Chapter One Literature Review
1.1 Task Based Language Teaching Approach
Task-Based Language Teaching approach started to gain big favor amongEnglish teaching professionals in China. This section provides a review of literatureregarding the adoption of TBLT in China as the most recent development in Englishteaching methodology, the development of TBLT approach，and its main principlesand framework. English became an indispensable tool for modernization and globalization, andthus its teaching becomes the focus of the reform. In order to put ends to traditionalteaching methods that over-emphasize grammar and vocabulary knowledgetransmission, Chinese government and Ministry of Education (MOE) called for ELTreform at different levels, namely，primary，secondary and tertiary schools. There wasa need for an urgent reform of ELT in China and for improving English proficiency ofstudents. In response to these demands, the National English Curriculum Standardsfor Nine-Year Compulsory Education and Senior High School Education (NECS) of 2001 aimed to enhance students' English competence by advocating Task-BasedLanguage Teaching (TBLT) as the main teaching approach. TBLT was officiallyspecified in July 2001 as another round of pedagogic innovation for boosting thequality of ELT in China. According to the MOE (2001)，“Teachers should avoid ateaching method focusing on knowledge transmission and try to use the task-basedapproach as much as possible，，(p. 29).
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1.2 Issues in TBLT
In this section，some issues concerned with TBLT approach are explained, thisincludes: Definition of task, types of task, and components of task. In literature, numerous definitions of tasks are found. Linguists and scholars inthe field of second language teaching gave their various interpretations of “task”(Long，1985; Richards et al., 1985; Crookes, 1986; Candlin，1987; Wright, 1987;Prabhu，1987; Breen, 1987; Nunan, 1989; Willis, 1996; Skehan，1998; Bygate，1999;Bygate et al., 2001; Ellis, 2000, and others). Their definitions vary according to thetheoretical basis on which they draw.Before giving a definition to “task”，a clear differentiation should be madebetween task, exercise and activity. According to Nunan (2001), a task is acommunicative act which does not have a focus on a single grammatical form. Anexercise has a restrictive focus on a single language from, this means that an exercisehas a linguistic outcome. An activity has a restrictive focus on one or two languageforms, but at the same time has a communicative outcome. In this way, an activityshares some similarities with both tasks and exercises.
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Chapter Two Theoretical Bases of TBLT
2.1 Constructivism Theory
The constructivist approach to language teaching includes the ideas ofconstructivist learning theories that are based on Piaget's cognitive theory andVygotsky's social constructivist theory. Constructivism is a theory about knowledgeand learning which assumes that learning is an activity in which learners constructknowledge by themselves. The main rationale of constructivist approach is thatlearning is an active process in which human beings construct new ideas using theircurrent and past knowledge (Wei Yonghong，2004, p.45). According to Piaget, humanbeings right from birth are actively involved in constructing personal meaning basedon their experiences; the overall development of individuals can be seen as a result ofindividuals' interaction with their environment, and as a result of the interactionbetween their perceptual cognitive abilities and their linguistic experience (Brown,2002, p. 29).Lev Vygotsky (1978)，another constructivist psychologist, argued that learningtakes place in a social context; he claimed that individuals develop their psychologicalfunctions such as learning when they interact with each other. Vygotsky devised theconcept of "Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)”，which means that the leamtfunctions transfer from a social dimension to a cognitive dimension. An implication ofthis concept is that a language classroom can be considered as a social environment where learners can leam, master concepts and ideas that they cannot understand ontheir own under the guidance and the help of their teachers. No one can reach the fulllevel of learning, but individuals throughout their social interaction can develop theircognitive capacities.
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2.2 Interaction Theory
According to Long (1983), language acquisition is a result of “conversationalinteraction”. He claims that “modified interaction" is the necessary languageacquisition device that makes the input comprehensible and results in a goodacquisition of language. In his researches. Long (1983) pointed out that nativespeakers tend to adjust their speech whenever they communicate with non-nativespeakers, they naturally modify their speech to the non-native-speakers needs for thesake of facilitating communication, “most native speakers seem to adjust naturallytheir speech to the non-native-speakers needs, in order to facilitate communication”(Long, 1983, pp. 177-193). Hence, teachers are suggested to design activities or taskswith the modified interaction so that students can naturally and easily acquire thetarget language.Long (1983) argues that the mistakes that learners make in their interactiontrigger their interlocutors to modify the input they are providing. More significantly, the learners receive a feedback about their language in the form of responses whenmeaning is negotiated. The feedback and the modified input will arise naturally whenmeaning is problematic; the problems that occur during communication providelearners with useful information about the areas of language that they are strugglingwith.
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Chapter Three Research Methodology........ 39
3.1 Research Design ........39
3.1.1 Research Questions........ 39
3.1.2 Research Subjects........ 40
3.1.3 Research Instruments........ 44
3.2 Research Procedure........ 47
3.2.1 Data Collection ........48
3.2.2 Data Analysis ........ 49
Chapter Four Results & Discussion........ 51
4.1 Teachers' Understandings of TBLT and their Attitudes to it........ 51
4.1.1 Teachers' Understandings of TBLT........ 51
4.1.2 Teachers' Attitudes toward TBLT........ 58
4.2 The Extent of TBLT Implementation ........64
4.3 Limitations and Possibilities in Adopting TBLT in Changsha........ 77
4.4 Adaptability of TBLT to the Local Context of Changsha........ 114
Chapter Four Results & Discussion
4.1 Teachers' Understandings of TBLT and their Attitudes to it
This part presents the findings of the first question in terms of two themes whichemerged from the data: Teachers' understandings of TBLT，and their attitudes towardsits implementation in classrooms. Although each issue is treated separately forconvenience of exposition, there is a certain amount of connection between the twoissues. For example, the more positive the teacher's attitude towards task-basedteaching, the more likely he understands well the approach of TBLT. For each theme,teachers' perspectives are outlined，and then some comments and discussions aredrawn. It is well known that teachers' understanding and knowledge of TBLT caninfluence in a way or the other their implementation of the approach. The table belowshows the results of closed questions of questionnaire using percentage calculationsfor all the responses. The teachers were asked to choose from a 5-point scale: Stronglyagree, agree undecided，disagree，and strongly disagree. This table shows how English language teachers in Changsha secondary schools understand TBLT concepts (Table9).
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Conclusion
The conclusion summarizes the major findings of this study concerned with thefour questions that have been discussed in the previous chapter. Then，it discusses theimplications that this study holds for English teaching in Changsha, and offers somesuggestions for further research. This study has critically discussed the implementation of TBLT in Changsha; itparticularly discussed the limitations, possibilities，and adaptability of TBLT inChangsha secondary schools. Four questions have been raised for this study, theresults of these questions are summarized down.First, regarding EFL teachers' understandings of TBLT and their attitudes to it,the findings of the study revealed that teachers had some understandings ofTBLT andthat they are relatively familiar with the rationale, practice and methodologies ofTBLT. However, some common misconceptions, oversimplifications and inadequateunderstandings of TBLT have been found based on the results of close-endedquestions and interviews. Thus, teachers do not have a complete understanding ofTBLT. It has been discussed that teachers' lack of knowledge about TBLT could resultfrom their insufficient training about TBLT, from the fact that teachers were notexposed to reading materials about TBLT for the purpose of their professionaldevelopment, or form their negative attitudes towards TBLT.
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Reference (omitted)
