]
Title: Task-Based Language Teaching ( TBLT) in Japan .
Speaker: Marcos Benevides.
Marcos Benevides is an assistant professor at Kansai Gaidai University. He has
taught EFL in Japan for ten years, at every level from elementary school to
university, from private tutoring to graduate courses. He has been an invited,
sponsored, featured or keynote speaker at dozens of ELT seminars and conferences
in Japan and abroad. He has recently guest edited the "TBLT in Japan" special
issue of The Language Teacher (March 2009), and co-authored Widgets: A
task-based course in practical English.
Task-based language teaching (TBLT) represents the evolution of communicative
language teaching. It is fast becoming the dominant ELT approach worldwide, as
evidenced by task-based concepts emerging in tests such as the new TOEIC, in
language descriptor systems such as the Common European Framework of Reference
for Languages, and in an increasing number of commercial textbooks.
However, resistance to TBLT continues in Japan on grounds ranging from "Japanese
students are too shy" to "Japanese students are not creative enough", and "the
Japanese demand a teacher-centered approach" to "communicative approaches have
been tried here already and they failed". In this presentation, Benevides will
explain why each of these arguments is fundamentally flawed.
This presentation will draw on the speaker's co-authored textbook, Widgets
(Longman 2008) to explain a variety of TBLT concepts. Participants will walk
away with new ideas regarding lesson planning, motivating students and, yes,
clear evidence that Japanese students are extremely creative!
