Dr. Lara Bryfonski to give talk and interactive workshop on task-based language teaching

The Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages & Literatures and the University Park Allocation Committee will co-sponsor an invited talk and interactive workshop by Dr. Lara Bryfonski (Georgetown University) on task-based language teaching. Light refreshments will be served.  RSVP here!

Invited Talk: Task-Based Language Teaching: Current Trends and Future Directions

Friday, March 20, 2020
3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
167 Willard Building

The talk will explore some of the foundational theories of TBLTand highlight current trends and challenges. The talk will begin with an introduction to the various frameworks proposed for organizing task-based education and an overview of the main components of a TBLTprogram. Next, Dr. Bryfonski will present on recent research investigating the role of teachers and teacher training in the TBLT implementation process, including the results of recent program-level implementations and meta analytic findings. The talk will end with a discussion of the challenges in translating TBLT research findings to diverse pedagogical contexts.

Interactive Workshop: Task-Based Language Teaching

Saturday, March 21, 2020
9:30 a.m. – Noon
167 Willard Building

While traditional approaches to language instruction organize syllabi and curricula around grammar points, task-based language teaching (TBLT) utilizes authentic tasks driven by the needs of the learners, and resulting linguistic forms, as the units of instruction (Long, 1985, 2015). The aim of TBLT pedagogy is to provide students with the linguistic skills they need to engage in meaningful interactions outside the classroom. This hands-on, interactive workshop is designed to provide language teachers and researchers at Penn State the opportunity to apply concepts from TBLT to their own teaching or research domains.