MID TERM ASSIGNMENT

A COMPREHENSIVE EVALUATION OF TASK-BASED LEARNING

Oleh

Name : Winda Daniati

Reg. Num : 2022 / 22178031

STATE UNIVERSITY OF PADANG

2022
Abstract

Teaching and learning foreign languages can take many different forms; One of them is
Task-Based Learning (TBL). The Communicative Approach served as the foundation for
this novel strategy. TBL's ideas have worked well in the classroom. The author of this
study examined the advantages and drawbacks of using task-based learning to teach
English in a literature review. The purpose of this paper is to examine Task-based
Learning (TBL), including the definition of "task" and TBL, its characteristics and
stages, the roles of teachers and students in TBL, as well as its benefits and drawbacks..
This will help teachers and language educators in EFL context to connect more
significance to the relevant contrasts while applying Undertaking based Learning.

A. INTRODUCTION

Successful language learning is influenced by appropriate teaching techniques. The

Grammar-Translation Method, Direct Method, Communicative Approach, and others emerged
during the 20th century. The teaching of foreign languages has been impacted in various ways by
such approaches and methodologies. At the end of the 20th century, there was a growing interest
in Task-Based Learning (TBL) as a means of encouraging the development of communicative
skills. The focus of Task-based Learning is also reflected in some contemporary research, such
as the studies by Long and Crookes (1991) and Skehan and Foster (1999).The goal of task-based
learning (TBL) is to use real language in real-world situations. Meaningful and student-centered
communication are promoted by this strategy. Terms can be used creatively and freely by
students in their assignments.

In his project in Bangalore, (Prabhu, 1987)first introduced the concept of TBL which
focused on communication through student participation in "tasks,". Under the direction of
teachers, they were clearly presented with a set of issues as well as information and opinion gaps
that were addressed through the English medium. Prabhu stated that language focus hindered
language learning. Natural processes have been regarded as the cause of language development.

DISCUSSION
 In the 1980s and 1990s, the term "task-based" came to be used to describe a method that
was regarded as a development in education because people realized that the learner had to be at
the center of everything. In the context of developing process-based syllabi and creating
communicative tasks to increase learners' actual language use following the introduction of CLT
in the early 1980s, Task-Based Learning is a crucial topic within the SLA field (Michaud, 2021).
It also places an emphasis on learners' communication skills over the past two decades.
According to (Swan, 2005), the current Second Language Acquisition (SLA) method and work
require a task.

Every day, tasks like writing a letter, reporting, or speaking on the phone are completed.
By providing students with a task and then the language to solve it, TBL aims to develop
students who speak multiple languages(Yuan & Willis, 1999). Students can engage and significantly
improve their language skills through TBL tasks. According to Sholeh et al., (2021), tasks
supported in Task-based Learning are viewed as resources that educators and students can use to
achieve clear language goals and objectives.

According to (Nunan, 2013), a task is a piece of classroom work in which students are
involved in understanding, directing, producing, or interacting in the target language while the
students' attention is focused on activating their grammatical knowledge in order to express
meaning and the goal is to express meaning rather than manipulate form. Additionally, the
project should be able to stand on its own as a communication activity with a beginning, middle,
and end.

According to (Brown, 2000), the primary focus of task-based instruction is not on the
minute details of language but rather on the actual purposes for which it must be used. Task-
based instruction focuses on a whole collection of real-world tasks, whereas content-based
instruction focuses on subject matter content.

In addition, task input can come from a variety of sources, including oral descriptions,
speeches, conversations, narratives, public announcements, cartoon strips, interviews, and so on.
Task-based curricula differ from content-based, theme-based, and experiential instruction in that
course objectives are more centered on language. The goals are linguistics-based, whereas in
task-based instruction, the focus is on communication, meaning, and purpose. In addition to
preserving the importance of greetings and expressing one's opinions, these objectives also
include focusing on grammar and phonology.

Despite the fact that proponents of task-based instruction naturally differ in their focuses and
beliefs, (Sholeh et al., 2021), the following principles are generally agreed upon:

 Activities that focus on meaning rather than language should be the primary focus of
instructed language learning, which should primarily involve natural or naturalistic
language use.
 Less emphasis should be placed on teacher control in instruction.
 In order to preserve the perceived advantages of a natural approach while still fostering
the acquisition of formal linguistic elements, involvement is required because purely
naturalistic learning typically does not result in target-like accuracy.

The best way to accomplish this is to provide opportunities for students to focus on the form.
This will draw students' attention to linguistic elements as they occur incidentally in lessons that
are primarily concerned with communication or meaning. For this approach, communicative
tasks are a particularly useful tool. Pre- or post-task language study that is more formal might be
helpful. By leading to or increasing noticing of formal features during communication, this may
aid in acquisition.Traditional approaches are ineffective and undesirable, particularly when they
separate communicative work from passive formal instruction and practice.

Roles of teachers in TBL

1. Task selector and sequencer:

The teacher plays a crucial role in selecting, adjusting, and creating tasks that are tailored to
the needs, interests, and language proficiency levels of the students.
2. Getting students ready for tasks:
Learners need to get some pre-task training. These training activities may include an
introduction to the topic, a description of the instructions for the task, assistance with
learning or recalling helpful words and phrases to make the task completion process simpler,
and a partial display of the process.
3. Increasing consciousness:
 The instructor employs a variety of form-focusing strategies, such as guided exposure to
parallel tasks, highlighted material, attention-focusing pre-task activities, and reading the
assigned text.

Roles for Students in TBL

1. Member of the Group:

Students work in small groups or pairs to complete many tasks. Individuals who are more
accustomed to whole-class activities or individual work may require some adaptation for pair
or group work. • Monitor: Tasks are utilized in Task Based Learning to facilitate learning.
Activities in the classroom should be planned so that students can observe how language is
used in communication. In task work, learners must "attend" not only to the message but also
to the format in which it typically appears.
2. Taker of chances and innovator:
A lot of the tasks will require students to create and interpret messages for which they have
no prior experience or full linguistic resources. In point of fact, this is said to be the purpose
of such assignments. It may be necessary to improve one's ability to guess based on linguistic
and contextual clues, seek clarification, and consult with other students.

The Stages of Task-Based Learning Task-based learning provides language teachers with an
alternative teaching method. The language that will be covered in a task-based lesson is not
predetermined by the instructor. The lesson centers on completing a central task, and as the
students complete the task, the language they are studying is determined simultaneously. Frost
(2004) depicts these particular phases:

Pre-task The instructor starts the topic, explains to the students exactly what they need to do at
the task stage, and may help them remember some language that could be useful for the task.
Playing a recording of people working on the task is another option for the stage before the task.
The students are given a clear example of what is expected of them by this. The students can
spend time getting ready for the task and taking notes. According to Ellis (2006), the first phase
is pre-task, which outlines the various activities that teachers and students can perform prior to
beginning the task.
The goal of the pre-task phase is to get students ready to do the task in a way that will help them
learn it.

Task The students complete a task using the language resources in pairs or groups while the
instructor monitors and provides support. This second phase includes opportunities for students
to take risks as well as a lesson that is primarily conversational in nature and the explicit
formulation of messages. The effective communication scaffolding and shared goals that are part
of this phase are another process.

Planning Students prepare a brief oral or written report to explain their task to the class. After
that, they practice what they'll say in their groups.

In the meantime, the instructor is available to answer any language-related questions the students
may have and provide recommendations.

Report The students then give a written or oral report to the class. The order in which students
will present their reports and whether or not they will receive quick content feedback is
determined by the instructor. The instructor may also play a recording of other students working
on the same task at this point for the students to compare. The teacher then highlights relevant
parts from the recording's text for the students to analyze, with the pedagogical objectives of
providing a repeat performance, encouraging reflection on how the task was performed, and
finally encouraging forms that are problematic for the learner during the task. They might ask
students to point out interesting aspects of this text. The language that the students utilized
during the report phase can also be highlighted by the instructor for analysis.

Practice At the end of the lesson, the teacher chooses which language areas to practice based on
the students' needs and the information from the task and report phases.The students then engage
in practice activities to build self-esteem and learn useful language.

The advantages

Task-Based Language Teaching is a method of teaching a second language that is based on the
most recent research on how people learn languages. According to (Tashmetova et al., 2020a), it
plays a significant role in current language education.
The majority of the time, a task-based lesson gives the student an active role in participating in
and creating the activities, which in turn boosts their motivation to learn. Students have more
opportunities to demonstrate their thinking through their actions in a task-based lesson.

Additionally, the teacher can be more receptive to the needs of the students. TBL gives students
the opportunity to put their newly acquired knowledge to good use in the context of the task at
hand (procedural knowledge).Students gain a better understanding of the significance of certain
academic questions as a result of this hands-on experience, which also serves as a foundation for
the creation of additional academic discourse.

As a result, the task typically requires the selection of a few items. Students may be able to
collaborate on a shared objective as a result of this. Throughout the process, a variety of
participants, including the tutor and fellow team members' students, can present opposing
perspectives on the same issue and engage in meaningful discussion. The undertaking will
ordinarily produce protests that are additionally open to cross gathering assessment. The students
can present and evaluate other products. The classroom community's work can be evaluated for
both its strengths and weaknesses by anyone. Students will be encouraged to reflect and develop
critical thinking skills as a result of this (Yuan & Willis, 1999)

The pedagogical value of using tasks to encourage authentic language use and communication in
second language classrooms is widely acknowledged. However, this method comes with its own
set of drawbacks.

According to Swan (Juliana, 2021), the assertion that Task-Based Learning is an advanced
teaching method that is solidly based on current theory and research findings cannot
continue.Common language-learning experience refutes the hypotheses that are frequently
associated with TBL, namely that second language acquisition occurs entirely as a result of
noticing during communicative activity and is controlled by rigid developmental sequences.
These hypotheses are not supported by convincing theoretical argument or experimental
evidence.

TBL provides a variety of criteria for task design and implementation in addition to a variety of
justifications for task use. It lacks a systematic grammar or the kind of syllabus that characterizes
current versions of TBLT and relies on tasks as the primary source of pedagogical input in
teaching. In addition, many aspects of TBLT, such as proposed schemes for task types, task
sequencing, and task performance evaluation, have not been justified. According to Richards and
Rogers (2001), Task-Based Language Teaching's fundamental assumption that it provides for a
more effective basis for teaching than other language teaching approaches remains the domain of
ideology rather than fact, which is consistent with what (Swan, 2005) suggested previously.

While Task-Based Instruction may successfully build students' authority over what they already
know, it is significantly less effective at systematic language instruction.

This is especially true in countries like Turkey where time is limited and outside-of-class
experiences are unavailable. As a result, task-based programs are inappropriate for the majority
of language learners worldwide.

If implemented carelessly, task-based learning poses some risks, according to (Michaud, 2021).It
is especially likely to put pressure on people to talk right away rather than allow for
interlanguage change and growth. Some communication tactics, such as paraphrasing, word
coinage, and repetition, may be used by speakers. Furthermore, according to Norris, Brown,
Hudson, and Bonk (Nunan, 2013), task-based learning cannot simulate all of the factors that
define actual language use situations and does not provide any basis for making interpretations
beyond the specific context of the task or test. In addition, rather than language itself, the elicited
performances may be dependent on skills or knowledge.

It is also important to note that task-based interaction is primarily narrow and that students place
a high value on communicating meanings rather than worrying about the format they use.As a
result, the interaction as a whole is set up to ensure that everyone stays focused on completing
the task at hand.In the world outside of the L2 classroom, there are many different kinds of
interactions, and there is definitely a lot more to communication than just doing tasks
(Tashmetova et al., 2020b)

CONCLUSION

Researchers are motivated to develop novel approaches for language pedagogy by the challenges
of learning a second language. Prabhu came up with task-based learning because he believed that
students could learn more effectively if they engaged in a task because learner engagement is an
essential component of education.
It's not surprising that TBL has been the subject of numerous studies over the past two decades
because it was viewed as yet another tool for addressing learning issues. When looking at the
development of research on task-based learning, the definition of tasks and the philosophy
behind them were given top priority. Leading researchers are currently focused on determining
the types of tasks and the appropriate level for task-based learning.

In total, task-based learning has gained a huge headway over the most recent twenty years what's
more, has stayed a possibly prolific methodology for some ESL/EFL educators in spite of the
way that a few scientists actually question the viability of TBL.
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