developers in second/foreign language instruction since the mid-1980s, as a result of widespread interest in the functional views of language and communicative language teaching. however, under the rubric of task-based instruction, a variety of approaches can be found, e.g., “procedural syllabuses,” “process syllabuses,” and “task-based language teaching” (crookes 1993). at a more fundamental level, the term task itself has been a complex concept, defined and analyzed from various, sometimes critical, theoretical and pedagogical perspectives. however, task-based approaches entail in common a more flexible approach in which “content and tasks are developed in tandem” (nunan 1989:16). from a course designers point of view, the notion of task as the “unit of analysis” (long 1985) serves as a starting point in syllabus design, determining needs assessments, content selection, learning experiences, and evaluation; it still remains the crucial point in task-based approaches to second language teaching. in line with this perspective, some earlier papers (ahmed 1990, 1991) of mine applied the principles of the task-based approach to designing a syllabus for case discussions as a complex task and explored the issue of criterion-referenced testing as a follow-up to the syllabus design. this paper continues with the same topic of task-based syllabus design and its application in specific cases; however, it focuses on describing the design for an oral communication skills course in an academic setting. through this description, it attempts to highlight some of the important aspects of implementing a task-based approach to syllabus design and provide some practical guidelines for designing such a course.2.2 definition of tasktblt has been extensively used in nowadays english language teaching.recently, many english teachers and researchers in china devote a great deal of their time and energy toward the tblt. the task-basedlanguage teachingaims at providing opportunities for the learners to experiment with and explore both spoken and written language through learning activities which are designed to engage learners in the authentic, practical and functional use of language for meaningful purposes.first, lets get down to knowing what is a task? there are various definitions of tasks. here is a list of some of them:1. long (1985: 89): a task is”a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward. thus, examples of tasks include painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a form. and helping someone cross a road. in other words, by task is meant the hundred and one things people do in everyday life, at work, at play, and in between.”2. richards, platt and weber (1986: 289): a task is”an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language (i.e. as a response).”3. nunan (1989: 10): a communicative task is”a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form. the task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right.”4. skehan (1995): a task is”an activity in which meaning is primary；there is some sort of relationship to the real world; task completion has some priority；and the assessment of task performance is in terms of task outcome.”the definitions and descriptions of task in both teaching and research methods literature focus on task in general and communication tasks in particular. among scholars who have written extensively about task-based learning,task has been characterized in a variety of ways (see, for example, candlin, 1987；crookes, 1986；kumaravadivelu, 1993；long, 1985；nunan, 1989, 1993；prabhu, 1987；rost, 1990). within these definitions of task which exist in the literature, two recurrent features stand out. the first is that tasks are oriented toward goals. participants are expected to arrive at an outcome and to carry out a task with a sense of what they need to accomplish through their talk or action. the second feature of task is work or activity. what this feature suggests is that participantsplay an active role in carrying out a task, whether working alone or with other participants. in other words, a task is not an action carried out on task participants; rather, a task is an activity which participants, themselves, must carry out.2.3 the advantages of task-based language teachingcompared with the traditional form-based methodology:1. task-based language teaching offers the opportunity for “nutaral” learning inside the classroom;2. it emphasizes meaning over form but can also take account of learning form;3. it makes the classroom closer to real-life language situations;4. it is intrinsically motivating;5. it is compatible with a learner-centered educational philosophy;for example: aspects of task-based syllabus designsyllabus design is concerned with the selection, sequencing and justification of the content of the curriculum. traditional approaches to syllabus developed were concerned with selecting lists of linguistic features such as grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary as well as experiential content such as topics and themes. these sequenced and integrated lists were then presented to the methodologist, whose task it was to develop learning activities to facilitate the learning of the prespecified content.in the last twenty years or so a range of alternative syllabus models have been proposed, including a task-based approach. in this piece i want to look at some of the elements that a syllabus designer needs to take into consideration when he or she embraces a task-based approach to creating syllabuses and pedagogical materials.questions that i want to explore include: what are tasks? what is the role of a focus on form in language learning tasks? where do tasks come from? what is the relationship between communicative tasks in the world outside the classroom and pedagogical tasks? what is the relationship between tasks and language focused exercises?task-based syllabuses represent a particular realization of communicative language teaching. instead of beginning the design process with lists of grammatical, functional-notional, and other items, the designer conducts a needs analysis which yields a list of the target tasks that the targeted learners will need to carry out in the real-world outside the classroom. any approach to language pedagogy will need to concern itself with three essential elements: language data, information, and opportunities for practice. in the rest of this piece i will look at these three elements from the perspective of task-based language teaching.2.4 what makes task-based learning different？2.4.1 present practice produce (ppp)during an initial teacher training course, most teachers become familiar with the ppp paradigm. a ppp lesson would proceed in the following manner. 1. first, the teacher presents an item of language in a clear context to get across its meaning. this could be done in a variety of ways: through a text, a situation build, a dialogue etc. 2. students are then asked to complete a controlled practice stage, where they may have to repeat target items through choral and individual drilling, fill gaps or match halves of sentences. all of this practice demands that the student uses the language correctly and helps them to become more comfortable with it. 3. finally, they move on to the production stage, sometimes called the free practice stage. students are given a communication task such as a role play and are expected to produce the target language and use any other language that has already been learnt and is suitable for completing it. 2.4.2 the problems with pppit all sounds quite logical but teachers who use this method will soon identify problems with it:1. students can give the impression that they are comfortable with the new language as they are producing it accurately in the class. often though a few lessons later, students will either not be able to produce the language correctly or even wont produce it at all. 2. students will often produce the language but overuse the target structure so that it sounds completely unnatural. 3. 3.students may not produce the target language during the free practice stage because they find they are able to use existing language resources to complete the task. 2.4.3 a task-based approachtask -based learning offers an alternative for language teachers. in a task-based lesson the teacher doesnt pre-determine what language will be studied, the lesson is based around the completion of a central task and the language studied is determined by what happens as the students complete it. the lesson follows certain stages.1. pre-task：the teacher introduces the topic and gives the students clear instructions on what they will have to do at the task stage and might help the students to recall some language that may be useful for the task. the pre-task stage can also often include playing a recording of people doing the task. this gives the students a clear model of what will be expected of them. the students can take notes and spend time preparing for the task.2. task：the students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.3. planning：students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. they then practice what they are going to say in their groups. meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.4. report： students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. the teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. at this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare. 5. analysis：the teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. they may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. the teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.6. practice：finally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. the students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.2.4.4 task-based learning has some clear advantages1unlike a ppp approach, the students are free of language control. in all three stages they must use all their language resources rather than just practising one pre-selected item. 2a natural context is developed from the students experiences with the language that is personalised and relevant to them. with ppp it is necessary to create contexts in which to present the language and sometimes they can be very unnatural. 3the students will have a much more varied exposure to language with tbl. they will be exposed to a whole range of lexical phrases, collocations and patterns as well as language forms. 4the language explored arises from the students needs. this need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the coursebook. 5it is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. ppp lessons seem very teacher-centred by comparison. just watch how much time the students spend communicating during a task-based lesson. 6 it is enjoyable and motivating.ppp offers a very simplified approach to language learning. it is based upon the idea that you can present language in neat little blocks, adding from one lesson to the next. however, research shows us that we cannot predict or guarantee what the students will learn and that ultimately a wide exposure to language is the best way of ensuring that students will acquire it effectively. restricting their experience to single pieces of target language is unnatural. teachers have been using tasks for hundreds of years. frequently, in the past, the task was a piece of translation often from a literary source. more recently, tasks have included projects for producing posters, brochures, pamphlets, oral presentations, radio plays, videos, websites and dramatic performances.the characteristic of all these tasks is that rather than concentrating on one particular structure, function or vocabulary group, these tasks exploit a wider range of language. in many cases, students may also be using a range of different communicative language skills.2.5 tasks and exercisestasks are activities in which learners are required to draw together and extend a range of elements in their framework of knowledge and skills. they are characterized by an emphasis on activity, participation, flexible differentiation, and communication among participants through a variety of modes and media. every learning task should have five features:1. a task should have a purpose. it involves learners in using language for the kinds of purposes that are described in the chapter on learning targets and objectives provided in the syllabus for english language.2. a task should have a context from which the purpose for using language emerges.3. a task should involve learners in a mode of thinking and doing.4. a task should lead towards a product.5. a task should require the learners to draw upon their framework of knowledge and skills.in order to learn successfully, learners need a judicious combination of tasks and supporting exercises in which they focus upon and practise specific elements of knowledge, skills and strategies needed for the task. exercises do not usually contain the five features of a learning task. they are good preparation for the completion of tasks and are best carried out in the context of a task. they should be sequenced systematically and integrated with each other to help the learners to complete a tas