Jane Willis: award winning writer and task-based language teacher
Books
Our Books
You can use the discount code FTBLT20 for 20% off if you buy a book!
My new book
A Framework for Task-based Learning and Teaching
My new book (revised with the help of two TBL practitioners) May 2026.
A Framework for Task-based Learning and Teaching (FTBLT) builds on my original 1996 textbook A Framework for Task-based Learning to reflect the changing needs and priorities of language teachers in today’s classrooms. We have revised and expanded the chapters to reflect the widespread use of technology and the internet in language classrooms, as well as recent debates and developments in research on language learning.
There are practical examples of task-based sequences and form focus activities for all levels, including beginners. We clarify the reasons for using TBLT and we suggest solutions for teachers’ problems in the new questions and answers section. You can also see more books here.
“An absolute must-have for anyone interested in Task-Based Language Teaching. This revised edition of Willis’s 1996 classic remains the most practical guide to TBLT available, distinguished by its rich and concrete classroom examples. Grounded in research and written with both teachers and learners in mind, it continues to set the standard for how tasks are designed, implemented, and sustained in real classrooms.”
Melissa Baralt
Florida International University, USA
“It is exciting to see this revised edition of Jane Willis’s original (1996) groundbreaking publication. This edition not only retains many of Jane’s original ideas but also updates them to reflect developments in the field, particularly the advent of AI. I commend it to readers who are looking for an up-to-date how-to guide for putting TBLT ideas into practice.”
Martin East
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
“Willis’s A Framework for Task-Based Learning has guided my teaching for decades. This new edition refreshes its timeless principles with practical updates, new resources, and thoughtful ideas on AI in TBLT, showing how communicative tasks and focused language work are fully integrated so neither is overlooked. It deserves a place in every teacher’s library.”
Jason Moser
Kanto Gakuin University, Japan
Doing Task-based Teaching
Dave Willis and Jane Willis 2007, Oxford University Press
More and more teachers are getting interested in task-based learning and how to teach using tasks. Some have been doing it successfully for years, but some are still unsure of how to put TBL into practice. This book gives examples of a range of task sequences suitable for all levels of learners, using both written and spoken English. It illustrates ways of integrating a focus on grammar in a task-based cycle. There are chapters on syllabus design and responses to frequently asked questions. The advice is based firmly in the classroom and includes contributions from over 30 teachers from around the world who are enthusiastic about task-based teaching. It takes account of research into language learning, and is ideal for both practising teachers and those on TEFL/TESOL courses.
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Winning the Grammar Wars: What grammar really is and how we use it
by Dave Willis
“Highly readable and engaging, stimulating, punchy, always eloquently expressed and perfectly judged for the general reader. Winning the Grammar Wars – what grammar really is and how we use it is a book that challenges the many easy public opinions about what grammar is or what people believe it should be. Dave Willis replaces opinions both with evidence from multi-million word databases showing how the English language really works and with evidence from his own extensive world-wide experience as a researcher and teacher. The practical ideas for parents and suggested activities for teachers on the accompanying website are a wonderful added bonus. Very highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the English language and how we all use it to communicate.” Professor Ronald Carter, University of Nottingham.
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Rules, Patterns and Words
by Dave Willis
This book takes a new look at grammar and vocabulary from a teacher’s point of view. Three key features make the book an important part of any teacher’s library:
- It shows clearly how grammar and vocabulary are connected and how they interact with one another.
- It looks in detail at the importance of lexical phrases in language teaching, offering a clear description, which is supported by sample classroom activities.
- It offers clear description of key features of spoken English and shows how informal conversational English can be taught.
Numerous interactive tasks are provided to guide readers. Over 40 examples of teaching exercises are included to illustrate techniques which can be applied in the classroom immediately. If you have ever wondered how grammar – in all its complexities – can be taught effectively within a meaning-centred approach and integrated within a task-based programme, then this book will prove enlightening.
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English for Primary Teachers
Mary Slattery and Jane Willis 2004, Oxford University Press
- Winner of The Frank Bell Prize.
- Winner of the English-Speaking Union’s Duke of Edinburgh Book.
- Competition Shortlisted for the Ben Warren Prize.
This book, which has already been translated into seven foreign languages, aims to build teachers’ confidence in their ability to use English effectively, at the same time as providing advice and techniques for primary English teachers. The book is written in an accessible, easy-to-follow style and encourages a positive attitude towards using English in the primary classroom. It is a consistent best seller.
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Teachers Exploring Task in English Language Teaching
Corony Edwards and Jane Willis (eds) 2005, Palgrave Macmillan
- Winner of British Council ELTON award, 2006.
This book was written for language teachers by language teachers, with a view to encouraging readers to use more tasks in their lessons, and to explore for themselves various aspects of task-based teaching and learning. It gives insights into ways in which tasks can be designed, adapted and implemented in a range of teaching contexts and illustrates ways in which tasks and task-based learning can be investigated as a research activity. Practising language teachers and student professionals in graduate TESOL and Applied Linguistics programs will find this a rich resource of varied experience in the classroom and a stimulus to their own qualitative studies.
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Task-based Instruction in Foreign Language Education: Practices and programs
Betty Lou Leaver and Jane R Willis (eds) 2004, Georgetown University Press
This book begins with a theoretical background to task-based instruction and contains chapters written by highly-experienced successful TBI practitioners who describe a range of task-based foreign language programmes covering 11 different languages. Each of these can serve as a generic model for other task-based language programmes. ‘Full of concrete, adaptable models of task-based language teaching drawn from a number of countries and eleven different languages—including Arabic, Chinese, Czech, English, French, German, Korean, Spanish, and Ukrainian—Task-Based Instruction in Foreign Language Education presents proven, real-world, practical courses and programs; and includes web-based activities. It demonstrates useful and practical ways to engage students far beyond what can be learned from reading textbook dialogue. TBI involves the student directly with the language being taught via cognitively engaging activities that reflect authentic and purposeful use of language, resulting in language-learning experiences that are pleasurable and effective.’
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