What counts as a task
In TBLT terms, a task has four essential features. Miss any one and it becomes an exercise rather than a task.
1. A primary focus on meaning. Students are focused on what they're communicating, not how they're communicating it. Grammar and vocabulary are tools, not goals. If the primary focus shifts to form - even briefly, even for correction - the activity has stopped being a task.
2. A gap to bridge. Something is unknown that needs to be discovered. An information gap (one student has information the other needs), an opinion gap (students genuinely hold different views), or a reasoning gap (students must reach a conclusion through logical argument). Without a gap, there is nothing to communicate.
3. Real-world relevance. The task should mirror something students might genuinely do in English outside the classroom. Planning a route, resolving a conflict, making a decision, giving advice. Not describing pictures or filling in blanks.
4. An outcome that can be evaluated. Did they solve the problem? Did they reach an agreement? Did they complete the map? A task has a measurable endpoint. A discussion question has none - which is why discussion questions are not tasks.
By this definition, "discuss your opinion of social media" is not a task. "Decide which of these three social media policies your company should adopt, and be ready to present your decision with reasons" is a task.
The three-stage TBLT framework
Willis (1996) outlined the most practically useful TBLT framework for classroom teachers: pre-task, task cycle, and language focus.
Pre-task (5 minutes)
Introduce the topic and the task. Crucially, this is not a vocabulary lesson or a grammar review. It's contextualisation. What is the situation? Who are the people involved? What do they need to decide or discover?
You can include a brief example of the task - model the output, not the language. "Here's what a completed version might look like" rather than "here are the phrases you'll need."
Brief preparation time (two to three minutes) significantly improves task performance, especially for lower-level students. Students who can gather their thoughts before starting produce more complex language during the task.
Task cycle (15-20 minutes)
Students complete the task in pairs or small groups. This is the core of the lesson and should take the most time.
During the task: You circulate and observe. You do not interrupt. You note language that arises - both successful communication and gaps. You are collecting data for the language focus stage.
After the task: Students report their outcome. Not a long presentation - just the result. "We decided..." / "We found that..." / "Our advice is..." This reporting phase produces a second round of language production.
Tool tip: YapYapGo provides the structured pair interaction that is the engine of the task cycle. Pair students automatically, deliver levelled questions or prompts, and manage timing - so the task runs without logistical intervention from you. A visible activity timer marks the task phase clearly without requiring you to signal the end.
Language focus (10 minutes)
This is where TBLT differs most from traditional CLT. The language focus comes after the task, not before. Students have now encountered the language they needed (and the gaps in what they had). The language focus addresses those specific gaps.
Ask students: "What language did you find difficult to express?" Note what you observed while circulating. Then teach to those specific gaps.
This is reactive teaching: you address what actually came up during authentic communication rather than pre-teaching what you predict students might need. The research shows this produces significantly better retention - students who encounter a language gap during a meaningful task and then receive focused instruction on it retain the structure far better than students who are pre-taught the same structure.
