Task-based approach

TBL is an approach to teaching that was originally used by second or

foreign-language teachers. It is an approach that stems from Communicative
Language Teaching (CLT) – a language teacher methodology – which emerged
in the 1970s.

Language teachers originally adopted Task-Based Learning for a variety

of reasons with the most important being the desire to make their classrooms
more student-centered, communicative, and collaborative by incorporating
more interactive tasks.

Task-Based Learning (TBL) is also known as Task-Based Language

Teaching (TBLT) and Task-Based Instruction (TBI). Its principal focus is on the
completion of meaningful tasks. Such tasks can include creating a
poster, producing a newsletter, video, or pamphlet, or designing a map of the
school or neighborhood.

Task-Based Learning (TBL) is all about your students creating, producing,

or designing something in class… it could be anything… anything at all. TBL
includes the 21st Century skills of Communication, Collaboration, Creativity,
and Critical Thinking (4C’s) and can also be described as a short interactive
assignment that results in a finished product.
The Task part of Task-Based Learning has been (more or less) defined by
linguistic scholars as:

 things people do in everyday life (Long, 1985).

 a goal-oriented activity that leads to an outcome or result (Willis, 1996).
 a completed work plan which can be assessed (Ellis, 2003).

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.

 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.
  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.

 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.

The problems with PPP

It all sounds quite logical but teachers who use this method will soon identify
problems with it:

 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 won't produce it at all.

 Students will often produce the language but overuse the target
structure so that it sounds completely unnatural.

 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.

Test-Teach-Test
The TTT model is based on the assumption that ‘new’ grammar is often
not completely new for students and they may have met it many times before
it is actually ‘taught’
In the TTT model the production stage occurs first: the learners are
required to perform a task without any input or guidance from the teacher.
The grammatical or lexical problems that this activity generates are used by
the teacher for language analysis, the learners then being asked to do a
similar/the same task again. Although Bowen suggests that the language
presented in the ‘teach’ can be predicted, there is a distinct danger of
randomness which in turn means that the language focus may not reflect the
needs of the learner.

What’s happening here? This suggests that we set the learners a task to
do that requires them to use language and then, as a result of monitoring them
while they work, we offer input, correction, explanation. Here is an example
lesson:
1. Restricted output: The students work in pairs. Both students are
given a separate picture of the same hotel room (which they do not show to
their partner). The pictures are identical, except that five familiar objects (e.g.
a chair, a bottle) are in picture A but not in picture B, and a different set of
objects are in picture B but not in picture A. Students have to describe where
the objects are to each other, drawing items when they find out exactly where
they are.
2. Clarification (guided discovery): When the activity has finished,
the teacher asks the students to compare pictures and recall how they
described the various locations. Pairs work together for a while, then some are
invited to put their answers on the board. The teacher asks the class to decide
together which sentences are correct and which are not. She encourages the
class to discuss and agree together (using reference books if necessary); she
directs the discussion so as to get the class thinking and working together, but
only offers specific help with the language problems towards the end if
problems remain that the class could not solve.
3. Restricted output: Learners do a task very similar to the original
hotel task, but involving a different location.
It looks as if we are throwing learners in the deep end and finding out
what they need to know by first testing what they can use, then teaching those
things that revealed problems or were absent but needed, then letting learners
try again to use the language.
A TTT lesson can set learners a restricted task (like in the example) or a
general speaking task without restriction of language. In the latter case,
learners might reveal a more unpredictable set of errors.
This lesson type is difficult to plan in advance, as you do not necessarily
know what specific language items might come up and require work.
 Task-Based Learning
Is a general term for many variations on the ‘exposure-test-teach-test’
lesson structure.
Lessons are centred round a task, i.e. “plan a birthday party”. These
tasks will usually be real world rather than language focused.
This model for organising lessons is offered by Willis (1996). Task-based
learning is not entirely different from TTT, although this approach clearly takes
into account the need for authentic communication. Typically, there are three
stages:
1. The Pre-Task Phase
Before the task, the teacher explores the topic with the class. Useful
(relevant) lexical items may be given. Also, the learners may be given further
input, such as a recording of someone doing a similar task or part of an
authentic text as a lead in. 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. The Task Cycle
The task cycle can be broken down into three stages; task, in which the
learners do the task; planning, when the learners prepare to report to the
whole class (usually orally or in writing) how they did the task; and report,
when the reports are presented to the class and results compared.
During the task, the teacher monitors and encourages all attempts at
communication without correcting. Willis suggests that this harbours a free
environment in which learners are willing to experiment (as mistakes aren’t
important). At this stage in a PPP lesson the focus would be very much on
accuracy, with all mistakes corrected. During the planning stage, the learners
are aware that their output will be ‘made public’ and will consequently aim for
accuracy. The role of the teacher here is therefore to provide assistance with
regard to language advice. The teacher then chairs the report, and comments
on the content. At this stage, the focus is on both fluency and accuracy. Also,
the learners may hear a recording or read a text of a similar task, in order to
compare how they did it.
3. Language Focus
The language focus consists of analysis and practice. In the analysis
learners examine the recording or text for new lexical items or structures,
which they then record. The teacher conducts a practice of the new items
either during the analysis or after. The learners are given the opportunity to
reflect on how they performed the task and on the new language they used in
this final part of the lesson.
Three types of task

Activities like the following generally have the potential to become effective
tasks:

Listing and/or brainstorming

You can list people, places, things, actions, reasons, everyday problems, things
to do in various circumstances, etc.

Examples

(1) In pairs, agree on a list of four or five people who were famous in the 20th
century and give at least one reason for including each person.

(2) Can you remember your partner's busiest day? On your own, make a list of
all the things he/she did. Then check with your partner. Were there any things
you forgot?

Ordering and sorting

This can be sequencing, ranking or classifying.

Examples:

(3) In pairs, look at your list of famous people. Which people are most likely to
remain popular and become 20th century icons? Rank them from most popular
to least popular, and be prepared to justify your order to another pair.

(4) Look at the four pictures. They are mixed up. Work in pairs. Put the four
pictures in a sequence so that they tell a story. Prepare to tell your story to
another pair.

Matching

You can match captions / texts / recorded extracts to pictures, short notes or
headlines to longer texts, e.g. news items, etc.

Examples:

(5) Read the texts – each is about a famous person but the person is not
named – and look at the photos. Match each text to a photo. Then talk to your
partner, and say how you were able to match them. Prepare to tell the class
how you did it.

(6) Read the four headlines A to D. Match two pieces of information (given in
1-8 below) to each headline. Explain to your partner how you did this. What
clues did you find? Did you both use the same clues?

Do you have any tasks like these in your textbooks? Sometimes textbooks use
listing, ordering and matching activities at the beginnings of units, to introduce
or revise useful words and phrases to prepare for the main topics. The
outcomes are usually clear (e.g. a completed list, a set of matched
information). But although they give valuable exposure to relevant topic-based
language in the form of reading texts or recordings, they rarely stimulate much
learner interaction as they stand.

Stimulating more interaction

All the examples I have given above are based on activities from real
textbooks, but in each case I have added a further step or two to stimulate
additional meaning-focused language use.

In 1 and 3 learners are asked to give reasons for or justify their decision.

In 2, 5 and 6 they do the tasks individually then explain to their partner how
they did them.

In 3, 4 and 5 they are asked to prepare to explain how they did the task or tell
their story to another pair or to the whole class.

Three more task types

Comparing: finding similarities and differences

Comparison tasks can be based on two quite similar texts or pictures (a classic
example is 'Spot the Differences') or places or events, etc., that learners have
experience of. Learners can also compare their own work with that of another
learner or another pair or group.

Examples:

Compare your list of possible 20th century icons with your partner's list. Did
you have any people in common? Tell each other why you chose them. How
many reasons did you both think of? Finally, combine your two lists, but keep it
to five people.

Tell your picture story to another pair and listen to theirs. Compare stories and
make a list of the main similarities and differences.

You will by now have noticed that many of these tasks carry on the same
themes as in previous tasks. It is possible to build up a set of tasks on the same
theme, each one arising out of the previous one. This is an excellent way to
build learners' confidence – once they are familiar with the basic vocabulary
for the topic, they can then do a range of activities recycling the topic language
and using it for different purposes in a set of tasks.

Problem-solving

Textbooks often contain activities based on common problems – pollution,

relationships, noisy neighbours and so on. But sometimes problem-solving
tasks are over too quickly – learners agree on the first solution that comes to
mind, using minimal language, e.g. 'Noisy neighbours? OK – so call police'. The
instructions for the town centre traffic problem in the example below
incorporate six or seven ways of generating richer interaction. Which of these
ways might you use with your classes?

Example:
Think of a town centre where there is too much traffic. In pairs, think of three
alternative solutions to this problem. List the advantages and disadvantages of
each alternative. Then decide which alternative would be the cheapest one,
the most innovative one and the most environmentally friendly one. Report
your decisions to another pair / group / the class, and discuss with them which
solution would be the best one to put forward to the local government.

More complex tasks like comparing and problem-solving sometimes involve

processes found in simpler tasks, like listing – see previous examples. The task
above involves listing and quite a lot of comparing and evaluating.

Sharing personal experiences and story telling

Activities where learners are asked to recount their personal experiences and
tell stories are valuable because they give learners a chance to speak for longer
and in a more sustained way. And it is something we often do in real life. In
order to encourage richer interaction, we usually need to add a clear goal,
make instructions more precise, and give clear completion points.

The advantages of TBL

Task-based learning has some clear advantages

 Unlike 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.

 A 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.
  The 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.

 The 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.

 It 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.

 It is enjoyable and motivating.

Conclusion

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.

In task-based learning, the central focus of the lesson is the task itself, not a
grammar point or a lexical area, and the objective is not to ‘learn the structure’
but to ‘complete the task’. Of course, to complete the task successfully
students have to use the right language and communicate their ideas. The
language, therefore becomes an instrument of communication, whose purpose
is to help complete the task successfully. The students can use any language
they need to reach their objective. Usually there is no ‘correct answer’ for a
task outcome. Students decide on their own way of completing it, using the
language they see fit.