2010/09/26

Title: Designing a Themed Task-Based Syllabus

Speaker: Marcos Benevides

At Maebashi Institute of Technology, Benevides gave Gunma Chapter attendees a preview of his upcoming speech at the national JALT2010 Conference this November. To begin, he reviewed Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT), especially concentrating on its focus on meaning over form. Many issues arise from this focus on meaning, such as at what point it becomes beneficial to introduce vocabulary, grammar points and other forms which constitute traditional English syllabi. Benevides made the case that traditional, prescriptive syllabi are not appropriate in a TBLT environment and are generally ineffective means for teaching language. He persuasively argued that telling students to use certain grammar patterns or vocabulary to achieve a goal is unnatural and ineffective.

So how, one might ask, is a teacher to design a syllabus if not around vocabulary and language points? Benevides' answer is a themed task-based syllabus - a set of related tasks that comprises an overarching theme. The primary example Benevides presented was his self-produced Widgets: A task-based course in practical English. In it, students are given the scenario that they have been hired by a company, Widgets Inc., which invents and manufactures products. As employees, students must work individually and in groups to perform various real-world tasks; from brainstorming ideas for products to conducting market research. It is these kinds of themed syllabi, argues Benevides, that can allow teachers to shift away from form-focused syllabi while retaining continuity and flow in their classrooms.