Article In: TASK: Online-First Articles
Making the case for dynamic usage-based task-based language teaching
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This paper advocates for integrating Dynamic Usage-Based Learning (DUB) with Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) to accommodate individualized learning trajectories. It presents five tenets for DUB-TBLT, emphasizing the role of self-directed tasks in fostering form-use-meaning mapping as target learnable units. Through recursion and iterations as repetition principles, the study highlights how such tasks can increase learner investment and promote adaptive language development.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.From Usage-based to Dynamic Usage-based Pedagogy
- 3.DUB Pedagogy
- 4.Mapping DUB and TBLT
- 4.1Why TBLT is the right ecosystem for DUB learning
- 4.2Integrating TBLT and DUB pedagogy
- 5.Tenets of DUB-TBLT
- 5.1Input-based tasks are an inseparable component of a task cycle
- 5.2Tasks are iterated and recursed instead of repeated
- 5.3Tasks are dynamic: Tasks are affordances
- 5.4Personal investment and individual learning trajectories are key: Self-directed tasks
- 5.5Focus on use is key
- 6.DUB-TBLT curriculum
- 7.Conclusion
- Note
- Author queries
References
References (71)
Beckner, C., Blythe, R., Bybee, J., Christiansen, M. H., Croft, W., ... & Schoenemann, T. (2009). Language is a complex adaptive system: Position paper. Language Learning, 59(S1), 1–26.
Bygate, M. (2015). Introduction. In M. Bygate (Ed.), Domains and directions in the development of TBLT: A decade of plenaries from the international conference (pp. xv–xxiv). John Benjamins.
(2018a). Introduction. In M. Bygate (Ed.) Learning language through task repetition (pp. 1–25). John Benjamins.
(2018b). Dynamic systems theory and the issue of predictability in task-based language: some implications for research and practice in TBLT. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. Mayo (Eds.) Recent perspectives on task-based language learning and teaching (pp. 145–166). De Gruyter.
Bygate, M., Samuda, V., & Van den Branden, K. (2021). A pedagogical rationale for task-based language teaching for the acquisition of real-world language use. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. H. Long (Eds.) The Cambridge handbook of task-based language teaching (pp. 27–52). Cambridge University Press.
Cadierno, T., & Eskildsen, S. (2015). Usage-based perspectives on second language learning. De Gruyter.
Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1(1), 1–47.
de Bot, K., Lowie, W., & Verspoor, M. (2007). A Dynamic Systems Theory approach to second language acquisition. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 10(1), 7–21.
Ellis, N. C. (2019). Essentials of a theory of language cognition. Modern Language Journal, 103 (Supplement 2019), 39–60.
Ellis, N. C., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (2006). Language emergence: Implications for applied linguistics, Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 558–589.
Ellis, N. C., Römer, U., & O’Donnell, M. B. (2016). Usage-based approaches to language acquisition and processing: Cognitive and corpus investigations of construction grammar. Wiley-Blackwell.
(2019). Towards a modular language curriculum for using tasks, Language Teaching Research, 23(4), 454–475.
(2021). Options in a task-based language-teaching curriculum: an educational perspective, TASK (1), 11–46.
Ellis, R. & Shintani, N. (2014). Exploring language pedagogy through second language acquisition research. Routledge.
Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., & Lambert, C. (2020). Task-based language teaching: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
Fernández, C. (2022). Instructors’ use of innovative teaching materials within task-based curriculum in higher education. In Fernández, C., & Berwick, A. (Eds.) Using Language Learning Materials: Theory and Practice (pp. 158 — 185). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Goldberg, A. (1995). Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. The University of Chicago Press.
Hymes, D. H. (1972). On communicative competence. In J. B. Pride & J. Holmes (Eds.) Sociolinguistics: Selected Readings (pp. 269–293). Penguin.
Irshad, M., Keijzer, M., Wieling, M., & Verspoor, M. (2019). Effectiveness of a dynamic usage-based computer assisted language program, Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics 8(2), 137–162.
Knight, P. T. (2001). Complexity and curriculum: A process approach to curriculum-making, Teaching in higher education, 6(3), 369–381.
Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I. (2022). Measurement of functional adequacy in different learning contexts, Rationale, key issues, and future perspectives. TASK, 2(1), 8–32.
Lambert, C. (2023a). Personal investment in TBLT. In C. Lambert, S. Aubrey, & G. Bui (Eds.), The role of the learner in task-based language teaching: Theory and research methods, (pp. 19–40). Routledge.
(2023b). Practice in task-based language teaching. In Y. Suzuki (Ed.) Practice and automatization in second language research, perspectives from skill acquisition theory and cognitive psychology (pp. 144–159). Routledge.
Langacker, R. W. (2000). A dynamic usage-based model. In M. Barlow, S. Kemmer (Eds.), Usage-based models of language, (pp. 1–63). CSLI Publications.
Larsen-Freeman, D. (1997). Chaos/complexity science and second language acquisition, Applied Linguistics 8(2), 141–165.
(2009). Adjusting expectations: The study of complexity, accuracy, and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 579–589.
(2012a). Complexity Theory. In S. M. Gass & A. Mackey (Eds.) The Routledge handbook of second language Acquisition (pp. 73–87). Routledge.
(2012b). On the roles of repetition in language teaching and learning. Applied Linguistics Review 3(2), 195–210.
(2017). Complexity theory, the lessons continue. In L. Ortega & Z. Han (Eds.) Complexity theory and second language development: in celebration of Diane Larsen-Freeman (pp. 11–50). John Benjamins.
(2019). On language learner agency: a complex dynamic systems theory perspective, The Modern Language Journal, 19, 61–79.
Larsen-Freeman, D. & Cameron, L. (2008). Complex systems and applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
Levine, G. S. (2020). A human ecological language pedagogy [monograph]. The Modern Language Journal, 104, 1–130.
Long, M. H. (1981). Input, interaction, and second- language acquisition. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 379(1), 259–278.
(1996). The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. Ritchie & T. Bhatia (Eds.) Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413–468). Academic Press Inc.
(2016). In defense of tasks and TBLT: Nonissue and real issues. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 5–33.
Lowie, W. M., & Verspoor, M. H. (2019). Individual Differences and the Ergodicity Problem. Language Learning, 69, 184–206.
Lowie, W., Michel, M., Rousse-Malpat, A., Keijzer, M., & Steinkrauss, R. (2020). Introduction. In W. Lowie, M. Michel, A. Rousse-Malpat, M. Keijzer and R. Steinkrauss (Eds.) Usage-based dynamics in second language development (pp. 1–6). Multilingual Matters.
Michel, M. (2023). Key concepts in applied linguistics/Conceptos Clave de la lingüística aplicada: Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT). Elia, (23), 317–328.
Nitta, R. & Baba, K. (2018). Understanding the benefits of repetition from a complex dynamic systems perspective. In M. Bygate (Ed.) Learning language through task repetition (pp. 279–309). John Benjamins.
Norris, J. M. (2016). Current uses for task-based language assessment, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 36, 230–244.
Nowotny, H. (2013). The embarrassment of complexity. [Conference presentation]. 5th Global Drucker Forum, Vienna, Austria. [URL]
Pallotti, G. (2021). Cratylus’ silence: on the philosophy and methodology of complex dynamic systems theory in SLA, Second Language Research 38(3), 689–701.
(2023). Constructive dialogue, disruptive criticism and the complex dynamics of academic life, Instructed Second Language Acquisition 7(1)
Révész, A. (2014). Towards a fuller assessment of cognitive models of task-based learning: investigating task-generated cognitive demands and processes, Applied Linguistics 35(1), 87–92.
Rousse-Malpat, A., & Verspoor, M. (2018). Foreign language instruction from a dynamic usage-based perspective. In E. Tyler, L. Ortega, M. Uno, & H. Park (Eds.) Usage-inspired L2 instruction, research pedagogy (pp. 55–73). John Benjamins.
Rousse-Malpat, A., Koote, L., & Steinkrauss, R. (2021). Parlez-vous francais? Effects of structure-based versus dynamic usage-based approaches on oral proficiency, Language Teaching Research 28(5), 1893–1917.
Rousse-Malpat, A., Steinkrauss, R., Wieling, M., & Verspoor, M. (2022). Communicative language teaching: Structure-Based or Dynamic Usage-Based? The Journal of EuroSLA 6(1), 20–33.
Shintani, N. (2012). Input-based tasks and the acquisition of vocabulary and grammar: a process-product study, Language Teaching Research 16(2), 253–279.
(2016). Input-based tasks in foreign language Instruction for young learners. John Benjamins.
Strogatz, S. H. (2015). Nonlinear dynamics and chaos: With applications to physics, biology, chemistry, and engineering (2nd ed.). Westview Press.
Taguchi, N., & Kim, Y. (2018). Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics: an overview. In N. Taguchi & Y. Kim (Eds.) Task-based approaches to teaching and assessing pragmatics (pp. 1–24). John Benjamins.
The Douglas Fir Group. (2016). A transdisciplinary framework for SLA in a multilingual world. The Modern Language Journal, 100(1), 19–47.
Thelen, E. & Smith, L. B. (1996). A dynamic systems approach to the development of cognition and action. MIT Press.
Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a Language: A Usage-based Theory of Language Acquisition. Harvard University Press.
Tomlinson, B. (2015). TBLT materials and curricula: from theory to practice. In M. Thomas & H. Reinders (Eds.) Contemporary task-based language teaching in Asia (pp. 328–339). Bloomsbury Academic.
Tyler, A. E., & Ortega, L. (2018). Usage-inspired L2 instruction, an emergent research pedagogy. In A. E. Tyler, L. Ortega, M. Uno, & H. Park (Eds.) Usage-inspired L2 instruction, research pedagogy (pp. 3–26). John Benjamins.
Van den Branden, K. (2006). Introduction: Task-based language teaching in a nutshell. In K. Van den Branden (Ed.), Task-based language education: From theory to practice (pp. 1–16). Cambridge University Press.
(2016). The role of teachers in task-based language education, Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 164–181.
(2021). Task-based language teaching as an innovation: a task for teachers. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. H. Long (Eds.) The Cambridge handbook of task-based language teaching (pp. 628–648). Cambridge University Press.
(2022). How to teach an additional language, To task or not to task? John Benjamins.
Van Lier, L. (2004). The ecology and semiotics of language learning: a sociocultural perspective. Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Verspoor, M. (2017). Complex dynamic systems theory and L2 pedagogy: Lessons to be learned. In L. Ortega & Z. Han (Eds.), Complexity theory and language development: In celebration of Diane Larsen-Freeman (pp. 143–162). John Benjamins.
Verspoor, M., & de Bot, K. (2021). Measures of variability in transitional phases in second language development. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching 59(1), 85–101.
Verspoor, M., & Schmid, H. (2024). What counts as usage in dynamic usage-based models? In K. McManus (Ed.), Usage in second language acquisition: Critical reflections and future directions (pp. 87–106). Routledge.
Wulff, S. & Ellis, N. C. (2018). Usage-based approaches to second language acquisition. In D. Miller, F. Bayram, J. Rothman & L. Serratrice (Eds.) Bilingual cognition and language: the state of the science across its subfields (pp. 37–56). John Benjamins.