Task-Based Language Learning – Insights from and for L2 Writing: (7 Task-Based Language Teaching)

The book seeks to enlarge the theoretical scope, research agenda, and practices associated with TBLT in a two-way dynamic, by exploring how insights from writing might reconfigure our understanding of tasks and, in turn, how work associated with TBLT might benefit the learning and teaching of writing. In order to enrich the domain of task and to advance the educational interests of TBLT, it adopts both a psycholinguistic and a textual meaning-making orientation. Following an issues-oriented introductory chapter, Part I of the volume explores tenets, methods, and findings in task-oriented theory and research in the context of writing; the chapters in Part II present empirical findings on task-based writing by investigating how writing tasks are implemented, how writers differentially respond to tasks, and how tasks can contribute to language development. A coda chapter summarizes the volume’s contribution and suggests directions for advancing TBLT constructs and research agendas.

Table of Contents:
1. List of contributors; 2. Series editors' preface to volume 7; 3. Task-based language learning: Insights from and for L2 writing - an introduction (by Byrnes, Heidi); 4. PART I. Tenets, methods, and findings in task-oriented theory and research: The case of writing; 5. The internal dimension of tasks: The interaction between task factors and learner factors in bringing about learning through writing (by Manchon, Rosa M.); 6. Reframing task performance: The relationship between tasks, strategic behaviour, and linguistic knowledge in writing (by Macaro, Ernesto); 7. Theorizing language development at the intersection of 'task' and L2 writing: Reconsidering complexity (by Byrnes, Heidi); 8. PART II. Empirical findings; 9. Task repetition and L2 writing development: A longitudinal study from a Dynamic Systems perspective (by Nitta, Ryo); 10. Planning and production in computer-mediated communication (CMC) writing (by Adams, Rebecca); 11. Task complexity and linguistic performance in advanced college-level foreign language writing (by Ruiz-Funes, Marcela); 12. Differences across modalities of performance: An investigation of linguistic and discourse complexity in narrative tasks (by Kormos, Judit); 13. Storyline complexity and syntactic complexity in writing and speaking tasks (by Tavakoli, Parvaneh); 14. Linking task and writing for language development: Evidence from a genre-based curricular approach (by Byrnes, Heidi); 15. PART III. Coda; 16. Task, task performance, and writing development: Advancing the constructs and the research agenda (by Byrnes, Heidi); 17. About the contributors; 18. Author index; 19. Subject index

Review :
This book advances our understanding of an important and topical area, task-based instruction in the context of L2 writing. It contains contributions from a stellar lineup of researchers. It is informative, accessible, and lively. It should be a staple on every shelf. Engaging thoughtfully and expansively with existing research into the effects of TBLT on instructed language learning, this valuable book provides considerable novel insight into the roles TBLT can play in promoting writing-to-learn, and L2 writing development. The knowledgeable and stimulating discussion chapters in Part I of the book, linking conceptions of `task` to `writing as a tool for learning`, together with the careful empirical studies presented in Part II make this essential reading for all concerned with task-based language education, its theoretical underpinnings and expanding evidence-base.