A Study On Task-based Teaching Of English In Vocational Colleges

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is a task-oriented second language teaching approach which emphasizes learning by doing and students as the center of teaching. It has attracted wide attention from the teachers and researchers all over the world.So far, many attempts on TBLT have been done in middle schools about various skills as well as at the level of college English teaching, but few studies have been conducted in the context of vocational college teaching. The present study intends to explore whether the TBLT approach is more effective in English teaching in vocational colleges than the traditional teaching approach.This thesis begins with the introduction of the background and significance of the research and then follows the literature review of the present study, including the principle of TBLT and the different aspects of tasks. The teaching experiment was conducted in Xiamen Xingcai Vocational College. Altogether 96 students participated in the experiments, with 48 students in the experiment group as well as in the control group. The research instruments include questionnaires, tests, and classroom observation. Data analysis indicates remarkable improvements in the experimental class. Also, the students’ interest was improved in a large scale, and their self-confidence enhanced and their proactive participation activated. In the last chapter, the author concludes and summarizes the implications and limitations of the present study.In addition, the thesis puts forward some suggestions for effectively putting TBLT into English class in vocational college, expecting to offer new thinking on the reform of English teaching in Higher Vocational Education in the future.