Integrating Task and Content in the Language Classroom

Abstract

This paper describes the piloting of a six-hour unit of an analytic syllabus which treats task and content as a unity. The situation is an EAP course at a Thai university. The educational rationale for the design of the unit is presented followed by a description of and rationale for each stage in the unit. The unit is organised around the concept of categorisation, and includes categorising insects and a research survey of university students’ learning styles. The unit clearly exhibits the the oreticalprinciples underlying effective language learning, and the students’ reactions to the unit, collected from journals, were positive concerning both the tasks and the content.