TBLT Basics
Who developed TBLT?
N.S. Prabhu
How many students were in the class?
40
In TBLT, is the focus on task completion or on the language used?
Task completion
What are the three stages of a TBLT lesson?
Pre-task, task, post-task
Which task asks for personal preferences or feelings?
Opinion-gap
Whose idea of learning through experience and problem-solving inspired TBLT?
John Dewey (constructivism)
What real-life material did the teacher use?
School schedules (timetables)
What function did the CLT task practice?
Making predictions
What happens to errors during the task?
They are noted, not interrupted
Students draw each other’s family trees. What type of task is it?
Information-gap
What is the focus of TBLT instead of practicing a specific function or form?
Completing a meaningful task with a clear purpose and outcome
What was the teacher’s role during the activity?
Facilitator and observer
Who said the difference from CLT is the focus on task completion?
Long & Crookes (1993)
What is the purpose of the pre-task?
To show the logic of the task and introduce the language needed
Which task does Prabhu consider the most effective, and why?
Reasoning-gap; it encourages sustained engagement with meaning
Name two skills students develop through tasks.
Communication, teamwork, problem-solving
What did the teacher do with students’ errors, and why?
Noted them without interrupting, then used them to plan targeted feedback and future lessons
Why is the difference between CLT and TBLT called “a major shift of perspective”?
Both use tasks, but TBLT focuses on completing the task, not on practicing language
What kind of task does the teacher prepare after the lesson, based on the errors?
A “listen-and-do” task
Identifying the owner of a briefcase left in a taxi with modal verbs is what type of task?
Focused task (with a “hidden” target feature)