The implementation of TBLT

many  language teachers, experts   and   researchers   are seeking to find something that can create  a  difference  in  their  classroom. They have been looking for an effective teaching approach,  which  can provide learners with a natural context for language use. Task-based approach seems to satisfy this need to the greatest extent possible (Adendorff, 2014; Ellis, 2003 and Nunan, 2006). Task-Based Language Teaching itself is one  of  the  mainly  efficient  approaches  to   teach  a language by engaging learners in real situations (Willis & Willis, 2007).

learning of second language is not that an easy process that’s why many researchers and linguists looking for different ways of teaching to reach their goals regard teaching of second language.therefore, they still trying to find different effective approaches and methods like,cognitive approach, communicative approach etc…in this essay I will discuss one of the most popular methods of communicative approach which is Task-based language teaching method and I will shed light on its background, effectiveness and how to apply its techniques in EFL classroom in Saudi Arabia by including some examples of using TBLT method in real life.

the pedagogic background of Task-based language teaching method

The idea that a language is better acquired by using it meaningfully rather than by learning isolated elements and putting them together in practice may seem like an obvious one to many of us in the present day. There was a time, however, when this was a fairly radical concept.

Based on the constructivist theory of learning and communicative language teaching methodology, the task-based viewpoint of language teaching has emerged in response to some constraints of the traditional PPP approach, denoted by the process of presentation, practice, and performance (Ellis, 2003; Long & Crookes, 1991). Hence, it has the significant meaning that language learning is a developmental process enhancing communication and social interaction rather than a product internalized by practicing language items, and that learners master the target language more powerfully when being exposed to meaningful task-based activities in a natural way. It was in the eighties that this viewpoint of language learning gave rise to the flourishment of various task-based approaches

(Breen, 1987; Candlin& Murphy, 1987; Nunan, 1989; Prabhu, 1987).

Task-based approach in second language teaching was first performed by Prabhu, who published the Bangoloreresearch report in 1982 and advanced the concept of task-based approach (Wei, 2004). He suggested that language acquisition is “an unconscious process which is best facilitated by bringing about in the learner a preoccupation with meaning, saying and doing”. He believed that using tasks would help tap into learners’ natural mechanisms for second language acquisition.Researchers involved in task based approach have internalized experience from language research, the research of language learning and the research of foreign language acquisition, and it is getting more and more mature together with them. Its functions and value in constructing learner-centered classrooms and language learning contexts, giving learners the chance to communicate and interact and enhancing learners’ ability to deploy the target language and sort out communicative problems were highly appreciated and recognized by researchers in the area of language teaching (Lin, 2009).

Task-based approach has attracted more and more attention in the foreign language teaching field since the 1980s. Being a learner-centered approach, it views language as a communicative tool. Task-based approach aims at presenting opportunities for learners to master language both in speaking and writing via learning activities designed to engage learners in the natural, practical and functional use of language for meaningful purpose (Lin, 2009).

The potential effectiveness of using TBLT

Task-based approach is a powerful and advanced learning method. It promotes learning language knowledge and training skills in the process of performing tasks. Teachers are both instructors and guides. Similarly, learners are both receivers and main agents. It is via TBLT that learners will master how to make full use of their own communicative abilities to shift from L1 to the target language. It presents a chance for them to learn cooperatively and activates their probable abilities to employ and deal with the target language in a professional way (Lin, 2009).

As Larsen-Freeman (2000) states, since language learners make an effort to perform a task, they have a rich opportunity to interact with their peers. It is this interaction that is assumed to ease language acquisition in that learners are to try to comprehend each other and to present their own meaning.

Despite the recognition of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in English language learning classes in different contexts, its successful implementation in EFL contexts has attracted insufficient attention. As an offshoot of communicative language teaching, TBLT can provide EFL language learners with ample opportunities to embark on using language for more communicative purposes through interaction and engaging in collaborative tasks.

In many countries English is taught as a foreign language in schools, colleges and universities, and the purpose of learning English is to prepare the learners for effective and efficient communication in  English  in  their  social  and  professional  situations.  In Saudi Arabia, the situation is not different where English has become a compulsory language subject from primary school until university. Saudi Arabia, being part of the  Arab  world,  is  also  doing  its  best  to  make English  an  integral  part  of  its  education  system.  Accordingly,  the  main aim of teaching English in Saudi schools and universities is to equip the students with  good  and  fluent  communication  skills  in  English   so   that they become able to enroll in the labor market and  to  attain  the  jobs chances, gaining  knowledge,  understanding  others’  cultures,  studying overseas and travelling for pleasure. To achieve these objectives, the teaching of English in Saudi Arabia is directed to develop students‘ competence in four language skills; they are listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills (Al jaref, 2007).  According  to   the findings from recent researches at the Asian context, it is found that many students study English for many years but  they  cannot  apply  the  skills  in  real life communicative situations effectively (Ho and Long, 2014; Hadi, 2013; Sae-ong, 2010, Ismail and Meryem, 2009).

The implementation of TBLT in Saudi context:

As a language teacher who teaches English as a foreign language to Saudi EFL learners, I employ a task-based approach to provide learners with a natural context for language use, present a fruitful input of target language for learners, increase their ability to communicate effectively, and to maximize their motivation for the lesson. In TBLT method, the role of the teacher is to create relevant tasks with clear outcomes. It means that tasks should be related to possible situations that students might present out of the classroom; this way, they could feel motivated doing tasks that prepare them for any real life situation. To make students understand the outcomes and the relevance of the tasks, teachers can use pre-tasks and post-tasks. In the first one, the teacher can introduce whatever language is needed to allow students to comprehend the existing steps to complete the tasks. In the second one, the teacher can work on students´ errors after he/she has evaluated their progress in the previous tasks. In order to do this, the teacher can provide a brief grammar explanation, reformulate, model or recasts different tasks based on the level and students´ needs to reinforce their learning or to reduce any problem that they might be presenting in the learning process.

Additionally, depending on the category of the tasks, educators can teach their classes using either focused or unfocused tasks. On the one hand, the unfocused tasks provide opportunities for allowing students to communicate in a generally manner. They can complete the task using their own language resources and general knowledge about something to succeed in the tasks the teachers tells them to do. In the other hand, focused tasks are the ones that provide opportunities for communicating using some specific linguistic items, for example grammar structures.

Likewise, the TBLT method includes three different types of tasks which allow students to interact with other members of the group to share information. The three different types of tasks are information gap, opinion gap and reasoning gap. In the information gap tasks, students have to exchange information with one another to complete a task. In the opinion gap task, students can express their personal feelings, thoughts and attitudes, making the task an open- ended activity because they have to share their own points of view and beliefs. In the reasoning gap tasks, students have to infer some information required by including or analyzing the information they have already been given; usually, tasks are presented in a form of problem solving negotiation.

Finally, depending on the structure of the tasks, teachers can organize the information and the kind of language performance that is needed to fulfill the teacher´s objectives. It means that educators should not teach a linguistic item without having used the language they have been seeing all along the tasks because one of the main objectives of the Task- Based Language Teaching method is to help students acquire better the language they need when they have to use it in different tasks; this way, students are able to communicate in the four main language skills of a target language.

University of Jeddah
AlSharafyah Branch – Women Campus
Lesson Plan
Institution: English Language Institute
Date: 28\8\2018

reasons

Task-based teaching promotes pedagogical tasks which form nucleus of the

classroom activity. Also, Oral and written tasks provided the learners with opportunities tolearn language. In addition, children know far more language through activities (tasks) thanwhat they exhibit in response to classroom drills (Stevens, 1983).Moreover, artifacts such as tasks helped in tracking learner development over time and also contributed to shaping the teacher’s interactions with learners as they pulled into focus a range of mediating alternatives of varying explicitness (Poehner, 2009). Although, learning through tasks helped students learn language since the context the tasks present does provide the students with a real learning purpose. Providing learners with a purpose while performing tasks helped students also solve linguistic problems through dialogue.

The goal of teachers is to facilitate students’ language learning by engaging them in a variety of tasks that have a clear outcome.

Task-based approach has blocked the

distance between class and real life and has altered the malpractice in which teachers totally isolated traditional

foreign language teaching from real life. Task-based approach assists learners in internalizing language skills in a

natural way and shows learners how to sort out the problems that they encounter in real life (Lin, 2009).

Conclusion

Task-based learning has developed prominently in the last two decades and has remained a potentially productive

approach for a number of ESL/EFL teachers although some researchers still examine the powerfulness of TBL

Task-based approach, as Lin (2009) states, represents a trendy concept in language teaching.The purpose of teaching is not to assist learners in obtaining scheduled targets but to provide them with the context

and conditions where language acquisition can take place. TBLT approach improved students’ classroom performance and increased their

motivation for further learning. Not only did implementing this approach in Saudi context affect students’ learning experiences, but it also had a positive impact on enriching the teacher’s teaching experiences.

References

Hakim, B.. (2015). The role of learning styles in the success of TBLT in EFL classrooms in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature. 4. 205-211. 10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.3p.205.