付敏荣
TBLT has gradually become the main mode of foreign language classroom teaching in China,which emphasizes student-centered teaching,aims at completing various tasks or activities,and develops students ability of using language to communicate comprehensively.This paper discusses the application of TBLT in college English teaching from the perspective of TBLT.
Key words TBLT; College English teaching; language communicative competence
One,the introduction
The English Curriculum Standard issued by the Ministry of Education in July 2001 emphasizes the following objectives of English teaching:“Starting from students learning interest,life experience and cognition,it advocates learning methods of experience,practice,participation,cooperation and communication and task-based teaching approaches to develop students comprehensive language application ability.In terms of English teaching strategies,it is clearly proposed that “task-based teaching mode is advocated by this course”,which requires teachers to avoid the teaching method of merely imparting language knowledge and try to adopt the “task-based” teaching approach.
Ii. The concept of task-based teaching method
Task-based language Teaching (TBLT) emerged in the 1980s. Its development and improvement are supported by language theory,second language acquisition theory,foreign language teaching and other theories.TBLT is a dynamic learning method,which aims to make language teaching real and classroom social.The so-called task,Crookes(1989) believes that it refers to a work or an activity for a specific purpose. In the educational curriculum,it is mainly used to collect information for research.The “task” of language learning is the communication activities with goals or the process of students communication activities to achieve a certain goal. It is a kind of language practice of “learning by doing”.The core of TBT is “learner-centered” and “people-oriented”,which is based on “constructivism” and conforms to the theoretical hypothesis of the internalization process of second language acquisition.
In the traditional college English teaching process,the teaching content and teaching results are completely under the control of the teacher,and the students just blindly passive learning,only learn some isolated grammar or expression,can not really use the target language to communicate,let alone freely express their thoughts and feelings.In contrast,TBLT reflects the shift in foreign language teaching from emphasis on language knowledge to emphasis on the cultivation of communicative competence,and reflects the shift in foreign language teaching from emphasis on the role of teachers to that of students,and from teacher-centered to student-centered.By combining the texts,TBLT designs some teaching activities that students are familiar with and conform to the reality of life,so as to create a real or relatively real language environment.In the process of learning with the activities of students as the center,the teachers role is to guide,organizer,guide and answer questions.In the process of completing tasks,learners no longer passively accept language knowledge,but actively use their minds and actively participate in various activities,thus greatly activating the classroom atmosphere,stimulating learning interest,giving play to students potential and making them the center of learning.
Iv. Application of TBLT
Willis(1996) proposed three stages of task-based teaching mode:pre-task,task-cycle and post-task.The pre-task stage is the preparation stage,the in-task stage is the implementation stage,and the post-task stage is the acceptance and improvement stage.These three stages complement and interact with each other.Among them,the stage in the task is the core,the pre-task stage creates favorable conditions for it,while the post-task stage is the destination of the first two stages and is a concrete means to promote the process of language internalization of learners.
In TBLT,task design should consider not only the operability of language,but also its communicative nature.The following is A case study of Unit 1,Text A:time-conscious Americans to illustrate the specific application of TBT in Text teaching.
1. Pre-task stage.Before starting to study the text,the teacher asks students to preview the text in groups. The main task is to collect relevant information,further screen,classify and summarize the collected information,understand the background knowledge of the article,and summarize the theme and outline of the article.Such as:
2. Mid-task phase.The starting point of language teaching is language knowledge and the end point is language ability.Language competence comes from the repeated practice of language rules and knowledge.Classroom language teaching should realize the transformation from the form of language to the use of language.Teachers should make great efforts in activating textbooks,create situations,encourage students to have meaningful communication,and actively participate in communication activities to solve problems and complete tasks.This stage is the implementation phase of the mission,the teacher according to the situation of the previous stage,in the form of a specific task to complete this stage activities,such as the design team discussion,two people dialogue,debate groups,role-playing,field trips,opinion polls and interviews and other communication task,to arouse the students interest in using language for communication,improve the ability of language communication.
3. Post-task stage.This stage is mainly to summarize the completion of various tasks in the first two stages.In class,students mainly retell the text and write to complete a comprehensive understanding of the text.But the classroom time is limited,out of the classroom,often enter the Chinese world,English learning environment is difficult to ensure.Therefore,in teaching,teachers must help students to strengthen extracurricular English practice activities by assigning tasks,and create an extracurricular English learning atmosphere.In extracurricular English practice,teachers should help students design,organize and arrange task activities,such as setting up English clubs,English associations,English societies,holding English speech contests,debate competitions,etc.,and timely supervise,check,summarize and evaluate the task activities.
Five,the conclusion
TBLT reflects the transformation of English teaching objectives and functions,and reflects the transformation trend of English teaching from textbook focus to student focus,from teacher-centered to student-centered,and from language itself to language acquisition and application.In more than twenty years of exploration and practice,TBLT has become a new teaching method worthy of praise.It brings challenges and innovations to teachers and students,stimulates students interest and motivation,and gives them new feelings and sense of achievement.At the same time,task-based teaching method is constantly improved and perfected in the process of practice.Therefore,teachers should start from the function and practical application of language,combine TBLT with other teaching methods,and explore new ways of college English teaching in connection with the teaching practice of college English,so as to further improve students language application ability.
(作者單位:山东协和学院)