Doing Task-based Teaching

Dave Willis and Jane Willis

Oxford University Press 2007

ISBN: 978-0-19-442210-9

It's probably something you do all the time, even if you're not aware of it. It's probably what you are doing when you don't walk into the classroom saying, "Open your books at page 42 and do exercises 15-21." To what do I refer? Yes, you guessed it: task-based teaching - teaching language skills based on activities that engage your students' interest, that have them so wrapped up in the task that they almost forget that they're learning a language.

And what better introduction to task-based teaching than this: Dave and Jane Willis's Doing Task-based Teaching, one of a series of Oxford handbooks for language teachers and teacher trainers; a weighty, albeit readable, guide to creating and using tasks to teach grammar and lexis in a neatly packaged task-based way.

The rationale behind task-based teaching (TBT) is that students will respond to and learn more from activities which are relevant or meaningful. In TBT students are set tasks akin to what they may well do in ‘real' life; there is a reason for the activity they are carrying out, following which they are able to experience the fruits of their labour once the task is complete. This is important as it is the very motor that drives TBT.

Just in case you are not quite sure what I mean by a TBT task, here is a simple example:

If you have found a suitable text with good examples of the target language you want your students to work on (linking words, conditionals, collocations, whatever), you might start by eliciting the sort of relevant vocabulary they already know. Then you might give them just the title of the article and ask them to work in pairs or small groups to prepare three or four questions each based on what they think the article might be about. This is the planning stage where the students have to use all their language skills collectively, cooperatively and, most important, for a real purpose. Of all the questions prepared, select, say, the best five. Only then give the students the text together with the task of answering the questions they themselves generated. Having thoroughly engaged the students in the content of the text, you can then go on to exploit it as a means of teaching the target language.

To return to the book in hand, should you have been fortunate enough to have attended a workshop run by one of the present day gurus of TBT and co-author of the book, Jane Willis, you will need little more encouragement to invest in this publication. If not, read on. The book contains 10 chapters, which run the gambit from the theory behind TBT through to designing a task-based syllabus. It includes examples of tasks or lesson plans for all levels, and guidance on how to adapt your coursebook materials, i.e. how to integrate TBT as a teaching method into your coursebook. You can either work through the book from cover to cover, or dip in and out at will. The detailed table of contents at the beginning leads you to a myriad of ideas on activities and how to apply them, and there are suggestions for further reading, including a number of useful websites, at the back. Most importantly: how do learners react to TBT? Well, positively, as evidenced by that wonderful buzz in the classroom while they're all toiling away, contributing, collaborating, responding, joking... for a real purpose. There is more, so much more. But for now that must suffice. Order your copy now!

Alison Wiebalck