浅析任务型教学法在外贸英语课堂中的应用

姚诗情

湖南工学院外国语学院 湖南衡阳 421002

Foreign TradeEnglish,one oftheindispensiblebranchesof English forSpecialPurpose(ESP),gets its popularity and development in current needs and conditions.The task-based teaching approach based on grasping language in real situations and contexts can be regarded as the most appropriate and favorable method in Foreign Trade English teaching.

One、Definition of TBLT

Task-based language teaching(TBLT)focuses on the use of authentic language and on asking students to do meaningful tasks using the target language.According to Crookes,task is a piece of work or an activity，usually with a specified objective，undertaken as part of an educational course,or at work(Crookes,1986).In TBLT,a task involves a primary focus on meaning.The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.Assessment is primarily based on task outcome rather than on accuracy of language forms.This makes TBLT especially popularfor developing target language fluency and student confidence.

Two、Theoretical basis of TBLT

The core of TBLT is“learners centered”based on the theories of constructivism.The constructivism holds the view that knowledge is not obtained through direct teaching,but a social process of learners constructing new ideas or concepts based on their current knowledge(Jerome Bruner,1996),a process of experience,discovery and creation.In the learning theories of constructivism,students play an active role in selecting and transforming information,constructing hypotheses,and making reflections through the interaction with the learning environment.There are two major strands in constructivism;one is cognitive constructivism;the other is social constructivism,which is the essential concern in the TBLT.

Three、Significance and necessity of applying TBLT to Foreign Trade English teaching

As an important and newly-developed branch of English for SpecialPurpose,foreign trade English has the characteristics of explicit purposes,high pertinence and practicality.If the teacher only utilizes the traditional way of lecturing and transferring fixed rules and regulations,itturns out that the effectof students’absorbing and digesting what the teacher teaches is not efficient and satisfactory when they face a large amount of knowledge in this kind of classes.Conversely,in the implementation of TBLT,teachers play the role of an organizer and coordinator;the delicately designed tasks combining the course and the practice in the real foreign trade will motivate and help the studentsestablishacompleteand directunderstandingofthe trade issues within the cognition of their own and past knowledge base.In the realization of independent study,students will become more enthusiastic, active and creative towards their learning content,meanwhile the ability to solving the problems will be also improved.

Four、Conclusion

Thetask-based language teaching in Foreign Trade English isan interactiveteachingmethodology centeredon the students’activities and assisted by the teachers’control and regulation.It is indispensible and significant to explore more scientific,poignant and operative ways of practicing TBLT in Foreign Trade English course,aiming at students’acquirement of both language knowledge and professional competence.

[1]Prem Phyak.Task-based Language Teaching(TBLT):An Appraisal.Journal of NELTA:Vol.13,No.1-2,2008.

[2]候洁.ABriefIntroductionofTaskBased LanguageTeaching.语文学刊·外语教育教学,2010,4:163-164.