Application of Task—based Approach in English Writing

尹小紅

【Abstract】Nowadays with the development of globalization， English as an international language has become more and more important. However， the English writing situation in senior high schools isn't optimistic. It is difficult for both teachers to teach and students to learn， which is closely related to the product-oriented approach， in which teachers， teaching materials and teaching methods all restrict students creativity and enjoyment of learning. Although a lot of research has been done on teaching， little is about English writing in senior high schools. Considering the current teaching situation， this thesis advocates using TBA in English writing teaching. It aims at exploring how to use TBA in high schools so as to improve students writing level.

【Key words】task-based approach； English writing； high school

1. Introduction： traditional writing teaching approaches

Product writing teaching approach

Traditional product writing teaching approach can still be felt in today's classroom teaching. This approach is much more concerned with the product than the process. Based on behaviorism， this approach takes writing as a process of teachers' offering stimulus and students “giving response” and emphasizes language knowledge， especially proper vocabulary， syntax and cohesive devices （Pincas， 1982）. It is divided into four steps： familiarization， controlled writing， guided writing and free writing. Teachers adopting this approach lay much emphasis on students' finished written texts， and are over-concerned with the accurate use of language forms. They attach little or no importance to how learners use language forms to construct paragraphs and convey their ideas.

Process writing teaching approach

Compared with the product approach， the process approach put forward by Graves pays more attention to the process of writing. He proposes that teachers should help their students understand and internalize the whole process of writing， which includes brainstorming， planning， drafting， peer-conferencing and peer-editing， etc. Under this approach， teachers give students enough time to find out their own shortcomings， which can foster the students' consciousness of self-decision and finally improve their writing ability.

Genre writing teaching approach

This new teaching method comes into being with the development of genre theory. The concrete steps include modeling， joint negotiation of text， and independent construction of text. Hallidays systemic functional grammar deems languages function changes with the purpose of service. Halliday's idea contributes greatly to the genre theory. The process of this approach is that students first listen to teachers' demonstrative analysis to have a thorough and profound grasp of the genre， and then construct the genre independently.

2. Task-based approach

TBA is based on Krashen's input hypothesis （Ellis， 1997）. It's not easy to define the term “task”. Many researchers have given their explanations in a variety of ways. According to Long （1985）， a task is a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others， freely or for some reward. Thus， examples of tasks include painting a fence， dressing a child， filling out a form， buying a pair of shoes， making an airline reservation， borrowing a library book， etc. This is a non-pedagogical definition in that it describes kinds of things individuals do with language outside the classroom. From the perspective of language teaching， some of these tasks need not necessarily involve the use of language. For Breen （1987）， “task” refers to a range of work plans， which have the overall purpose of facilitating language learning – from the simple and brief exercise type to more complex and lengthy activities such as group problem-solving or simulations and decision making. In a word， tasks involve communicative function in which attention is focused on meaning rather than linguistic structure.

In brief， tasks are activities in which students work purposefully towards an objective. The objective may be one that students set for themselves or one set by the teacher. Tasks may be carried out individually or （more often） in groups. The outcome may be something concrete （e.g. a report or presentation） or something intangible （e.g. agreement or solution to a problem.）

Task-based approach demonstrates a number of advantages for enhancing language learning， one of which is that it provides an interactive learning environment and the opportunity for authentic use of the target language. Such interactive language learning experience is in congruence with the discourse-based second language acquisition theories. In addition， TBA encourages students collaborative writing in the second language classroom， which in turn enhances second language writing development through increasing engagement， confidence and responsibility on the part of the second language learners （Foster， 1996）.

Theoretic foundation

Task-based approach has been strongly advocated and promoted by world-leading linguists since early 1980s （Long， 1985； Prabhu， 1987； Nunan， 1989； Willis， 1996； Skehan， 1998）. Despite differences they may hold， they all emphasize that language teaching should interact with learning to create genuine use of language， and that language proficiency can be achieved by doing and finishing tasks. TBA also has solid foundation backed by language testing theories focusing on communicative language ability （Bachman， 1997）， namely， interaction， authenticity and practicality. Chinese TBA advocators have provided basic principles and practical guidelines for implementing TBA in Chinese EFL contexts. More importantly they have edited textbooks grounded in TBA concepts. And the new National Curriculum Standards for English Education issued by the Ministry of Education strongly recommend and promote the use of TBA in teaching English in high schools.

Components of TBA

Candlin （1987） suggests that tasks should contain input， roles， settings， actions， monitoring， outcomes and feedback. Input refers to the data presented for learners to work on. Roles specify the relationship between participants in a task. Setting refers to the classroom and out-of-class arrangements entailed in the task. Actions are the procedures and sub-tasks to be performed by learners. Monitoring refers to the supervision of the task in progress. Outcomes are the goals of the task， and feedback refers to the evaluation of the task. So in task-based teaching classes， teachers should design teaching activities from the view of students and make learning activities be of clear target.

Model of TBA

There are many kinds of task-based teaching models such as Nunans model， Skehans model， strong pattern model and weak pattern model. Of all these models， Willis model seems more clear， systematic and practicable. According to Willis， there are three phases to achieve a task， i.e. 1） pre-task in which learners activate schemata relevant to the task， and the task instructions are made clear. 2） task cycle in which learners are left alone to get on with the task using their own resources. 3） language focus in which learners share the outcome of the task， and their use of language will be examined to develop their awareness of particular features of the task.

For Willis （1996）， there are five principles for the implementation of a task-based approach as follows：

（1） There should be exposure to worthwhile and authentic language；

（2） There should be use of language；

（3） Tasks should motivate learners to engage in language use；

（4） There should be a focus on language at some points in a task cycle；

（5） The focus on language should be more or less prominent at different times.

3. Application of TBA in English writing teaching

Based on Willis‘s comprehension of tasks， application of TBA in English writing teaching can be carried out in the following ways：

（1） 1ead-in： Principally by using information-gap to arouse students interest and activate students related knowledge system. Thus students have eagerness to write.

（2） Pre-task activity： Present and point out the new words which can hinder students writing.

（3） While-task activity： Design some sub-tasks after students have finished the tasks.

（4） Post-task activity： When students finish each task， ask them to show the results through report， performance， discussion and debate.

（5） Check： When the whole class finishes the tasks， they evaluate results of each other and the teacher gives general comment.

（6） Homework： Students do the related tasks after class.

3.1 Task design in writing instruction

English Writing instruction in middle schools can be designed as follows：

Information-gap tasks

Information-gap itself is a kind of social phenomenon， while information sharing reflects common psychological needs of people. Creating some kind of information-gap deliberately can motivate students to participate communicative activities. As a result， students learn to use language with eagerness of receiving information or transmitting information.

Comparison-making tasks

Comparison-making tasks involve finding out similarities and differences. By asking students to discover similarities and differences of different topics， students observing skills， judging skills and analyzing skills will be greatly improved and meanwhile their related background knowledge will be checked. During narration， their expressive skills can also be cultivated.

Sharing-personal-experience tasks

The teacher divides the whole class into groups， provides each student a picture， and asks each group member to describe his picture by using proper conjunctions to form a coherent composition one by one. This kind of tasks stirs up students imagination and creativity and cultivates their interest in writing. At the same time it fosters cooperating spirit and makes students realize the happiness of cooperating.

Problem-solving tasks

Under problem-solving tasks， students are asked to use English to solve problems in real life based on their already known knowledge and ability of inference. Therefore， students get challenged and motivated， on the other hand， their consciousness of cooperating and participating are cultivated.

Decision-making tasks

In decision-making tasks， students are required to make decision through negotiation and discussion and arrive at a unanimous agreement. For example， before the arrival of Christmas Day， the teacher can ask students to make a decision about whether to hold an English party or not. Each group is required to write a report and explain their reasons and arrangement.

4. Conclusion

Compared with traditional approaches， the task-based approach is much better at improving students' writing ability in a short time. Besides， this approach also does better in enhancing students' interest， and helping them build up their self-confidence in writing and acquire basic language and communicative skills for real communication in the future.

References：

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