Linking Task-based Language Teaching and Assessment: Practices and Possibilities

This article provides an overview of the current practices and future possibilities of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and assessment in the Korean EFL context. In doing so, new initiatives and changes in English language teaching (ELT) will be addressed that include teaching English in English, early English language education, and local English teacher identities. Although TBLT, along with communicative language teaching, has been proposed and implemented as a remedy to the long-standing challenge of English language attainment in Korea, it still presents its unique challenges, especially when juxtaposed with the local ELT realities. From there, this paper attempts to link TBLT to assessment, more specifically classroom-based, teacher-oriented assessment. Issues such as setting task criteria and selecting task types and sequences will further be discussed in view of cross-fertilization of second language teaching and assessment in the Korean ELT context.