Tasks in the classroom

Task-based approaches teach language at the point of need.

This workshop follows up on work done and ideas explored in Learning Opportunities and Reactivity in the Classroom. The weight of evidence from second language acquisition research suggests that approaches that focus on fluency first and deal with language aspects second is the most effective way to speed up our learners’ natural process of learning English. To this end, approaches like task-based language teaching (TBLT), Dogme and Community Language Learning (CLL) are often posited as a way of breaking away from a coursebook-led, ‘Grammar McNuggets’ (Thornbury, 2010) approach to teaching.

This workshop will look at some of the advantages and challenges of these approaches, as well as examples of engaging tasks that can be implemented easily in our classrooms, be they for business, ESP or general purposes.