Chapter 5. Optimal conditions for TBLT?
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Nick Andon
Abstract
This chapter reports a non-interventionist study of ways in which teachers understand TBLT principles, how they draw on them in their everyday working practices, and how they combine aspects of TBLT with other approaches and principles to develop their own, contextually appropriate pedagogies. Unlike teachers in earlier studies (e.g., Carless, 2009; Deng & Carless, 2009; McDonough & Chaikitmongkol, 2007), the teachers participating in this study were not bound to a particular syllabus type, nor were they required to implement TBLT. They were all relatively experienced, working with small classes of motivated adult students in private language schools in London. Given the prominent position of TBLT in the academic and professional literature and the relative autonomy that these teachers had to innovate and experiment within a well-resourced context, it seemed reasonable to expect that TBLT principles would feature at least to some extent in their practices; if teachers anywhere are taking up TBLT on their own initiative, one would expect it to be happening in this type of context. Given this, the chapter begins with a discussion of educational settings that might be considered particularly compatible with TBLT and presents the concept of ‘optimal’ conditions for its adoption. Next, three case studies of teachers working on intensive EFL courses for adults are presented. Data on those teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about tasks, TBLT and the principles that underlie the approach are presented and analysed, and these are cross-referenced with their use of tasks and other kinds of activities in lessons they were observed teaching. Similarities and differences between principles and descriptions of TBLT in a selection of research and teacher education literature and the understandings, beliefs, and practices of these teachers, are highlighted and discussed. The final section looks at implications for researchers, teachers, and teacher educators, and discusses ways in which capturing what teachers actually do in successful and less successful lessons may help develop an approach that is genuinely grounded in both theory and practice.
Abstract
This chapter reports a non-interventionist study of ways in which teachers understand TBLT principles, how they draw on them in their everyday working practices, and how they combine aspects of TBLT with other approaches and principles to develop their own, contextually appropriate pedagogies. Unlike teachers in earlier studies (e.g., Carless, 2009; Deng & Carless, 2009; McDonough & Chaikitmongkol, 2007), the teachers participating in this study were not bound to a particular syllabus type, nor were they required to implement TBLT. They were all relatively experienced, working with small classes of motivated adult students in private language schools in London. Given the prominent position of TBLT in the academic and professional literature and the relative autonomy that these teachers had to innovate and experiment within a well-resourced context, it seemed reasonable to expect that TBLT principles would feature at least to some extent in their practices; if teachers anywhere are taking up TBLT on their own initiative, one would expect it to be happening in this type of context. Given this, the chapter begins with a discussion of educational settings that might be considered particularly compatible with TBLT and presents the concept of ‘optimal’ conditions for its adoption. Next, three case studies of teachers working on intensive EFL courses for adults are presented. Data on those teachers’ knowledge and beliefs about tasks, TBLT and the principles that underlie the approach are presented and analysed, and these are cross-referenced with their use of tasks and other kinds of activities in lessons they were observed teaching. Similarities and differences between principles and descriptions of TBLT in a selection of research and teacher education literature and the understandings, beliefs, and practices of these teachers, are highlighted and discussed. The final section looks at implications for researchers, teachers, and teacher educators, and discusses ways in which capturing what teachers actually do in successful and less successful lessons may help develop an approach that is genuinely grounded in both theory and practice.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Series editors’ preface vii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. How do beginning teachers conceptualise and enact tasks in school foreign language classrooms? 23
- Chapter 2. Teacher transformation of textbook tasks in Vietnamese EFL high school classrooms 51
- Chapter 3. Teacher perceptions and use of tasks in school ESL classrooms 71
- Chapter 4. The challenges of integrating focus on form within tasks 97
- Chapter 5. Optimal conditions for TBLT? 131
- Chapter 6. Task-based language teaching 165
- Chapter 7. Researching TBLT for young, beginner learners in Japan 199
- Chapter 8. Promoting learning from second language speaking tasks 213
- Chapter 9. Tasks in the pedagogic space 235
- Chapter 10. Becoming a task-based teacher educator 265
- About the authors 287
- Index 291
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Series editors’ preface vii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. How do beginning teachers conceptualise and enact tasks in school foreign language classrooms? 23
- Chapter 2. Teacher transformation of textbook tasks in Vietnamese EFL high school classrooms 51
- Chapter 3. Teacher perceptions and use of tasks in school ESL classrooms 71
- Chapter 4. The challenges of integrating focus on form within tasks 97
- Chapter 5. Optimal conditions for TBLT? 131
- Chapter 6. Task-based language teaching 165
- Chapter 7. Researching TBLT for young, beginner learners in Japan 199
- Chapter 8. Promoting learning from second language speaking tasks 213
- Chapter 9. Tasks in the pedagogic space 235
- Chapter 10. Becoming a task-based teacher educator 265
- About the authors 287
- Index 291
