Task Task-Based Language Teaching

18 Characteristics of TBLT, d The Task Types, e The Framework of TBLT and f TBLT for Beginners and Young learners.

a. Task

Task plays important roles in Task-Based Language Teaching TBLT approach. Because of that reason, the next discussion elaborates the meaning of the term “task” and presents some definitions of task. The task’s definitions will be used as basic consideration to determine the content of the designed materials. According to Willis 1996:23, in her book titled “A Framework for Task- Based learning, the definition of tasks deal with activities where the target language is used and experienced by the language learner for a communicative purpose or goal in order to achieve an outcome. It can be concluded that the language learners directly use the language as a tool to finish the task; they directly experience the language and indirectly learn how the target language is meaningful to them. Nunan 2004:4 defines task as a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused on meaning rather than form. The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act with a beginning, middle and an end. However, meaning and form are highly interrelated where the grammar exists to enable language users to express different communicative meanings. Additional information delivered by Nunan. Nunan 1989:5-6 explains further two different types of tasks namely “real-world task” and “pedagogical 19 tasks”. Real-world task is a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others, freely or for some reward. The examples are painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out form and others. Therefore, it is also called non-technical, non- linguistic one. Secondly, pedagogical task means an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language or response. The examples are drawing a map while listening to a tape, listening instruction and performing command. Tasks are defined as what the learners do in the classroom.

b. Theory of Language and Learning