Listing and comparing tasks in the language classroom: examples of Willis and Willis’s (2007) taxonomy in practice.

Abstract

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has received considerable attention and promotion in the New Zealand language teaching context. However, as East (2012) points out, it is one thing for educators and curriculum developers to promote TBLT as a pedagogy and quite another thing for teachers to implement this 'new' way of teaching at grassroots level. East stresses the importance of investigating how teachers interpret TBLT and of acknowledging the richness and diversity of the practical ways in which they apply it in their own situated contexts. This paper aims to do this by showcasing seven tasks that have been designed by New Zealand teachers and demonstrating how they can be classified and understood according to two frameworks (Prabhu, 1987; Willis and Willis, 2007). The similarities and differences between the tasks are discussed and the opportunities that they represent for learning are explored.