Task-Based Language Teaching from the Teachers' Perspective

Insights from New Zealand

Author
Martin East | The University of Auckland
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ISBN 9789027207210 | EUR 99.00 | USD 149.00
 
PaperbackAvailable
ISBN 9789027207227 | EUR 33.00 | USD 49.95
 
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ISBN 9789027281821 | EUR 99.00/33.00*
| USD 149.00/49.95*
 
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Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is being encouraged as part of a major overhaul of the entire school languages curriculum in New Zealand. However, teachers often struggle with understanding what TBLT is, and how to make TBLT work in classrooms. Using the stories that emerged from a series of interviews with teachers (the curriculum implementers) and with advisors (the curriculum leaders), this book highlights the possibilities for TBLT innovation in schools. It also identifies the constraints, and proposes how these might be addressed. The result is a book that, whilst rooted in a particular local context, provides a valuable sourcebook of teacher stories that have relevance for a wide range of people working in a diverse range of contexts. This book will be of genuine interest to all those who wish to understand more about TBLT innovation, and the opportunities and challenges it brings.
[Task-Based Language Teaching, 3] 2012.  xix, 259 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Table of Contents
“The book, even though reporting on the findings of a study conducted in New Zealand, is an important contribution to literature on task-based language pedagogy world-wide. It is most appropriate for language teachers as well as students of language teaching, curriculum developers, teacher trainers, researchers in the field of language teaching and learning and generally all those who are interested in TBLT.”
“As Robinson notes, “it is still too soon to expect definitive answers” (p. 28) regarding L2 task complexity, learning, and performance. Nonetheless, this collection documents a broad spectrum of recent work motivated by the CH that seeks to inform theory and practice in task-based language teaching. Each section offers unique perspectives on task complexity, establishing its relevance to L2 instruction. These insights from a range of experts add to the volume’s overall quality. This book should therefore find a wide audience among graduate students, language teachers, and researchers.”
“Though the author reflects on potential shortcomings of qualitative research, such as its alleged subjectivity, in my view East actually succeeds in revealing the strengths of qualitative research. First, he prevents potential subjectivity through a careful justification and explanation of his research design in the first appendix (pp. 241-246) and throughout the text. Second, East succeeds in representing the voice of the practitioners, and to juxtapose the voice of the practitioners to theoretical approaches and policy. One could say that the author, in his research approach, reflects the dynamics of TBLT. As much as TBLT emancipates the learner and increases the autonomy of the learner, so too, this research no longer prioritizes theory and policy over practice, empirical researchers over practitioners, but rather puts them adjacent to each other. In doing so, East contributes significantly to overcoming the acknowledged gap between educational research and practice (for a more detailed discussion about this gap, see Zeichner, 2009). Finally, East’s skilled use of qualitative research enables him to highlight subtle dimensions of each topic and how they are dealt with in the various classrooms, based on specified explicit cases (see Chapter 5).These particular features of the book make it a valuable contribution, not only for the New Zealand context, but for anybody who has an interest in task-based foreign language learning and teaching and its intercultural aspects. Veterans may enjoy the overview of the theories and discussions in the field as they come across mention of theorists that are likely to have been meaningful to them at some point in their careers, such as Nunan (1989, 2004), Long (1985), and Krashen (1982, 1985). Newcomers to the field will benefit from the introduction to the field of language and intercultural learning, both in theory and practice, and will feel inspired by the many practical examples and teaching materials provided by the teachers in the interviews.”
“The book is likely to be one that many will consult and will find a wide readership, including university undergraduate and graduate students – those studying language teaching and related fields, especially trainees, policy makers, support teachers or advisors (curriculum leaders), practitioners interested in doing action research in the classroom, or readers who are simply researchers wanting to find out more on TBLT in other contexts.”
Cited by

Cited by 88 other publications

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2021. The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching, DOI logo
Ashton, Karen
2019. Approaches to teaching in the multi-level language classroom. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 13:2  pp. 162 ff. DOI logo
Baralt, Melissa
2018. Chapter 10. Becoming a task-based teacher educator. In TBLT as a Researched Pedagogy [Task-Based Language Teaching, 12],  pp. 266 ff. DOI logo
Baralt, Melissa, Wang Fei, Zhanting Bu, Hao Chen, José Morcillo Gómez & Xunye Luan
2021. The Implementation of a Task-Based Spanish-Language Program in Qingdao, China. In The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching,  pp. 135 ff. DOI logo
Bygate, Martin
2016. Sources, developments and directions of task-based language teaching. The Language Learning Journal 44:4  pp. 381 ff. DOI logo
Bygate, Martin
2020. Some directions for the possible survival of TBLT as a real world project. Language Teaching 53:3  pp. 275 ff. DOI logo
Bygate, Martin, John Norris & Kris van den Branden
2015. Task‐Based Language Teaching. In The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics,  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Conway, Clare & Heather Richards
2018. ‘Lunchtimes in New Zealand are cruel’: reflection as a tool for developing language learners’ intercultural competence. The Language Learning Journal 46:4  pp. 371 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2012. Addressing the intercultural via task-based language teaching: possibility or problem?. Language and Intercultural Communication 12:1  pp. 56 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2014. Mediating pedagogical innovation via reflective practice: a comparison of pre-service and in-service teachers’ experiences. Reflective Practice 15:5  pp. 686 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2014. Encouraging innovation in a modern foreign language initial teacher education programme: What do beginning teachers make of task-based language teaching?. The Language Learning Journal 42:3  pp. 261 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2015. Taking communication to task – again: what difference does a decade make?. The Language Learning Journal 43:1  pp. 6 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2015. Task-Based Teaching and Learning: Pedagogical Implications. In Second and Foreign Language Education,  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2016. Investigating Stakeholder Perspectives on Interact. In Assessing Foreign Language Students’ Spoken Proficiency [Educational Linguistics, 26],  pp. 77 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2016. Mediating Assessment Innovation: Why Stakeholder Perspectives Matter. In Assessing Foreign Language Students’ Spoken Proficiency [Educational Linguistics, 26],  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2016. Coming to Terms with Assessment Innovation: Conclusions and Recommendations. In Assessing Foreign Language Students’ Spoken Proficiency [Educational Linguistics, 26],  pp. 189 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2016. Introducing a New Assessment of Spoken Proficiency: Interact. In Assessing Foreign Language Students’ Spoken Proficiency [Educational Linguistics, 26],  pp. 51 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2016. Assessing Spoken Proficiency: What Are the Issues?. In Assessing Foreign Language Students’ Spoken Proficiency [Educational Linguistics, 26],  pp. 25 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2017. Research into practice: The task-based approach to instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching 50:3  pp. 412 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2017. Task-Based Teaching and Learning: Pedagogical Implications. In Second and Foreign Language Education,  pp. 85 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2019. Sustaining innovation in school modern foreign language programmes: teachers’ reflections on task-based language teaching three years after initial teacher education. The Language Learning Journal 47:1  pp. 105 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2020. Addressing the Possibilities and Limitations of Implementing a New Classroom-Based Assessment of Oral Proficiency. In Toward a Reconceptualization of Second Language Classroom Assessment [Educational Linguistics, 41],  pp. 221 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2021. What do beginning teachers make of task-based language teaching? A comparative re-production of East (2014). Language Teaching 54:4  pp. 552 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2022. Mediating Innovation through Language Teacher Education, DOI logo
East, Martin
2023. Supporting TBLT through teacher education. TASK. Journal on Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning 3:1  pp. 5 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2023. The Teaching of Mandarin Chinese in New Zealand’s Schools: Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?. In Teaching Chinese in the Anglophone World [Multilingual Education, 44],  pp. 41 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2024. Taking communication to task once more – a further decade on. The Language Learning Journal  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin, Constanza Tolosa, Jocelyn Howard, Christine Biebricher & Adèle Scott
2022. Beginning the Journeys Towards Intercultural Capability. In Journeys Towards Intercultural Capability in Language Classrooms [Intercultural Communication and Language Education, ],  pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin, Constanza Tolosa, Jocelyn Howard, Christine Biebricher & Adèle Scott
2022. The Intercultural Dimension in the New Zealand Language Teaching Context. In Journeys Towards Intercultural Capability in Language Classrooms [Intercultural Communication and Language Education, ],  pp. 49 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin, Constanza Tolosa, Jocelyn Howard, Christine Biebricher & Adèle Scott
2022. Introducing the Two-Year Study. In Journeys Towards Intercultural Capability in Language Classrooms [Intercultural Communication and Language Education, ],  pp. 71 ff. DOI logo
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2021. Teaching Languages to Adolescent Learners, DOI logo
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2023. Effect of Pre-task Planning on the Speaking Accuracy of Iranian EFL Learners . Journal of Contemporary Language Research 2:1  pp. 42 ff. DOI logo
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Subjects

Main BIC Subject

CJA: Language teaching theory & methods

Main BISAC Subject

LAN020000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Study & Teaching
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ONIX 2.1
ONIX 3.0
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  2011037316 | Marc record