This volume provides in-depth coverage of what is actually meant by task-based instruction (TBI) through a large range of case studies carried out in government schools, private schools, universities, and Web-based programs. Although this book is useful for teachers and administrators who implement such programs in their curricula, it is also useful for preservice teachers, instructors, and publishers trying to integrate and comprehend TBI more extensively.

Part 1 begins with a very thorough description of TBI as it exists today and its emergence as a form of communicative language teaching. The varied definitions of a task are extremely interesting because they show that there are different interpretations of what tasks are when we look at them in practice. Discussions about typologies of tasks and the parameters of task design enhance our understanding of tasks. The final chapters go into syllabus design, testing, and task cycle (pretask, maintask, and posttask). Within the chapters and in the appendixes, concrete examples demonstrate the feasibility of TBI in the classroom.

From the more theoretical, historical perspectives in Part 1, we come to success stories and analyses of curriculum design in Part 2, “TBI in classroom instruction.” Model programs in Slavic languages in the United States, Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese at American universities, English in Brazil, and Spanish and French for professionals all demonstrate the commitment of staff and students to the success of their TBI programs. Challenges involved in the training and commitment of the staff as well as the trials and tribulations of getting programs off the ground give us insight into how TBI curricula can be integrated in part or as a whole with various interest groups. Most programs used a TBI approach with complete or false beginners, which shows that TBI is indeed possible from the beginning.

Part 3 addresses Internet tasks and programs. The first chapter, “TBI in online learning,” discusses instructional design (types and levels of interaction) and meaningful online tasks used to develop online reading comprehension materials and skills-integrated courses in several languages. The second chapter, about webhead communities, discusses the use of computer mediated communication tools in constructivist and task-based ways to enhance language learning. The essence of these virtual communities is the support and mutual interest that foster language learning. These studies pioneer what many other organizations that use e-learning are striving toward.

The first example of Part 4, “Assessment and teacher development,” shows how the discrepancy between the way students are taught (here through TBI) and the way that they are tested (through a more traditional approach) is slowly becoming less of an issue as steps are taken that tend toward a TBI means of testing. Although not yet pure TBI, the analysis of the steps taken, especially of the different characteristics (setting, rubric, input, expected response, and input and response), sheds light on what a TBI framework of assessment actually means. The final chapter, “Teacher development in an EFL program,” reveals the importance of thorough and obligatory teacher training when initiating a new course design, which is essential in the overall success and reputation of the program. Although the challenge is always in encouraging those who embrace and implement new ideas easily while supporting those who have difficulty in grasping an approach that they are not yet comfortable with, the importance of not only collaboration and classroom observation but also good, constructive education through old-fashioned input is stressed (p. 295).

This book does, indeed, cover some of the hot topics in TBI, such as whether it can actually work with complete beginners and how the need for some form-focused instruction, often left out in earlier research, is satisfied. Although some chapters offer some stunning statements, there is something to be learned from every example. More importantly, the book discusses the eternal question of how to get instructors familiar with and able to practice TBI, a real paradigm change for many. What would still be worth investigating, however, are other age groups, such as young learners, and how effective TBI is at the very beginning of foreign language learning with a population of young learners. That said, this volume is valuable for enhancing our understanding of tasks and how they differ from more traditional communicative language teaching activities. Although the authors state that this book is geared toward adult professional learners, the designs shown and the ideas put forth could easily be transferred to both young learners and adolescents.