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What is Task-Based Language Teaching?

Inspired by many interrelated disciplines, Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is a pedagogic framework for understanding and supporting language development. It is used by researchers and teachers alike. In a TBLT classroom, instructors guide learners through a task-based syllabus designed around learners' communicative needs and interests. Classrooms that incorporate tasks in the curriculum, but do not follow a task-based syllabus, align with what is called task-support language teaching (TSLT). This distinction has also been captured with the descriptors "strong" and "weak." The video below by Dr. Koen Van Gorp explains the difference.

Though TBLT might look different for learners of different ages, proficiency levels, and educational contexts, it is a pedagogical approach that can create positive language learning conditions for all.

The two primary fields that TBLT draws from are the fields of education and linguistics. Each connection is briefly discussed below.

"To learn a language, learners need opportunities to hear and engage in a lot of varied, meaning-focused interactions -- using whatever language they have at their disposal." ~ Willis (2018)

The roots of TBLT: Linguistics

Tasks play a central role in TBLT because they create opportunities for meaning-focused language use and allow for a combination of implicit and explicit learning. Within linguistics research, TBLT is connected to a cognitive-interactionist approach to second language acquisition, which identifies that the following factors are important in language development:

Attention
Interaction
Corrective feedback
Individual learner differences

The roots of TBLT: Education

TBLT emphasizes a learning-by-doing approach to language education. It aligns with the popular educational philosophies of experiential learning, like those put forth by John Dewey (1938). It also incorporates other aspects of educational philosophy , such as a whole person education, rationalism, free association, learner-centered classrooms, egalitarian teacher-student relationships, and participatory learning. For more, about these connections with TBLT, see Long (2015).

Putting TBLT into practice...in theory

Because a TBLT curriculum is tailored to the needs and wants of students, it will look different from classroom to classroom. This makes it challenging to identify concrete and clear steps that instructors or administrators can follow if they are looking to implement TBLT in their own programs. However, there are guiding principles that apply to all aspiring TBLT contexts. These principles were proposed by linguist Dr. Michael Long and reflect the interdisciplinary roots of TBLT described in the section above.

While some methodological principles are clearly connected to educational philosophies, like principles two and nine, others are more specifically connected to second language acquisition research. These include principles one, three, four, five, six, and seven. Instructors should make instructional decisions that bring to life the spirit of the methodological principles in their classrooms.

For example, to uphold the principle four about providing rich input, teachers might commit to speaking a high percentage of the target language in class, encourage students to speak the target language in class, and/or integrate teaching materials from a variety of real world contexts so that students are exposed to the variety in their target language input that reflects language communities outside the classroom. To learn more about the principles specific to input, check out Dr. Florencia Henshaw's YouTube Channel series "Unpacking (SLA) articles".

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