on form might involve a teacher’s reformulating or recasting a student’s error or
providing a brief grammar explanation. It is said that focusing student attention on
grammatical form in these ways can have a positive effect, provided that such
attention is brief and reactive, in that it takes place when problems of grammatical
inaccuracy arise (Long 2009).
Samuda and Bygate (2008) reach back into history even further than SLA research
to find theoretical support for task-based language teaching. They do so citing the
work of John Dewey (1913), who emphasized the need for experience, relevance, and
‘intelligent effort’ for effective learning. Dewey is generally considered to be the
founder of constructivism. He rejected approaches that viewed learners as
receptacles of the teacher’s knowledge and favored ones where students are actively
involved in constructing their own knowledge through experience and problem
solving. Let us see how this plays out in our lesson.