In the previous section of this book I focused on research that has investigated tasks and task-based teaching. At the same time, however, I also addressed a number of pedagogic issues. In fact, all but the last of the chapters dealt with some aspects of task-based pedagogy – input-based tasks, focus-on-form, how to prepare learners to perform a task, and the role of explicit knowledge. My concern was what research has shown us about these issues. These issues will also fi gure in this section of the book. However, my focus has now shifted to pedagogical concerns although I will from time to time also refer to research. So the previous section and this section should be seen as two sides of the same coin with the emphasis on research or on pedagogy.

I start this section with a chapter where I address some common misconceptions about task-based teaching. Because TBLT is in many ways a quite radical approach it is not surprising that it has met with resistance from conservative forces. The critics are invariably those who wish to protect ‘traditional’ language teaching (i.e. teaching that itemizes the objects to be taught through presentation and practice). Tasks have a role in such teaching, of course, but only to provide a communicative fl avour to an approach that emphasizes accuracy over fl uency. A major problem with the criticisms that have been levelled at TBLT is the failure to recognize that TBLT is not monolithic but in fact is quite varied – it is an ‘approach’, not a ‘method’. Another problem is the woeful lack of knowledge (or understanding) of the theory and research that underpins TBLT.