Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an empirically investigated pedagogy that has garnered attention from language programs across the globe. TBLT provides an alternative to traditional grammar translation or present-practice-produce pedagogies by emphasizing interaction during authentic tasks. Despite several previous meta-analyses investigating the effect of individual tasks or short-term task-based treatments on second language (L2) development, no studies to date have synthesized the effects of long-term implementation of TBLT in authentic language classrooms. The present study uses meta-analytic techniques to investigate the effectiveness of TBLT programs on L2 learning. Findings based on a sample of 52 studies revealed an overall positive and strong effect ( d = 0.93) for TBLT implementation on a variety of learning outcomes. The study further examined a range of programmatic and methodological features that moderated these main-effects (program region, institution type, needs analysis, and cycles of implementation). Additionally, synthesizing across both quantitative and qualitative data, results also showed positive stakeholder perceptions towards TBLT programs. The study concludes with implications for the domain of TBLT implementation, language program evaluation, and future research in this domain.

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This study investigated the relationship between task-based teacher training and novice English language teachers’ cognitions and implementations of tasks in Honduran bilingual schools. After participating in a four-week training program on task-based language teaching, teachers with little or no prior teaching experience designed task-based lessons and were video-recorded implementing those lessons with English language learners ages 5 to 12. Following the classroom observation, teachers participated in a stimulated recall interview. A rubric aligned with 10 key principles of task-based language teaching (TBLT) as outlined by Long (2015) was used to rate teachers’ performance and code stimulated recalls. Ratings of video observations showed varied success in TBLT implementation after training, with some teachers’ lessons clearly aligned with key TBLT principles, and others relying on focus on forms strategies. Analysed data also uncovered a link between previous training and teaching experiences and the success of teachers’ implementations. Stimulated recalls showed that teachers focused primarily on maintaining a cooperative learning environment, and less on reactive aspects of TBLT such as providing corrective feedback. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for teachers and teacher training programs seeking to implement TBLT as an approach to language teaching.

Meta-analytic reviews collect available empirical studies on a specified domain and calculate the average effect of a factor. Educators as well as researchers exploring a new domain of inquiry may rely on the conclusions from meta-analytic reviews rather than reading multiple primary studies. This article calls for caution in this regard because the outcome of a meta-analysis is determined by how effect sizes are calculated, how factors are defined, and how studies are selected for inclusion. Three recently published meta-analyses are reexamined to illustrate these issues. The first illustrates the risk of conflating effect sizes from studies with different design features; the second illustrates problems with delineating the variable of interest, with implications for cause-effect relations; and the third illustrates the challenge of determining the eligibility of candidate studies. Replication attempts yield outcomes that differ from the three original meta-analyses, suggesting also that conclusions drawn from meta-analyses need to be interpreted cautiously.

The provision of corrective feedback during oral interaction has been deemed an essential element for successful second language acquisition (Gass & Mackey, 2015a). However, corrective feedback—especially corrective feedback provided by peer interlocutors—remains understudied in naturalistic settings. The present mixed methods study aimed to identify the target and type of corrective feedback provided by both native-speaker and peer interlocutors during conversation groups while abroad. U.S. study abroad students (N = 19) recorded group conversations with native speakers (N = 10) at the beginning, middle, and end of a 6-week stay in Barcelona, Spain. Results indicate a significant decrease in the provision of corrective feedback by both native speakers and peer learners over the course of the program. Qualitative analyses revealed that both learners and natives alike engage in negotiations for meaning throughout the program, which for learners resulted in successful recall on tailor-made quizzes. The use of the first language by both the study abroad students and the native speakers promoted these opportunities in some instances. Results are discussed in terms of their contribution to the study abroad literature as well as to research into the effects of feedback on second language development.