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4D - The Implementation of a Task-Based Spanish-Language Program in Qingdao, China

A Case Study

from Part II - Tasks and Needs Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Melissa Baralt ,
Wang Fei ,
Zhanting Bu ,
Hao Chen ,
José Morcillo Gómez  and
Xunye Luan
Edited by
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian  and
Michael H. Long
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Michael H. Long
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
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Summary

While a significant amount of literature has been published on the theoretical and empirical basis of task-based language teaching (TBLT) as an educational framework for teaching second and foreign languages, few studies have described entire task-based programs. This chapter reports on a case study in which we describe the inception, design, implementation and evaluation of a task-based, Spanish foreign language program at Qingdao University in China. The program is the result of an international partnership between an American university and a Chinese university, whereby Chinese students receive a dual degree in Spanish as a foreign language. A detailed needs analysis was conducted and informed the design of the program, which includes the application process, tasks, and several community-based initiatives. We also report on how we do teacher-training and professional development collaboration, our challenges, and how we have worked to overcome those challenges. All in all, teacher and student satisfaction, student job placement, and community engagement indicate that the program is meeting students’ real-world needs for Spanish and is serving the Qingdao community. We conclude by discussing implications for implementing a fully task-based program in China, the nation’s first university-level TBLT program for Spanish foreign language learning and teaching.

Keywords

ChinaSpanishL3needs analysistask-based evaluationteacher-training
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching , pp. 135 - 150
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further reading

Baralt, M. and López-Bravo, M. (2016). Teaching Chinese as a foreign language: A classroom study on the timing of grammar around a task. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 5, 27–61.Google Scholar
East, M. (2012). Task-based learning from the teachers’ perspective. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonough, K. and Chaitmongkol, W. (2007). Teachers’ and learners’ reactions to a task-based EFL course in Thailand. TESOL Quarterly, 41(1), 107–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orton, J. (2011). Educating Chinese language teachers: Some fundamentals. In Tsung, L. and Cruickshank, K., eds. Teaching and learning Chinese in global contexts. London: Continuum, 151–64.Google Scholar
Zheng, X. and Borg, S. (2014). Task-based learning and teaching in China: Secondary school teachers’ beliefs and practices. Language Teaching Research, 18, 205–21.Google Scholar
Zhang, E. Y. (2007). TBLT-innovation in primary school English language teaching in mainland China. In Van den Branden, K., Van Gorp, K., and Verhelst, M., eds. Tasks in action: Education from a classroom-based perspective. Newcastle: Cambridge University Press, pp. 68–91.Google Scholar

References

Baralt, M. (2018). Becoming a task-based teacher educator. TBLT as a researched pedagogy. Samuda, V. Van den Branden, K., and Bygate, M., eds. TBLT as a Researched Pedagogy. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Baralt, M., Gilabert, R., and Robinson, P. (2014). Task sequencing and instructed second language learning. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Baralt, M. and López-Bravo, M. (2016). Teaching Chinese as a foreign language: A classroom study on the timing of grammar around a task. Chinese as a Second Language Research, 5, 27–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bygate, M., Samuda, V., and Van den Branden, K., (2018), eds. Task-based Language Teaching as a researched pedagogy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Carless, D. (2004). Issues in teachers’ reinterpretation of a task-based innovation in primary schools. TESOL Quarterly, 38(4), 639–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Zheng, X. and Borg, S. (2014). Task-based learning and teaching in China:Secondary school teachers’ beliefs and practices. Language Teaching Research, 18, 205–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, E. Y. (2007). TBLT-innovation in primary school English language teaching in mainland China. In Van den Branden, K., Van Gorp, K., and Verhelst, M., eds. Tasks in action: Education from a classroom-based perspective. Newcastle: Cambridge University Press, pp. 68–91.Google Scholar
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