The Application Of Task-Based Language Teaching To The Senior English Teaching

Current teaching and research have increasingly focused on cognitive psychological processes through communicative language teaching. Unlike the traditional syllabuses whose focuses are on the language forms, task-based language learning and teaching TBLT, the theory of communicative language teaching focuses on the process of learning and problem solving, and it is always organized around a variety of different kinds of tasks which are related to the real life and composed of chains of activities psychologically selected, graded and sequenced. Naturally, it takes the learners' desire of accomplishing some specific tasks as the motivation of their further language learning, the process of doing things by using the language they have learned as that of their . fulfilling the tasks and the positive, results of the display of the tasks as the efficiency of language teaching. The Task-based Language Teaching and Learning Approach (TBLT) emerged in the 1980s and has been prevailing for nearly twenty years. "Learning by doing" is the first principle of TBLT.Nowadays TBLT is widely applied as the major mechanism of the implementation of the two English Curriculum Criterions. Nevertheless, it is still taking shape in thebackground of teaching English as a second language. Therefore, it can be a practical teaching approach, but yet an extensive application of it to the Senior English teaching in our country still needs a lot of work to carry out. Meanwhile, we should realize that it still lacks the atmosphere and surroundings of the target language. And there are many problems that have appeared in the probation and the practice of TBLT in the Senior English teaching in our country, such as the overflows and the extremes of tasks, the gaps of teachers, students and language teaching conditions in different schools and so on. That is why I think it is quite necessary to do some research on the application of TBLT to the Senior English teaching approach.This thesis discusses some basic issues concerning TBLT and the transition of the teaching concepts; the theoretical foundations which are available to the Senior English classroom teaching approaches; a variety of task structures in the application of TBLT for senior school English pedagogy; the surmount to the psychological obstacles in the task-based learning process; some problems of designed tasks and English teaching and learning. The organization of the dissertation is as follows:This thesis consists of five chapters: :Chapter One stresses the importance and necessity of the transition of the new teaching concepts, illustrating what the task-based language teaching is.Chapter Two gives a brief account of the theoretical research on "tasks". Components and typical definitions on task are presented and the features as well as types of task are discussed in this chapter to prove that a careful and rational task design is required in the classroom teaching. It stresses on the communicative and self-regulated learning.Chapter Three mainly analyzes the current applications of TBLT in senior middle school English teaching and learning. An account of TBLT on its general principles is presented and an emphasis on "learning to communicate through interaction in the target language" is put forward as its typical feature. Patterns of the task training under TBLT are introduced in hope of offering a reference when TBLT is practiced in classroom situations. It shows how to create the students' motivation of English learning and how to solve the psychological problems in the teaching and learning process so as to prove the...