Teaching English Toolbox

TBL - Task-based Learning

From Craiyon: a cute cat studying in school realistic

There are many questions to be asked around TBL, for example:

Does it work with younger learners?
What is it exactly? How come there are so many different interpretations?
What really is the difference between an activity and a task? Between "task based learning" and a "task"? Between an exercise and a task?

These answers are open to discussion in your modules and leave a lot of room for dialogue! In the following few clips, you can get an idea of what it could look like or maybe even how it shouldn't look! Feel free to analyze, criticize, discuss and profit from these video clips but please be sure to read the teacher's comments about the lesson.

ChatGPT Task-Based Learning Lesson

Does ChatGPT understand TBL? A little bit! You can use this document to get the general gist, but there are some issues so be sure to read the criticism and questions!! Furthermore, this "chat" was generated in 2023. Take a look and see if the LLM has learned in the meantime!

Gavell, M. (2021). Task-Based Reading Activities Using Authentic Materials and Skills. English Teaching Forum, 59(2): 2-9.
Graf, E. and Buechel, L. (2006). TBL in First Choice. [internal document]
Sprague, K., Staufer, K. and Achermann, B. (2006). TBL in Explorers. [internal document]
Yang, A. & Cheung, C. (2003). Adapting Textbook Activities FOR Communicative Teaching AND Cooperative Learning. English Teaching Forum, 41(3): 16-20).
Various authors, articles in FR, DE, and EN. (2003). Task-based language learning in Babylonia.
Council of Europe. (2000). Task-Based Learning (TBL) in Methodology in Language Learning T-Kit.
Search for task-based learning" at the British Council
TBL from One Stop English
Available through your local library:
- Carless, D. (2002). Implementing task‐based learning with young learners. ELT Journal, 56(4), 389-396.
- Pinter, A. (2015). Task-based learning with children. Teaching English to young learners, 113-128.

In the video below (created by Patricia Isler, PHZH), you are offered a description of Task-based Learning with some concrete examples.

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Example of TBL?

In the example below, you will read about a lesson that "kind of" fits a TBL sequence. This is a relatively controlled sequence for a third grade, and there would be many ways to make it better or to also make it a more open task! But there are good elements here, too. Put on your critical brain and think!

Pre-task

Look at the blackboard in the picture below. What do you think the teacher was doing?

Sorting words. © PHZH ( L. Buechel, 2011)

Teacher's thoughts: This lesson takes place in a 3rd grade class. This is the children's first year of English and they were working with First Choice, Seasons. I didn't know the class beforehand though the teacher did warn me that they were rambunctious. Prior to this pre-task, I did a warmup (the fruit salad game). The goal now was to elicit and teach vocabulary and to get the children thinking about talking with their senses - for instance that a teddy bear feels soft, but probably doesn't taste good! Or Swiss chocolate tastes and smells good. I explicitly introduced the Venn Diagram (to save time). If I could do it all over again: I would have had the children write the words on the board into the correct places on individual Venn diagrams (individually or in pairs) because you want to promote thought (e.g. that Teddy bears can also smell good!).

Task

The children then worked in pairs. One child tasted the fruit purée and the other child smelled it. Then they asked each other the question: "How does it smell/taste" and had to say the answer and guess which fruit it was with "I think it is...".
Think about the following:

the role of modeling an activity.
motivational strategies to get the children to speak English during pair work.
general classroom management techniques.
how taking away a sense can provide a reason to communicate (e.g. one watches the video with their ears plugged, the other listens but closes their eyes (or turns around).

If you would like to read the teacher's reflections about the lesson, open the box below.

If I were to do this again, I would:

model a few more times. Perhaps I would even have brought pairs up to the front of the class to model in front of the others.
have fewer types of fruit to test.
have a planning moment. Where's the planning? Is the task just to speak together and guess which fruit it is?
introduce some sort of reward system to get them speaking English together in pairs.

That said, this wasn't my class, so it's hard to know how much of the class being rambunctious is because they are that type of class and how much is because they lack some sort of motivation for speaking English in pairs.

Post-task and Language Focus

This post-task had several steps. First, the children were to now consolidate by practicing "How does it feel?" and finding out which fruit was which. They played Kim's Game by reaching under (in the picture you see the final round), describing how it feels, and having their classmates guess. This was to focus on "it feels...I think it is..." in a controlled way.

Then, as a writing activity, they practiced the worksheet you see here. This was a writing activity with a little bit of differentiation. The children had to fill in the cards for each fruit (in pairs) with enough information to be able to distinguish between the various types of fruit. Most children just had to fill in a few words. For a few others, they wrote the whole text. The following lesson they then played a reading memory. Some children transformed the words into sentences. Other children could just read the card aloud.

Teacher's Comment

If the children had been more on-task, in English, I would have left this as part of the task. But since they were a bit out of control, I needed to take charge of the class, thus we did this in class together, though not the main idea of TBL.
For the language focus, I had two options, if the class had worked a bit more independently and with a bit more focus, I would have done a grammar slot on "How does" and the use of "does", but since they really weren't using the adjectives, I had them work on the adjectives a bit more. I also gave them a page in their book (First Choice, Senses) for homework so they could look at those adjectives one more time.

TBL products and outcomes

TBL can work in many different ways and commonly there is a product that is different for everyone or every group, e.g.:

a minibook;
a creative book report;
a poster;
a fact file;
etc...

However, there don't ALWAYS have to be "products"! An outcome could be knowledge that is presented, it can be that everyone has the same text but writes different questions (each person had a different focus, etc...), it could be that one learner tests some objects in a sink/float experiment and another learner different objects and then they share and note.

TBL is also a process whereby:

there is always reason for communication (jigsaws, information gaps, feedback, etc...);
a language focus always comes at the end and cannot always be prepared for;
there is a reason for listening to others in a report phase (e.g. you share your text with your partner, your partner adds new words to their personal dictionary).

Tasks can be big (posters, science fairs, etc...) or small (jigsaws, spot-the-difference pictures) but they have similar elements.

Tasks can sometimes involve native speakers having done the same thing. For instance, in this lesson, the teacher started with a lead in about card games and asked the learners what card games they like to play. Then, she introduced the game of "Go Fish" by demonstrating it. The learners then played and the teacher observed. After about 10 minutes, she stopped the class, had them watch the video below and note down the language they heard and read into books. Afterwards, the kids played again and used the language they noted. For a language focus, the teacher focused on "do you have AN eight" and "do you have A five" (a/an).

Go Fish! Courtesy of Alison and Zoe Buechel, 2011