Designing Task Based Lessons Using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Objectives

This study describes the merging of a task-based activity with Bloom' s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives (Bloom' s Taxonomy) in a tertiary EFL setting in Japan.Task based learning is known to increase student motivation, induce more critical thinking and trigger deeper levels of learning.Simple tasks can be made more academically rigorous by adding structure and tangible learning outcomes to maximize learner benefit.Educational taxonomies can assist in this regard.They define and distinguish the cognitive skills required to complete a given learning activity based on the complexity of the learning activity.Taxonomies can be applied to tasks and curriculums across disciplines to give them structure and clear learning objectives.As such, the merging of task based learning and educational taxonomies can improve the cognitive rigor of classroom activities and lead to deeper levels of learning and more language gains for students.The purpose of this study is to model how Bloom' s Taxonomy was used to add structure and pedagogical rigor to an English language task.Students completed a series of learning activities that spanned the six cognitive levels of Bloom' s Taxonomy while actively engaging in the four key language skills through individual, group and pair work.These activities equipped students with the pedagogical skills and content knowledge necessary to create a poster that explored different facets of an unfamiliar country.Students were required to present their poster to their classmates and respond to questions and comments.Following their presentations, students reflected on the project and assessed the quality of each group member' s participation.