Foundational principles of task-based language teaching

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is widely recognized as a powerful pedagogical approach. It has gained considerable interest among second/foreign language (L2) researchers and educators over the years. TBLT has also been positioned as an established language teaching approach by a large body of literature—both theoretical and empirical—. Nevertheless, recent research (e.g. Andon, 2018; Bygate, 2020; Spada, 2021) indicates that despite reaching a level of orthodoxy in L2 literature, TBLT has not achieved the status of a mainstream pedagogy in naturalistic L2 settings, which is often linked to the failure in the translation of theory into practice in the real world of language teachers. In this vein, East’s Foundational Principles of Task-based Language Teaching should be a welcome addition to the library of those who have an interest; yet, lack a foundational understanding of what exactly TBLT is and how it is implemented in the context of real classrooms. The book is organized into a preface, three main parts with a total of nine chapters, and a postface. Each chapter begins with an introduction, includes reflection points where the readers are asked content-related questions for reflection, and ends with a conclusion, suggested readings, and references. Part 1 lays the foundation by providing the theoretical perspectives that inform TBLT. Part 2 presents an overview of how TBLT is put into practice in classrooms with a particular focus on the stages of a task cycle, language learner, and focus on form. The last part of the book centers on the use of tasks for assessment and the evaluation of TBLT along with discussions on the challenges of implementing TBLT in everyday classrooms. Part 1 consists of three chapters, and East focuses these chapters on providing theoretical backgrounds and key concepts underpinning TBLT. Starting with a discussion of how languages are learned and how they should be taught, Chapter 1 lays an initial foundation of how TBLT has emerged in the history of L2 pedagogy delineating three main theoretical approaches (i.e. behaviorism, innatism and interactionism) and L2 teaching methods (i.e. grammar-translation, audiolingualism, natural approach, and communicative