Task based language learning

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
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books.google.com/books?id=AwyvZe … &q&f=false

A fascinating book which I’d heartily recommend. Unfortunately I’m stuck with the ancient PPP approach, anything else confuses the management. Might try and sneak some of this in when they’re not looking.

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That looks like a great title, Tom. I’ll have to read that one this summer.

I also recommend this one:

books.google.com/books?id=yVSPQA … zh-TW&cd=5

You might also want to look at this page of articles on task based teaching and learning:

sites.google.com/site/eslarticlessite

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Thank you for the links. I’ve read Willis, it’s very good.

What I like most is the idea that students are informed at every stage what they are doing and why. Most of the teaching approaches and methods seem to treat students like infants with no cognitive skills, they’re never allowed to discover learning for themselves. Learning is controlled by the all-powerful native English speaking teacher who drip-feeds knowledge.

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I can’t seem to get it on google, but John Klapper wrote a very interesting critique of CLT and TBLT in the Language Learning Journal. ‘Taking communication to task? A critical review of trends in language teaching’, LLJ Summer 2003 No. 27.

(SLA has way too many bleedin’ acronyms!)

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Here’s a recent interview with Dave and Jane Willis about task based language teaching:

Dave & Jane Willis answer TBLT questions from Japan

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Good stuff. I think the biggest hurdle is explaining to all the stakeholders what’s going on. I’d imagine that could be even harder in Japan than in Taiwan. It’s also very tough getting buy in from parents.

At the moment I’m lucky because I’m doing some teaching to adults. As long as they all walk out of the classroom and say to the boss ‘we want that guy to teach us’ then I can continue teaching as I please.

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I think this is it:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249049117_Taking_communication_to_task_A_critical_review_of_recent_trends_in_language_teaching

I haven’t read it.

I also never got around to reading the free N. S. Prabhu task-based-learning book that I posted a link to some years back. Oxford University Press seems to have withdrawn the offer on that one, or else there’s some sort of technical glitch. Anway, the Prabhu book is available elsewhere on a sort of temporary-library-loan basis, requiring hourly renewals, at the Internet Archive, here: