Interpretations of Task-Based Language Teaching following an Inset Course: A Case Study

In 2010, a new curricular reform of English as a foreign language, based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the Communicative Language Teaching Approach, was established in Ecuador. Task-based language teaching, which aligned with previous approaches, can be applied to reach the new curricular objectives. In this regard, between 2011 and 2012, a number of public high school English teachers in Cuenca attended a one-year in-service training program (INSET). This program was based on the use of communicative strategies and the task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach for teaching English as a foreign language. The main objective of this qualitative research study, conducted from 2014 to 2015, was to determine whether the participants applied communicative strategies within TBLT after the training program. Classroom observations and semi-structured interviews were administered to twelve out of the twenty-three participants. Although the results of the study showed an increase in the use of communicative strategies by the participants after the training program, only a small number of teachers used the TBLT approach appropriately. Others employed the presentation-practice-production (PPP) approach. Nevertheless, some teachers who used PPP perceived that they were, actually, using the TBLT approach.