Application Of Task-based Learning In Speaking Classes For Senior English Teaching

The Education Department of P.R.C, encourages teachers to carry out task-based learning in language teaching in the new edition of the National Curriculum Standard for English Teaching. Task-based learning requires the teacher to design tasks, which can prepare the students for their real-life communication and create meaningful teaching contexts, in which the students can acquire English, develop language skills, and improve the competence of language use through participating and cooperating.On the other hand, by the means of questionnaire and classroom observation, the writer finds that the task-based learning has not been applied properly and fully in senior English speaking classes. The fact shows that the teachers have to change the teaching concepts in accordance with the changing situation. Meanwhile, the writer also finds that task-based learning is still being misunderstood in many of our speaking classes. Therefore, in this thesis, the writer tries to argue some key factors in the application of task-based learning in our real teaching situations, that is, the critical factors in designing real tasks in speaking classes that are suitable and practical in our teaching in China. Besides, the writer designs a series of task-based teaching plans for speaking classes, and put them into teaching practice. From the result of the experiment, we can draw the conclusion that if only the teachers can design practical and meaningful tasks for speaking classes after the full consideration of the teaching environment factor, student factors, input factors and activity factors, task-based learning can be applied successfully in our senior middle schools. In the experiment, the writer also feels it necessary to make some changes in task-based teaching procedure according to the students' language competence. It has proved that this change helps to get better results in teaching and in students' learning as well. In a word, from the experiment, we can see that task-based speaking classes help a lot improve the students' ability of language use.The write hopes that this paper can show the practicability and the importance of applying task-based learning in speaking classes in senior English teaching. And if the teaching practice can offer some useful experience and make more teachers think about task-based learning, the writer will be the happiest.