Topic-authentication with narratives as a teaching technique: Creating a context for task-based EFL teaching in Japan

Although task-based language teaching (TBLT) has long been the approach of choice for many second- and foreign-language educators, researchers have continued to examine ways to enhance student task engagement in that setting. This study employs multimodal conversation analysis (MCA) to explore one such strategy: the incorporation of an experiential narrative as a “topic-authentication” practice in TBLT classrooms. We first focus on the significance of inserting a task preliminary in the pre-task segment, followed by the use of topic authentication as a task preliminary—a practice in which the teacher shares a question, account, or narrative relevant to the topic of the task prior to initiating it. Our particular emphasis is on instructors’ provision of experiential narratives as topic authentication. By collecting 58.5 h of videotaped data from EFL classes and English-teacher training courses at Japanese universities, our objective of this study is to uncover whether topic-authenticating narratives used as task preliminaries can (a) elicit students’ interest and motivation in the task; (b) facilitate topic accessibility between students and the topic, furthering their comprehension and sparking connections to their own lives; and, (c) increase students’ focused engagement in the task. Closely analyzing the naturally-occurring, multimodal phenomena in real-life classrooms, we seek to answer if a topic-authenticating narrative can be an effective practice for task-based language classes, fostering students’ deeper and more active involvement—notably, among students who tend to participate less actively in class discussions.