Cover not available
Part of
Domains and Directions in the Development of TBLT: A decade of plenaries from the international conference
Edited by Martin Bygate
[Task-Based Language Teaching 8] 2015
► pp. 1–26

TBLT

Building the road as we travel

| University of Maryland

Developed since the early 1980s, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is informed by theory and research findings in instructed second language acquisition (ISLA), as well as general educational theory and practice, and responds to the growing demand for language programs tailored for learners with distinct functional needs in a second language (L2). The paper reviews TBLT’s rationale and psycholinguistic underpinnings, and then briefly describes procedures, problems, and findings in each of the six basic steps and components in designing, implementing, and evaluating a TBLT program – needs analysis, syllabus design, materials development, methodological principles and pedagogic procedures, student assessment, and course evaluation – before considering optimal and less than optimal settings for TBLT’s adoption. Expanded and modified considerably in response to developments in ISLA theory, research findings, and classroom implementation over the past 30+ years, TBLT remains a work in progress. As theorists, researchers, and practitioners, we are building the road as we travel.

Published online: 5 November 2015
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.8.01lon
References
Abrahamsson, N., & Hyltenstam, K
(2009) Age of onset and nativelikeness in a second language: Listener perception versus linguistic scrutiny. Language Learning, 59, 249–306. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Alderson, J.C., & Beretta, A
(Eds.) (1992) Evaluating second language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Azurmendi, J
(1984) El hombre cooperative. Pensamiento de Arizmendiarrieta. Mondragon: Caja Laboral Popular.Google Scholar
Bachman, L.F., & Palmer, A.S
(1996) Language testing in practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bartlett, N.J.D
(2005) A double shot 2% mocha latte, please, with whip: Service encounters in two coffee shops and at a coffee cart. In M.H. Long (Ed.), Second language needs analysis (pp. 305–343). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Benson, S
(2013) TBLT: An empirical study of task transfer. Qualifying Paper. College Park, MD: University of Maryland, Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition Program.Google Scholar
Beretta, A
(1986) Towards a methodology for ESL program evaluation. TESOL Quarterly, 20(1), 144–155. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boers, F., & Lindstromberg, S
(2012) Experimental and intervention studies on formulaic sequences in a second language. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 32, 83–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, J.D., & Hudson, T
(2002) Criterion-referenced language testing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Corder, S.P
(1967) The significance of learners’ errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5, 161–170. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De la Fuente, M.J
(2006) Classroom L2 vocabulary acquisition: Investigating the role of pedagogical tasks and form-focused instruction. Language Teaching Research, 10, 263–295. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Ridder, I., Vangehuchten, L., & Sesena Gomez, M
(2007) Enhancing automaticity through task-based language learning. Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 309–315. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
DeKeyser, R
(2005) What makes learning second language grammar difficult? A review of issues. Language Learning, 55(Supplement 1), 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doughty, C.J
(2001) Cognitive underpinnings of focus on form. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 206–57). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Instructed SLA: Constraints, compensation, and enhancement. In C.J. Doughty & M.H. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 256–310). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doughty, C.J., & Long, M.H
(2003) Optimal psycholinguistic environments for distance foreign language learning. Language Learning and Technology, 7(3), 50–80. [URL]Google Scholar
Doughty, C.J., & Williams, J
(1998) Pedagogical choices in focus on form. In C.J. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 197–261). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, N.C
(2005) At the interface: Dynamic interactions of explicit and implicit language knowledge. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 27, 305–52.Google Scholar
(2006) Selective attention and transfer phenomena in L2 acquisition: Contingency, cue competition, salience, interference, overshadowing, blocking, and perceptual learning. Applied Linguistics, 27(2), 164–94. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) The associative-cognitive CREED. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition. An introduction (pp. 77–95). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
(2008) Usage-based and form-focused language acquisition: The associative learning of constructions, learned attention, and the limited L2 end-state. In P. Robinson & N.C. Ellis (Eds.), Handbook of cognitive linguistics and second language acquisition (pp. 372–405). New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
(2009) Optimizing the input: Frequency and sampling in usage-based and form-focussed learning. In M.H. Long & C.J. Doughty, (Eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp. 139–158). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ellis, R
(1989) Are classroom and naturalistic language acquisition the same? A study of the classroom acquisition of German word order rules. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 11(3), 305–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
(2012) Language teaching research and language pedagogy. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gass, S.M
(1997) Input, interaction, and the development of second languages. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
González-Lloret, M
(2003) Designing task-based CALL to promote interaction: En Busca de Esmeraldas. Language Learning & Technology, 7(1), 86–104. Retrieved February 3, 2003, from [URL]Google Scholar
Gonzalez-Lloret, M., & Nielson, K.B
(2014) Evaluating TBLT: The case of a task-based Spanish program. Language Teaching Research, 19(1). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goo, J., Granena, G., Novella, M., & Yilmaz, Y
(2015) Implicit and explicit instruction in L2 learning: Norris and Ortega (2000) revisited and updated. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, Michigan State University. In P. Rebuschat (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 443–482 ). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goo, J., & Mackey, A
(2013) The case against the case against recasts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 35(1), 127–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Granena, G., & Long, M.H
(2013) Age of onset, length of residence, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment in three linguistic domains. Second Language Research, 29(3), 311–343. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hoyer, W.J., & Lincourt, A.E
(1998) Ageing and the development of learning. In M.A. Stadler & P.A. Frensch (Eds.), Handbook of implicit learning (pp. 445–470). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Hyltenstam, K
(1977) Implicational patterns in interlanguage syntax variation. Language Learning, 27(2), 383–411. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1984) The use of typological markedness conditions as predictors in second language acquisition: the case of pronominal copies in relative clauses. In R.W. Andersen (Ed.), Second language: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 39–58). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Janacsek, K., Fiser, J., & Nemeth, D
(2012) The best time to acquire new skills: age-related differences in implicit sequence learning across the human lifespan. Developmental Science, 15(4), 496–505. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kim, Y., Kong, D.-K., Lee, J.-H., & Lee, Y-G
(2000) Implementation and evaluation of an approach to task-based Korean language teaching. Honolulu, HI: National Foreign Language Resource Center, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. [An abridged version of this paper appeared with the same title in Korean language in America (Vol. 6, pp. 45-51, 2001), the Proceedings of the 6th Annual American Association of Teachers of Korean].Google Scholar
Krashen, S.D., & Terrell, T
(1983) The natural approach. Hayward, CA: Alemany Press.Google Scholar
Lai, C., Zhao, Y., & Wang, J
(2011) Task-based language teaching in online ab initio foreign language classrooms. Modern Language Journal, 95(Supplementary Issue), 81–103. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Li, S
(2010) The effectiveness of corrective feedback in SLA: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60(2), 309–365. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lightbown, P.M
(1983) Exploring relations between developmental and instructional sequences in L2 acquisition. In H.G. Seliger & M.H. Long (Eds.), Classroom-oriented research in second language acquisition (pp. 217–43). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Long, M.H
(1984) Process and product in ESL program evaluation. TESOL Quarterly, 18(3), 409–425. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1985) A role for instruction in second language acquisition: Task-based language teaching. In K. Hyltenstam & M. Pienemann (Eds.), Modeling and assessing second language acquisition (pp. 77–99). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
(1991) Focus on form: A design feature in language teaching methodology. In K. de Bot, R. Ginsberg, & C. Kramsch (Eds.), Foreign language research in cross-cultural perspective (pp. 39–52). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1996) The Mondragon Co-operative Federation: A model for our times? Libertarian Labor Review, 19, 19–36.Google Scholar
(2000) Focus on form in Task-Based Language Teaching. In R.E. Lambert & E. Shohamy (Eds.), Language policy and pedagogy. Essays in honor of A. Ronald Walton (pp. 179–92). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(Ed.) (2005a) Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2005b) Methodological issues in learner needs analysis. In M.H. Long (Ed.), Second language needs analysis (pp. 19–76). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Methodological principles in language teaching. In M.H. Long & C.J. Doughty (Eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp. 373–94). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) Identifying and satisfying language needs in the tourist industry. Plenary address to the first annual conference on Language and Tourism. Mallorca: University of the Balearic Islands, April 14-15, 2011. In G.I. Bosch Roig (Ed.), Teaching foreign languages for tourism: Research and practice (pp. 21–44). Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
(2015) Second language acquisition and Task-Based Language Teaching. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Long, M.H., & Crookes, G
(1987) Intervention points in second language classrooms. In B. Das (Ed.), Patterns of interaction in classrooms in Southeast Asia (pp. 177–203). Singapore: Regional English Language Centre.Google Scholar
(1992) Three approaches to task-based syllabus design. TESOL Quarterly, 26(1), 27–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Long, M.H., & Norris, J.M
(2000) Task-based teaching and assessment. In M. Byram, (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language teaching (pp. 597–603). London: Routledge.Google Scholar
(2014) Research issues and evaluation frameworks in task-based language assessment. Ms.Google Scholar
Long, M.H., & Robinson, P
(1998) Focus on form: Theory, research, and practice. In C. Doughty, & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 15–41). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Long, M.H., & Sato, C.J
(1984) Methodological issues in interlanguage studies: an interactionist perspective. In A. Davies, C. Criper & A.P.R. Howatt (Eds.), Interlanguage (pp. 253–80). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Lynch, B.K
(1990) A context-adaptive model for program evaluation. TESOL Quarterly, 24(1), 23–42. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1996) Language program evaluation: Theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Mackey, A
(1999) Input, interaction and second language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 21, 4, 557–587. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2012) Input, interaction, and corrective feedback in L2 learning. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mackey, A., & Goo, J
(2007) Interaction research in SLA: A meta-analysis and research synthesis. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition (pp. 407–452). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Markee, N
(1993) The diffusion of innovation in language teaching. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 13, 229–243. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1997) Second language acquisition research: A resource for changing teachers’ professional cultures? Modern Language Journal, 81(1), 80–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Managing curricular innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McDonough, K., & Chaitmongkol, W
(2007) Teachers’ and learners’ reactions to a task-based EFL course in Thailand. TESOL Quarterly, 41(1), 107–132. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Messick, S
(1994) The interplay of evidence and consequences in the validation of performance assessments. Educational Researcher, 23, 13–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morrison, R
(1991) We build the road as we travel: Mondragon, a co-operative system. Philadelphia, PA: New Society Publishers.Google Scholar
Musumechi, D
(1997) An exploration of the historical relationship between theory and practice in second language teaching. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Nation, I.S.P
(2006) How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening? Canadian Modern Language Review, 63, 59–82. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nielson, K.B., Masters, M.C., Rhoades, E., & Freynik, S
(2009) Prototype implementation of an online Chinese course: An analysis of course implementation and learner performance. (TTO 82131). College Park, MD: University of Maryland Center for Advanced Study of Language.Google Scholar
Norris, J.M
(2009) Task-based teaching and testing. In M.H. Long & C.J. Doughty (Eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp. 578–594). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Norris, J.M., & Ortega, L
(2000) Effectiveness of L2 instruction: A research synthesis and quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning, 50(3), 417–528. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ortega, L
(2009) Sequences and processes in language learning. In M.H. Long & C.J. Doughty. (Eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp. 81–105). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pavesi, M
(1986) Markedness, discoursal modes, and relative clause formation in a formal and an informal context. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 8(1), 38–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pica, T
(1994) Research on negotiation: What does it reveal about second language learning conditions, processes, and outcomes? Language Learning, 44(4), 493–527. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2009) Second language acquisition in the instructional environment. In W.C. Ritchie & T.K. Bhatia (Eds.), The new handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 473–501). Bingley, UK: Emerald.Google Scholar
Pienemann, M
(1984) Psychological constraints on the teachability of languages. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 6(2), 186–214. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2011) Explaining developmental schedules. In M. Pienemann & J.-V. Kessler (Eds.), Studying processability theory (pp. 50–63). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Popham, W.J
(2000) Modern educational measurement (3rd edition). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Robinson, P
(2001) Task complexity, cognitive resources, and second language syllabus design. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 149–95). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2007) Criteria for classifying and sequencing pedagogic tasks. In M.P. Garcia Mayo (Ed.), Investigating tasks in formal language learning (pp. 7–26). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Sato, C.J
(1990) The syntax of conversation in interlanguage development. Tubingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar
Schmidt, R.W
(2001) Attention. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 3–32). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shintani, N
(2011) A comparative study of the effects of input-based and production-based instruction on vocabulary acquisition by young EFL learners. Language Teaching Research, 15, 137–158. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2012) Repeating input-based tasks with young beginner learners. RELC Journal, 43(1), 39–51. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013) The effect of focus on form and focus on forms instruction on the acquisition of productive knowledge of L2 vocabulary by young beginner learners. TESOL Quarterly, 47(1), 36–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shintani, N., & Ellis, R
(2010) The incidental acquisition of English plural -s by Japanese children in comprehension-based and production-based lessons: A process-product study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 32(4), 607–637. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sorace, A
(2003) Near-nativeness. In C.J. Doughty & M.H. Long (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 130–152). Oxford: Blackwell. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stauble, A.-M
(1984) A comparison of the Spanish-English and Japanese-English interlanguage continuum. In R.W. Andersen (Ed.), Second language: A cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 323–353). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.Google Scholar
Swain, M
(1991) French immersion and its offshoots: Getting two for one. In B. Freed (Ed.), Foreign language acquisition research and the classroom (pp. 91–103). Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.Google Scholar
Van den Branden, K
(Ed.) (2006a) Task-based language education: From theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2006b) Training teachers: Task-based as well? In K. Van den Branden (Ed.), Task-based language education: From theory to practice (pp. 217–248). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
White, L
(1987) Against comprehensible input; The Input Hypothesis and the development of L2 competence. Applied Linguistics, 8(1), 95–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Widdowson, H.G
(1972) The teaching of English as communication. English Language Teaching, 27(1), 15–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Whyte, W.F., & Whyte, K.K
(1991) Making Modragon: The growth and dynamics of the worker co-operative complex (Second edition). Ithaca, NY: ILR Press.Google Scholar
Wilkins, D
(1976) Notional syllabuses. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Yano, Y., Long, M.H., & Ross, S
(1994) The effects of simplified and elaborated texts on foreign language reading comprehension. Language Learning, 44(2), 189–219. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zobl, H
(1982) A direction for contrastive analysis: The comparative study of developmental sequences. TESOL Quarterly 16(2), 169–183. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 8 other publications

Andon, Nick
2018. Chapter 5. Optimal conditions for TBLT?. In TBLT as a Researched Pedagogy [Task-Based Language Teaching, 12], ► pp. 132 ff. DOI logo
East, Martin
2015. Task-Based Teaching and Learning: Pedagogical Implications. In Second and Foreign Language Education, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Ellis, Rod
2021. Options in a task-based language-teaching curriculum. TASK. Journal on Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning 1:1 ► pp. 11 ff. DOI logo
Kim, Youjin, Yeonjoo Jung & Nicole Tracy‐Ventura
2017. Implementation of a Localized Task‐Based Course in an EFL Context: A Study of Students’ Evolving Perceptions. TESOL Quarterly 51:3 ► pp. 632 ff. DOI logo
Liu, Yuying, Freda Mishan & Angela Chambers
2021. Investigating EFL teachers’ perceptions of task-based language teaching in higher education in China. The Language Learning Journal 49:2 ► pp. 131 ff. DOI logo
Norris, John M.
2021. The Long road to TBLT. TASK. Journal on Task-Based Language Teaching and Learning 1:2 ► pp. 162 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Zhan, Peter Skehan & Gaowei Chen
2019. The effects of hybrid online planning and L2 proficiency on video-based speaking task performance. Instructed Second Language Acquisition 3:1 ► pp. 53 ff. DOI logo
刘, 馨月
2023. Teacher’s Talk in Task-Based Language Teaching Context—Study on the Efficacy of Teacher’s L1 Use in Chinese EFL Classroom. Overseas English Testing: Pedagogy and Research 05:03 ► pp. 119 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.