Teachers' and Learners' Perceptions of Tasks: Objectives and Outcomes.

Abstract

This study analyses teachers’ and students’ perception of task-based language learning in order to find out the similarities and differences that exist between the understanding of tasks by the two parties.. The overriding purpose of this study is to find out the pupils’ interpretations of tasks used in the foreign language classroom and, accordingly, whether there is a match between the teachers’ preset objectives and the students’ learning outcomes. To this end, a case study was conducted with the 4 grade students of three different private primary schools. This paper presents the results of the pilot study conducted at one of these primary schools. The data in this study came from the classroom observations and the follow-up interviews held with both the teacher and students at the end of each lesson. The findings of the study indicate that the teacher’s understanding of task-based teaching matches the definitions in the related literature. Yet, its implementation is limited only to language practice activities focusing mainly on form..It also came out that the students perceive the tasks as a means of revision, prize or game at the end of a lesson as a result of the teacher’s practice