| Task-based instruction (TBI) as a pedagogical innovation began to find its application in second language (SL) teaching in the 1980's, aimed at enabling SL learners to learn the target language through the completion of tasks. The study of tasks has helped bring together the study of second language acquisition (SLA) and language pedagogy. In China, however, the study of TBI is still in its initial stage (Cheng & Liu, 2004: 19).This study explores through case study the factors that affect the implementation of TBI in college reading classroom instruction intended for college majors of English. The study seeks to answer two research questions:1. What factors affect the implementation of task-based instruction?2. What attitudes do students have toward the task-based instruction?The subjects of the study include fifteen second-year undergraduate majors of English with the English Department, School of Foreign Languages, Yangzhou University. The subjects are divided into three groups: Group I (Positive Group), Group â…¡ (Negative Group) and Group â…¢ (Neutral Group). Each group consists of five students. In terms of the data for the study, classroom video, student journals and teaching journals/logs are employed.Through data analysis and discussion, this study has generated the following findings:(1) Teaching materials and topics play an important role in the implementation of task-based instruction. On the students' part, texts of extraordinary length and high language complexity, as well as topics of low interest and value, result in less motivationfor and less interest in learning and less enthusiasm with task completion.(2) Conventional test-oriented approaches to teaching and learning result in self-centered learning style characteristic of some students, who attach great importance to their score in examinations. Their reluctance to participate in partnership/collaboration learning affects the extent to which TBI was implemented.(3) In TEFL context, teacher preparation for TBI implementation, for example, material or task design, is time-consuming. In spite of the availability of abundant Internet resources for material development, adaptation of teaching materials for TEFL setting is still time-consuming. This affects teacher's enthusiasm with the implementation of TBI in classroom language instruction.(4) Some students hold negative attitudes toward TBI on the ground that they prefer classroom instruction focused on form. A few students even show their resistance to TBI.The findings generated from the current study address some pedagogical implications as summed up as following:Firstly, the material development for TBI calls for special attention paid to students' preference to topics, language complexity and length of reading materials.Secondly, students' awareness of the increasing need for communicative skills should be enhanced so that more students could be involved in interactive activities, partnership/collaboration tasks to facilitate their communicative competence.Thirdly, partnership or collaboration work is of help to facilitate language learning, however, current test-oriented approach to language instruction may result in students' reluctance to participate in cooperative learning activities. Some students may even show their resistance to TBI implementation.Furthermore, it is time-consuming for an individual instructor to prepare for TBI implementation, as a long-term practice of the innovation can lead to an overload of work for the teacher. Teamwork or teacher collaboration might help to relieve the time pressure on the teacher.Moreover, teacher reflection on action provides teachers with the opportunity to review their insights into TBI and the procedure of implementation of the innovation, which, in turn, could help improve the further implementation.Finally, many factors lead to the fact that students hold different attitudes toward task-based instruction, either positively or negatively. To help eliminate the negative attitudes, task-based instruction should be a teaching and learni...
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