Researching Pedagogic Tasks

Researching Pedagogic Tasks brings together a series of empirical studies into the use of pedagogical tasks for second language learning, with a view to better understanding the structure of tasks, their impact on students, and their use by teachers. The volume starts with an introduction to the background and key issues in the topic area and is then organised into three sections:

• the first section focuses on the language and learning of students on tasks
• the second on the use of tasks in the language classroom
• the third on the use of tasks for language testing

Each section begins with a succinct section introduction, and the volume concludes with an afterword relating the theme of the volume to issues in curriculum development. The chapters include both experimental and qualitative approaches to the topic, some providing original accounts of specific studies, others offering overviews of linked series of studies.

Martin Bygate is a Senior Lecturer in TESOL at the School of Education, University of Leeds. He has written extensively in the past, including the volumes Speaking (1987) and Grammar and the Language Classroom (1994). Peter Skehan is Professor of Applied Linguistics in the School of Education, King's College, London. His previous publications are in the areas of individual differences in second language learning, second language acquisition, and language testing.
Merrill Swain is a Professor in the Second Language Education Program of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. She is a Past President of the American Association for Applied
Linguistics, and is currently a Vice-President of the International Association of Applied Linguistics.