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TBLandPBL:Twolearnercentredapproaches|TeachingEnglish|BritishCouncil|BBC

Manynewlyqualifiedorinexperiencedteacherstendtobasetheirlessonplanning
onthetraditionalPPPapproach(Presentation,Practice,Production)becauseitis
reliableanditisavalidframeworkaroundwhichtobaseaseriesofclassroom
activities.

Itisalsousuallythebestwayofcoveringallthelexicalareasandgrammarpointsinthecourse
bookorsyllabus.Allgoodandwell.TheproblemisthatPPPservestheteachersneedsbutitis
debatablewhetherornotitfulfillstheneedsofthelearner.
Thelanguagepresentedandpracticeddoesnottakeintoaccounttheparticularneedsofeach
learnerthelanguagecontentisalmostalwaysdictatedbythecoursebookand/orsyllabus.For
thisreason,manyteachers,havingexperimentedwiththePPPapproachturntomorelearner
centredapproacheswheretheneedsofthelearnerarecentraltothelessoncontent.Twosuch
approachesareTBL(TaskBasedLearning)andPBL(ProjectBasedLearning).
WhatisTBL?
Intaskbasedlearning,thecentralfocusofthelessonisthetaskitself,notagrammarpointor
alexicalarea,andtheobjectiveisnottolearnthestructurebuttocompletethetask.Of
course,tocompletethetasksuccessfullystudentshavetousetherightlanguageand
communicatetheirideas.Thelanguage,thereforebecomesaninstrumentofcommunication,
whosepurposeistohelpcompletethetasksuccessfully.Thestudentscanuseanylanguage
theyneedtoreachtheirobjective.Usuallythereisnocorrectanswerforataskoutcome.
Studentsdecideontheirownwayofcompletingit,usingthelanguagetheyseefit.
DifferentteachersuseTBLindifferentways.Someintegrateitintotheexistingsyllabus,some
useittoreplacethesyllabusaltogether,someuseitasanextratotheirtraditionalclassroom
activities.Butgenerally,teachersusingaTBLapproachdividetheirtaskbasedclassesinto
threestages:
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Stage1:Thepretask.Theteacherintroducesthetopicandfamiliarizesstudentswith
situations/lexicalareas/texts(readingandlistening)).Thisdrawsthestudentsintothetopic
andbringsuplanguagethatmaybeuseful.Theteacherthenexplainswhatthetaskisand
setsuptheactivity.
Stage2:Studentsperformthetaskinpairsorgroups.Theymaythenpresenttheir
findings/conclusionstotherestoftheclass.Inthisstage,mistakesarenotimportantthe
teacherprovidessupportandmonitors.Thelearnersfocusoncommunication,perhapsatthe
expenseofaccuracy,butthiswillbedealtwithinthenextstage.
Stage3:Theteacherworksonspecificlanguagepointswhichcomeupinstage2.(Duringthe
monitoringstage,mostteachersmakenotesofcommonerrorsandstudentsparticular
learningneeds).Studentsreflectonthelanguageneededtocompletethetaskandhowwell
theydid.Thisistheiropportunitytoconcentrateonaccuracyandmakesuretheyresolveany
doubtsorproblemstheyhad.
Taskscanbeassimpleasputtingalistofanimalsinorderfromfastesttoslowestandthen
tryingtoagreewithapartneronthecorrectorder.Oritcouldbesomethingmorecomplicated
likeasurveytofindoutwhichpartsoftownyourclassmatesliveinandhowtheygettoschool,
endinginvisualinformationpresentedintheformofpiechartsandmaps.Oritcouldbe
somethingreallycomplicatedlikearoleplayinvolvingameetingintheTownHallofthe
differentpeopleaffectedbyanewshoppingcentredevelopmentandtheconsequentdemolition
ofayouthcentreandoldpeopleshome.Whateverthetask,itshouldalwayshavesomekindof
completionandthiscompletionshouldbecentraltotheclassthelanguageresulting
naturallyfromthetaskandnottheotherwayround.
TheadvantageofTBLovermoretraditionalmethodsisthatitallowsstudentstofocusonreal
communicationbeforedoinganyseriouslanguageanalysis.Itfocusesonstudentsneedsby
puttingthemintoauthenticcommunicativesituationsandallowingthemtousealltheir
languageresourcestodealwiththem.Thisdrawsthelearnersattentiontowhattheyknow
howtodo,whattheydontknowhowtodo,andwhattheyonlyhalfknow.Itmakeslearners
awareoftheirneedsandencouragesthemtotake(someofthe)responsibilityfortheirown
learning.TBLisgoodformixedabilityclassesataskcanbecompletedsuccessfullybya
weakerorstrongerstudentwithmoreorlessaccuracyinlanguageproduction.Theimportant
thingisthatbothlearnershavehadthesamecommunicativeexperienceandarenowawareof
theirownindividuallearningneeds.
Anotheradvantageofthisapproachisthatlearnersareexposedtoawidevarietyoflanguage
andnotjustgrammar.Collocations,lexicalphrasesandexpressions,chunksoflanguage,
thingsthatoftenescapetheconstraintsofthetraditionalsyllabuscomeupnaturallyintask
basedlessons.Butthiscanalsobeadisadvantage.OneofthecriticismsofTBListhis
randomness.Itdoesntoftenfitinwiththecoursebook/syllabus,whichtendstopresent
languageinneatpackages.Someteachers(andlearners)alsofindthemoveawayfroman
explicitlanguagefocusdifficultandanarchistic.Manyteachersalsoagreethatitisnotthebest
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methodtousewithbeginners,sincetheyhaveveryfewlanguageresourcestodrawontobe
abletocompletemeaningfultaskssuccessfully.
WhatisProjectBasedLearning(PBL)
ThePBLapproachtakeslearnercentrednesstoahigherlevel.ItsharesmanyaspectswithTBL,
butifanything,itisevenmoreambitious.WhereasTBLmakesataskthecentralfocusofa
lesson,PBLoftenmakesataskthefocusofawholetermoracademicyear.
Again,aswithTBL,differentteachersapproachprojectworkindifferentways.Someuseitas
thebasisforawholeyearsworkothersdedicateacertainamountoftimealongsidethe
syllabus.Someuseprojectsonlyonshortcoursesorintensives.Otherstrytogettheirschools
tobasetheirwholecurriculumsonit.Buttherearegenerallyconsideredtobefourelements
whicharecommontoallprojectbasedactivities/classes/courses:
1.Acentraltopicfromwhichalltheactivitiesderiveandwhichdrivestheprojecttowardsa
finalobjective.
2.Accesstomeansofinvestigation(theInternethasmadethispartofprojectworkmuch
easier)tocollect,analyseanduseinformation.
3.Plentyofopportunitiesforsharingideas,collaboratingandcommunicating.Interactionwith
otherlearnersisfundamentaltoPBL.
4.Afinalproduct(oftenproducedusingnewtechnologiesavailabletous)intheformof
posters,presentations,reports,videos,webpages,blogsandsoon.

TheroleoftheteacherandthelearnerinthePBLapproachisverysimilartotheTBLapproach.
Learnersaregivenfreedomtogoaboutsolvingproblemsorsharinginformationintheway
theyseefit.Theteachersroleismonitorandfacilitator,settingupframeworksfor
communication,providingaccesstoinformationandhelpingwithlanguagewherenecessary,
andgivingstudentsopportunitiestoproduceafinalproductorpresentation.AswithTBL,the
teachermonitorsinteractionbutdoesntinterrupt,dealingwithlanguageproblemsatanother
moment.
TheadvantagesanddisadvantagesofPBLaresimilartothoseofTBL,buttheobvious
attractionofprojectbasedlearningisthemotivatingelement,especiallyforyoungerlearners.
Projectsbringreallifeintotheclassroominsteadoflearningabouthowplantsgrow(andall
thelanguagethatgoeswithit),youactuallygrowtheplantandseeforyourself.Itbringsfacts
tolife.TheAmericaneducationaltheoristJohnDeweywroteeducationisnotapreparationfor
lifeeducationislifeitself.Projectworkallowslifeitselftoformpartoftheclassroomand
provideshundredsofopportunitiesforlearning.Apartfromthefunelement,projectwork
involvesreallifecommunicativesituations,(analyzing,deciding,editing,rejecting,organizing,
delegating)andofteninvolvesmultidisciplinaryskillswhichcanbebroughtfromother
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subjects.Allinall,itpromotesahigherlevelofthinkingthanjustlearningvocabularyand
structures.
Conclusion
BothTBLandPBLfocusprimarilyontheachievementofrealisticobjectives,andthenonthe
languagethatisneededtoachievethoseobjectives.Theybothtreatlanguageasan
instrumenttocompleteagivenobjectiveratherthananisolatedgrammarpointorlexicalset
tolearnandpractise.Theygiveplentyofopportunityforcommunicationinauthenticcontexts
andgivethelearnerfreedomtousethelinguisticresourceshe/shehas,andthenreflecton
whattheylearnedorneedtolearn.Finally,asEFLteachersareeclecticbynature,teachers
oftenuseacombinationofTBL,PBLandtraditionaltechniquessuchasPPP.Someteachersuse
TBLandPBLasasmallpartofamoreconventionalapproachandmanyteacherson100%
TBL/PBLcoursesresorttoPPtypeactivitieswhendealingwithgrammarorvocabulary
problems.Asalways,theimportantthingistousewhatworksbestforyouandyourlearners.
KatherineBilsborough

Tags
Methodology

Comments
ebriceno

repliedon24July,201316:47PERMALINK

TBLAPPROACH

Greatarticle.IdpersonallyliketoseealessonplaninwhcihtheTBLisusedsoIcould
learnhowtoapplyitthebest.PleaseletmeknowifthereexistssuchathingsoIcould
utilizeitformyeducation.
Thanks

PaulBraddock

repliedon25July,201309:20PERMALINK

TBLAPPROACH

Hiebricinothanksforthecomment.Youcanfindataskbasedactivity
here:http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/activities/taskbasedspeaking
Thanks
Paul

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maragent

repliedon29July,201319:16PERMALINK

TBL

Iagreecompletely.IwouldliketopilotaTBLclassthisupcomingsemester,sinceI
willhaveintermediateandupperintermediatestudents.Iwouldlovetoseea
lessonplanorsomesortofsyllabusthatcouldmakeitclearer.Thanks!

AnthonyAsh

repliedon25July,201317:35PERMALINK

GOODBUT...

IloveTBLandPBLandIwasimplementingTBLlessonsduringmyCELTAcourse2years
agoandIhaveusedbotheversincewhereappropriate.Ihavealsousedmanyother
lessonformatsincludingTTT,PPPandguideddiscovery.Ithinkamixofallonacourse
isbeneficialnotonlytothefactthatitbringsvarietytothecoursebutalsoitoffers
learnersofdifferentlearningnatures/stylestohaveanexperienceofabitofeverything.
ThisarticleisgreatandIamgoingtotweetitnow.However,somethingIwashopingto
findbutdidn'twassomeconcentrateexamplesoftopicsandlessonsdeliveredusing
TBL,butthenagainIsupposethatwasn'tthepurposeofthearticle.
Checkoutthetweetat@ashowski

amirdequan

repliedon25July,201322:04PERMALINK

TBLT&PBL

Ireallylikedthearticlethanksabunch

nabilalahreche

repliedon25July,201323:55PERMALINK

TBL/PBL

Beforethearticle,Iwasabitconfusedbetweenthetwoapproaches,butnowthingsare
clearforme.
Thanksalot

O.kalantar

repliedon26July,201307:53PERMALINK

GREATARTICLE.BUTONEOFTHE

Greatarticle.Butoneoftheproblemsifindinperformingthesemethodsisthatthey're
extremelytimetakingspeciallyinlargeclasses.Ioftenfindmystudentsmotivatedto
presenttheirtaskbutneverhavehadenoughtimetospendonbothtaskpresentation
andcovermycoursebook.

GustavoHernndez

repliedon5July,201420:28PERMALINK

ADAPT

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mostofbookshaveineverylessonacompetencethesthouldbeabletodo.You
canadaptthecontentandplanatblclassbasedonit.tblclassesareindeedtime
consumingbutitrylybelieveitisanexcellentwaythestscanusethelanguage
theyneedandaskforthelanguagetheywant.
Ithinkbookscanhelpfornewteacherswhileforanexperiencedteachertheymay
boreexperiencedteachers.Ithinkteachersarenotjusttecahers,weneedtoguide
stsandtheproblemwithabookisthateveryonecanreadandfollowthe
instructionsthere.That'swhyImentionedbeforetoadapt.thebookisonlya
resourceandwehavemanyresourceseverywhere.

KhairunBC

repliedon26July,201323:35PERMALINK

ITHINKBOTHMETHODSWORK

Ithinkbothmethodsworkparticularlywellwithstudentswhohavestudiedtogether
overaperiodoftimeandgetonwellbothinandoutoftheclassroomenvironment.This
iswhatihavenoticedfrommyexperience,althoughIhadneverknowniwasapplying
TBLorPBLtomylessonplanning!I'verecentlycompletedmyCELTAandallofthese
differentmethodologiesarefairlynewtome.

farahAshraf

repliedon27July,201312:23PERMALINK

ARTICLEONTBLANDPBL

Thearticlewasenrichinganddeliveredjusttherightamountofcontentthatany
professionalEnglishteacherwouldneed.Ifurtherplantousethisapproachandconstruct
activitiesforteachingundergraduatesoralcommunicationsskills.CouldIrequestyouif
icouldsendyouacopyofmyplanforsomeadvice.

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