影响任务型语言教学中任务难度的社会文化因素

Socio-cultural factors that affect task difficulty in TBLT

随着国家《英语课程标准》（中华人民共和国教育部 2001）的实施，任务型教学在中小学英语课堂中越来越普遍，目的在于更有效地提高学生综合运用语言的能力。但是如何使任务适应学生的能力和需求以及他们赖以生存的社会文化环境仍然是有待解决的问题。现有的许多教材和课堂中呈现的各种学习任务和活动从某种程度上可能忽略了我国不同区域学生的社会文化背景，从而造成部分学生英语学习的困难。本研究采用一系列常用的任务，对三组（共24 名）教师和60 位学生进行基于任务的问卷调查和访谈，探讨影响任务难度的社会文化因素。研究结果表明，学生由于家庭社区和社会文化背景不同，对于同一任务有不同的解释。任务难度产生的原因并不局限于语言知识或认知水平，还有社会文化的差异。笔者希望外语教育者们以教育和学习的公平性为出发点，在编写教材、设计课堂活动和评价时考虑不同地区学生的需求以及他们所处的环境。

With the implementation of the Chinese National English Curriculum Standards (Ministry of Education 2001)， task-based language teaching is becoming more and more popular in Chinese classrooms to enhance learners' ability to use the language. Yet how to make tasks appropriate to learners' needs and ability and the socio-cultural environment remains a question. The current study involved an investigation among 3 groups of 24 teachers and 60 students focusing on one of the factors that affect task difficulty， the socio-cultural factors， by using a number of tasks. The results from task-based questionnaires and interviews suggest that different students with different life experiences and socio-cultural environment have different perceptions of task difficulty. Their background knowledge such as different socio-cultural values， family backgrounds and communities in different regions leads them to different interpretations of the same task despite the fact that they are familiar with the task topic. The factors that affect task difficulty are not limited to language knowledge and cognitive proficiency but also the differences in communities they live in. Therefore， to achieve equity of learning and education， socio-cultural factors play an important role in language learning for learners and in task design for textbook writers， classroom teachers and test writers.