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3 - Why Task? Task as a Unit of Analysis for Language Education

from Part II - Tasks and Needs Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Shoko Sasayama
Edited by
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian  and
Michael H. Long
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Michael H. Long
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
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Summary

This chapter reviews the arguments that support the use of task as a unit of analysis for second language education. The chapter first considers the origin of the idea of tasks in education, surveys the definition of a task in the task-based language teaching (TBLT) literature, and summarizes the roles played by tasks in TBLT. It then articulates why the use of tasks makes sense from the perspectives of (a) TBLT as a researched pedagogy, (b) motivation and engagement, (c) assessment, and (d) program design.

Keywords

assessmentexperiential learningmotivationprogram designresearched pedagogy
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching , pp. 55 - 72
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2015). TBLT: Building the road as we travel. In Bygate, M., ed. Domains and directions in the development of TBLT: A decade of plenaries from the international conference. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 1–26.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. and Norris, J. M. (2000). Task-based teaching and assessment. In Byram, M., ed. Encyclopedia of language teaching. London: Routledge, pp. 597–603.Google Scholar
Norris, J. M. (2015). Thinking and acting programmatically in task-based language teaching: Essential roles for program evaluation. In Bygate, M., ed. Domains and directions in the development of TBLT: A decade of plenaries from the international conference. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 27–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samuda, V., Van den Branden, K., and Bygate, M. (2018). TBLT as a researched pedagogy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar

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