Teaching Practice Task-Based Learning for Communication and Grammar Use1

Research has shown how tasks can improve L2 oral skills in different ways (Ellis, 2005). The effectiveness of task-based learning has drawn interest within Asian educational contexts which have been accustomed to more traditional methods of language instruction. Authorities in these contexts have recently started to express a desire for more communicative oral syllabuses. However, large class sizes, inadequate financial support, and teacher time constraints at many institutions have often made the implementation of task-based learning problematic. This paper attempts to address these issues by reporting action research on an interactive task designed by teachers on a limited budget for use in an intermediate-level university classroom in Japan. It describes how the task was used to facilitate interaction and use of a specific grammar form, English articles. Task-based learning (TBL) has attracted significant interest ever since it was first implemented on a major scale in India during the early 1980s, and later published in Prabhu (1987). Numerous task-based studies since (e.g., Mackey, 1999, Mochizuki & Ortega, 2008) have investigated how oral tasks in particular can be designed to elicit certain grammatical structures which learners can use successfully in communication. Task-based research devoted towards second language (L2) oral communication is of particular relevance to Asian educational contexts, where East Asian governments have in recent times placed an emphasis on improving Asian learners’ oral skills (Sakui, 2004). The aim of this study was to gain greater understanding of the role which task-based learning could play in a curriculum in an Asian context where, traditionally, large class sizes, limited financial support, and teacher time constraints have hindered the use of TBL. Other difficulties, such as limited teaching resources, also prevent the successful implementation of TBL courses, according to Adams and Newton (2009). The main objective of this study was therefore to ascertain whether teachers under time constraints and with a limited budget could successfully Language Education in Asia, 2012, 3(2), 159-167. http://dx.doi.org/10.5746/LEiA/12/V3/I2/A04/Thompson_Millington