The set reading for this module is:

'Task-based instruction' by Peter Skehan, in Language Teaching 36 (2003), 1-14.

You can probably access this online through your institution's e-journals facility.

Health warning! This is a very comprehensive review article and includes a substantial section on research into tasks. If this is not your cup of tea, you could try reading the first part (pages 1-3) that gives some historical background and discusses the notion of task, and then skip the section on research and go straight to page 9 and the sections on 'tasks and pedagogy' and 'critiques of tasks'. If even this is too much, an alternative, much shorter overview can be found in:

'Task-based language learning' by Dave Willis and Jane Willis in The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, ed R Carter and D Nunan, pp 173-79, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001.

It will be suggested that you complete the set reading towards the end of the module.

I also strongly recommend chapter 6, 'A flexible framework for task-based learning', and chapter 7, 'Consciousness-raising activities in the language classroom', in Challenge and Change in Language Teaching, eds. J Willis and D Willis, Macmillan Heinemann, Oxford, 1996. These give an accessible description of TBL and a user-friendly guide to consciousness-raising approaches to language focus work respectively.

If you are seriously interested in adopting task-based learning, I strongly recommend that you invest in a copy of A Framework for Task-based Learning by J Willis, Longman, London, 1996. This is a highly readable and practical book full of ideas for language teachers, and as the main inspiration for this module, you will find frequent reference to it in these materials.

You will also find within each activity cycle a number of suggestions for further readings from additional sources, and references to other works. These are listed in their entirety in the list of References.