A Close Examination Of Task-Based Language Teaching In Teaching Interpretation

Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) is a teaching mode which is based on the tasks. It turns the basic ideas of language application into a class-teaching mode which holds great significance in class teaching. It aims at enabling the students to apply the language in a skillful way through accomplishing various tasks. The lesson under the task-based approach follows certain stages. In a task-based lesson the teacher does not pre-determine what will be studied; the lesson is based around the completion of a central task; and what will be studied is determined by what happens as the students complete the task.There have been a lot of discussions and research ever since the emergence of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT). In recent years, the task-based curriculum has become of interest to a number of universities in China, and many teachers employ the task-based language teaching approach in teaching English. Teachers and students are reporting it is resulting in impressive learning outcomes, and many more teachers are starting to focus on task-based language teaching. However, not much research has been done on teaching interpretation with this approach, and not much evaluation has been given to the learner-centered task-based teaching context in teaching interpretation. In this thesis, the author examines the task-based teaching approach with its practical use in teaching interpretation. Interpretation is learned only when the students are actively involved in attempting to communicate in the target language. The teaching result can be best achieved when the students engage in tasks that push them to the limits of their current competence. Task-based Language Teaching has been recommended as an effective teaching approach in the document issued by the Ministry of Education in the year of 2001. Although teaching interpretation has drawn more and more attention in recent years, innovative ways of teaching interpretation are yet to be further explored. Interpretation is seen as a bilingual or multilingual communicative activity that consists of establishing, either simultaneously or consecutively, oral or gestural communications between two or more speakers who are not speaking (or signing) the same language, with the interpreter serving as the medium for successful or unblocked communication among parties concerned. The qualifications for being competent interpreters are far from the mastery of knowledge of languages only, and these qualities should be made clear as they form the target for teaching interpretation with the TBLT approach.According to the materials that the author has looked up, there is little research into teaching interpretation from the angle of using task-based language teaching. Interpretation is a complicated communication behavior. In the teaching process, many different aspects of the students'abilities should be trained. Interpretation teaching should focus on how the students could acquire knowledge and make improvements in the dynamic teaching process. Applying Task-based Language Teaching to Interpretation Teaching is a beneficial attempt to improve the quality of interpretation teaching.The thesis is an attempt to throw light on the application of TBLT in teaching interpretation, a compulsory course for the English majors. It is based on the rationale of some relevant theories and the author's teaching experiment. It aims at providing practical guidance for teaching interpretation with TBLT. The aim of this thesis is to introduce TBLT and it seeks to carry out TBLT in teaching interpretation. It tries to define and conceptualize what task-based language teaching is, and to illustrate its application in teaching interpretation under comprehensive examination.The research method adopted in this thesis is an experiment-oriented one. In the trial interpretation class, the researcher chatted with or interviewed some students for their feelings and opinions about the TBLT approach in learning interpretation. Questionnaires were used before the teaching treatment. The researcher kept a diary each time after class to write down her feelings and the students'performances in the class. At the same time, research methods such as comparison, analysis, induction and exemplification are used to make clear the advantages of implementing the TBLT approach.The thesis combines the theories of TBLT and its practical use in teaching interpretation, that is, it surveys how to carry out the teaching procedures within the framework of these theories. Special attention was paid to the implementation of TBLT in the classroom. After exploring the theoretical rationale behind task-based language teaching, the author pays attention to what needs to be done to make TBLT'work'in the real world.The thesis is composed of five chapters:The first chapter is the introduction to the whole thesis. The second chapter covers the introduction to Task-based Language Teaching, including its theoretical base and its procedures. It also covers the communicative approach from which the task-based language teaching approach derives, and diversified multi-media teaching materials that can be used in TBLT class.The third chapter deals with an overview of interpretation teaching, including a review of interpretation and the skills that should be equipped for a qualified interpreter, which will also be the focus of teaching interpretation. It also explores the problems existing in current interpretation teaching so as to seek improvement in the teaching approach.The fourth chapter covers a trial of implementing TBLT in teaching interpretation, including the research design and the sample presentation with TBLT. It also analyzes the procedures and the students'performance in the assessment of this sample presentation.The last chapter is the conclusion in which the author summarizes her points of view.Task-based Language Teaching has great practical value in classroom teaching as it has some clear advantages. A natural context is developed from the students' experiences with the language that is personalized and relevant to them. The students have much more varied exposure to what needs to be learned with TBLT. It is a strong communicative approach where students spend a lot of time communicating. The language explored arises from the students'needs. This need dictates what will be covered in the lesson rather than a decision made by the teacher or the course book.Task-based language Teaching offers an alternative for language teachers. TBLT has been gaining growing popularity through the past 20 years, and many scholars have done research in this field. The combination of this approach with teaching interpretation will function as a unique angle for effective interpretation teaching in class. There will still be space for the development of teaching interpretation in this regard.