郑艳-Understanding TBLT from Constructivism Perspective

Understanding TBLT from Constructivism Perspective【Abstract】：TBLT method is an influential approach which is based on the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language and teaching,. Thus it calls for teachers expected responsibility in order to be applied well in foreign language teaching. Here based on the principles of TBLT, teachers expected roles are discussed.【Key words】：TBLT; Constructivism; foreign language teachingEnglish Language Teaching Methodology is a practical subject which is closely related to primary and middle school English language teaching. Since the National Curriculum Standards for English advocates Task-based Language Teaching(TBLT),it would be quite meaningful for the future English teachers to practice the TBLT method in the course of English Language Teaching Methodology. This article, taking Unit 3 Lesson Planning from A Course in English Language Teaching as an example, makes a study of how to design classroom teaching in which the students acquire TBLT methodology. Constructivism1.1 Definition of ConstructivismConstructivism is first of all a theory of learning based on the idea that knowledge is constructed by the knower based on mental activity. Learners are considered to be active organisms seeking meaning. Constructivism is founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences. Constructions of meaning may initially bear little relationship to reality (as in the naive theories of children), but will become increasing more complex, differentiated and realistic as time goes on. 1.2 Guiding principles of constructivismThe physics education research group at University of Massachusetts defines the premisses of constructivism as epistemology as follows: 1.Knowledge is constructed, not transmitted. 2.Prior knowledge impacts the learning process. 3.Initial understanding is local, not global. 4.Building useful knowledge structures requires effortful and purposeful activity.1.3 How Constructivism Impacts LearningConstructivist learning theory does not necessarily imply that one must follow a constructivist pedagogical strategy. In other words, most researches firmly believe that knowledge is constructed, but some (e.g. main stream instructional designers) do not adop construct our own understanding of the world consciously we live in. Each of us generates our own rules and mental models, which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of t an instructional design that is labelled constructivist. Typically, a constructivist teaching strategy is based on the belief that students learn best when they gain knowledge through exploration and active learning. Hands-on materials are used instead of textbooks, and students are encouraged to think and explain their reasoning instead of memorizing and reciting facts. Education is centered on themes and concepts and the connections between them, rather than isolated information. Instruction : Under the theory of constructivism, educators focus on making connections between facts and fostering new understanding in students. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze, interpret, and predict information. Teachers also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive dialogue among students. Assessment : Constructivism calls for the elimination of grades and standardized testing. Instead, assessment becomes part of the learning process so that students play a larger role in judging their own progress. . TBLT2.1The definition of task-based language teachingTask-based language teaching offers the student an opportunity to do exactly this. The primary focus of classroom activity is the task and language is the instrument, which the students use to complete it. The task is an activity in which students use language to achieve a specific outcome. Jane Willis (2000:41) thinks TBLT is an approach to language teaching, which makes use of authentic materials in communicative pedagogical tasks. These pedagogical tasks reflect real-world tasks that the learners in a given situation would complete as a part of their daily life. Pedagogical tasks act as building blocks to an ultimate objective. Thus, TBLT relies both on the learners ability to learn analytically and on the teachers flexibility and creativity. The learners ability to learn analytically is necessary in completing tasks focused on meaning rather than grammatical form; the teachers flexibility and creativity are demanded as s/he diagnoses the outcome of each task and creates new materials in response to newly revealed learner needs. TBLT is a complex approach to language teaching, but in its complexity it responds to both current SLA theory as well as the practical needs of the classroom.In brief, TBLT is a communicative teaching approach, which offers the students opportunities to learn and use the language by doing all kinds of things, which are likely to happen in the real life.2.2 The characteristic of TBLTCompared with the traditional English teaching，task-based teaching not only absorbs the strong points of traditional teaching method，but also gives play to its special great advantage. First of all，it embodies the humanistic ideas and the learning notion advocated by constructivism by emphasizing the development of human beings as well as the student-centered notion. Giving respect to the sense of students，task-based teaching let students participate activities and taste the joy of success as well as the value of themselves. Secondly，it balances theoretically the conflict of the form and sense of language，that of the development of language system and the development of the communicative ability of language，that of the classroom teaching and the natural acquisition，as well as that of the improvement of language fluency，accuracy and complexity. No matter it is seen from the point view of the goal or the mode of task-based teaching，it integrates the advantages of the traditional teaching methods and communicative approach; therefore，it has a great appeal in theory.Nunan(1991:279)concluded the characteristic of TBLT as following:1) An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language2) The introduction of authentic text into the learning situation.3)The provision of opportunities of learners to focus，not only on language，but also on the learning process itself4) An enhancement of the learners own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.5) An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom.2.3 The principles of TBLTWillis offers five principles for the implementation of TBLT (qtd. from the training materials 2002). They are:(1) There should be exposure to worthwhile and authentic language;(2) There should be use of language;(3) Tasks should motivate learners to engage in language use;(4) There should be a focus on language at some points in a task cycle;(5) The focus on language should be more and less prominent at different times.According to Nunan，language is better achieved in an inductive way，i.e.，Teachers should let students observe and conclude what the language is like instead of giving students the rules and examples. In case students develop wrong rules，teachers are there to help and correct. Students learn the rules from meaningful and practical contexts or tasks. 2.4 The advantages of TBLT Through the study of TBLT, the author applies task-based approach in the experiment and implements it in the teaching of Junior 2 students. Their motivation in learning is inspired, the awareness of independence and participation in English learning activities strengthened, and several abilities and reading capacity in particular cultivated .The teaching quality of Junior two was enhanced. In a word, for students, TBLT in junior English reading class has the following advantages:(1) Meaningful tasks are real to students life, learning experience and social practice. So TBLT motivates students well and evokes their enthusiasm in learning. Therefore, TBLT can lead to their reading performance improvement. Reading classes become more interesting for both students and teachers.(2) This approach is student-centered. In class, students are provided with a number of opportunities to do things in English in all kinds of activities. This helps students to improve their ability to use the language.(3) In TBLT, there are more interactions between the teachers and the students, students and students, students and the reading materials (the writer), teachers and the reading materials (or the writer). This often offers students more opportunities to train their communicative skills and know different ideas about a topic.(4) As students are encouraged to use whatever language they have already learned to complete a reading task, they always bring a lot of new information and problems into the class that the teachers may never meet before. This can often cause a hot discussion. Not only students but also the teachers get more information and learn more in TBLT reading classes than they do in traditional ones.(5) This approach stimulates a natural desire in learners to improve their proficiency by challenging them to complete meaningful tasks.(6) With group work and pair work in TBLT reading classes, students not only have enough chances to learn to speak and learn from each other but also have a more supportive and enjoyable learning environment. The learners are able to enjoy their success time and time again. Their positive feelings will be encouraged and developed. They will gain a sense of safety and achievement that makes them feel relaxed and more interested in English learning. They will feel good about themselves as well.(7) The experiences students have got in doing tasks will help them develop the capability to solve other problems that they may encounter in everyday life.(8)Because a task completion is usually in an interdependent way, students seldom do a reading task alone. A lot of tasks call on cooperation. Thus it enhances the cooperative study and improves students ability to learn by them.2.5 The insufficiency of TBLT Every coin has two sides. On the other hand, although task-based approach has plentiful merits, it also has some constraints and problems. They are as follows:1. In task-based approach class, students are used to the way of discussion. Some of the students may hope to get the answers from the others. Relatively, their independent thinking ability is impaired and the sense of dependence is strengthened. And the class will be noisy with so many students discussing at the same time.2. Sometimes fulfilling a complicated task takes a lot of time and its easy to solve the problem in the other way. Therefore, the teacher should renew the concept of teaching and arrange the process of teaching properly.3. It is difficult to control the difficulty of the tasks. If the task is too difficult, the students may lose heart to fulfilling the task. If the tasks are too easy, students may feel it less challenging and therefore lose interest.4. Some students dont express their idea very often because their English basis is very poor and they feel frustrated when they speak English. Some of the students who come from countryside dont have a good training in speaking and listening in primary School. Some students are used to the classes that stress the importance of the language points. However, in the task-based reading, students need to pay more attention to reading as well as dealing with tasks and express their ideas. Its difficult to get all the students involved.2.6 SuggestionsAccording to this study shows that the TBLT is effective in a reading class, how to use TBLT in reading classes freely and effectively needs teachers extra effort. When you try to use TBLT in reading classes, you may meet a lot of problems. Here are some suggestions to some typical problems for teachers who want to try TBLT in reading classes.1. English teaching should be student-centered. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the role the teacher plays in the English class can be neglected and that the explanation of the language points and the grammar can be totally refused. We know that the TBL approach does not preclude the teaching of grammar (i.e. language items and forms).The TBL approach actually welcomes the proper explanation of the language points and the grammar before the tasks, which guarantees to complete the tasks successfully. Fluency and accuracy are complementary, and students must have a good command of language forms if they are to understand and express meanings effectively. Teachers are both organizers and helpers but never looker-on. . TBLT in English Reading ClassReading，one of the four basic language skills，is an important approach to getting English information. Once the ability of independent reading has been developed，the students can study independently forming the solid basis for their future studies. Hence, reading has been drawn the academic concerns of TEFL both at home and at abroad for a long time. An enormous amount of time, money and effort is spent in teaching reading, however, no remarkable success has been received, and the students competence hasnt reached the level required by the teaching syllabus.Fortunately，the English Curriculum Criteria is being carried out throughout China，and it advocates the approach of task-based teaching and learning，which would completely enhance the instructional situation in which students learn knowledge passively. But how to employ the model in teaching English，especially in teaching English reading，is a theme worth exploring.3.1The pre-reading stage To increase students potential comprehension，the teacher can do a variety of pre-reading activities to build background knowledge. Such activities can be the knowledge about the topic，predicting the contents of the text，skimming or scanning the text or parts of the text for certain purpose，learning key words and structures. Besides，there are also many other activities used the pre-reading stage，the use of tasks can stimulate students interest and make their reading easier. Hamer (1983) calls this stage of reading Lead-in.3.2 The while-reading stage Different types of text need different kinds of tasks. A traditional reading comprehension text book has generally been exploited by means of multiple choices，T/F questions，open questions，paraphrasing，and translation. Teachers may focus on the process of understanding rather than the results of reading. Here are some activities in the while-reading stage:（1）Information transfer activities. Most of the transition devices make use of visual aids so that information in text form is visualized. Research has shown visualization can help second language learners to comprehend meaning while reading (Tomlinson，1998)（2）Reading comprehension questions. Asking students to answer comprehension questions is also a used method in teaching reading. Nuttall (2000:188-189) lists five types: Questions of literal comprehension，questions involving reorganization or reinterpretation，questions for inferences，questions for evaluation or appreciation，questions for personal response. （3）Understanding references All natural language uses referential words to refer to people or things mentioned previously in the text. So understanding these words are very important for comprehension.3.3 The post-reading stage In this stage，teacher should be inventive and imaginative，the tasks they designed must be relevant to the text and appropriate to the students level. The tasks should provide the students with opportunities to relate what they have read to what they already know or what they feel. Post-reading tasks should enable students to produce language based on what they learned. Here are some activities often used in post-reading stage: Discussion questions，reproducing the text，role play，gap-filling，discussion.3.4 The reflection of the TBLT lesson (the misunderstanding of TBLT) Task-based language teaching in classroom practice existing in all kinds of misunderstanding and deviation，we can summarize into two parts.(1) Over using tasks Some plans of this class are composed by many tasks，but essentially most of the activities are under the control of the teacher. If we consider the teaching design as the task-based teaching method，the English classroom has already been tasked. This is a misunderstanding of TBLT，it is often mechanical language training.(2) Using tasks absolutely Opposite to over using tasks，many plans use the tasks absolutely. Some teachers think，the task-based language teaching is to let students complete their favorite thing freely，this understanding of the task-based teaching is one-sided，and they misunderstand the factors of interest，work and the main body，and so on. In fact，this task can only belong to a kind of interest activities out of classroom.3.5 Something about task.(1) Pre-task: The teacher gives an introduction to topic or task through pre-task activities such as brainstorming ideas, miming, ranking exercise, using picture, then some necessary input like useful words, phrases. Finally the teacher confirms that all students understand what topic involves and what outcome they are required to achieve. 2) During-task(also: task cycle)(1)Task: The teacher(as a monitor) asks the learners to carry out the task in pairs or group.(2)Planning: The teacher(as a advisor) help learners to prepare how to report the results of the task to the whole class.(3)Report: Learners reports the results of th