A Study Of Task-based Language Teaching Based On The Junior English Textbook Go For IT

Task-based language teaching has become popular internationally since the1980s. This teaching method was introduced into China in the1990s and was soonwidely recognized and applied.China’s ministry of education issued English Curriculum Standards (Trial Draft)and English Curricular Standards in the Phase of Compulsory Education (2011edition) in2001and2001respectively. Both of the two curriculum standards advocatethe task-based teaching approach in junior middle school. Task-based languageteaching requires teachers to pay attention to language practice in order to makestudents learn language from practicing and stimulate students’ motivation to learn.Meanwhile, task-based language teaching is also beneficial to optimize learning styles,to help develop students’ ability of autonomous learning and to develop the overallquality of students, which are consistent with the concept of new curriculum in ourcountry. In recent years, task-based teaching method has been widely promoted andadopted in China, and the corresponding teaching materials have emerged, too.Shandong province is promoting the use of the series of Curriculum standard Englishtextbooks for compulsory education Go For It (2012)(hereinafter referred to as theGo For It) which centered on task-based language teaching. This paper aims to studythe practical application of the English textbook Go For It in junior middle school inShandong province, find out factors affecting the effective implementation oftask-based teaching in junior middle school classes through investigation and putforward relevant suggestions.This paper investigated the teachers and students in two junior high schools ofShandong Province by using the methods of questionnaires, interviews and classroomobservation. In this paper, the research mainly focuses on four questions:1) To whatextent do teachers recognize the English textbook Go For It?2) To what extent doteachers understand the task-based language teaching? How do teachers deal with thetasks included in the textbook?3) What are the roles of the task-based languageteaching in promoting students’English learning?4) What are the factors affecting the effective implementation of task-based language teaching?Through this study, the author draws the following conclusions: Firstly, theEnglish textbook Go For It has been accepted by most English teachers, and theythink that this textbook meets the requirements of the New Curriculum Standards andfits for students of grade seven, thus is conducive to the implementation of task-basedlanguage teaching. Secondly, Most English teachers can understand the basic idea ofthe task-based language teaching, but only a few teachers can make effective use inpractical teaching. Because of the lacking of special task-based teaching training,most of the teachers are unable to put it into practice effectively. Thirdly, withoutgiving sufficient consideration to the design intent of the tasks in the textbooks, mostof the teachers cut or change the tasks at will, which is not conducive to the students’English learning. Fourthly, applying the task-based approach to the teaching of theEnglish textbook Go For It can help to stimulate students’ interest in learning, help toraise consciousness of students’ independent learning and exploratory spirit ofcooperation, help students to grasp relevant language knowledge and language skillsaccurately and help to develop students’comprehensive language using ability. At last,there exist four factors affecting the effective implementation of task-based languageteaching: the lack of ability to use materials rationally, low teaching quality,educational idea of some teachers is behind of the time, the current evaluation systemis unreasonable. For the four problems, the author puts forward correspondingsuggestions, hoping to provide a reference for the effective implementation of thetask-based language teaching in the future.