Task-based instruction

Task-based instruction

Second Language Learning

2011

2 Table of contents Introduction. ……………………………………………………………… Tasks in SLA. ……………………………………………………………. A starting role for tasks ………………………………………... Two constructs for task-based research and language pedagogy. What are tasks? …………………………………………………………. Divergence about task-based instruction (TBI). ………………. Task-based second language learning and interaction. …………………. Building efficient tasks. …………………………………………………. Conclusion. ……………………………………………………………… References. ………………………………………………………………. 3 3 3 5 6 9 10 12 14 16

3 Introduction Following a rationale that has much in common with my two first papers (on output hypothesis and interaction) for EDSL 623 Second Language Learning, a deeper understanding of the role task-based instruction (TBI) plays in the context of second language learning and teaching seemed to be a complementary one. This paper intends to investigate on the different orientations, definitions and constructs that have helped frame the task-based instruction (TBI) in the SLA context. The paper will develop in the direction of defining what task means in SLA, the authors mostly involved with the theme, different perceptions of the task-based instruction and the contribution research on the theme has offered SLA. Moreover, the topic interaction, when leveraged by tasks, will be addressed followed by a more pragmatic section that presents the design criteria for TBI. I will conclude this present paper with considerations regarding my own practice and the possible inferences and improvements in my EFL teacher practice. Tasks in SLA A starting role for tasks In the end of the 80’s, task-based language teaching (TBLT) was still an innovation at the level of official policy and practice, although it was used as a central construct in a number of emerging research agendas. Nowadays, TBLT seems to be a new orthodoxy with major publishers claiming at least one major series to be “task-based” (Nunan, 2004).