Appendix II 23

Acknowledgements 24

I. Introduction 

As we all know, English learning is becoming more and more important in people’s life since China joined the WTO. In 2001, China’s Ministry of education issued the new English curriculum standards, which stressed: “English learning should focus on training students’ ability in using English and enable students to develop a positive and correct learning habit.” The ministry of education is very concerned about English learning of primary school students, and promotes the use of task-based teaching methods in the teaching process.

Task-based teaching mode focuses on developing students’ ability by students’ participating in and completing tasks in English. However, the traditional mode of English teaching focuses on the knowledge, teachers, books, and ignores the students’ master position in the study. That can not ensure the quality of English learning. 

Task-based language teaching began from 1980s and gradually developed with the communicative teaching and has important implications for language teaching. The research on task-based language teaching is still in the primary stage in our country and it first appeared in Hongkong. In 1996, the Hongkong Education Department has compiled an English Teaching Syllabus for primary and secondary schools, which is one of the leading task-based approaches. Luo Shaoqian (2002) proposed a six-step program of performance evaluation in task-based language teaching. Ding Wen (2002) proposed seven kinds of tasks in junior high school classroom teaching. Yan Xiaoling (2002) brought forward the task-based listening training skills and teaching principles (meaning, authenticity, integrity, etc.). Lu Ziwen is the first one to try to study the localization of task-based English teaching model in China and made a summary of the procedure of the task-based teaching.

The foreign research on task-based teaching has a history of more than 20 years. In 1982, N.Prabhu, an English language educator, introduced a method he used in Banglore’s English language teaching in India. That was a kind of teaching method designed by teachers, which was considered to be the first attempt of the task-based teaching approach. N.Prabhu believed that language learning should not only pay attention to the form of language, but also take notice of the meaning of language and language learning process. In 1989, D.Nunan published Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom, and proposed the task design mode of communicative classroom. In 1996, Willis presented the three stage model of organizational task based learning in the task based learning model: pre-task, task, language focus. This model has a clear purpose that the students in the beginning of the first phase of the task are very clear about what the task is. Skehan affirmed the task-based teaching model of Willis, but he also pointed out some deficiencies of the model.

Task-bask Language Teaching (TBLT) is an approach that encourages students to complete tasks by using the languages they are learning. The tasks they will do are purposeful and communicative and have some resemblance to what they practice in their own language. Nunan (1991, 279) summarizes five features of TBLT:

(1) An emphasis on second language learning to communicate through interaction in the target language;

(2) The introduction of authentic contexts into the learning situation;

(3) The offer of opportunities for learners to focus not only on language, but also on the language learning process itself;

(4) A reinforcement of the learner’s own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning process; 小学三年级英语任务型课堂教学设计探究(2):http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_53478.html