Task based syllabus based on Krahnke's (1987) book: "Approaches to Syllabus Design for Foreign Language Teaching. Language in Education: Theory and Practice"

1. B Y C A R L K R A H N K E
F A R I B A C H A M A N I ( 2 0 1 6 )

2. Task-Based Content
 Task-based content uses activities that the learners
have to do for non-instructional purposes outside of
the classroom as opportunities for language
learning.
 Task-based activities are a way of bringing the real
world into the classroom.

3. Characteristics of Task
 Tasks are not static; they should involve a process of
informational manipulation and development.
 They should involve informational content that the
language learners do not have at the beginning of the
task.
 They require the student to apply cognitive processes to
a combination of new and old information.
 Language is not taught per se, but is supplied as needed
for the completion of the task.

4. Characteristics of Task
 The intent of task-based learning is to use learners'
real-life needs and activities as learning
experiences, language form is learned through
language use.
 Task-based learning is structurally geared toward
language learning or acquisition because the tasks
are part of a language learning environment or
program.

5. Characteristics of Task
 It fosters language acquisition in the broadest sense
by providing maximal amounts of comprehensible
input.
 It does not provide explicit metalinguistic
knowledge but if such knowledge is a desired, units
or activities focusing on structural content can
easily be incorporated into the syllabus.

6. Underlying Theories of TBLT
 The primary theory of learning underlying task-
based instruction is Krashen's acquisition theory.
 The theory of language most closely associated with
task-based learning is communicative.

7. Selection of Language Tasks
 Tasks can be selected according to:
1) The students' cognitive and linguistic readiness for
particular tasks
2) Their need for the particular discourse Or
interactional type
3) Availability of resources for carrying out the tasks

8. Sequencing of tasks
Sequencing of tasks should follow some of the same criteria
as for selection, plus:
 Shorter and simpler tasks should be undertaken before
longer and more complex ones.
 Tasks requiring known information should come
before tasks calling for new information.
 Tasks calling for existing ability to process information
should precede those requiring new types of cognitive
processing.

9. Tasks for Beginning learners
 Beginners need short tasks that draw on
information they already posses and call for
more comprehension than production.
 Beginners should not have to perform, for
example, critical or evaluative tasks if they
are not ready for them.

10. Tasks for Advanced learners
More advanced learners may be ready to handle tasks
that:
 Extend over several days or weeks
 Call for a great deal of new or unknown information
 Require complex processing such as evaluation,
comparison, integration, and presentation.

11. Examples of TB Syllabi
 Beginning
Planning and carrying out a class outing or picnic or
dinner
 Intermediate
Writing various types of letters like requests for
information, applications, complaints
 Advanced
Doing a price comparison survey of food stores

12. Positive Characteristics of TB Syllabi
 TB instruction is very powerful and widely applicable. It is suitable
for learners of all ages and backgrounds.
 It addresses the crucial problem in language teaching: transfer,
directly by using active and real tasks as learning activities.
 It can be very effective when the learners are engaged in relatively
similar out -of-class activities.
 It can be valuable for learners who have a clear and immediate
need to use the language for well-defined purposes.
 It can be especially useful for learners who are not accustomed to
more traditional types of classroom learning or who need to learn
cognitive, cultural, and life skills along with the language.

13. Negative Characteristics of TB Syllabi
 Problems of implementing the instruction
 Requiring a high level of creativity and initiative on
the part of the teacher
 Requiring resources beyond the textbooks and
related materials in classrooms
 Being different from what many students expect
 Requiring individual and group responsibility on
the part of students
 Being difficult for evaluation

14. Applications
 Task-based learning can be used with learners of all
ages backgrounds.
 Since it depends on comprehensible input, it’s
especially applicable in second language teaching
setting.

15. An example of Task-Based textbooks