Attitudes Towards Task-based Language Teaching Among College EFL Teachers And Their Situational Constraints

Traditionally in English as foreign language(EFL) learning, teachers are leaders in the teaching process and students play the passive, receptive role in English learning. In 2007,College English Curriculum Requirements(CECR), which is implemented by the Ministry of Education(MOE), advocated improving the comprehensive ability of using language and proposed the implementation of Task-based language teaching(TBLT). TBLT is a novel instruction approach which focuses on “people-orientedness” and “student-centeredness”.The process of finishing tasks by students can enhance their interest in learning English,foster practical ability of using English and strengthen language proficiency, but TBLT has not played its optimal role in college EFL teaching, this thesis is aimed to explore attitudes towards TBLT among college EFL teachers and their situational constrains.The author introduces briefly TBLT, definitions of task, flow of TBLT application. And then the thesis puts emphasis on introducing the ABC(behavior, cognition, affection) model from the psychological aspect.The questionnaire was first conducted to 50 college EFL teachers from 10 colleges in Zhengzhou, Henan province. And then, the author interviewed four college EFL teachers.Lastly, the author presented classroom observation of three teachers, observing how the teacher applied TBLT to college EFL teaching. All the data collected from these research methods was analyzed with the Statistic Package for Social Sciences(SPSS).The major findings of analysis show:(1) Most of college EFL teachers have certain knowledge of TBLT, and affirm the advantage of TBLT.(2) Some teachers have much more interest in TBLT and application of TBLT, and a few college EFL teachers favor TBLT but are reluctant to implement TBLT.(3) Most college EFL teachers apply TBLT based on teaching materials, and misunderstand task and exercise. ⑷ College EFL teachers avoiding TBLT application reflect different situational constraints, such as bigger class sizes,inadequate teaching materials and insufficient knowledge of TBLT.In summary, a large percentage of college EFL teachers are strong proponents of TBLT.Meticulous lesson preparations and the cooperation of MOE, administers, teaching facilities,teaching materials, and students are all needed for this teaching method to be effective.