- Task
The students complete a task in pairs or groups using the language resources that they have as the teacher monitors and offers encouragement.

- Planning
Students prepare a short oral or written report to tell the class what happened during their task. They then practise what they are going to say in their groups. Meanwhile the teacher is available for the students to ask for advice to clear up any language questions they may have.

- Report
Students then report back to the class orally or read the written report. The teacher chooses the order of when students will present their reports and may give the students some quick feedback on the content. At this stage the teacher may also play a recording of others doing the same task for the students to compare.

- Analysis
The teacher then highlights relevant parts from the text of the recording for the students to analyse. They may ask students to notice interesting features within this text. The teacher can also highlight the language that the students used during the report phase for analysis.

- Practice
Finally, the teacher selects language areas to practise based upon the needs of the students and what emerged from the task and report phases. The students then do practice activities to increase their confidence and make a note of useful language.

In task-based learning the language content is defined, not by a grammar syllabus, but by what learners need to complete the task. The tasks themselves can reflect real-life situations, for example in educational or work contexts; giving an academic presentation, attending an interview or meeting, applying for a job, or dealing with the public – things that people need to do every day in different fields like tourism, health services, business and education.

Because it is closely linked to learners’ real needs, task-based learning can be highly motivating for learners and extremely useful.

We use a task-based, topic-based approach to develop Net Languages courses and materials.

For example, if the topic is travel, a typical task could be organising travel dates with a friend, finding out information from a travel agent, or checking in at the airport. Or, in a work context with a topic of dealing with the public, typical tasks could be giving information, getting a person’s details, or explaining what someone has to do. Being able to do the task becomes the objective of each unit or part of the course.

Task-based Learning tasks can be categorized by the type of mental processes used in the activity, such as listing, comparing, problem-solving, creative thinking, and sharing personal experiences.

- Tasks Are Extremely Varied, But All Share Several Common Features:

They must focus on meaning and comprehension, rather than repetition and recitation. There must be a clearly defined outcome to determine the task’s effectiveness and the student’s success. For example, the task could be to book a transportation ticket over the phone. In this case, the outcome would be to successfully book the ticket. There must be a gap between teacher instruction, student performance, and end analysis. Lastly, it is highly effective if students are allowed to choose and utilize the resources that they deem necessary to complete the task. Please note: this does not include pulling out a phone and turning to Google translate.

- Students Learn By Interacting:

Sitting in a classroom and being lectured at for an hour is not conducive to language acquisition and production- nor is it good for confidence and a sense of enjoyment! Each student needs to be engaged and encouraged to participate.

- Focus On Using And Eliciting Authentic Language:

So many textbooks and foreign language classes center around memorizing and mimicking awkward grammar patterns that aren’t typically used in real life situations. The language that you use with students and that you want to instill in them needs to be genuine and viable in order for the experience to be effective and useful for them.

- Errors Are A Natural Part Of The Learning Process:

While correcting them is important to a certain degree, you do not want to embarrass or dissuade students from trying to communicate. Praise students for task successes instead of picking out each tiny error. Errors can be fixed with time, but confidence can be shattered in a second.

- Focus On The Process As A Whole Rather Than The End Product:

Learning is just that: a process. Teachers must provide students with the tools that they need, give guidance, and encourage students to call upon previous language and personal experiences. This methodology does not result in a multiple-choice test grade. Each step of the process is equally important to task triumphs and, eventually, real world language success.

- Participation In And Completion Of Tasks Is Extremely Motivational:

Tasks address real life needs and allow students to use their bag of language tools to meet those needs. Additionally, the use of tasks allows variation in the classroom, omits boredom (if planned properly), and encourages students to use a wide variety of communication styles and techniques, such as comparing, debating, and persuading.

- Tasks Provide Two Key Processing Elements That Are Necessary For Language Learning: Input And Output:

Copying lines and reciting a song or poem are incapable of meeting this criteria in their very design. Incorporating opportunities for both input and output into every task enable language leaners to practice negotiation, listening and re-defining, rephrasing, and on-the-spot thinking- all things that occur naturally in our lives on a daily basis.

- Reasoning-gap activity: 
Which involves deriving some new information from given information through processes of inference, deduction, practical reasoning, or a perception of relationships or patterns. One example is working out a teacher's timetable on the basis of given class timetables. Another is deciding what course of action is best (for example cheapest or quickest) for a given purpose and within given constraints. The activity necessarily involves comprehending and conveying information, as in an information-gap activity, but the information to be conveyed is not identical with that initially comprehended. There is a piece of reasoning which connects the two.

- Opinion-gap activity:
Which involves identifying and articulating a personal preference, feeling, or attitude in response to a given situation. One example is story completion; another is taking part in the discussion of a social issue. The activity may involve using factual information and formulating arguments to justify one's opinion, but there is no objective procedure for demonstrating outcomes as right or wrong, and no reason to expect the same outcome from different individuals or on different occasions.

Engaging students in discussion and debate encourages students to create their own understanding of the content and connect it to their experiences. Learning is improved when students are encouraged to form opinions and develop their own ideas about the content. By including discussion and debate-style activities in your classes, you are encouraging students to think about the connect more deeply and gain broader insight through the shared ideas and different perspectives of others.

The effectiveness of an in-class discussion or debate relies heavily upon the level of planning undertaken before class. Students may feel uncomfortable disagreeing publicly, so try begin with generic discussions to allow students to build confidence. Discuss different roles and encourage students to take on moderator role. When planning your discussions, consider:

What content do you want students to focus on?

In-class discussion examples:

In-class debate examples:

Class debates often work best in small teams.

3- Brainstorming 
Brainstorming is a large- or small-group discussion that encourages students to generate a wide range of perspectives or potential next steps or solutions regarding a specific topic.