Essay Sample on Task-Based Language Teaching

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is a relatively new approach to teaching language by using task as a unit of analysis for practice in communicative language teaching. It TBLT syllabus design, the task is the only unit of analysis. The benefits of using this approach are that it deals with real-life communication before the language to be though is analyzed. Doing so, it makes the learning process interesting and relevant among the learners. As a result, this approach is learner-centered and meet students' need by offering them an opportunity to utilize all available language resources thus encouraging learners' autonomy. This is because, the learners get an opportunity to analyze what they know, what they partially know or do not know and should be improved, thus motivating them to investigate the language deeply. In this way, the learners take responsibility for their progress while learning a language. The approach helps learners to develop intrinsic motivation, and as a result, it enables learners to participate in class through interaction and only through a one-off sentence. If the approach is effectively used, the learner's confidence in achieving communicative goals is enhanced thus reducing learning anxiety.

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This approach is important because it is suitable for both strong and weak leaners because all learners can accomplish task according to their language level. In this case, there will be different accuracy in one communication situation which will enable each learner to explore their personal needs. Also, the approach allows learners to deal with a broad range of language apart from the grammar (Nunan, 2013).

There are many definitions of "task" as provided by various scholars, with each definition focusing on specific understanding. Nunan has, however, categories "task" into two: task occurring in a classroom environment (pedagogical tasks) and task beyond the classroom (target tasks) or real-world tasks. In TBLT, the task has five key characteristics as follows: TBLT is meaning-focused; where learners are expected to produce language by connecting with the real world instead of repeating what other people are saying. The importance of using TBLT is that the classroom task imitates and enhance performance in the real world task. Also, since learning takes place through task and activities, TBLT favors implicit instruction. TBLT is critical for the development of the second language ability because it provides improved and supportive conditions not provided by other teaching techniques, which relies emphasis on only teaching learners the language structure (Van den Branden, Bygate, & Norris, 2009).

Description of the students

This lesson is designed for senior high school learners, of the mid and late twenties of Arabic origin who are intending to study abroad. These are a learner with little knowledge in English vocabulary, tenses, and its pronunciation and therefore relatively weak in speaking English. With their advanced age, they can concentrate for a longer period for up to two hours. This is a 40 minutes' lesson.

Design features of the task

The goals of the task are:

• To use lyrics in expanding learner's vocabulary in tenses.
• To establish leaners scanning and intensive reading skills.
• To develop speaking fluency by making maximum use of all opportunities of speaking.
• The input
• The material required for the task is the music system, particularly the instrumental of the song, the sound of silence.

Condition

• The learners will be expected to listen to the song as a class
• Each learner is expected to read the lyrics as an individual
• The learners are expected to extract more meaning from the pictures as a group.

Procedure

The task involves 7 different activities:

• Activity 1: Listening to the teacher while she tells them about her daily routine.
• Activity 2: stating six habits in their morning routine and four habits in their evening routine
• Activity 3: composing five questions to ask the fellow students in a class interview.
• Activity 4: Interviewing a pair, where students respond to other's student'squestion.
• Activity 5: Building consensus on their performance in using the present tense in the interview
• Activity 6: Learners either evaluate the other student's written habits in terms in terms ofpresent tense use.
• Activity 7: Learners to give peer feedback

Learning outcomes

• The learner will correctly identify the present tense in a sentence.
• The student will speak his/her interpretation about the tense in the sentence
• The leaner will make correctly create a sentence using the present tense.

Process

The students are expected to use language while responding to each other in the interview, where one student will ask a question while the other listens, before responding. Also, they are to write down their response in their notebook.

Description of the task

Pre-task phase

The pre-task stage is used for the preparation of the implementation of the real task. It involves the introduction of the topic, activating previous lesson knowledge, and giving the learner instructions about the task. In language learning the condition required as language exposure, use, and the learner's motivations. As a result, the pre-task phase in this lesson aims at providing sufficient reading and listening input and motivating students by using stimulating activities and music.

Based on the principle of task dependence, learning activities are designed in such a way that there is a progression from the easy activity to the challenging activity. The second principle of receptive-to-creativity is reading, and activities are followed by role-playing and speaking. In this phase, the teacher uses pictures to tell the students about her daily activity. The best strategy to tell the students is to have the teacher record, and the recorded clip be played in class. The first activity will be to play the instrumental version of the song. This will help to set learners free from struggling with language as well as set a good mood for the following activities. According to the Suggestopedia principle, pure rhythm without external interference captures learners' attention thus increasing their attention and making them susceptible to language input. The instrumental is then played with the teacher's voice recorded in it.

By telling them about my daily routine, I want to build their expectations about the topic and prepare them for the coming task.

The planning:

This planning phase will help to reduce anxiety and stress among the leaners. Since accuracy is more important than fluency in this lesson, short planning time is sufficient. To enhance their grammatical complexity, 5 minutes of planning time is sufficient. Many studies show that allowing students to plan for between 1 to 5 minutes is ideal and practical in a lesson of less than 1 hour. Effective planning enhances students' performance while learning.

In this stage, students are expected to write down four habits in their daily evening routine and six habits in their morning routine. The students are expected to come up with five questions to ask the other during the task cycle.

Task cycle

After adequate preparation in the previous pre-task phase, the learners are ready to use the language of their choice to complete the task in the task cycle stage. In the first activity in the task cycle, students are expected to use intensive thinking to interview each other in class. In this activity, they are expected the interviewed students are expected to use the present simple tense in responding to the interview. The same case applies to the interviewer who is expected to ask questions using present simple tense too in his/her question. The both students will then build consensus on their performance in the use of present simple tense. This enables leaner to establish a discussion and as well establish a chance for more dialogue. The prolong the time of discussion is important since it promotes oral communication. Many rounds of consensus are built in each group before arriving at the final agreement. The importance of many rounds of building consensus is that they initiate critical and creative thinking.

During the activity, the students may use pictures as a secondary learning material to explain their daily activities as provided by the teacher during the pre-task stage while responding to the question. The importance of this activity is that pictures are more memorable compared to words. In the interview, the students evaluate their response in pairs. This option gives learners greater flexibility while responding.

The last activity is the feedback activity. To increase speaking time and save time, peer feedback is the best option. The feedback from fellow learners increases the chances of autonomous learning and self-correction.

Language focus phase

The most effective condition for language learning is clear instructions. This phase is meant to summarize the language structure produced during the previous task cycle. Language instruction speeds up the development of language as well as elicits a higher degree of satisfaction among the learners. In this stage, students are instructed to take notes about useful phrases and interesting points in the reporting stage. Adding present-tense vocabulary into their books is one of the most important strategies for learning.

To stimulate critical thinking and creativity, learners are asked to identify the present tense sentences in the sentences provided by the teacher. Each learner will submit the answer at the end of the lesson. The learners are told to cross-check the answers among themselves, a practice that creates an opportunity for speaking.