“Black children are gifted at learning languages – that’s why I could do TBLT”: inclusive Blackness as a pathway for TBLT innovation

Abstract This paper presents a case study of a Black Spanish-language teacher and her 4th-grade students using Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) six years after a teacher-training program. We describe the program and the teacher’s understanding of tasks and TBLT. Using a bottom-up approach, we then explore the teacher and students’ implementation of TBLT six years later in a socioeconomically resilient 4th-grade classroom in Miami, Florida, where 95 % of the students are Black. Task-as-process was assessed with classroom observations, handouts, task outcomes, and interviews. Findings revealed that the teacher continued using TBLT, highlighting both its opportunities and challenges. Opportunities were driven by her beliefs, reliance on “Black students’ linguistic gifts,” and access to sample tasks. Challenges included time constraints, COVID-related logistics, and professional loneliness. Her innovative TBLT implementation was influenced by shared cultural artifacts considered “fun” to incorporate. Using Love’s framework of abolitionist teaching, we explore how the teacher and students resisted ideologies of culturelessness through Black cultural unity. Six years post-training, the teacher’s use of tasks and students’ success in TBLT were mediated by their shared Blackness. We conclude by arguing for more world language studies focusing on Black teachers and young learners as innovators in TBLT.