THINKING ALLOWED Technology-mediated task-based language teaching: A research agenda Bryan Smith 1 * and Marta González-Lloret 2 1 Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona and 2 University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, USA *Corresponding author. Email: bryansmith@asu.edu Abstract This paper discusses key concepts in the emerging field of technology-mediated task-based language teaching (TMTBLT) and provides a research agenda for moving this sub-field forward in a theoretically sound and data-driven way. We first define TMTBLT and discuss the importance of considering techno- logical affordances and specific learning contexts when matching individual technologies with particular tasks. We then explore the notion of task, specifically task complexity and sequencing, and how the intro- duction of technology may interact and modify tasks’ features. Next, we examine the use of mobile apps and social media within a task-based language teaching (TBLT) framework and highlight areas primed for exploration or in need of reconciliation. Finally, we call for TMTBLT studies to capture and evaluate learner process data. Within each area above we propose a series of specific research tasksthat incremen- tally build on previous research in both face-to-face and technology-mediated environments, which may help us better understand how tasks and technologies intersect to promote language learning. 1. Introduction 1.1 Technology-mediated TBLT Developing out of the fields of TBLT and computer-assisted language learning (CALL), the field of TMTBLT has emerged as a new and important area of inquiry in applied linguistics. It boasts a grow- ing body of research that will soon allow us to aggregate results and better answer important questions at the intersection of technology and task-based teaching/learning. As with any young area of inquiry, there are dozens of research questions and avenues of investigation that are important to explore. We have chosen a few of the most pressing hurdles that need to be overcome to move this sub-field for- ward in a theoretically sound and data-driven way. It is important to emphasize from the outset the difference between ‘technology-mediated’ and ‘technology-enhanced’ tasks. While most contexts may incorporate some use of technology as part of the second language (L2) curriculum, a technology-mediated TBLT curriculum is based on the full inte- gration of technology and tasks (González-Lloret & Ortega, 2014). In the TBLT literature, tasks have been conceptualized on a continuum from communicative activities that can accompany more trad- itional form-focused approaches (Ellis, 2009) to more authentic everyday life activities that reflect real- world activities and interactions (Long, 1985, 2016). Much of the research from the TMTBLT approach uses tasks such as information gap tasks, narration tasks, agreement tasks, that, depending on the teach- ing context, can be more or less authentic and/or relevant for the learners. Regardless of the definition or version of TBLT, several common criteria define a task. At a minimum, tasks need to focus on meaning (rather than linguistic forms) and they should be outcome-based; that is to say, there should be a reason to use the language beyond the activity itself. As González-Lloret and Ortega (2014) suggest, tasks in TMTBLT should be defined by five key features: (1) they should focus on meaning, even if there is a preplanned language goal, this goal should be ‘hidden’ within the task; (2) they should be goal-oriented with a clear communicative goal and outcomes resulting from the task; (3) the task should be based on © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press Language Teaching (2020), 1–17 doi:10.1017/S0261444820000233 use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000233 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 70.162.212.15, on 22 Jul 2020 at 23:42:15, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of