TBLT

Question 1

What is Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT)?

Answer 1

It refers to the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching. It has been defined as an approach to language education in which students are given functional tasks that invite them to focus primarily on meaning exchange and to use language for real-world, non-linguistic purposes.

Question 2

What are the benefits of TBLT?

Answer 2

1. Greater motivation
2. Opportunity for repetition without boredom.
3. Greater curricular flexibility.
4. Promotion of learning how to learn.
5. An opportunity for natural error correction.
6. Promotion of risk taking
7. Higher proficiency results.
8. Increased student satisfaction.

Question 3

What is the theory of language underlying TBLT?

Answer 3

1. Language is primarily a means of making meaning.
2. Language is a means of achieving real-world goals.
3. Lexical units are central in language use and language learning.
4. Spoken interaction is the central focus of language and the keystone of language acquisition.
5. Language use involves integration of skills.

Question 4

What is the theory of learning underlying TBLT?

Answer 4

1. Language learning is determined by learner internal, rather than external, factors. Learning is promoted by activating internal acquisition processes.
2. Language learning is an organic process.
3. A focus on form can facilitate language learning.
4. Negotiation of meaning provides learners with opportunities for provision of comprehensible input and modified output.
5. Tasks provide opportunities for learners to “notice the gap”.
6. Interaction and communication through tasks provides opportunities for scaffolded learning.
7. Task activity and achievement are motivational.
8. Learning difficulty can be negotiated and fine-tuned for particular pedagogical purposes.

Question 5

What are the objectives of TBLT?

Answer 5

For older learners TBLT advocates the use of needs analysis, such as questionnaires or interviews, to determine learner needs. Childern, however, do not use the foreign language in the outside world, except perhaps on holidays. In this case, the objectives will relate to a more general communicative competence.

Question 6

What kind of syllabus does TBLT have?

Answer 6

A TBLT syllabus specifies the tasks that should be carried out by learners within a program. There are two types of tasks; real world tasks and pedagodical tasks.

Question 7

What are the types of teaching and learning activities in TBLT?

Answer 7

Classroom activities in TBLT seek to provide opportunities to learn language through the process of engaging in task work. There are six types of tasks: listing, ordering and sorting, comparing, problem-solving, sharing personal experiences, creative tasks. There are also types of pedagogical tasks: jigsaw tasks, information gap, problem-solving, decision-making, opinion exchange.

Question 8

What are the learner roles in TBLT?

Answer 8

Primary roles that are implied by task work are:
1. Group participant
2. Monitor
3. Risk-taker

Question 9

What are the teacher roles in TBLT?

Answer 9

Teachers should:
1. Motivate the students to invest mental energy in task performance, and to support their level of motivation throughout the various steages of a task-based activity.
2. Efficiently organize the task-based activity.
3. Select and sequence the tasks.
4. Prepare learners for tasks.
5. Consciousness-raising.
6. Monitor.

Question 10

What is the role of instructional materials in TBLT?

Answer 10

1. Pedagogic materials- TBLT is dependent on a sufficient supply of appropriate classroom tasks.
2. Realia- newspapers, TV, and the internet.
3. Technology.