Task-Based Language Teaching: A reader(1 Task-Based Language Teaching)

Over the past two decades, task-based language teaching (TBLT) has gained considerable momentum in the field of language education. This volume presents a collection of 20 reprinted articles and chapters representative of work that appeared during that period. It introduces readers­ – graduate students, researchers, teachers – ­to foundational ideas and themes that have marked the emergence of TBLT. The editors provide a first chapter that locates TBLT within broader discourses of educational practice and research on language learning and teaching. The book then features four sections consisting of important, often difficult to find, writings on major themes: fundamental ideas, approaches, and definitions in TBLT; curriculum, syllabus, and task design; variables affecting task-based language learning and performance; and task-based assessment. In a concluding chapter, the editors challenge simplistic notions of TBLT by reflecting on how this body of work has initiated the possibility of a truly researched language pedagogy, and they highlight critical directions in TBLT research and practice for the future.

Table of Contents:
1. Series editors' preface; 2. Chapter 1. Task-based language teaching: introducing the reader. (by Van den Branden, Kris); 3. Section 1. Introducing task-based language teaching; 4. Section intro (by Norris, John M.); 5. Chapter 2. Towards task-based language learning (by Candlin, Christopher N.); 6. Chapter 3. The concept of task (by Swales, John M.); 7. Chapter 4. Three approaches to task-based syllabus design (by Long, Mike); 8. Chapter 5. A framework for the implementation of task-based instruction (by Skehan, Peter); 9. Chapter 6. Task-based research and language pedagogy (by Ellis, Rod); 10. Section 2. Curriculum, syllabus, and task design; 11. Section intro (by Norris, John M.); 12. Chapter 7. Task-based teaching and assessment (by Long, Mike); 13. Chapter 8. From needs to tasks: Language learning needs in a task-based approach (by Avermaet, Piet Van); 14. Chapter 9. Choosing and using communication tasks for second language instruction (by Pica, Teresa); 15. Chapter 10. Task complexity, cognitive resources, and syllabus design: A triadic framework for examining task influences on SLA (by Robinson, Peter); 16. Chapter 11. The TBL framework (by Willis, Jane); 17. Section 3. Variables affecting task-based learning and performance; 18. Section intro (by Norris, John M.); 19. Chapter 12. Effects of task repetition on the structure and control of oral language (by Bygate, Martin); 20. Chapter 13. The influence of planning and task type on second language performance (by Foster, Pauline); 21. Chapter 14. What do learners plan?: Learner-driven attention to form during pre-task planning (by Ortega, Lourdes); 22. Chapter 15. Learner contributions to task design (by Breen, Michael P.); 23. Chapter 16. The motivational basis of language learning tasks (by Dornyei, Zoltan); 24. Chapter 17. Guiding relationships between form and meaning during task performance: The role of the teacher (by Samuda, Virginia); 25. Chapter 18. Training teachers: Task-based as well? (by Van den Branden, Kris); 26. Section 4. Task-based language assessment; 27. Section intro (by Norris, John M.); 28. Chapter 19. Task-centred language assessment in language learning: The promise and the challenge (by Brindley, Geoff); 29. Chapter 20. Examinee abilities and task difficulty in task-based L2 performance assessment (by Norris, John M.); 30. Chapter 21. The role of task and task-based assessment in a content-oriented collegiate FL curriculum (by Byrnes, Heidi); 31. Coda: Understanding TBLT at the interface between research and pedagogy (by Bygate, Martin); 32. Name index; 33. Subject index

Review :
This volume provides the reader with a clear sense of the principles and developmental progress of task-based language teaching, and introduces the central themes of TBLT throughout the past 20 years. One of the book’s strengths is the intuitive organization of the four main sections, which provides readers with an easy-to-follow and logical discussion of the emergence and development of the TBLT approach from theoretical foundations to empirical evidence and assessment practices. Professionals familiar with TBLT will find the material included in this reader to be a review of already well known work, nicely organized and presented in one place. Researchers and students beginning their investigations into TBLT will find this volume to be an invaluable resource for key theoretical, foundational, and empirical discussions. Students and educators will appreciate the editors’ accessible writing style and the thought-provoking key questions that conclude each section and provide readers with interesting ideas to keep in mind as they go over each chapter. Overall, this volume is an excellent resource for students, educators, and novice TBLT researchers and would make an ideal textbook for an undergraduate or graduate task-based language teaching course.