任务型教学法在初中英语听力教学中的应用

论文总字数：43931字

摘 要

英语听力教学是初中教学的重要组成部分，但是目前我国的初中英语听力教学仍不尽人意，还存在着许多问题。任务型教学是以具体的任务为学习动机或动力，以完成任务的过程为教学的过程，以展示任务成果的方式来体现教学成就的一种教学方法。基于任务型教学理论，本研究将任务型教学法应用于初中英语听力教学中，试图解决现阶段初中英语听力教学中存在的两个主要问题：第一，听力教材中的问题；第二，教学模式中的问题。本研究按照任务型教学法中任务设计的原则，设计多种真适可行的任务，将任务型教学划分为听前，听中，以及听后三个部分，从而解决学生对听力兴趣不足的问题和传统听力教学模式单一的问题，并以“Keep it up, Xie Lei”一课为例设计实际教案加以应用和说明。

关键词：任务型教学法；英语听力教学；应用

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

2.1 The study of TBLT.. 2

2.2 The study of listening teaching 6

3. The Current Situation of English Listening Teaching in Junior High Schools 7

3.1 The situation of teaching materials 8

3.2 The situation of teaching modes 9

4. The Implication of TBLT in English Listening Teaching in Junior High Schools 9

4.1 The types of tasks 9

4.2 The principles of designing tasks in English listening teaching 11

5. The Application of TBLT in English Listening Teaching in Junior High Schools 12

5.1 The steps of designing TBLT mode in English listening teaching 12

5.2 A case study of TBLT 14

6. Conclusion 16

Works Cited 18

1. Introduction

As one of the four basic language skills, listening is a key way to get English information. When the capability of independent listening has been schooled, students could 1earn by themselves, laying firm foundation for their listening to and understanding various materials in the future. Thus especial stress is laid on listening part in English teaching and in man-machine conversation test in senior high school entrance examination. The National English Curriculum points out that English listening course should not focus too much on grammar and vocabulary teaching, which emphasizes that the course should start from students’ interest in listening, life experience and cognitive level. It advocates experience, practice, participation, cooperation and communication, and develops the students’ comprehensive language using ability.

However, in the process of junior high school English listening teaching, many teachers mainly concentrate on the teaching of language knowledge, and they use listening materials to teach language knowledge. In class some students passively accept knowledge such as vocabulary and grammar. Teachers neglect the teaching of listening skills and listening ability. Besides, many teachers’ teaching mode is traditional and single. In a traditional listening lesson, a teacher firstly plays the tape, asks students to listen to the listening materials, and then asks them to finish the exercises, and finally checks the answers. This is the common form of a listening lesson, but students are not interested in such a listening lesson. Teachers constrain the listening materials by surface so that the students can’t listen effectively and correctly understand the main idea and specific details of the article. The current situation of English listening teaching in junior high schools isn’t satisfying.

To change current unsatisfactory situation of junior high school English listening teaching and solve students’ difficulties in listening, using Task-based Language Teaching which is usually shorted as TBLT in class is very necessary. TBLT can arouse students’ learning interest, cultivate students’ learning enthusiasm and improve student’s listening level. In addition, TBLT can provide students with more opportunities to use language, help students master effective listening methods, improve students’ initiative and creativity, and enhance students’ comprehensive language using ability. Therefore, TBLT can better implement basic education English courses schedule and solve some problems in English listening teaching. This thesis aims to study the theory of TBLT and to look into a suitable way to teach listening in junior high schools by bringing TBLT into English listening class and providing real case.

2. Literature Review

TBLT has slowly emerged in language teaching since the 1980s. Now TBLT, which comes from the communicative approach, is well received by foreign language teachers across the world. TBLT requires that teachers put students in the central role and that students understand the language during performing communicative tasks. However, there are some problems in junior high school English listening teaching. In the whole process of listening teaching, vocabulary and grammar take up most of the time, and the training of skills and ability and the stimulation of students’ interest are ignored by teachers. Applying TBLT in junior high school English listening teaching can better solve these problems, let students “learn while do, learn while use”, raise students’ listening interest, and promote their ability of using language in practice.

TBLT in English listening teaching has been researched by many scholars at home and abroad. Following are some of the achievements.

2.1 The study of TBLT

2.1.1 The definition of TBLT

The scholars have different views on the definition of TBLT:

Nunan (Nunan 24) defines TBLT as an approach to the design of language course in which the point of departure is not an ordered list of linguistic items, but a collection of tasks.

Skehan (Skehan 55) defines TBLT as instruction where learners are offered tasks to complete in the classroom. It makes the hypothesis that transacting tasks in this way will engage naturalistic acquisition mechanisms, stretch underlying inter language system, and drive development forward.

TBLT is a developed form of the Situational Communicative Teaching Method and transforms the basic concept of language use into practical method of classroom teaching, and it adapts to the needs of the social developing conditions (Ma 22).

According to National English Curriculum, TBLT is a sort of teaching or learning approach which thinks of specific learning or teaching tasks as the motivation, regards the process of completing tasks as the learning or teaching process, considers the presentation of task outcomes as presenting the effects of teaching and learning. Generally, TBLT is an English teaching approach in which students study English through accomplishing tasks．

As one of approaches of communicative teaching, TBLT is called Take-based Instruction or Task-based Approach too. TBLT is to set up tasks which are targeted communication activities for achieving a specific target, and then to let students accomplish all kinds of tasks in real life and study, so as to cultivate students’ capability of using English.

That’s to say, it sees the specific task as the carrier and a diving force to complete the task. The knowledge and skills can be in a harmony whole through the listening, speaking, reading and writing activities. Teachers focus on a particular communicative purpose and language projects, designing the operable and task-oriented teaching activities. Students in language activities can learn and master the language.

The aim of TBLT is to make language classroom approximate to the target language environment. Through completing tasks, instead of learning from teachers or books, students understand how native speakers use language to communicate. It provides students with opportunities to use target language in their daily life.

2.1.2 The theoretical basis of TBLT

The first theory which TBLT is based on is the Input Hypothesis. Krashen (Krashen 35) distinguished between the two language learning concepts: learning and acquisition. Learning means learning language consciously by teaching; while acquisition means mastering the language unconsciously through communication system. Krashen stressed that the grasp of language is mostly the result of using language in activities rather than the result of just learning language knowledge. Krashen argued that the students must be proficient in language through “comprehensible input”. If the input goes beyond the personal level in some degree, acquisition naturally occurs.

The second theory which TBLT is based on is the Interaction Hypothesis. Long (Long 32) claimed that acquisition is facilitated when learners obtain comprehensible input via negotiating meaning when communication breakdown occurs. According to the theory, the foreign language class teaching should have “various interactions” activities. Students make conversational interaction in the process of completing tasks and form language acquisition.

Another theory is constructivism theory.  Constructivism thinks that learning is an active, meaningful process in which learners construct new concepts based on their past knowledge and the mutual effects between learners and environment (Lu 27-29). In fact, constructivism is a theory describing how learning happens: learners construct knowledge out of their experiences. Constructivism is associated with pedagogic approaches that promote active learning or learning by doing. Constructivism asks learners to learn what is meaningful to them and learners can learn better if they feel in control of what they are learning. 

2.1.3 The features of TBLT

Task is the core concept in TBLT, so we should know task first before touching the features of TBLT.

The meaning of task has been given in various ways. Task is a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, producing or interacting in target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form (Nunan 10). Task is a goal-oriented activity in which learners use language to achieve a real outcome (Willis 53). Task refers to all activities performed for processing or understanding language. An example is sketching a map while listening to description. A task asks teachers to specify what will be viewed as successful completion of the task. Using various tasks in language teaching makes teaching more communicative since tasks with purpose goes beyond simple language practice (Wang 26-27).

Generally, task is an activity in which learners work with a particular objective, have a specific working procedure and finally achieve a product. In English teaching, a task is a classroom activity which requires students to use English to work for a communicative purpose and achieve an outcome. Tasks share some common feature:

1) "Meaning" is most important.

2) There is some sort of communication problem to solve.

3) There is some sort of relationship to real-world activities. 

4) Task completion is important. 

5) The assessment of the task is in terms of outcome.   

It is not hard to see the features of TBLT from the definition and features of task. TBLT sees students as the main body of the teaching. Teachers design various teaching activities from the angle of students and make students develop the ability to use language gradually in the process of completing a variety of tasks.

Nunan (Nunan 79) summarized the five features of TBLT as follows: 

1) An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in target language. 

2) The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation. 

3) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus on both language and the learning process itself.

4) An enhancement of learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning. 

5) An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside classroom.

TBLT is constantly researched and developed from different aspects by scholars at home and abroad.

The research on TBLT abroad began in the early 1980s. Prabhu(Prabhu,18) first advocates TBLT ,who did an experiment called Bangalore Project in India. Prabhu designs learning content into many kinds of communicative tasks and lets students learn language by completing tasks. 

Candlin (Candlin 87) taking Prabhu’s research as a base redefines “task” as a serious of activities containing different grades and puts forwards standard to choose activities.

Long and Crookes (Long and Crookes 27) think that task is a kind of activity with certain goals. On how to determine teaching goals, they emphasize requirement analysis and believe that task should be closely related with the daily life. 

Willis (Willis 56) provides instructions on the operation of TBLT approach, mentioning five principles on the implementation of TBLT in her famous book A Framework for Task-based Learning, dividing TBLT process into three periods: pre-task, task-cycle, post-task.  

Skehan (Skehan 88) advocates cognitive language learning which promotes development of TBLT approach. Second language learning is cognitive and students are more inclined to focus on the meaning of language. 

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