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4C - Task-Based Language Teaching in a Japanese University

From Needs Analysis to Evaluation

from Part II - Tasks and Needs Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Craig Lambert
Edited by
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian  and
Michael H. Long
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Michael H. Long
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
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Summary

This case study describes the planning, implementation and evaluation of a two-year task-based language teaching (TBLT) strand within an English major curriculum at a Japanese university. The project took place over a five-year period between 2001 and 2006 in a relatively challenging context for TBLT. The prevailing opinion was that learners did not have specific needs for English, necessitating general language instruction. With the purpose of providing more focused, goal-oriented instruction, the project incorporated a task-based needs analysis (Long, 2005) that triangulated information from employment records, interviews and a sequence of surveys to build a consensus on the critical second language tasks faced by graduates (Lambert, 2010). This information fed into the design, implementation and evaluation a two-year TBLT program. The case study describes the project as input for TBLT projects in similar contexts.

Keywords

Needs analysiscourse designevaluationgeneral purpose learnersJapanuniversity learners.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching , pp. 121 - 134
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., and Lambert, C. (2020). Task-based language teaching: Theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Chapters 6–7.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (2004). Reverse-engineering communication tasks. ELT Journal, 58(1), 18–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. (2020). Instructional frameworks for using tasks in task-based instruction. In Lambert, C. and Oliver, R., eds. Using tasks in second language teaching: Practice in diverse contexts. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 13–32.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. and Robinson, P. (2014). Learning to perform a narrative task: A semester long study of task sequencing effects. In Baralt, M., Gilabert, R., and Robinson, P., eds. Task sequencing and instructed second language learning. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 207–30.Google Scholar

References

Educational Testing Service (2008). TOEIC test data and analysis 2007: Number of examinees and scores in FY2007. The Institute for International Business Corporation, TOEIC Steering Committee.Google Scholar
Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., and Lambert, C. (2020). Task-based language teaching: Theory and practice Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Chapters 6–7.Google Scholar
Hillman, K. and Long, M. (2020). A task-based needs analysis for US Foreign Service officers: The challenge of the Japanese celebration speech. In Lambert, C. and Oliver, R, eds. Using tasks in diverse contexts. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (1998). The role of the learner in classroom task performance. Journal of Nanzan Junior College, 26, 85–101.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (2001). The viability of learner’ beliefs and opinions as input for L2 course design. RELC Journal, 32(1), 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. (2002). Task sequencing and affective performance variables. Kitakyushu University Faculty of Foreign Studies Bulletin, 103, 97–175.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (2004). Reverse-engineering communication tasks. ELT Journal, 58(1), 18–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. (2010). Task-based needs analysis: Putting principles into practice. Language Teaching Research, 14(1), 99–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. (2017). Tasks, affect and second language performance. Language Teaching Research, 21(6), 657–64.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (2019). Referent similarity and nominal syntax in task-based language teaching. Singapore: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. (2020). Instructional frameworks for using tasks in task-based instruction. In Lambert, C., andOliver, R., eds. Using tasks in diverse contexts. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. and Kormos, J. (2014). Complexity, accuracy and fluency in task-based research: Toward more developmentally-based measures of second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 35(5), 607–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C., Kormos, J., and Minn, D. (2017). Task repetition and second language speech processing. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 39, 167–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. and Nakamura, S. (2019). Proficiency-related variation in syntactic complexity: A study of English L1 and L2 oral descriptive discourse. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 29, 248–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. and Minn, D. (2007). Personal investment in L2 task design and learning: A study of two Japanese learners of English. ELIA: Estudios de Lingüística Inglesa Aplicada, 7, 127–48.Google Scholar
Lambert, C., Philp, J., and Nakamura, S. (2017). Learner-generated content and engagement in L2 task performance. Language Teaching Research, 21(6), 665–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambert, C. and Robinson, P. (2014). Learning to perform narrative tasks: A semester-long study of task sequencing effects. In Baralt, M., Gilabert, R., and Robinson, P., eds. Task sequencing and instructed second language learning. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 207–30.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. and Zhang, G. (2019). Engagement in the use of English and Chinese as second languages: The role of learner-generated content in instructional task design. Modern Language Journal, 103(2), 391–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (1990). Task, group and task-group interactions. In Anivan, S., ed. Language teaching methodology for the nineties. Singapore: Regional English Language Centre, pp. 31–50.Google Scholar
Long, M. (2000). Focus on form in task-based language teaching. In Lambert, R. D. and Shohamy, E., eds. Language policy and pedagogy.Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 191–96.Google Scholar
Long, M. (2005). Methodological issues in learner needs analysis. In Long, M., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 19–76.Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (2010). Situating and distributing cognition across task demands: The SSARC model of pedagogic task sequencing. In Putz, M. and Sicola, L., eds. Inside the learner’s mind: Cognitive processing in second language acquisition. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 243–68.Google Scholar
West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language Teaching, 27(1), 1–19.Google Scholar

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