Coverage Paradox

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The tension between task-based performance as a driver of acquisition and the need for systematic breadth and depth of language encounters to sustain progression beyond lower proficiency levels.

Reductionist Tendencies in TSLT�

1. A brick-by-brick view of acquisition.
2. Simplified and tightly controlled language input.
3. Overreliance on controlled practice activities.

Japan’s A2 Plateau

After five years of formal English study, 96% of Japanese upper secondary students remained at CEFR A2 or below (Negishi, 2012).

Addressing the Coverage Paradox in TBLT�The Pedagogic Corpus and Learnability Scale as a Design Logic for Coverage-Oriented TBLT��https://taskbasedlearningforall.com�

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From Making Meaning to Patterned Language

• Halliday (1978, 1985)�Grammar is a system of choices for making meaning in context.

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• Sinclair (1987, 1991)�Those choices are realized in recurring lexico-grammatical patterns.

�Developing the Pedagogic Corpus�

• Select high-frequency patterns representing important ways of making meaning
• Identify topics relevant to learners' interests and needs
• Assemble authentic texts and associated tasks
• Ensure lexico-grammatical coverage and recycling
• Focus attention on dimensions of grammar (structure, orientation, pattern grammar)�

The Pedagogic Corpus as a Learning Environment

The Pedagogic Corpus is an integrated, learner-oriented mini-corpus derived from the larger COBUILD Corpus in which authentic texts, communicative tasks, task transcripts, and language-focused activities work together to support repeated encounters with recurring ways of making meaning.

The Learnability Scale: Organizing Learning

The Learnability Scale organizes learning by recognizing that different dimensions of language require different learning processes. It acknowledges that some language can be accumulated directly, while other aspects develop gradually through repeated encounters, system building, and exploration over time.

Learnability Scale

Strengthening Task-Based Design in Institutional EFL: Toward Coverage-Oriented TBLT��

1. Use rich, corpus-informed input to realize tasks and sustain post-task analysis
2. Rebalance practice activities toward more system building and exploration
3. Position learners as novice corpus analysts examining recurring patterns of language use
4. Strengthen teacher expertise by linking lexico-grammar to appropriate learning processes
5. Leverage AI tools to generate input and make systematic language analysis more accessible
6. Promote coursebooks that integrate rich input, tasks, recycling, system building, and exploration.

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"The postponement of difficulty is no safe clue for the maze of educational practice.”

�— Alfred North Whitehead

‘TBLT is neither old wine in a new bottle nor is it a revolutionary new approach, but rather TBLT reflects the ‘state-of-the-art endeavor’ to ground language learning and teaching in L2 research.’

Eckerth (2008, 36)

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Organizing Input. Organizing Learning.