If you’ve studied a new language, you probably remember the moment you learned certain words. For me, it was a day about 20 years ago when I learned the difference between wallet and highway in Spanish.

At a bus station in Oaxaca, Mexico, the ticket counter agent explained that my bus was behind schedule and recommended not travelling that day due to something about my wallet, or so I thought. If I’d had a teacher or the right dictionary along, my mistaken assumption would’ve been clear right then.

In route on the bus I discovered that the whole highway was detoured onto rural dirt roads for much of the way, which meant arriving at my destination a good four hours later than expected.

The agent had been offering valuable advice about the highway (carretara) not about my wallet (cartera) — although that was affected since getting to town late prevented me from scoping out the best deal on a hotel room.

Supported real-world rehearsal

One idea behind task-based learning is to simulate the kind of real-world experience that comes with travel — in the classroom.

Instead of giving students an exercise, list of vocabulary or a grammatical structure to memorize and rehearse, teachers give them a situation to enact or a task to complete.

Some common examples are working in groups to plan a party or a road trip. Potential tasks can connect with a current theme, literature, holidays or seasons, current events, a project or student interest area.

Interestingly, the exercise can illicit feelings of anxiety, nervousness and excitement that often accompany using the new language in a real situation, without risk of ending up without a hotel room for the night. Such emotions aren’t necessarily negative as they can serve to heighten students’ engagement with the task.

Student-centered, teacher-structured

Because students aren’t memorizing and reciting words that come from the teacher or the textbook, they have a chance to choose language that’s relevant to the situation and how they prefer to express themselves.

Here, they can bring their own unique voice to the table and learn from each other, which gives students the opportunity to learn a wider variety of language.

Taking on a coaching role during the task activity, teachers circle around the classroom observing and when necessary encouraging participants to reach for vocabulary already studied or to look up words. They can also offer new phrases and lexis.

In multi-level classes, it’s helpful to remind well-meaning students who are eager jump in with all the vocabulary to pause and give their peers a moment to gather thoughts and make an effort to respond.

Teachers also bring structure to the lesson which begins with pre-task activities. This involves introducing the task and organizing the group, along with having students brainstorm vocabulary that is likely to be used.

In a formal task-based lesson the next step, actually performing the task, is followed by four other stages which are planning, reporting, analysis and practice—detailed on the British Council Teaching English site.

Presenting a video or listening track of others doing the task is suggested during the pre-task stage. Usually I prefer having students explore the task without a model. Yet having a prior example may help students who are completely accustomed to teacher-led lessons overcome inhibitions.

It is also possible to present the example after the students share their experience with the group during the reporting stage of the lesson so it can be analyzed along with the students’ outcomes.

Greater retention and authenticity

When students feel connected to the situation and the language they are using they tend to better retain what they learn. If they are searching for a word or phrase then either figure it out or eventually have it provided, it is memorable and will stick in their minds.

Because they aren’t parroting words which often can mean going on automatic pilot, they’re more likely to engage emotionally with their experience. They feel autonomous so they invest themselves more fully in the production of the language and in the interaction with their classmates—in essence living the experience with their senses activated.

In addition, reproducing set language can sound unnatural and robotic. A natural conversation between L1 speakers, usually doesn’t sound smooth and flawless. Hesitation and using fillers while searching for the right word and self-correction are perfectly normal.

Taking the time to practice the task at the end of the lesson will help eliminate excessive hesitation and more importantly build confidence in using new phrases and lexis acquired.

Lends itself to cross-curricular activities

Using English, you can cook, conduct science experiments, do math problems, create art, compose music, perform skits, play sports and do anthropologic field work.

My preschool students have made butter in a jar as a delicious task-based activity. I’ve had high-school students with much more language under their belts do more elaborate tasks such as create their own reality TV show and architectural house tours videos.

The possibilities with task-based lessons are infinite. This means you can easily plug in an activity based on any curricular area that you want to focus on. Students learn first-hand that their English skills are not only for producing the correct answers on worksheets and exams but relevant to whatever interests them in life.

To top it off, they really get a kick out of doing these lessons.