The Long TBLT Journey

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-161
Author(s):  
Catherine J. Doughty
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Important Work ◽  
Implicit Processing ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
Instructed Sla ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

Abstract In this piece, I trace Task-Based Language Teaching from Mike Long’s original conceptualization in 1985, through his development of methodological principles that are based on SLA theory and empirical evidence he gathered for three and half decades, to two recent (2010, 2015) practical examples of TBLT. Since there is still some important work to be done on remaining tricky issues, I highlight a few of these (unresolved in instructed SLA), such as sequencing according to complexity and the resilience of implicit processing mechanisms in adult language learning. In resolving these and other issues that will no doubt arise, I urge us all to follow Mike’s scrupulous lead in holding ourselves accountable to the empirical evidence.

Input Enhancement in Instructed SLA

1993 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Sharwood Smith
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Modular Systems ◽  
Input Enhancement ◽  
Instructed Sla ◽  
Processing Mechanisms

The concept of input to the language learner is examined with reference to some current theorizing about language processing and the idea of modular systems of knowledge. The question of what this can tell us about the actions taken by teachers and textbook writers is addressed specifically with regard to manipulating, or “enhancing,” the input ideally so that it will affect learner knowledge and thereby learner behavior. The logic of the argumentation is that, in exposing the learner to the second language, we are engaging a whole battery of different processing mechanisms. Input enhancement research and the conclusions drawn from it have to be set within the context of a modular view of language and language learning.

scholarly journals Communicative Language Teaching

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 393-396
Author(s):  
S. Mammadova
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Communicative Language Teaching ◽  
Learning Tasks ◽  
Eclectic Approach ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Methodological Principles ◽  
Principles Of Learning

The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to communicative language teaching (CLT) and to describe methodological principles that facilitate the language learning process. CLT furthermore takes a pragmatic or performance-based approach to learning. Its goal is to promote the development of real-life language skills by engaging the learner in contextualized, meaningful, and communicative-oriented learning tasks. CLT methodologies embrace an eclectic approach to teaching, which means they borrow teaching practices from a wide array of methods that have been found effective and that are in accordance with principles of learning as suggested by research findings in research in SLA and cognitive psychology. Its open-ended or principle-based approach allows for a great deal of flexibility, which makes it adaptable to many individual programmatic and learner needs and goals.

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Students’ Manual: A Critical Analysis of the Coursebook Taught at Pakistani Universities

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Teaching Principles ◽  
Language Needs

English for Academic Purposes course focusing on the academic language needs of students is a subfield of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). It is a type of specialized course to integrate specific subject matter, language content, and material based on learners’ needs. The study aims to evaluate the British Council’s English for Academic Purposes (EAP) coursebook in terms of content, sequencing, learners’ autonomy, motivation, feedback and focus on language skills. Furthermore, the study tries to provide a general perception of the usefulness and effectiveness of the coursebook for undergraduate students. The EAP Students’ Manual coursebook is used as a primary source for the data collection. The researcher has chosen Nation & Macalister (2010) model of language teaching principles to analyze and discuss the data. The study found the coursebook a useful, effective and an appropriate source of English language learning in terms of the investigated aspects of the book. The findings report that the coursebook provides practice and practical usage in all domains of the academically required English language skills. It helps the students to build language competency and to be more independent learners. In addition, it provides an opportunity to the learners to think in the target language, use the language more practically and learn it in a natural type of environment. The study concludes and suggests that the content needs to be supplemented with English language audios and videos presenting the students relevant documentaries and helping material in order to make the coursebook and the learning process more useful, effective, interesting and motivating. Furthermore, the study recommends that while choosing /designing a coursebook for a certain course, it needs to be evaluated following the various criteria and language-teaching-principles suggested by different language researchers.

English Students’ Attitudes towards English Language Teaching and Learning at IAIN Padangsidimpuan

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ida Royani ◽  
T. Silvana Sinar
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Role Models ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
English Learning ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
English Students

This study investigated the English students’ attitudes of IAIN Padangsidimpuan towards both English language teaching in terms of (a) language-centered, (b) learner-centered, and (c) learning-centered method; and learning English in terms of scales (a) attitudes toward long-term English learning, (b) interest in culture and communication, (c) perception about studying in school context, (d) images associated with English, (e) English learning activities, (f) exposure to English outside school, (g) self-rated four English skills, (h) self-reported academic English grade, and (i) identification of English role models. The data were obtained by questionnaire and interview from 10 selected students in which 4 male and 6 female students in 7th semester and were analyzed by steps provided by Gay, L.R and Airasian (1996). The result showed:  first, English students’ attitudes towards English language teaching had been found highly onlearning-centered method, followed by learner-centered method in second range, and almost negative view in language-centered method.Second, English students’ attitudes towards English language learningwere positivein scales; long-term English learning, interest in communication, and images associated with English.  Third, role of students’ gender on English language learning were not found. Reasons for this statement are (i) status of English as international language and (ii) equalization of getting education for male and female. Keywords: attitude, language teaching, language learning, and gender

scholarly journals Inverse translation and the language student: A case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-193
Author(s):  
Lucía Pintado Gutiérrez
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Inverse Translation ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis article explores the agency of the student in translation in language teaching and learning (or TILT). The purpose of the case study discussed here is to gain an overview of students’ perceptions of translation into the foreign language (FL) (also known as “inverse translation”) following a module on language and translation, and to analyse whether there is any correlation between students’ attitude to translation, its impact on their language learning through effort invested, and the improvement of language skills. The results of the case study reveal translation to be a potentially exciting skill that can be central to FL learning and the analysis gives indications of how and why language teachers may optimise the implementation of translation in the classroom. The outcome of the study suggests that further research is needed on the impact of translation in the language classroom focussing on both teachers’ expectations and students’ achievements.

Reflecting on task-based language teaching from an Instructed SLA perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Nina Spada
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Explicit Knowledge ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Corrective Feedback ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Distinguishing Characteristic ◽  
Instructional Activities ◽  
Instructed Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Theory Research ◽  
Instructed Sla

Abstract Task-based language teaching (TBLT) and instructed second language acquisition (ISLA) have much in common in terms of theory, research, and educational relevance. The distinguishing characteristic between the two is that TBLT adopts communicative tasks as the central unit for instruction and assessment, whereas ISLA comprises a broader range of instructional activities and assessment practices. In this presentation, I focus on two of the conference themes: Instruction and Outcomes. With respect to Instruction, I draw attention to the pedagogical timing of form-focused instruction (FFI) and corrective feedback. I discuss relevant studies within ISLA and TBLT and argue that TBLT is particularly well-suited to investigating questions about the timing of FFI. In discussing Outcomes, I consider differences in how outcomes are measured in TBLT (i.e. performance) and ISLA (i.e. development) and the different aspects of language examined within each, for example, accuracy, implicit/explicit knowledge in ISLA and complexity, accuracy and fluency in TBLT. I discuss underlying similarities between fluency and implicit knowledge, how they are measured, and propose research to investigate the pedagogical timing of FFI in relation to fluency development. I conclude with a brief discussion of the need for a balance between theoretically and pedagogically motivated research within ISLA and TBLT.

Four decades of ELT development in Hong Kong: Impact of global theories on the changing curricula and textbooks

2019 ◽  
pp. 136216881986556
Author(s):  
Jim Yee Him Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
The Past ◽  
Framework Approach ◽  
Language Needs ◽  
Recent Debate ◽  
Textbook Design

The past 40 years have witnessed significant developments in ELT research, reflecting the changes in learners’ language needs and the extensive development of various language learning/teaching methods in different times and places. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic and comprehensive account of changing ELT methods (oral-structural approach, communicative language teaching and task-based language teaching) in Hong Kong’s secondary education between 1975 and the present. By adopting Richards and Rodgers’s (2014) framework (approach, design and procedure), it examined how ELT theories have been transformed into local curricula (1975, 1983, 1999 and 2002/07) and commercial textbooks (Longman, Oxford University Press) via detailed content analysis. The findings suggest that research into ELT methods in Hong Kong over the past decades has generally directed the designs of the language curricula. Changes in the textbooks, however, have been relatively limited, although considerable attempts have been made to align textbook design with ELT trends. By considering various constraints in the theory-to-practice process, this study offers suggestions for future research and language teaching, particularly regarding the recent debate over the choice between the ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ versions of task-based language teaching in EFL contexts, and the post-methods perspective in language teaching.

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