Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms

TLDR

East Asian educators and governments are shifting curricula toward communicative and task‑based language teaching to improve English communication skills. This paper reviews practical and conceptual concerns affecting CLT and TBLT implementation in East Asian primary and secondary schools, and proposes a methodological framework to aid adaptation. The authors analyze how teachers have responded to challenges by adapting new ideas and developing context‑specific methodologies, and outline a framework to guide such adaptation. The paper’s insights are applicable to teachers worldwide transitioning from teacher‑centred to learner‑active approaches.

Abstract

As educators and governments in East Asia aim to increase the number of people in their population who can communicate effectively in English, national policies and syllabuses have moved increasingly towards various versions of communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT). This paper reviews, on the basis of published reports, some of the practical and conceptual concerns that have affected the implementation of CLT and TBLT in primary and secondary schools of East Asia. It discusses some ways in which teachers have responded to the challenges by adapting new ideas and developing methodologies suited to their own situations. It proposes a methodological framework which may help such adaptation. The experiences and concerns described in the paper may be shared by teachers anywhere who move from a teacher-centred approach to one in which the learners play a more active, independent role.