Chacun à son gout? Task‐based L2 pedagogy from the teacher's point of view

Abstract

In this paper, task‐based language teaching (TBLT) and its relationship to task‐based learning is investigated by drawing on teachers' pedagogic principles and practices as they relate to adopting, adapting, or rejecting TBLT in their classrooms. In particular, the paper seeks to discover the relevance of TBLT‐related research and teacher education literature for experienced L2 teachers, the ways in which these published accounts are reflected in teachers' pedagogic principles, and how such principles and practices are combined with approaches other than TBLT. Four experienced UK‐based ESL teachers were interviewed and observed in their classrooms a number of times. Based on case studies of these teachers, four TBLT‐related pedagogical principles in their teaching are identified and discussed in the light of the interview and observational data.

Lots of games and little challenge – a snapshot of modern foreign language teaching in English secondary schools

“…If, however, the goal of MFL teaching is to enable pupils to use the target language, communicative challenge must be brought into the MFL classroom. This could be achieved through activities that have 'interactional authenticity' (Andon and Eckerth 2009). Such activities do not necessarily reflect situations of future language use (e.g.…”

Task-Based Learning in Task-Based Teaching: Training Teachers of Chinese as a Foreign Language

“…Without a doubt, teachers’ own understanding of TBLT is fundamental to the success (or lack thereof) of TBLT. It is one thing to observe that “teachers do not follow official TBLT-related pedagogic recommendations in a slavish way” (Andon & Eckert, 2009, p. 305); it is quite another to assume that they all have had a reasonable understanding of not only tasks but also TBLT as a whole. Such an assumption is as yet unwarranted (Van den Branden, 2016), and the principles proposed for teacher training, such as the following (Brandl, 2016), may therefore be of limited guiding value: Understand task concepts.Understand task goals and pedagogical intentions.Have a solid command of task routines.Have training that is hands-on and experiential.…”

The Role of Teachers in Task-Based Language Education

“…In 2001, Samuda stated that the extent to which teachers actually realized their role as a mediating factor in task-based language teaching remained "virtually unexamined" (Samuda, 2001, p. 119). Since then, however, a steadily growing body of empirical evidence, collected in a wide variety of teaching contexts and across different continents, has accrued, vividly documenting the ways in which teachers perceive TBLT and work with tasks in their classrooms (e.g., Andon & Eckert, 2009;Carless, 2004;East, 2012;Edwards & Willis, 2005;Ellis, 2015;McDonough, 2015;McDonough & Chaikitmongkol, 2007;Müller-Hartmann & Schocker-von Ditfurth, 2011;Samuda, 2001;Samuda & Bygate, 2008;Shehadeh & Coombe, 2012;Van den Branden, 2006, 2009b, 2015aVan den Branden, Van Gorp, & Verhelst, 2007;Van Gorp & Van den Branden, 2015). The available research, most of which combines the observation of teachers in their classrooms with teacher interviews or surveys reveals that there is a clear tension between TBLT as a principled approach (as described in the above-mentioned pedagogically oriented publications) and TBLT as it takes shape in authentic educational practice.…”