ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes a context by presenting an overview of task-based language teaching (TBLT), the implementation of task-based approaches in Asia and the implications for the development of project-based language teaching (PBLT). TBLT emerged from educational theories and research in two main theoretical traditions: the cognitive and the interactionist perspectives. From a historic perspective there are three main precursors of task-based approaches in language learning: the grammar-translation method (GTM); the audiolingual method (ALM); and communicative language teaching (CLT). Both CLT and TBLT stemmed from a reaction to the form-focused methods prevalent in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Research on socio-constructivist perspectives on tasks provides significant input on learner collaboration. Collaborative task-based work may lead learners to process the task in ways not envisaged by the instructor or designer of the task. Criticisms of TBLT focus on issues related to implementation from a policy perspective, as well as pedagogical implications.
