This chapter reviews the arguments that support the use of task as a unit of analysis for second language education. The chapter first considers the origin of the idea of tasks in education, surveys the definition of a task in the task-based language teaching (TBLT) literature, and summarizes the roles played by tasks in TBLT. It then articulates why the use of tasks makes sense from the perspectives of (a) TBLT as a researched pedagogy, (b) motivation and engagement, (c) assessment, and (d) program design.

A transformative approach to language education calls for an expanded understanding of curriculum and program design that leverages potential learning environments both in and outside the classroom - in academic, residential, and social settings - to support language and culture learning. This chapter provides an overview of curricular and co-curricular learning environments designed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Russian Flagship that offer affordances for transformative language and culture learning for its students. Elements of the program's design that facilitate transformative learning include: (1) positioning students as independent language learners striving to meet programmatic and personal goals; (2) providing a continuum of opportunities for language and culture learning in formal instructional environments, individual and small-group tutorials, and residential and social contexts in which students engage in meaningful interactions in Russian with various interlocutors, reflecting the concept of open architecture design for learning; and (3) offering spaces for reflection in supportive, low-stakes environments, potentially leading to transformative change.