HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
-----------------------

HA THI NINH

APPLYING TASK-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING
ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE GRADE 11
STUDENTS OF BASIC CURRICULUM AT THANH SON
HIGH SCHOOL-PHU THO PROVINCE

Field: Teaching methodology
Supervisor: MA. NGUYEN THI HOA

Phu Tho, 2016


HUNG VUONG UNIVERSITY

FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT
-----------------------

HÀ THỊ NINH

APPLYING TASK-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING
ENGLISH GRAMMAR FOR THE GRADE 11
STUDENTS OF BASIC CURRICULUM AT THANH
SON HIGH SCHOOL-PHU THO PROVINCE
(Áp dụng phương pháp dạy Tiếng Anh theo nhiệm vụ trong dạy ngữ pháp

Tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 11 theo chương trình dạy học cơ bản tại trường
THPT Thanh Sơn - Phú Thọ)
B.A. Graduation Paper
Field: Teaching methodology

SUPERVISOR: MA. NGUYỄN THỊ HOA

Phu Tho, 2016


i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who gave me great
help during the completion of my study.
Firstly, I would like to express my deepest of gratitude to my
supervisor: Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoa whose precious advice and detailed critical
comment have been of great assistance to me to do this study. I am great
indebted for her enthusiasm and encouragement. Without her help, this study
would not have possibly been completed.
Secondly, I would like to thank all the lecturers, teachers, and staff at
Hung Vuong University, especially those in the Department of Foreign
Language who have created favorable conditions for me to study and write
the graduation paper.
Thirdly, my particular thanks are due to the teachers and the students
of Thanh Son high school for their cooperation and assistance in
implementing the survey and test.
Lastly, I would like to express my grateful appreciation to my family,
my dear friends for their support and encouragement throughout this study.
I hope to receive further comments and advice from readers to make my

paper better.
With all my appreciation
Signature

Ha Thi Ninh


ii

ABSTRACT
This thesis was carried out with an attempt to improve the teaching and
learning of English grammar of the teachers and students in class 11A5 as
well as all grade 11 students at Thanh Son high school-Phu Tho Province.
The purposes of the thesis were to investigate the current situations of
applying task-based approach in teaching- learning English grammar. Besides,
after investigating the current situations, the researcher did an experiment
about applying task-based approach to improve the effectiveness of learning
English grammar and then got some results from experiment by some data
collection instruments such as survey questionnaires, class observation an
test.
The subjects involved in the study were 40 students in class 11A5 at
Thanh Son high school. These students were invited to join the survey, to
answer the questionnaire, do the test and to provide the source of observation.
The study suggests that teachers should be aware of the students’
problem, adapt to their need, and help them minimize these difficulties and
use task-based approach to improve the effectiveness of teaching-learning
English grammar.


iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

CLT
PPP
TBA
TBLT
ELF
ELT

Communicative language teaching
Presentation-Practice- Production
Task-based approach
Task-based language teaching
English as Foreign Language
English Language Teaching

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES


iv
Table 1.1. The framework for task-based learning
Table 3.1: Data collected from pre-task survey questionnaire
Table 3.2:Students’ difficulties in studying English grammar
Table 3.3: The main causes of students’ difficulties in learning English
grammar
Table 3.4: Results of the test before experiment
Figure 3.1: Students interest in grammar teaching method that their teacher
has been applying
Figure 4.1: Students’ opinion towards the tasks that the teacher uses in
grammar lessons.

Figure 4.2. The advantages of using TBA in grammar classes
Table 4.1. Students’ attitudes towards teachers’ application TBA
Table 4.3. Result of the test after experiment


v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..................................................................................i
ABSTRACT......................................................................................................ii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION.............................................................................. 3
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES..................................................................3
TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................................................. 4

PART A: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................1
1. Rationale........................................................................................................1
2. Previous studies.............................................................................................2
2.1. In the world.................................................................................................2
2.2. In Vietnam..................................................................................................4
3. Research purposes.........................................................................................4
4. Research questions........................................................................................5
5. Methodology..................................................................................................5
5.1. Research procedure....................................................................................5
5.2. Method of data collection...........................................................................6
6. Hypotheses....................................................................................................6
7. Significance of the study...............................................................................6
8. The scope of the study...................................................................................7
9. Design of the study........................................................................................7
PART B: MAJOR CONTENT...........................................................................8
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
...........................................................................................................................9

1.1. The Importance of Grammar in Language Teaching and Learning...........9
1.1.1. Definitions of grammar...........................................................................9
1.1.2. The role of grammar in English language teaching and learning..........10
1.1.3. The importance of teaching grammar....................................................11
1.1.4. Approaches to grammar instruction.......................................................11
1.3. Tasks.........................................................................................................13
1.3.1. Defining tasks........................................................................................13


vi
1.3.2. Characteristics of Tasks.........................................................................14
1.3.3. Classifying tasks....................................................................................14
1.4. Task-based language teaching..................................................................17
1.4.1. What is task-based language teaching?.................................................17
1.4.2. Principles of the task-based language teaching approach.....................20
1.4.3. The basic characteristics of task-based language teaching....................21
1.5. Task-based grammar teaching..................................................................22
1.5.1. Why we use Task-based grammar teaching?.........................................22
1.5.2. Steps in Task-based grammar teaching.................................................23
1.5.3. Characteristics of the Task-based Grammar Class................................25
1.6. Summary...................................................................................................25
CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODS..........................................................27
2.1. The subject an object of the study............................................................27
2.1.1. The subject of the study.........................................................................27
2.1.2. The object of the study..........................................................................27
2.2. Participants of the study...........................................................................27
2.2.1. The teacher and teaching situation........................................................27
2.2.2. Students and their background..............................................................27
2.3. The data collection instruments................................................................28
2.3.1. Survey questionnaire.............................................................................28

2.3.2. Classroom observation..........................................................................30
2.3.3. Test.........................................................................................................31
2.3.4. Data collection procedure......................................................................32
2.4. Research procedure..................................................................................34
2.5. Conclusion................................................................................................34
CHATER 3 THE CURRENT SITUATIONS..................................................35
IN TEACHING ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN GRADE 11 STUDENTS.........35
AT THANH SON HIGH SCHOOL................................................................35
3.1. An overview of the current situation of teaching and learning English at
Thanh Son High...............................................................................................35


vii
3.1.1. The school context.................................................................................35
3.1.2. The new textbook English 11 (the standard textbook) and its Language
Focus section...................................................................................................36
3.2. Findings from the current situations.........................................................37
3.2.1. Results from questionnaires..................................................................37
3.2.2. Results from observation.......................................................................41
3.2.3. Results from the pre-test........................................................................42
3.4. Solution.....................................................................................................43
CHAPTER 4: EXPERIMENT AND RESULTS.............................................45
4.1. Participants...............................................................................................45
4.2. Data collection instruments......................................................................45
4.3. Experiment procedure..............................................................................45
4.4. Results......................................................................................................52
4.4.1. Results from questionnaires..................................................................53
4.4.2. Results from observation.......................................................................57
4.4.3. Results from post-test............................................................................58
4.5. Findings....................................................................................................59

PART C: CONCLUSION................................................................................61
1. A summary of findings................................................................................61
2. Implications of the research.........................................................................62
3. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study.........................64
3.1. Limitation of the study..............................................................................64
3.2. Suggestions for further research...............................................................65
4. Conclusion...................................................................................................65
REFERENCES
APPENDIXES


viii


1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
Title: “Applying task-based approach in teaching English grammar for the
grade 11 students of basic curriculum at Thanh Son high school- Phu Tho
province”.
1. Rationale
In the process of globalization, English has played an increasingly
important role in various fields, such as: science, business, education, crosscultural communication and especially, method to communicate verbally with
the outside world and to access technology.
In addition to the growing demand for learning English, there has been
innovation in English teaching and learning methods everywhere in Vietnam.
A long time ago, language teaching in Vietnam was strongly influenced by the
structuralism tradition. Emphasis was placed on mastery of language
structures. Students were taught how to form correct utterances and to
understand the structures of the language without any consideration of
language use. However, regarding the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic

research, language teaching has moved from the traditional to a more
communicative approach. In this current approach, language is considered a
form of social behavior. The objective of language teaching is teaching
learners to communicate fluently, appropriately and spontaneously in the
cultural context of the target language as well as helping students get a good
communication when they have opportunities to use English in a crosscultural environment.
Recognizing the educational trend and the special need for language
learning of the students, teachers and administrators at Thanh Son high school
also hold extra-curricular of English, English clubs, the group discussion, and
evaluation of annual teaching experiences to find the teaching methods
increasingly improved and more efficient. However, language teaching in
students has many difficulties. Many students neglected and do not like this


2
subject. During the process of teaching and studying this subject, both the
teachers and students at Thanh Son high school do not feel satisfied with
teaching English grammar implied in the course books.
Additionally, many students are too shy to speak in class because they
are not good at grammar and the grammar lessons are carried out in
traditional methods. In each lesson, the teacher presents new grammar
verbally, and then students do, turn by turn, exercises in workbooks.
Moreover, in teaching practice, there exist some limitations in conducting
Presentation - Practice - Production grammar lessons. Touching this
pedagogical context, this study emphasizes on the investigation into the
application of task-based approach to teaching English grammar at Thanh Son
high school. The task-based approach might come as an effective teaching
method for the language teachers at Thanh Son high school. A research into
the task-based introduction will help them to interpret and have a thorough
understanding of the task-based approach, its theories and characteristics,

hence providing an effective application to teaching grammar at Thanh Son
high school in pedagogical context. From these opinions, I have decided to
choose this paper with the name: “ Applying task-based approach in
teaching English grammar for the grade 11 students of basic curriculum at
Thanh Son high school- Phu Tho province ” with the hope that it will make
certain contributions to the existing knowledge of the field under the study
and help the grade 11 students at Thanh Son high school- Phu Tho province
master English grammar well to use it confidently in four skills and get good
marks in the exams.
2. Previous studies
2.1. In the world
During the past decade, it can have been addressed the necessity of
being able to communicate effectively in English as students mastery is
directly associated with future educational opportunities, career and income.
In National English Curriculum Standard in Vietnam, one of the most


3
essential changes is the implementation of student-centered, task-based
language teaching. However, the task-based approach has been a controversy
of many method experts.
Firstly, in the discussion of getting learners to acquire English through
tasks, it was initiated in India by Prabhu in the 1980s.Prabhu noticed that his
students could learn language just as easily with a non-linguistic problem as
when they were concentrating on linguistic questions. Assessment primarily
based on task outcome (in other words the appropriate completion of real
world tasks) rather than on accuracy of prescribed language forms. This
makes task-based language learning especially popular for developing target
language fluency and student confidence. As such, task-based language
learning can be considered a branch of Communicative Language Teaching.

The next view mentioned by Harmer about task-based learning is that,
“Many methodologists have concentrated not so much on the nature of
language input, but on the learning tasks that students are involved in.” He
argued that there seemed to have been an argument that pure rote learning or
de-contextualized practice is giving way to language learning that is required
as a result of richer experiences in life.
However, historically reviewed, task-based learning appears to have
gained its currency since the 1996 publication of Willis’s “A Framework for
Task-based Learning” (Longman), in which she defined how tasks can be
used as the central focus in a supportive methodological framework. In this
book, she outlined a mode for task-based learning in which she referred to
three stages: the pre-task, the task-cycle, and the language focus.
Torky (2006) researched on “the effectiveness of a task-based
instruction program in developing English language speaking skills of
secondary stage students”. It mentioned the importance of providing ELF for
the first year students with the activities and opportunities to raise awareness of
speaking skills.


4
The more important thing is that Jeon and Hahn (2006) addressed their
study to the English as Foreign Language teachers’ perceptions of task-based
language teaching in a Korean secondary school context. They appreciated
the emphasis on learners’ communicative abilities with task-based teaching
and learning in terms of designing communicative tasks to promote learners’
actual language use. Tseng (2006) indicated the differences between taskbased instruction and traditional teacher-led, whole class instruction at two
primary school classrooms in terms of four-skill performances of the students.
Also the factors that influenced the implementation of task-based learning at
primary school were discussed.
2.2. In Vietnam

According to the study of Phan Thi Mai (2011) explored “Applying
task-based instructions to teach for Second-years Nursing students. The study
investigated the attitude of teachers and students toward task-based approach
in teaching reading as well as suggested extra useful texts for developing reading
skills.
Duong Thi Le Thuy (2004) made an investigation into task-based
approach, which was used in the field of English for Specific Purposes, for
the current English course book for construction engineering.
Additionally, Vo Phuc Anh Vu (2009) studied the application of taskbased language teaching and learning to teaching English speaking skills in
upper secondary schools. In his research , he provided a list of speaking skills
for language teacher s which helped them plan and design speaking activities
suitable for students as well as evaluated students’ speaking performance.
3. Research purposes.
The purposes of this study are:
Firstly, the study carries out an investigation into the reality of the
teachers’ application of task-based approach in teaching grammar thanks to
experimenting teaching grammar through communicative tasks for grade 11
students and testing its result.


5
Secondly, through the investigation the research will find out the
difficulties the teachers encounter with their application of task-based
introduction in teaching grammar and some suggested solutions.
Thirdly, the study will be to aim at experimenting teaching grammar
through task-based introduction for grade 11 students and test its result and
investigating the experimental students' attitudes towards teaching grammar
through communicative task at Thanh Son high school.
Lastly, the study will provide practical recommendations for the
possibility of task-based introduction in order to narrow the gap between

teaching styles and learning styles, thereby increasing the students’ motivation
in grammar learning as well as heightening the effectiveness of English
language teaching.
4. Research questions
The research will find the answers for the main following questions:
1. “What is the current situation of applying task-based approach in
teaching English for the grade 11 students of basic curriculum at Thanh Son
high school- Phu Tho province?”
2. “What are the feasible solutions in teaching grammar by applying
task-based approach to the grade 11 students at Thanh Son high school?”
3. “How effective is task-based approach in helping students improve
their grammar?”
5. Methodology
5.1. Research procedure
Firstly, study theory to clarify the definitions of some terms related to
grammar and task-based approach.
Secondly, investigate the current situations of learning English
grammar of the grade 11 students at Thanh Son high school and then give
some suggested solutions.
Thirdly, carry out the experiment by applying task-based approach in
teaching English grammar to evaluate the effectiveness of this method.


6
5.2. Method of data collection.
Theoretical method: Study the related documents to give some
knowledge about grammar, task-based approach and applying task-based
approach in teaching grammar for students as well as teachers.
With the aim of finding out the current situation and getting some
results after experiment in teaching – learning English grammar of the

grade11 students at Thanh Son high school, this study adopts quantitative,
qualitative and experimental methods. To identity the problems, the study has
been carried out with the data collected from different instruments:
- Survey questionnaire for students in class 11A5 at Thanh Son High
School to collect information about their views of the current situations and
their feelings about lessons which are used language games.
- The results of tests to check the grammar ability of the students in
class 11A5 at Thanh Son High School.
-Beside these instruments, classroom observation is used to record
more information from teachers and students during lessons.
Last but not least, constant discussions with the supervisor and
colleagues are of great significance.
6. Hypotheses
If the application of task-based approach in teaching English grammar
to the grade 11 students at Thanh Son high school- Phu Tho province is
successful, this will help students in grade 11 improve their grammar.
7. Significance of the study
Theoretical significance of the study: the study will supply the English
language teachers with the understanding of grammar and task-based
approach, advantages when employing this method.
Practical significance of the study: the research will help the teacher of
English use task-based approach effectively, which will make language focus
lessons more successful as well as help students in the grade 11 students
improve their grammar.


7
8. The scope of the study
This research focuses on investigating how Thanh Son language
teachers exploit TBA in teaching English grammar in their classes. Due to the

limitation of time, the author only fulfilled the study with forty grade 11
students at Thanh Son high school.
9. Design of the study
This paper is divided into three main parts:
PART A is the INTRODUCTION. In this part, the rationale, previous
research, research purpose, research questions, research methods, significance
of the study, the scope of the study and also its design are presented.
PART B is the MAJOR CONTENT which includes four chapters
Chapter I: Deals with the literature review and the theoretical
background
Theoretical background related to the topic and surveys of articles, books
and other resources relevant to a particular the study topic will be presented.
This part will also provide description, summary, and critical evaluation of
each work quoted and present the previous studies related to the thesis and
some concepts as theoretical basis for the study.
Chapter II: Research Design and Methodology
This part describes the research design, instruments for data collection,
data collection, data analysis, reliability and validity, and research procedures,
which gives details of the research method and describes how the hypothesis
of the thesis is interpreted and explained.
Chapter III: Findings and Discussions
This part presents the results and discussions developed after the
linguistics figures are analyzed.
Chapter IV: Experiment and results
Doing experiental teaching in which some suggestions on applying taskbased approach are made and some task-based approach exploited during all


8
stages of the lesson are provided as well as some results after doing
experimental teaching.

PART C is the CONCLUSION which concludes some
recommendations of the study, limitations of the study, suggestions for the
study, main findings, implications and conclusion of the study.
REFERENCES and APPENDICES are presented in the last pages of
the study


9
PART B: MAJOR CONTENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
1.1. The Importance of Grammar in Language Teaching and Learning
1.1.1. Definitions of English grammar
Concerning the terms “grammar”, several researchers have attempted to
define it. Apparently, depending on one’s theoretical orientation, different
people define grammar differently.
The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (as cited in Harmer,
1987) defined grammar as “the study and practice of the rules by which words
change their forms and are combined into sentences.” There are two basic
elements in this definition: the rules of grammar; and the study and practice of
the rules. Here grammar constitutes a subset of rules relating to word
formation (morphology) and sentence formation (syntax). Huddleston (1984)
shared the similar view when seeing grammar as consisting of morphology
and syntax. According to him, morphology deals with forms of words while
syntax deals with the ordering of the words to form sentences.
As can be inferred from the two definitions above, grammar is
conventionally seen as the study of morphology and syntax of sentences.
Cobbett (1984) regarded grammar as “constituting rules and principles
that help a person to make use of words or manipulate and combine words to
give meaning in a proper manner. It concerns with form and structure of

words and their relationships in sentences”.
According to Fromkin and Rodman (1998), "The sounds and sound
patterns, the basic units of meaning such as words and the rules to combine
them to form new sentences constitute the grammar of a language".
There are several similarities between two above-cited definitions. The
first thing is that according to these authors, grammar is assumed to be a
guide through which words are put together to make correct sentences.


10
Secondly, grammar is composed of rules not only relating to word formation
(morphology) and sentence formation (syntax) but also concerned with the
meaning of the sentence (semantics) and the sound system (phonology) within
a language. However, one drawback that all four definitions above (in both
the first and second categories) have in common is that grammar has been
concerned almost exclusively with the analysis at the level of the sentence. I
am in favor of Widdowson (1990) with the claim that “grammar is not just a
collection of sentence patterns signifying nonsense”.
Thornbury (1999) claims that grammar is not just rules on how to
combine words at the sentence level, but it also takes into account the role of
context in which a sentence is made. He says that “when we process language
we are not only trying to make sense of the words and the grammar, we are
also trying to infer the speaker’s (or writer’s) intention”.
Richards, Platt, and Platt (1992) in their Longman Dictionary of
Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics: Grammar is a description of the
structure of a language and the way in which linguistic units such as words
and phrases are combined to produce sentences in the language. It usually
takes into account the meanings and functions these sentences have in overall
system of the language. It may or may not include the description of the
sound of a language.

In this definition, grammar is viewed as descriptive, which refers to the
structure of a language as it is actually used by speakers and writers.
Moreover, this definition shows both linguistic and social features of grammar
as it refers to not only rules to make correct sentences but also meanings and
functions of such sentences in the language, which is necessary for the
teaching and learning of foreign language.
1.1.2. The role of grammar in English language teaching and learning
Along with the history of second language teaching, the role of grammar
has been an issue of controversy. Brown (1994) viewpointed “grammar has
played a central role in language teaching often being the only activity in


11
language classrooms”. Richards (2002) indicated that it is “perhaps the most
controversial issue in language teaching”. Thornbury (1999) asserted that “in
fact, no other issue has so preoccupied theorists and practitioners as the
grammar debate, and the history of language teaching is essentially the history
of the claims and counterclaims for and against the teaching of grammar”.
The debate has brought about an extreme split of attitudes, namely, those who
hold that grammar should receive a central attention in language teaching and
those who hold that grammar should not be taught at all.
1.1.3. The importance of teaching English grammar
It is quite reasonable to see the importance of grammar according to
Harmer’s viewpoint (1987):
“Without some understanding of grammar, students would not be able
to do anything more than utter separate items of language for separated
functions. The expression of functional language is only possible through the
use of the grammar of the language”
Firstly, teaching grammar helps students understand how the language
works. Apart from vocabulary, students need to know grammar to understand

how it is written or how words are combined together to understand the
proper meaning. Without grammar or with a poor knowledge of grammar,
they may get confused with complicated expression
Secondly, according to Smith (2001), if teachers neither pay attention
to grammar nor create opportunities for learners to improve grammar, learners
are likely to stand the risk of fossilization or reach a point where they can
cope with level of communication that is demanded of them by making use of
their existing grammatical resource and communication strategies and
probably with sufficient fluency.
1.1.4. Approaches to grammar instruction
1.1.4.1. Deductive approach
Deductive approach is often called rule-driven learning (Thornbury,
1999). In this approach, a grammar rule is explicitly presented to students and


12
followed by practice applying the rule. The deductive approach maintains that
a teacher teaches grammar by presenting grammatical rules, and then
examples of sentences are presented. Once learners understand rules, they are
told to apply the rules given to various examples of sentences. Giving the
grammatical rules means no more than directing learners’ attention to the
problem discussed. However, deductive approach to grammar teaching
receives less support than inductive approach. As Ellis in Richards (2002)
reported, there has not been convincing empirical verification as well a
theoretical validation that the acquisition of grammar structures involves the
process of learning the rules and practicing them through gradual
autoimmunization of production. Even so, deductive approach is often used
by many teachers due to its advantages such as time-saving for teachers and
respect for students’ expectations about classroom learning.
1.1.4.2. Inductive approach

In contrast to deductive approach, inductive approach, which is labeled
as rule-discovery learning, starts with examples from which a rule is inferred
(Thornbury, 1999). The procedure is similar to the process of children
acquiring their mother tongue. First, learners are exposed to comprehensible
language input and they will acquire the system of the rules subconsciously
through peripheral attention to language forms. Eisenstein (as cited in Long &
Richards, (1987) maintains that the inductive approach tries to utilize the very
strong reward value of bringing order, clarity and meaning to experiences.
This approach involves learners’ participating actively in their own
instruction. In other words, this approach attempts to highlight grammatical
rules implicitly in which the learners are encouraged to conclude the rules
given by the teacher.
In conclusion, the deductive approach is related to the conscious
learning process, while the inductive approach relates to the subconscious
learning processes similar to the concept of language acquisition. Whether
grammatical rules are taught inductively or deductively rely much on the


13
cognitive style of the learner and the language structure presented (Brown,
2007). Therefore, the language teacher’s job is to identify which approach is
appropriate for which grammar items and for which learning styles. And
sometimes, the question is not which one to choose but how well the two
approaches are combined. As according to Corder (as cited in Celce-Murcia,
2001, p. 264).
Indeed, the combination of two approaches to presenting grammatical
rules both provides students with more active learning environment and
prevents them from inducing inaccurate rules for themselves.
1.2. Tasks
1.2.1. Defining tasks

Since the last decade of the 20th century, tasks have been widely used as
a vehicle to elicit language production, interaction, and negotiation of
meaning and processing of input. The proposes of the notion of “task” are
known as a core unit of planning and teaching.
In a number of books, the word “task” has been used as a label for
various activities, including grammar exercises, practice activities and role
plays. In some other books, tasks are defined as activities where the target
language is used by the learners for a communicative purpose (goal) in order
to achieve an outcome.
Long (1985) stated that task is “a piece of work undertaken for oneself
or for others freely or for some reward: The task may be paint a fence, dress a
child, fill out a form, ask for help, borrow a pen, buy clothes …In other
words, “task” means the things people do in the daily life at work, at play an it
between.
Nunan (1989:10) gave another definition of task: “is a piece of
classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating,
producing, or interaction in the target language while their attention is
principally focused on meaning rather than form. The task should also have a
sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its


14
own right”. In this view, we can see that the authors take a pedagogical
perspective. He claims that the aim of tasks is get learner’s attention on
meaning instead of linguistic structure. Tasks are the things familiar with our
real world.
Prabhu (1987:12-17), one of the first methodologists raising interest
and support for TBA, defined: “a task is an activity which requires learners to
arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of
thought, and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process”. He

emphasizes the process of learning, and he confirms that when following the
tasks, the learner will get effective communication.
In summary, the definitions of tasks vary in TBA. However, all of them
have a common characteristic. They all suggested the tasks are concerned
with communicative use. In other words, they refer to undertakings in which
the learner comprehend, interact, produce in the target language in the
contexts and focus on meaning rather than form.
1.2.2. Characteristics of Tasks
Skehan (1998) proposed a definition of tasks within task-based
instruction
following Candlin (1987), Nunan (1989), Long (1989), and others that a task
is an activity in which:


Meaning is primary



There is some communication to solve



There is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world

activities


Task completion has some priority




The assessment of the task is in terms of outcome

1.2.3. Classifying tasks
Many researchers attempts to group tasks into categories:


15
1.3.3.1. Prabhu’s categories
The first types of tasks was set by Prabhu (1987) which was used for
the primary age learners of English in Bangladore, Southern India. It contains
ten task types as follows:
 Diagrams and formations: the learners base on the diagram to do the
tasks such as: naming parts of diagram with numbers and letters as instructed.
 Drawing: the learner follow the instruction of the teachers (read, tell
or play a tape) to do the task like draw the summary.
 Clock faces: base on the clock, watch to show the time.
 Monthly calendar: use the calendar to set or arrange the time for
traveling or to do any work.
 Maps: the teacher lets students construct house, garden, floor with
the maps given.
 School timetable: students may have a chance to talk and share about
the timetables with teacher or their classmates.
 Programs and itineraries: construct itineraries from descriptions of
travel
 Train timetables: selecting train appropriate to given needs.
 Age and year of birth: talk about age or the birthday party
 Money: with the available of money, what they decide to buy.
1.2.3.2. Willis’s type of task
Willis (1996) proposed six types of tasks on more or less traditional

knowledge hierarchies
 Listing, i.e where the completed outcome is a list.
 Ordering and sorting, i.e tasks that involve sequencing, ranking,
categorizing and classifying items
 Comparing, i.e tasks that involve finding differences or similarities
in information.