Task-based syllabus design and task sequencing

2nd Joint International Methodology Research Colloquium co-hosted by
Okinawa JALT, KATE Corpus SIG, & LET Kansai Methodology SIG
February 16, 2016 @ Tenbusu Naha
Task-based syllabus design and
task sequencing
Ken Urano, Hokkai-Gakuen University
(urano@hgu.jp)
Urano, K. (2016). Task-based syllabus design and task sequencing. 1

Questions
4 Where do you teach?
4 Are you using, or have you ever used,
tasks or task-like activities in your class?
4 Are you using, or have you ever used, a
TBLT syllabus?

Disclaimer
I'm not going to...
4 argue that TBLT is absolutely right.
4 claim that TBLT is the only way to teach
language.
4 suggest that everyone should adopt TBLT.

What is TBLT?
4 Simply put, task-based learning (TBL) is
"learning by doing."
4 TBL is not just for language.
4 The term task (or TBLT) has become a
buzz word in ELT, and people use it to
mean different things.

What is a task?
4 Tasks have been defined in various ways.
4 I'll introduce two of the oft-cited
definitions.

Long's (1985) definition
4 Tasks are things we do for ourselves or for others in our
daily life.
4 Examples
4 borrowing a library book
4 sorting letters
4 taking a hotel reservation, etc.
4 Non-technical and non-linguistic (Long, 2015; Nunan,
2004)
4 Target or real-world task

Ellis's (2003) definition
4 A task is a workplan that requires learners to process
language pragmatically to achieve a communicative goal.
4 Characteristics:
4 primary attention is to meaning
4 outcome is evaluated by task completion
4 learners use their own linguistic resources
4 there is some resemblance to real-life language use
4 any of the four language skills can be involved
4 Pedagogic(al) task

Target tasks and pedagogic tasks
4 Target tasks are language learning goals.
4 Pedagogic tasks are used to achieve the
goals.

What is TBLT? (2)
4 Introducing a task to a classroom does
not automatically make it a task-based
lesson.
4 Task-based language teaching (LT) vs
task-supported LT

Task-supported LT
4 A variation of the structural syllabus
4 There is a pre-determined target structure in a
lesson.
4 Typically the final P of the PPP cycle is replaced by a
focused task.
4 Presentation (of the target structure)
4 Practice (of the structure in drill-like exercises)
4 Production (of the structure in a communicative
way)/Focused task

Task-supported LT (2)
4 Same criticisms against PPP apply.
4 Example
4 The strong interface position (i.e., explicit, or
learned, knowledge can turn into implicit
knowledge) does not have much empirical
support from SLA research.
4 Most studies supporting explicit instruction
have not demonstrated acquisition of implicit
knowledge.

Task-supported LT (3)
4 It might be used "as a bridge between
traditional synthetic [structural] syllabi
and genuine task-based
approaches" (Long, 2015).
4 Hybrid TBLT (Ellis, 2003; Matsumura,
2012)

Task-based LT (TBLT)
Long (2015), Norris (2009)
4 Task is the unit of analysis for:
4 needs analysis
4 syllabus design
4 implementation
4 assessment
4 program evaluation

Task-based syllabus design (Long,
2005, 2015)
1. Conduct needs analysis to identify target
tasks
2. Classify target tasks into target task types
3. Derive pedagogic tasks by adjusting task
complexity
4. Sequence the pedagogic tasks

Task-based needs analysis
4 Purpose: Identify target tasks
4 Sources and methods (Dudley-Evans & St
John, 1998; Long, 2005; West, 1994)
4 Importance of target-situation analysis
4 Felt needs, perceived needs, and actual
needs
4 Task as the unit of analysis

Target tasks
4 Are concrete examples of what the
learers are expected to do (in the future)
4 Are identified through a needs analysis
4 Are usually too difficult for the learners
to perform

Target task-types
4 Concrete task samples (i.e., target tasks)
need to be classified at a more abstract
level as task-types.

Pedagogic tasks
4 Are derived from a target task-type by:
4 dividing it into sub-tasks
4 adjusting task complexity
4 including use of pre-tasks that build
schema
4 elaborating the input

Task sequencing
4 Pedagogic tasks are classified and
sequenced according to their intrinsic
complexity.

Task complexity
4 Complexity in TBLT refers to inherent, unchanging
qualities of a task that make it more or less challenging
than another task at a given moment in time (Long, 2015).
4 Characteristics (Robinson, 2009):
4 + / – Here and now
4 + / – Few elements
4 + / – Planning time
4 + / – Prior knowledge
4 + / – Few steps, etc.

Task complexity (2)
While some progress has been made, grading [rational sequencing
of pedagogic tasks] remains the most problematic dimension of
task syllabus design, and... one of the two issues... most in need
of convincing data-based solutions. (Long, 2015)
4 Intuitive (pedagogic) designing of tasks has been critized.
4 However, research has not provided enough information to
make rational desigining possible.
4 More research is needed.
4 In the mean time, discussion and ideas exchange should be
encouraged.

Example 1: Flight attendant (Long,
2015)
4 Target tasks:
1. Serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, snacks...
2. Check life vests, oxygen cylinders, seat belts...
3. Check overhead bins, luggage stowed under seats, passengers in
assigned seats...
4 Target task-types:
1. Serve food and beverages
2. Check safety equipment
3. Prepare for takeoff

Example 1 (cont'd)
4 Pedagogic tasks for the "Serve food and beverages" target
task-type:
1. Identify choices between two food items
2. Identify choices among multiple items
3. Respond to choices when some items are unavailable
4. Role play.
.
.
.
n. Full simulation (exit or target task)

Example 2: Street directions (Long,
2015)
4 Target task: Obtain and follow street directions
4 Pedagogic tasks:
1. The real thing (listen to/watch authentic conversations)
2. Fragments (look at a simplified street maps and listen to street direction fragments)
3. Where are you? (look at more detailed maps and listen to more complex directions)
4. Asking the way (using the same maps, listen and replay the model dialogs)
5. Follow the marked route (using the real map with different routes marked in
different colors, listen to the direction, divided into segments, and follow the routes)
6. Follow the unmarked route
7. Finding your way (Using the same map, listen to the new directions without breaks)
8. Exit task: Virtual reality map task (or street performance)

Task-based materials
4 There aren't task-based textbooks!
4 Even textbooks that are "task-based" are often
not task-based. They are simply modified versions
of more traditional structure-based textbooks.
4 "With a few exceptions, true task-based materials
rarely have ... commercial potential precisely
because they are not designed for all learners and
do not assume that what all learners need is the
same." (Long, 2015)

Why aren't there task-based
textbooks?
4 TBLT based on needs analysis is difficult to implement.
4 Clear needs identification
4 Target task selection based on needs analysis
4 Desining pedagogic tasks and sequencing them
4 TBLT materials created this way are too sepecific to a
particular situation for publishers to consider selling.
4 We need to explore the possibility of making (more or
less) generic textbooks that are nonetheless task-based.

Examples of task-
based textbooks (1)
Benevides, M., & Valvona,
C. (2008). Widgets: A
task-based course in
practical English. Hong
Kong: Pearson Longman
Asia ELT.

Examples of task-
based textbooks (2)
Shiokawa, H. (2008).
Interface: Effective
business email. Tokyo:
Macmillan Languagehouse.

Task-based assessment
4 In TBLT, assessment should also be task-based.
4 "Can the student do the (target/exit) task?"
4 Task-based assessment in a large scale is hard to implement.
4 Task-based in-class assessment and student evaluation can
be done.
4 Knowledge of grammar is only part of communicative
competence (e.g., Canale & Swain, 1980), but somehow other
aspects do not receive the same level of attention .
4 Even researchers promoting TBLT often limit their
argument in grammar. Why?

Summary
4 Target and pedagogic tasks
4 Task-supported LT and task-based LT
4 Task-based syllabus design
4 Needs analysis and target tasks
4 Target task-types and pedagogic tasks
4 Task sequencing and task complexity
4 Task-based materials
4 Task-based assessment

References
4 Benevides, M., & Valvona, C. (2008). Widgets: A task-based course in practical English. Hong Kong: Pearson Longman Asia ELT.
4 Canale, M., & Swain, M. (1980). Theoretical bases of communicative approaches to second language teaching and testing. Applied
Linguistics, 1, 1-47.
4 Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge
University Press.
4 Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford University Press.
4 Ellis, R. (2009). Task-based language teaching: Sorting out the misunderstandings. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 19,
221-246.
4 Matsumura, M. (2012). Tasuku-o katsuyo-shita eigo jugyo-no dezain (Designing English lessons using tasks). Tokyo: Taishukan.
4 Nunan, D. (2004). Task-based language teaching. Cambridge University Press.
4 Long, M. H. (1985). A role for instruction in second language acquisition: task-based language teaching. In K. Hyltenstam & M.
Pienemann (Eds.), Modeling and assessing second language development (pp. 77–99). Clevedon, Avon: Multilingual Matters.
4 Long, M. H. (Ed.). (2005). Second language needs analysis. Cambridge University Press.
4 Long, M. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
4 Norris, J. M. (2009). Task-based teaching and testing. In M. H. Long & C. J. Doughty (Eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp.
578-594). Malden, MA: Wiley/Blackwell.
4 Robinson, P. (2009). Syllabus design. In M. H. Long & C. J. Doughty (eds.), Handbook of language teaching (pp. 294–310). Oxford:
Blackwell.
4 Shiokawa, H. (2008). Interface: Effective business email. Tokyo: Macmillan Languagehouse.
4 West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language Teaching, 27, 1-19.

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