CHAPTER 3 LITERATURE REVIEW: EFL syllabus design

3.4.4.2.3. The Task-Based Syllabus

The Task-Based Syllabus per se is described by White (1988) as a "particular expression of changes in our frames of reference, through i) its representation of communicative competence as the undertaking and achievement of a range of tasks; ii) its direct reliance on the contributions of learners in terms of the mobilisation of the prior communicative competence which learners bring to any task; and iii) its emphasis upon the learning process as appropriate content during language learning"(1988:102). Skehan (1996b) agrees that TBSs can trigger acquisitional processes, though he also voices concerns (linguistic and psychological) on: i) whether a focus on meaning can be relied to engage such acquisitional processes; ii) problems of the role of explicitness and consciousness; iii) the need for the manipulation of attentional focus; and iv) the need to acknowledge dual modes of processing (structural and exemplar-based):

This discrepancy places proponents of task-based instruction in a difficult position, since, while it is clear that there are advantages to using such an approach, it is difficult to know how strongly to argue this position, and how exactly to implement such instruction. A necessary step, therefore, is to ... set appropriate goals for task-based approaches. (Skehan, 1996a:46)

Breen (1987b:161) observes that participation in communication and communicating for learning are equally valuable in the TBS, since learning tasks "call upon and engage the same abilities which underlie communication itself." His analysis of the TBS according to his five sub-questions (section 3.4.2) appears in table 31, below:

Continue reading this literature review: Task Selection

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