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The advocacy of task-based language teaching (TBLT) has met with resistance. The critiques of TBLT and the misconceptions that underlie them have already been addressed in Ellis (2009) and Long (2016). The purpose of this article is to move forward by examining a number of real problems that TBLT faces – such as how a ‘task’ should be defined, the nature and timing of the ‘focus-on-form’ required, how to determine task complexity and sequence tasks, the role of explicit instruction, the timing of focus on form and the teacher training needed to ensure effective uptake of TBLT – and to also consider what solutions are possible. Disagreements exist regarding the relative merits of task-based and task-supported language teaching. I will propose that a hybrid/modular syllabus that allows for a balance between an object-oriented and a tool-oriented view of language teaching offers the most promising way forward.

With the popularity of Spanish for Specific Purposes courses growing at U.S. universities, research that can underpin effective teaching practices and material development is greatly needed. This project focuses on task‐based language teaching in the context of Medical Spanish courses, drawing from studies carried out for Business Spanish and Spanish for nurses. The objectives were (1) to conduct a needs analysis of Medical Spanish students, and (2) to create a task‐based curriculum for a general Medical Spanish course. The data collection included interviews to identify relevant tasks performed in the medical field, followed by an anonymous questionnaire in which participants rated the frequency and importance of the tasks identified in the interviews. The most frequent and important tasks will serve as learning objectives for a Medical Spanish course.

Text chat facilitates L2 use by providing learners with extended time to plan, monitor, and process production during interactional tasks. However, learners may not naturally take advantage of these affordances, especially for providing peer feedback. This study used video‐enhanced chat scripts to examine the behavior of beginner L2 Spanish learners (n = 46) completing decision‐consensus tasks via text chat, investigating how learners interacted with the medium to self‐monitor by deleting text before sending. Learners were also differentially assigned to receive metacognitive instruction (MI) to learn ways to provide corrective feedback to peers or engage in language‐related episodes (LREs). Results showed that all learners frequently used text chat's affordances to self‐correct and also integrated technology to resolve LREs (creating technology‐assisted LREs). However, MI did not have a significant impact on the production of corrective feedback or LREs, potentially due to attentional resources expended during self‐correction. These findings suggest that completing task‐based activities within text chat may be beneficial for promoting beginner learners' linguistic processing and integrating technology to facilitate discussion of L2 form but less impactful for promoting peer feedback.

This action research case study will help educators conceptualize the mediator’s role by investigating how mediation is used under the guidance of Reuven Feuerstein’s Mediated Learning Experience theory to aid learners’ fluency development in an Advanced-Placement Chinese high-school Task-Based Language Teaching classroom in America. Findings from this mixed-methods action research study first suggest what types of mediation might influence fluency development after finding mediation of intentionality and mediation of feeling of competence were practiced most and much more frequently than other mediation types during the whole mediation period. Second, this study indicated that teachers can use questioning techniques to implement different mediation types in their classrooms. Furthermore, the findings suggest that two possible factors might affect mediation quality. One factor is whether teachers can modify lesson plans; the other is the influence of the teachers’ personalities on their mediation strategy choices.

In research on task-based learning and teaching, it has traditionally been assumed that differing degrees of cognitive task complexity can be inferred through task design and/or observations of differing qualities in linguistic production elicited by second language (L2) communication tasks. Without validating this assumption, however, it is unclear at best whether the designed or inferred difference in complexity, the key independent variable, is realized as intended. Accordingly, this study adopted diverse methods from cognitive psychology for independently measuring cognitive task complexity, including: dual-task methodology, time estimation, and self-rating. Fifty-three English-L2 speakers in Japan, representing distinct proficiency levels, narrated 4 picture sequences, each containing differing numbers of characters. While performing the primary story-telling task, participants simultaneously completed a secondary task of reacting to a color change. After each story-telling, they also estimated their time-on-task and rated their perceptions of task difficulty and mental effort. Results revealed that only large differences in the task design feature (i.e., number of elements) were detectable in terms of independent measures of cognitive complexity. This finding underscores the importance of validating the assumptions about the relationship between task design and its putative effects on cognitive complexity. Findings also indicated a potential interaction among proficiency, task designs, and measures of cognitive load.

Input and context-related factors identified by research as key success variables in L2 pronunciation development in immersion contexts play a very modest role in instructed foreign language (FL) learning environments. Scarce L2 exposure and use and L1-accented input make pronunciation learning extremely challenging. Current L2 speech learning models attribute difficulties in L2 speech acquisition to L2-to-L1 perceptual sound mappings guided by L1-based perception and poor phonological awareness and noticing of cross-language phonetic differences, which are typically not adequately addressed in instruction through pedagogic tasks. Explicit and incidental pronunciation teaching methods have been found effective at improving learners’ pronunciation, but ways to integrate them into communicative approaches to language teaching are still largely unexplored. Thus, language education practices currently lack a research-informed pedagogical approach that incorporates principles of L2 speech learning and task-based language teaching (TBLT) into pronunciation instruction. This article (1) presents an outline of new avenues for research and practice in L2 pronunciation instruction and (2) reports on the findings of an empirical study that implemented a task-based pronunciation teaching (TBPT) approach to teaching a difficult L2 vowel contrast through computerized collaborative map tasks that could be easily integrated into communicative FL classrooms.

This mixed-method study investigated how task-based language teaching (TBLT) implemented in English-for-nursing programmes impacted students’ learning motivation. Specifically, the study explored the motivational patterns that underlie the students’ participation in the learning process, the factors influencing their English-learning motivation, and the aspects of TBLT that positively affected their learning motivation. The data analysed were acquired through questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire was designed according to the motivational attitude test battery (MATB) by Gardner (2014). The results of the research reveal that intrinsic motivation was the most favourable motivation, followed by instrumental, extrinsic, and integrative motivation. Several factors influenced the students’ English-learning motivation, such as positive teacher-student interpersonal relationships, teacher praise, teacher feedback or strokethe written feedback from teacher, learning tasks and class activities, student curiosity, teaching method, and relatedness. Three aspects of TBLT positively affected student motivation: task activities, autonomous learning and authentic learning motivation, and teachers’ positive facilitation. The findings can help design materials that motivate students, specifically in nursing programmes in which English is not used as a medium of instruction.

Prior research on pre-task planning examines its effects on the quality of second language (L2) learners’ planned output. Planning mitigates the cognitive overload placed upon L2 learners’ oral performance, thus improving language production. Despite the pedagogical benefits, studies on pre-task planning on L2 learners’ oral output are conducted mostly in a lab or class setting. Whether or not similar effects of pre-task planning can be evidenced in three-dimensional (3D) multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), such as Second Life (SL), is still less explored. Hence, this study investigates whether pre-task planning could enhance the quality and quantity of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ task-oriented, voice-based outcomes in SL. Nine EFL learners worldwide participated in this 10-session virtual class. Data were collected through students’ oral presentations in performing real-life simulated tasks related to their home cultures and interests. Yuan and Ellis’s (2003) framework of T-units measures was adopted to analyze their linguistic performance measured by complexity and accuracy. Results indicated that EFL learners showed statistically significant improvement on grammatical complexity on the levels of syntactic complexity and variety (but not on lexical variety) and on linguistic accuracy across all measured levels (error-free clauses/T-units/verb forms). It is suggested that pre-task planning can be seeded in task-based instruction either in a classroom-based or 3D MUVE setting to optimize the quality of learners’ linguistic performance. Tasks that are real-world oriented and targeting learners’ cultural repertoires and world knowledge also positively impact their virtual learning experiences. These significant implications add new research and pedagogical dimensions to the field of computer-assisted language learning.

Task-based research has shown the benefits of using tasks in various instructional contexts across different age groups. Although task-based language teaching promotes language learning through authentic realworld tasks, previous research has mainly used controlled pedagogic tasks. The current exploratory, intact-classroom, multi-case study examined the extent to which 13 Korean adolescent learners of English used and learned new English lexical items while carrying out an uncontrolled, real-world, multimodal, video-creation task. It further investigated students' perceptions of performing such a task. Target items included 93 English lexical items that appeared in realia at a historical site in Korea. The video-creation task was carried out over 5 days and included pretask planning, a field trip to the Korean historical site, and creation of a travel guide video for the site in a computer lab. Students' interactions were recorded digitally. Results revealed that the degree of target-item production varied by participant, but overall target lexical items were not greatly used by students. Students' perceptions of the benefits of the uncontrolled, real-world task seemed to relate to task-as-process, which was directly influenced by learner-generated workplans. Pedagogical implications for designing and implementing real-world tasks requiring task performance inside and outside of the classroom are discussed.

This empirical study investigated the occurrence of meaning negotiation in an interactive synchronous computer-mediated second language (L2) environment. Sixteen dyads (N = 32) consisting of nonnative speakers (NNSs) and native speakers (NSs) of English performed 2 different tasks using videoconferencing and written chat. The data were coded and analyzed both for instances of negotiation of meaning and for instances where the NNSs did not initiate repair despite nonunderstanding. Absences of negotiation of meaning are generally excluded from detailed analysis primarily because it is difficult to establish nonunderstanding unless the participant overtly indicates it. In order to assess the effect of the nonoccurrence of negotiation of meaning on task performance and task completion, this study used 2 tasks: a culturally specific task that almost certainly would result in NNS nonunderstanding and a collaborative decision-making task that should trigger instances of negotiation of meaning. It was found that, in both tasks, instead of initiating repair sequences, NNS participants frequently did not engage in negotiation of meaning despite nonunderstanding. We conclude that disregarding nonoccurrence of negotiation of meaning in (digital) task-based language teaching may lead to misrepresenting task performance, task outcome, and task evaluation, and, beyond that, to disregarding evidence that has both empirical and theoretical consequences for the Interaction Hypothesis and, by implication, for second language acquisition.