Research On The Task-based Language Teaching Model Inside And Outside The Class In Junior Middle Schools

In recent years, a mighty curriculum reform in compulsory education is being carried out in China. Of course, English subject is not an exception. The New English Curriculum Standard highly advocates the use of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), in which teachers involve the students' active participation in the task performance so as to help them learn English through doing things such as thinking, discussing, cooperating and communicating and so on. The study of Task-Based Language Teaching began in the late 70's or the early 80's. A number of scholars in some countries have studied in this area and gained some achievements. But up to the end of the last century, this teaching approach came to our country. Nowadays, TBLT is being implemented in different areas in China.Task-based Approach in English teaching should have explicit object, reasonable organization, scientific teaching design and objective quality evaluation in practical process. More and more middle schools have used task-based language teaching as a pattern of teaching innovation. The task-based language teaching is beneficial to all the students and enable each student to learn more. But it is still under active studying and probing how to embody the students "Theory of the task-based language teaching, the mode inside the class and design of tasks while teaching". These are reasonable right. We should pay more attention to the outside the class. So we are trying to find an efficient way for task-based language teaching in junior middle schools.We illustrate the feasibility of our model from its structure and theory. Then, in order to test the practical results, we carried out teaching experiments at 4 different schools in Zhuzhou successively. We selected similar parallel classes as our subjects. The new model was implemented in experiment classes while traditional task-based teaching method remained in control ones. The road to success was paved with efforts/sweat. The experiment classes all met different problems at the early stage. But none of our experimental teachers was willing to stop halfway. They all gained pleasing results by their diligence and intelligence: all the experiment classes have surpassed the control ones by different degrees. In order to know other outcomes as well, a questionnaire was administrated to the subjects in Taishan School, which also demonstrates that the implementation of our model produces obvious positive change in class climate. Lastly, the comments of teachers and some students are recorded as complementary data. All the results show that our model is practical, operative and of multi-effects, which can be popularized in similar situations in China.It should be noted briefly that it is extremely difficult to prove one teaching method is better than another as there are too many variables. Though the studies of our model have made some fine outcomes, we should not ignore the defects with it. Teachers lack training and students are quite slow to adapt to it under realistic conditions and backgrounds; the assessment system does not conform to the existing one so well; the bigger the class is, the more difficult it is for the teacher to control the general situation.Our suggestion is that the concept of cooperation must take root in the school and teachers; the government should attach importance to TBLT and teachers' training. The best way is fulfilling the task by groups that students are cultivated to cooperate with others. Teachers should take care of the process of their task fulfillment, encourage and praise students. Teachers must give different tasks to different students avoiding to hurt self-esteems of students.We hope our research could play the role to throw a brick to attract a piece of jade, and more practical studies will really improve our foreign language teaching.