About Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)

My purpose in this project is a comparison of Communicative Approach (CA) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), so I would like to describe about theories of TBLT, too.

Willis’ (1996, p.38) components of TBLT framework is as follows:
1. Pre-task
Introduction to topic and task
Teacher explores the topic with the class, highlights useful words and phrases, helps students understand task instructions and prepare. Students may hear a recording of others doing a similar task.
2. Task cycle
2-1. Task
Students do the task, in pairs or small groups. Teacher monitors from a distance.
2-2. Planning
Students prepare to report to the whole class (orally or in writing) how they did the task, what they decided or discovered.
2-3. Report
Some groups present their reports to the class, or exchange written reports, and compare results.
Students may now hear a recording of others doing a similar task and compare how they all did it.
3. Language focus
3-1. Analysis
Students examine and discuss specific features of the text or transcript of the record.
3-2. Practice
Teacher conducts practice of new words, phrases and patterns occurring in the data, either during or after the analysis.

In Willis’ framework, learners accomplish a task without sticking to particular grammatical structures. Then after accomplishing the task, grammatical structures, which are thought to need reinforcement, are focused. Although this way can naturally integrate the part of focus on meaning through communication activity and explicit explanation of grammatical structures, there is no opportunity to use focused grammatical structures. Although Kudara (2010), who is one of promoters of Willis’ framework, also points out a necessity of the opportunity to use focused grammatical structures, there is an opposing theory to Willis that the explicit explanation has to precede activities such as Yates (2004).
Therefore frameworks under the name of TBLT can be typified by the following two types:

TBLT Theory Type 1
1. Pre-task
2. Task cycle
3. Language focus
TBLT Theory Type 2
1. Pre-task
2. Language focus
3. Task cycle


References

Kudara, M. (2010). タスク重視の教材開発―試案―. BATJ Journal, 11, 8-16.

Willis, J. (1996). A framework for task-based learning. England: LONGMAN.

Yates, L. (2004). The ‘secret rules of language’: teaching pragmatics in the classroom. Prospect 19(1), 3-21.