On The Development Of Students' Affect In Task-Based Language Teaching

The development of students' affect is currently much discussed in many parts of the world, and indeed, is one of the primary concerns of the newly reviewed "National Curriculum". The official curriculum documents of China recommended Task-Based Language Teaching, which provides the best way to cultivate the learner's affect such as: learning interest, motivation, self-efficacy, empathy, team-spirit and so on.However, at present, affective factors in language learning have not drawn the deserved attention in China due to the following reasons. First, as a result of the examination-oriented educational evaluating system, most parents and teachers regard students' being admitted to satisfactory universities as the ultimate goal of education. In everyday teaching, much attention is focused on the accumulation of knowledge and the improvement of students' cognitive abilities while the development of students' affect is ignored. On the other hand, educational reforms carried out in recent years focus more on students' cognition than on their emotion, which result in many negative effects on students, such as being tired of learning, lacking learning interest and motivation or even being mentally disturbed. Thirdly, some teachers hold incorrect views towards affective teaching. Some have confined themselves to the view that affect is too abstract to understand or affect in teaching is just equal to being a friendly, easy-going and encouraging teacher. A survey of some periodicals and universities' journals for language teaching in China shows that there are not many researches on the affective aspects of language learners, some of which are confined to how to create a relaxing and non-threatening learning environment without considering how to design activities highly involving students to develop their affect in language learning.I have compared the affective factors in language learning defined by Jane Arnold, emotional intelligence generalized by American psychologist Daniel Goleman and Chinese National English Curriculum, and find they all emphasis the following affective aspects: motivation, empathy, team-spirit,self-efficacy and the ability to handle negative emotions such as anxiety and inhibition in learning. The National Curriculum recommends Task-Based Language Teaching in which the primary concern is the development of students' affect. Hence, the purpose of this thesis is to discuss how to develop students' affect through Task-Based Language Teaching, not only through building an emotional learning environment but also by designing students' highly involving activities in Task-Based Language Teaching.The thesis has four main chapters. The introduction looks at the reasons for my research on this field. The first chapter looks at affect in language learning which includes four parts: relevant researches on affect in language learning; what is meant by the term "affect" and "affect in language learning"; the relationship between affect and language learning; and affect's educational significance to the development of a learner. In the second chapter, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is discussed from three perspectives: studies on TBLT, contrast of Transmission-based Teaching, 3-P Teaching Model and TBLT, and the theoretical background of TBLT (constructivism, humanism and social interaction theory) and how it contributes to the development of learners' affect. Emphasis is placed on the third chapter, which presents measures for the development of students' affect in TBLT in more details. First, we should build a non-threatening emotional learning atmosphere to reduce learners' anxiety and lower their affective filter in language learning. Second, we should design students' highly involving tasks to develop their learning interest, motivation, self-efficacy, empathy and team spirit. For example, meaningful tasks are to be designed to arouse students' intrinsic motivation, neither-too-challenging-nor-too-easy tasks to improve their self-efficacy and co-operative tasks to develop their empathy and team spirit. Besides, special attention should also be paid to the feedback and evaluation of task results. At the same time, we should expose the emotional implications of the instructional materials; reshape teachers' teaching beliefs and train students' correct concept of attributions. The fourth chapter discusses the restrictions on carrying out TBLT to cultivate students' affect like examination-oriented educational...