The course has been canceled.

This seminar will be conducted by 3-hour online Zoom sessions for four days: Saturday, May 14, Sunday, May 15, Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22 from 10:00 to 13:00 (JST). Students taking this seminar for credit must attend all four days. Students can add/drop this seminar course by 14:00 on Saturday, May 14.

The pre sign-up (or course registration for those who are taking this seminar for credit) is required for anybody attending the public session on Saturday, May 14 from 10:00 to 13:00. The sign-up process must be completed through "Distinguished Lecturer Series Seminar Sign-Up Form" that is available on TUJ Grad Ed website. The sign-up deadline is Friday, May 13 at 12:00. The public session Zoom link will be provided to those people who completed the online sign-up (or course registration) process by18:00 on Friday, May 13.

Research investigating task-based language teaching (TBLT) has grown during the past few decades, with findings demonstrating the efficacy of this pedagogical framework for second language (L2) learning and development (e.g. see Chong & Reinders, 2020; Keck et al., 2006; Mackey & Goo, 2007 for reviews). Grounded in the interaction approach to SLA (Mackey, 2020), which posits that language learning occurs during conversational interaction through negotiation for meaning, corrective feedback, and opportunities for noticing and modified output production, TBLT can provide learners with an ideal psycholinguistic environment facilitative of L2 learning.

Beginning with an overview of the theoretical foundations of TBLT, this seminar will introduce participants to various practical and empirical issues in task-based learning and teaching, including key components of task-based program design. Research findings on task features, including complexity and sequencing, and how these might be applied to the L2 classroom, will also be discussed. This seminar will then explore the role of technology in task-based contexts, including the affordances offered by different modalities, and the practical classroom considerations associated with the implementation of technology-mediated tasks. Next, participants will be guided through a hands-on workshop to adapt and create task-based materials for teaching or assessing student development and performance. Directions for future research will also be addressed.