Application Of Task-Based Instruction To English Grammar Teaching For English Majors In Colleges

Syllabus for English Majors (2000) requires that grammar, as one of the required courses, should be arranged for English majors during the second academic year. At the same time, Syllabus for English Majors also mentions"The teaching methods of the specialized courses are directly related to the development and improvement of students'abilities. Classroom teaching should be student-centered and teacher-guided, and attaches importance to developing students'learning abilities and research abilities. Task-based teaching activities are advocated in the classroom for the purpose of arousing the students'interest in learning and stimulating the students'learning motivation."But the present grammar teaching in colleges is still characterized by the application of traditional teaching method, which is known as 3Ps approach. The traditional teaching method has its own advantages, but it cannot effectively arouse the students'interest in learning grammar. However Task-Based Instruction, as an innovative teaching model, is being increasingly applied to English teaching. Whether the application of Task-Based Instruction to grammar teaching for English majors is effective is the research question of the paper.The paper begins with the introduction of the current situation of grammar teaching for English majors and the significance of the research, and then reviews the relevant theories of Task-Based Instruction, the development of grammar teaching and previous researches on Task-Based Instruction. In order to probe into the validity and feasibility of Task-Based Instruction in grammar teaching, the author designs the research and puts it into practice. Pre-test, post-test, classroom experiment and questionnaire are employed in this research. With the 72 subjects participating in the research, 36 students in the experimental group receive Task-Based Instruction and 36 students in the control group are taught by traditional teaching method. After 18 weeks'classroom experiment, the data from pre-test, post-test and questionnaires are collected. Through analysis of the data obtained in the research with the help of statistical software SPSS, the results show the Task-Based Instruction is more effective in improving the students'interest, confidence and motivation in grammar learning than the traditional 3Ps approach, and the students in experimental group get higher grammar test scores than those in control group. The findings and teaching implications of the research are then given, followed by the conclusion of the paper which points out the limitations of the present study and suggestions for the future research.