Applying Task-Based Language Teaching to Junior High School English Reading: A Teaching Design Based on “Improve Your Eating Habits”

Abstract

Against the background of core-competency-oriented curriculum reform and the English Curriculum Standards for Compulsory Education (2022 Edition), junior high school English reading instruction is expected to support the development of reading comprehension, purposeful language use, thinking and learner autonomy. Task-based language teaching (TBLT) organizes learning around authentic, meaning-focused tasks and encourages students to learn through purposeful language use. This paper reviews the theoretical foundations of TBLT, discusses its pedagogical advantages and practical challenges in junior high school reading, and proposes improvement strategies in task design, teacher development, differentiated group participation, and assessment. It then presents an illustrative teaching design for Unit 4 Section B, “Improve Your Eating Habits,” in the 2024 People’s Education Press Grade 7, Volume 2 textbook. The design follows a pre-task, task-cycle, and post-task sequence in which students identify the three poor eating habits described in the text and the related advice, survey group members’ eating habits, develop personal improvement plans, and report group findings in English. The paper argues that purposeful task design, appropriate teacher scaffolding, inclusive group organization, and process-oriented assessment are important conditions for using TBLT to support reading instruction and relevant dimensions of students’ core competencies. The design is a pedagogical illustration rather than an empirical intervention.