This site contains the famous task-based learning course from the language education experts Jane and Dave Willis. The goal of this site is to make this highly effective and engaging language course available to everyone.

Each unit contains communicative tasks for learners to do and recordings of the same tasks done by fluent speakers for learners to hear.  The task transcripts (spontaneous spoken language written down) are used later for language study.  Guided by a variety of form-focussed exercises, learners analyse and then practise typical features of spoken interactions and written texts that they have heard or read during the task cycle.   

In the task cycle (Task – Planning – Report),   the task gives learners chances to speak freely and spontaneously, in the planning stage they improve and extend their language before reporting their findings to other learners.  Teachers can help learners with their emergent language at the planning stage, then after discussing their reports, they move on to more detailed study of the language occurring in the tasks.   Learners’ talk is meaning-focused throughout, when doing tasks and when talking about language.  

These materials reduce the TBL teacher’s workload in two ways:  the task recordings and transcripts are a time-saving resource, (learners love them and can use them on their own) and the range of language exercises encourage deeper processing of the most frequent words, phrases and grammar patterns of spoken and written English in a systematic way. 

Jane Willis

To register please contact TBL administrator at moser@kanto-gakuin.ac.jp 

Without registering, you can access the 'maps' (see below) for each course level which lists detailed information for each unit on: Tasks and Topics, Texts and Features, Writing, Reading and Referencing Skills,  Social Language, Verbs/Tenses, Clause Patterns, Noun Phrases, Pronouns, Adjectives, Prepositions, Adverbial phrases, Sounds Intonation and Stress, Spoken and Written Discourse, Stories, Features, Games.