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The Evolution From Communicative Language Teaching To Task-Based Language Teaching-from The Perspective Of Constructivism

Posted on:2012-03-15Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:X F XiFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155330335479163Subject:English Language and Literature
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The English Curriculum Standard, promulgated by our National Ministry of Education in 2001, stipulates clearly that Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) should be advocated to develop the comprehensive language proficiency of students. This indicates that TBLT is practical and effective in China. Many researches have been conducted on TBLT, mainly on TBLT itself concerning its application as well as discussions of related factors. However, few researches have traced back to the source to explore the driving force of TBLT. This thesis aims to analyse the pushing role that constructivism played and the influence of adolescent learners' characteristics and the second language learning environment in the development of TBLT. By doing so, the thesis is expected to fill the gap in theory and improve the implementation by helping teachers understand this teaching method better, eliminating misunderstanding and avoiding misuse.Originating from Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), TBLT is its current development and extension, while CLT originates from the controversy over the nature of the language. It assumes that communication is one of intrinsic properties of the language, and pays much attention to the communicative quality. In its early time, CLT teaches language functions instead of language forms, and proposes some teaching techniques. However, it is still not systematic in the method level, and lacks a due consideration for its practicality. At that time, CLT is just an approach, rather than a concrete method. It is the emergence of constructivism that promotes the development of CLT, and provides practical teaching methods for communicative approach. As one of the development of CLT, TBLT inherits its basic features, pays more attention to the learning process and makes communicative tasks concretize and systematize. Besides, characteristics of adolescent learners and the unfavorable learning environment result in a focus on language form. Thus, TBLT takes care of both the language meaning and form. Its controllability, flexibility and neutrality make TBLT more suitable for classroom operation; therefore, it wins a widespread implementation.At the end of the thesis, limitations of the study are pointed out, and recommendations for future studies are put forward.
Keywords/Search Tags:Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), constructivism, adolescent learners, second language learning environment
PDF Full Text Request
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