TESOL Practitioners’ Perceptions of Using ChatGPT to Design Communicative Tasks for Task-based Language Teaching

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is increasingly advocated in a range of contexts across the globe as an effective learner-centred and experiential alternative to more traditional teacher-led and instructivist approaches. However, its implementation in classrooms has not always been straightforward. In practice, teachers often struggle not only with understanding what a task is for the purposes of TBLT but also with how tasks fit into the broader learner-centred and experiential pedagogical approach that informs TBLT. Additionally, time constraints and workload pressures have been identified as significant barriers to effective TBLT implementation. In the context of teacher education, this paper considers to what extent ChatGPT as an open access generative artificial intelligence application can support TESOL practitioners with not only generating tasks that are appropriately aligned to TBLT theory but also streamlining the lesson and resource planning and preparation process. The present study investigated what 39 participants in a dedicated postgraduate course focused on TBLT thought of using ChatGPT to design a task, with associated pre-task and post-task activities, for potential classroom use. It draws on data from individual reflective presentations given at the end of the course. Six themes were constructed from a reflexive thematic analysis – three benefits and three limitations of using ChatGPT for task creation purposes. In light of perceived advantages and disadvantages, participants saw using ChatGPT for task generation as a ‘yes … but’ proposition. The findings raise key issues for teachers and teacher educators to be mindful of when using tools like ChatGPT to design tasks.