ROBIN REID (FUKUI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY)

TBLT AT THE EDGES : METHODOLOGIES AND TEACHING APPROACHES

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has seen a steady increase in attention in recent decades. Many institutions and educators promote the use of some form of TBLT as a means of affording students greater opportunity for authentic, purposeful interaction in the target language. While much research has been done to shed light on how certain features of task design can affect student outcomes, primarily in terms of the quality of language output, there is less substantial discussion of implementation. The task-based framework of Jane Willis remains a principle reference, and yet more research should be done in regards to the feasibility of such a framework in educational contexts, such as those in East and Southeast Asia, that do not share the same characteristics of native-speaking countries where a majority of task-based scholarship is undertaken. A number of scholars have pointed to difficulties and challenges present in these contexts that question the compatibility of a TBLT approach in such cases. This paper explores this topic in a somewhat unusual way: I will describe some research I have done into the use of less common pedagogical tasks, such as drama and tabletop games, to discuss what I see as the primary challenges to successful implementation of any TBLT approach into a more exam-focused, monolingual learning context. I will end the paper with some suggestions for how to go about selecting or creating original tasks for the language classroom.

I have been a teacher for about twenty years now. I have worked mainly in Japan teaching English and communications courses to university and high school students.