Research on the Characteristics and Application of Task—Based Language Teaching in the English Classroom

New curriculum and standard in Junior and Senior English require English teachers to utilize Task-Based Language Teaching （which is hereafter called TBLT） .TBLT is an effective way of teaching middle school English. However， a lot of new concepts concerning TBLT have not been realized， In consequence， this paper tries to expound the new ideas of TBLT and the practical ways to carry out TBLT.TBLTresearchteaching methodNew curriculum advocates Task-Based Language Teaching .However，what is TBLT and how to put it to good use in our English classroom still remainsa big problem for us to solve.

I.The connotation of task-based language teaching

There are two main important definitions from famous linguists， especially David Nunuan：（1）TBLT focuses on the construction， sequencing， and evaluation of particular goal-related action complexes that learners carry out either by themselves（see Prabhu’s model 1987）or jointly （see Kumaravadivelu 1993） （Candlin Murphy 1987； Nunan 1989） .（2）The task-based approach aims at proving opportunities for the learners to experiment designed to engage learners in the authentic， practical and functional use of language for with and explore both spoken and written language through learning activities which are meaningful purposes.

II. The definition of what are tasks and what are not tasks

A task is a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others， freely or for some reward. It is meant what people do in everyday life， at work， at play， and in between. （Long 1985：89）A task is an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language （Richards， Platt and Weber 1986：289）.The communicative task is a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending， manipulating， producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to convey meaning rather than to manipulate form. Tasks can have variety of starting point. They may draw on learners’ own input， e.g. personal experience， general/world knowledge， or intellectual challenge； they may be based on written text， recordings of spoken data，or visual data；they could be activities like games，demonstrations or interviews；they could be a combination of several of these.Tasks do not include activities which involve language used for practice or display， such as Describe the picture or a photo using the words and phrases from the list below or Ask your partner if he likes the food listed here using the forms Do you like ？ Yes， I do/ No， I don't.

III. The difference between task and practice

In the practical teaching procedures， task and practice are often confused and therefore are not put into use in the language teaching appropriately. They have different outcomes. As for the outcome of the task，For example， the learner will listen to a weather forecast and identify the predicted maximum temperature for the day so that he or she decides how much clothes according to the weather condition.concerning the outcome of practice， for example，The learner will listen to an aural text and answer questions afterwards on whether given statements are true or 1.In brief，the essential difference between task and exercise as follows： a task has a nonlinguistic outcome， while an exercise has a linguistic outcome.Therefore， success in the task is evaluated in terms of achievement of an outcome， and tasks generally bear some resemblance to real-life language use. A task-based approach sees the language process as one of learning by doing.

IV. The key features of task-based language teaching

The tasks will engage students， challenge them， and allow for contingent interaction. According to Csikszetmihalyi （1993： xiv）.They have concrete goals and manageable rules， make it possible to adjust opportunities for action to our capacities， provide clear information about how well we are doing and screen out distractions and make concentration possible. A successful pedagogical task has the following features： first， the task focuses students' attention on the structure of the language by demonstrating that language form contributes to meaning. Second， it motivates learners to heighten the complexity of the linguistic means they use to accomplish task objectives. A successful task sequence leads learners to communicate with limited resources， become aware of apparent limitations in their knowledge about linguistic structures that are necessary to convey the message appropriately and accurately， and finally， look for alternatives to overcome such limitations.

1.The components of a task

A real task contains the following： （1） Goal：Exchanging personal information； （2） Input：questionnaire on sleeping habits； （3）Activity：Read questionnaire and ask and answer questions about sleeping habits. Under such circumstance， teachers' should switched into monitor and facilitator to specify what is regarded as successful completion of the task. The students should act as conversational partners and what's more， the setting should be classroom and pair work.

2. The characteristics of task-based language teaching

TBLT possesses such characteristics as ：（1） an emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.（2）the introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.（3）provision of opportunities for learners to focus， not only on language， but also on the learning process itself.（4）an enhancement of the learners’ own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.（5）an attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom.A communication task is a piece of classroom work during which learners' attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form， that is on what is being expressed rather than on the linguistic forms used for expressing it. The communicative task should have a sense of completeness， being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right with a beginning， middle and an end.

3.Three Pedagogical Goals for Task-based Approaches

The first is accuracy which concerns how well language is produced in relation to the target language. The second is Complexity that concerns the elaboration or ambition of the language which is produced. How far do learners rely on prefabricated phrases and established routines， and how far do they need to expand their language resources to meet the communicative challenge？ The third is fluency which concerns the learner's capacity to produce language in real time without undue pausing or hesitation. It is likely to rely upon more lexicalized modes of communication， as the pressure of real time speech production are met only by avoiding excessive rule-based computation.

4.The principles on which we base the tasks are as follows：

The authenticity principle： the linguistic data that learners work with are authentic. The relationship between linguistic form and communicative function are clear to the learner； the form-function principle： Teaching language in ways that make form and function relationships transparent；the task dependency principle： A series of tasks in a lesson or unit of work forms a kind of pedagogical ladder，each task representing a rung on the ladder， enabling the learner to reach higher and higher levels of communicative performance； Learning by doing： Learning by doing motivates students to fulfill their potential. Learners master the language by using it communicatively in the classroom， although they still have to learn grammar and memorize vocabulary.

IV.The approaches to using task-based language teaching in English classroom

The three stages must be used in the task-based procedures. The first is pre-task which mainly gets the students to prepare for the language learning. At this stage， the students should recall words and phrases and learn new words and phrases. The second is task cycle or while-task which gets the students to perform the tasks in pairs or groups and reports and presents what they do to the whole class. The third is post-task which focuses on the specific language points and important grammar points.

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