TASK - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2021

In this piece, I trace Task-Based Language Teaching from Mike Long’s original conceptualization in 1985, through his development of methodological principles that are based on SLA theory and empirical evidence he gathered for three and half decades, to two recent (2010, 2015) practical examples of TBLT. Since there is still some important work to be done on remaining tricky issues, I highlight a few of these (unresolved in instructed SLA), such as sequencing according to complexity and the resilience of implicit processing mechanisms in adult language learning. In resolving these and other issues that will no doubt arise, I urge us all to follow Mike’s scrupulous lead in holding ourselves accountable to the empirical evidence.

Michael H. Long was one of the earliest proponents of task-based language teaching, and his groundbreaking work on multiple dimensions of the proposal helped establish TBLT as a fertile locus for innovation at the intersection of research and practice. His work on TBLT over four decades led the way to robust research programs on syllabus design, needs analysis, methodological principles for teaching, pedagogic procedures including focus on form and negative feedback, task-based assessment, and program evaluation, among others. This article provides a review of some of Long’s major contributions to TBLT, addressing not only the theoretical and empirical aspects of his work but also the implementation of his ideas in practice and a few associated challenges.

The present study sets out to explore the effects of pre-task planning and unpressured on-line planning on L2 learners’ oral performance and their choices of planning strategies in a dialogic task condition. Forty-eight intermediate Chinese EFL learners were invited to perform the task and were then assigned to four groups, each with a different planning condition. Complexity, accuracy, and fluency of their oral production were measured. Results indicated that in the dialogic task condition, unpressured on-line planning raised syntactic complexity. Strikingly, pre-task planning did not improve L2 performance in all dimensions. Additionally, a trade-off effect was found between complexity and accuracy. Retrospective interviews were conducted to explore strategies employed by the participants and their perceptions of task preparedness. Results showed that the participants preferred to use metacognitive strategies and social/affective strategies in the dialogic task. Both advantages and limitations were identified by the participants regarding different planning conditions.

This exploratory study aims at determining whether increased task complexity affects performance of second language (L2) pragmatics. 34 Spanish learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) undertook simple and complex interactive tasks targeting the speech act of suggesting. Although previous analyses of learner-learner interaction have demonstrated that increasing the cognitive load of a task may affect the number of speech acts in conversation, not enough evidence to support this premise was found. In addition, the assessment of suggestions as provided by native speakers of American English shows that increased task complexity along number of elements, social distance, and degree of imposition is likely to promote accuracy and complexity of pragmatic moves without making L2 learners trade off either accuracy or complexity. Pedagogical implications in the fields of L2 pragmatics and task-based language teaching (TBLT) are further discussed.

This paper argues that TBLT researchers should dedicate more effort to investigating the cognitive processes in which L2 learners engage during task work to facilitate theory-construction and to inform pedagogical practices. To help achieve this, a review follows of various subjective (questionnaires, interviews, think-aloud/stimulated recall protocols) and objective (dual-task methodology, keystroke-logging, eye-tracking) methods that are available to TBLT researchers to examine cognitive processes underlying task-based performance. The paper concludes that, to obtain a more valid understanding of task-generated cognitive processes, it is best to combine various methods to overcome the limitations of each. Finally, some methodological recommendations are provided for future cognitively-oriented TBLT research.