Task—based Language Teaching

【Abstract】：As the further development of Communicative Language Teaching（CLT）， Task-based Language Teaching（TBLT） shows its superiority by reproducing real communication in a more efficient way and it proposes that the ability of using one foreign language can be cultivated by guiding students to finish tasks in real life so as to learn profoundly and use one foreign language. By all the above， TBLT may be a good teaching method students to learn one foreign language. This paper is about Task-based Language Teaching and a syllabus based on it for the course E-C translation in college.

【Key words】： Task-based Language Teaching， task， constructivism， inherent " motivation

Introduction

Under the background of Communicative Language Teaching being widely accepted in 1980s， and on the bases of PPP（Presentation， Practice， Production）-centered teaching model， Task-based Language Teaching was established as a new teaching model and considered as a broad approach known as CLT. It has been defined as follows：

Task-based Language Teaching（TBLT） refers to an approach based on the uses of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching（程曉堂 2002：104-105）. Considering that there are many other definitions on TBLT， the writer makes a brief summary on the base of the more accepted ones， that is， the essential content of TBLT is learning by doing and learner-oriented， focusing on learners’ internal needs， emphasizing the importance of meaning negotiation， and comprehensible input and output when promoting language acquisition， and requiring that learners should finish setting tasks and undertake meaningful communication activities thus to finally achieve internalization of language and improvement of communicative competence.

The underlying theories of task-based teaching

2.1 Humanistic Learning Theory

The basis of Humanistic Learning Theory is natural humanity. Psychologists in humanistic learning hold that humanity comes from nature， and natural humanity is the nature of humans. Once something is a organism， it has certain internal tendentiousness that its potential will be developed in such a way the organism itself can be maintained and strengthened. Besides， basic human needs is decided by humans’ potential. Humanistic Learning Theory attaches great importance to humans’ dignity and intrinsic values regards learning as a internalization process where cognition and emotion are combined to form an integrated mental world.

2.2 Cognitive Psychology

Jean Piaget firstly defined the definition of constructivism as followed： “Knowledge is actively constructed by the learner， not passively received from the environment” （Jean Piaget， 1967）. We can conclude that constructivism refers that humans can construct their own understanding through their own experiences. In other words， under a certain social culture background， learning should be an active activity with certain purpose， and others’ help， applying to necessary references， and undertaking actively meaning construction. It is also stressed in constructivism learning theory that outside learning material itself is meaningless. It is after learners contacting outside world that their old knowledge storage will act on the new knowledge and on the basis of owned experience they will deal with the new one， adding their own interpretation to it， achieving internalizing new one as a part of their experience.

A syllabus based on Task-based Language Teaching

Course objectives：

This course is aimed to help students learn basic English grammar， proper nouns， sentences， translation theories， and E-C translation strategies. Students are expected to make progress in the following aspects：

1） Get familiar with the history of translation in English-Chinese translation; 2） Get familiar with different linguistic schools mentioned in the textbook A Textbook of English-Chinese Translation; 3） Get familiar with the important basic translation principles， and issues that translation studies.

Required materials：

Textbook book： A Textbook of English-Chinese Translation. First Edition by Shen Yuping and Dai Ning; Handouts and e-materials; Multiple Media

Implementation：

The syllabus is designed for sophomores majored in English. Suppose there are 36 students in the class. In order to describe the implementation clearly， four class procedures will be discussed.

Conclusion

The task-based teaching approach stimulates learners’ inherent motivation and interest. On the one hand， when undertake one task， students may be require to exchange personal information， or solve problems， or make a collective judgment. All of which has a real-world connection and will inspire the learners’ impetus and interests. On the other hand， TBLT attach great importance on learning process in which students constructs their knowledge systems through participating， exploring， experiencing， and inducing. In this learning process， every student has chance to make success， their enthusiasm of learning will increase， and their confidence will be set up.

WORKS CITED

Breen，M. Learner Contributions to Task Design In Language Learning Tasks， Candlin，C and Morphy， D （eds）， 23-46. Englewood Cliffs， NJ： Prentice Hall， 1987

Carless， D. Implementing task-based learning with young learners[J]. ELT Journal， 2002， 56（4）

Gatbonton amp; Segalowitz. Creative Automatization： Principles for Promoting Fluency within a Communicative Framework[J]. TESOL Quarterly， 1988（22）： 473-492

程曉棠. 任務(wù)型語言教學(xué)[M]. 高等教育出版社，2004

方文禮. 外語任務(wù)型教學(xué)法縱橫談[J]. 外語與外語教學(xué)，2003

龔亞夫、羅少茜.任務(wù)型語言教學(xué)[M].北京：人民教育出版社，2003