Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Asian EFL classes: Challenges and Strategies

The last two decades have witnessed an increasing and extensive application of task-based language teaching (TBLT) in the EFL classes around the Asian countries. Despite its popularity, however, there are a variety of studies exploring and displaying the challenges and problems in its implementation in Asian classes. This paper reviews research addressing the problems in the implementation of TBLT in Asian EFL classes and their according solutions. More importantly, the paper attempts to investigate the mismatches between the pedagogic concepts underlying TBLT and the sociocultural contexts in Asia. This will help educators and language teachers in Asia to attach more importance to the contextual differences when applying TBLT to the local educational settings, both in Asia and the other regions around the world.