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14 - Evaluating Task-Based Language Programs

from Part VII - Task-Based Assessment and Program Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
John M. Norris  and
John McE. Davis
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

At its most complete, task-based language teaching is a holistic approach to experiential language education. It consists of teachers and learners, materials, assessments, and other elements that combine in a particular logic to form complex programs of language learning. In order to understand, improve, and maximize their effectiveness, task-based programs should be evaluated comprehensively and regularly, as they are implemented in a variety of educational settings. This chapter describes how evaluation methods can be applied to developing task-based language programs and classes, determining their outcomes and impacts, and identifying aspects in need of adjustment. It also shows how good evaluations may provide the best test of how and how well TBLT theory can be put into practice for improving language learning.

Keywords

Program evaluationOutcomes assessmentTask-based assessmentTheory of change
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching , pp. 529 - 548
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Beretta, A. (1992). What can be learned from the Bangalore Evaluation. In Alderson, J. C. and Beretta, A., eds. Evaluating second language education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 250–71.Google Scholar
Norris, J. M. (2015). Thinking and acting programmatically in task-based language teaching: Essential roles for program evaluation. In Bygate, M., ed. Domains and directions in the development of TBLT: A decade of plenaries from the international conference. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 27–57.Google Scholar
Norris, J. M., Davis, J., and Timpe-Laughlin, V. (2017). Second language educational experiences for adult learners. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Shintani, N. (2016). Input-based tasks in foreign language instruction for young learners. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Branden, K. (2006). Training teachers: Task-based as well? In Van den Branden, K, ed. Task-based language teaching in practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 217–73.Google Scholar

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