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Video transcript

Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT)


DR. RICHARD KIELY: Hi, I'm Richard Kiely. In this video, I'll be talking about task based
language teaching, or TBLT. As a way in, I'm going to talk about PPP, a traditional form of
instruction in language teaching.
Now PPP means present, practise, produce. In the PPP classroom the teacher leads and
controls everything. So there is limited space for student activity and student agency. PPP
also involves a linear syllabus. So there's one chance to master grammatical rules and other
elements of language. And finally, in the PPP format, lessons can become a bit tedious and
predictable. So not the best way of motivating learners.
The alternative which has developed is task based language teaching. In TBLT the focus is on
meaning rather than form, on the things we do with language rather than the features of
grammar and other rules. TBLT focuses on activities which engage students in using language
in diverse and creative ways.
TBLT involves the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. TBLT has the
potential to recycle language knowledge such as grammar and vocabulary. TBLT aligns in
many ways with theoretical understandings of the processes of language learning.
For example, current research into language learning emphasises the importance of meaning
based language production. It emphasises noticing where learners using the language identify
what it is they should be using, and also what it is they still have to learn. And finally, it
promotes the notion of languaging, which emphasises the process of working out, actively
working out, the language that's needed to complete a given language function.
In defining tasks, a range of approaches have been developed. According to Willis 1996, tasks
are activities where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose in
order to achieve an outcome.
Another interesting area in recent research is the notion of how teachers use tasks. A study
by Andon and Eckerth 2009 illustrates four functions for teachers. First of all, tasks are ways
in which teachers get students to use their own words to communicate their own meanings.

University of Southampton 2014

Page 1 of 2

Understanding Language

Video transcript
Second, the tasks are contexts in the classroom where the language of the classroom is made
more like the language of the real world outside the classroom.
Third, task structure activities. There's an outcome and then the students have an awareness
of the structure of the lesson that the teacher has planned. And then finally, they are
reference points for language input. So teachers can introduce explicitly or focus on particular
language forms which benefit the students.
To say few words about the future of TBLT. TBLT with all its variations has become the
predominant approach to language teaching, in terms of what we find in course books and
other learning materials, in the content of teacher education programmes, and in quality
management schemes around the world.
While there may be still some questions of effectiveness of TBLT, the promise of greater
effectiveness is likely to come from further variations and adaptations of TBLT rather than
another teaching method or approach.

University of Southampton 2014

Page 2 of 2

Understanding Language

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