Examining teachers’ evaluations of task characteristics

Abstract Though teachers have been shown to be widely influential in effective task-based initiatives (e.g., Van den Branden, 2016 ), research on teachers and task-based language teaching (TBLT) has primarily explored how teachers develop or adapt tasks for use in their own contexts during professional development workshops or pre-service teacher programs (e.g., Erlam, 2016 ; Gurzynski-Weiss et al., 2024 ). In comparison, how teachers perceive the strengths and limitations of task characteristics has been less commonly examined. To address this gap, this multi-site study utilizes a mixed-methods design to examine teacher insights about the defining qualities of language learning activities. Two cohorts of pre- and in-service language educators ( N = 40) teaching five different target languages were recruited from task-based teacher education programs in the United States and Japan. After learning about key characteristics of tasks ( Ellis & Shintani, 2013 ; Long, 1985 ; Skehan, 1996 ; Willis & Willis, 1996 ), teachers evaluated the quality of a series of sample language learning activities. Teachers then participated in a post-evaluation interview about their ratings. Results reveal how teachers differentiate the characteristics and quality of tasks and highlight the factors influencing their ratings. The study contributes to ongoing efforts to bridge the divide between research and practice within TBLT initiatives, providing insights into teachers’ decision making. Implications for task-based teacher education, such as how constructs like the definition of ‘task’ could be better articulated when working with teachers, are also discussed.