diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AbstractStepParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AbstractStepParser.java
index 46ef988d3..37ce1f91a 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AbstractStepParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AbstractStepParser.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
+import org.springframework.beans.MutablePropertyValues;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.RuntimeBeanReference;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.CompositeComponentDefinition;
@@ -48,45 +49,40 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 
 	private static final String PARENT_ATTR = "parent";
 
-	private static final String TASKLET_ATTR = "tasklet";
+	private static final String TASKLET_REF_ATTR = "ref";
 
 	private static final String TASKLET_ELE = "tasklet";
 
+	private static final String CHUNK_TASKLET_ELE = "chunk-tasklet";
+
 	private static final String LISTENERS_ELE = "listeners";
 
 	private static final String MERGE_ATTR = "merge";
 
 	private static final String TX_ATTRIBUTES_ELE = "transaction-attributes";
 
-	private TaskletElementParser taskletElementParser = new TaskletElementParser();
+	private static final String JOB_REPO_ATTR = "job-repository";
 
-	private StepListenerParser stepListenerParser = new StepListenerParser();
+	private static final ChunkTaskletParser chunkTaskletParser = new ChunkTaskletParser();
+
+	private static final StepListenerParser stepListenerParser = new StepListenerParser();
 
 	/**
-	 * @param stepElement
+	 * @param stepElement The <step/> element
 	 * @param parserContext
-	 * @return a BeanDefinition if possible
+	 * @param jobRepositoryRef The name of the bean defining the JobRepository.
+	 *            Use 'null' if the job-repository is specified on the
+	 *            <tasklet/> element; this method will look it up.
 	 */
-	protected AbstractBeanDefinition parseTasklet(Element stepElement, ParserContext parserContext,
-			String jobRepositoryRef) {
+	protected AbstractBeanDefinition parseStep(Element stepElement, ParserContext parserContext, String jobRepositoryRef) {
+
+		AbstractBeanDefinition bd = new GenericBeanDefinition();
 
-		String taskletRef = stepElement.getAttribute(TASKLET_ATTR);
 		@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 		List<Element> taskletElements = (List<Element>) DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(stepElement, TASKLET_ELE);
-		boolean stepUnderspecified = CoreNamespaceUtils.isUnderspecified(stepElement);
-		AbstractBeanDefinition bd = null;
-		if (StringUtils.hasText(taskletRef)) {
-			if (taskletElements.size() > 0) {
-				parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
-						"The <" + TASKLET_ELE + "/> element can't be combined with the '" + TASKLET_ATTR + "=\""
-								+ taskletRef + "\"' attribute specification for <" + stepElement.getNodeName() + "/>",
-						stepElement);
-			}
-			bd = parseTaskletRef(stepElement, taskletRef, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef);
-		}
-		else if (taskletElements.size() == 1) {
-			Element taskElement = taskletElements.get(0);
-			bd = taskletElementParser.parse(taskElement, parserContext, stepUnderspecified);
+		if (taskletElements.size() == 1) {
+			boolean stepUnderspecified = CoreNamespaceUtils.isUnderspecified(stepElement);
+			parseTasklet(taskletElements.get(0), bd, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef, stepUnderspecified);
 		}
 		else if (taskletElements.size() > 1) {
 			parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
@@ -94,69 +90,102 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 							+ stepElement.getNodeName() + "/>.", stepElement);
 		}
 
-		if (bd == null) {
-			if (stepUnderspecified) {
-				bd = new GenericBeanDefinition();
-			}
-			else {
-				parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
-						"Step [" + stepElement.getAttribute(ID_ATTR) + "] has neither a <" + TASKLET_ELE
-								+ "/> element nor a '" + TASKLET_ATTR + "' attribute.", stepElement);
-			}
+		String parentRef = stepElement.getAttribute(PARENT_ATTR);
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(parentRef)) {
+			bd.setParentName(parentRef);
 		}
 
-		setUpBeanDefinition(stepElement, bd, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef);
-		return bd;
-
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * @param stepElement
-	 * @param taskletRef
-	 * @param parserContext
-	 */
-	private AbstractBeanDefinition parseTaskletRef(Element stepElement, String taskletRef, ParserContext parserContext,
-			String jobRepositoryRef) {
-
-		GenericBeanDefinition bd = new GenericBeanDefinition();
-		bd.setBeanClass(StepParserStepFactoryBean.class);
-
-		if (StringUtils.hasText(taskletRef)) {
-			RuntimeBeanReference taskletBeanRef = new RuntimeBeanReference(taskletRef);
-			bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("tasklet", taskletBeanRef);
-		}
-
-		return bd;
-
-	}
-
-	protected void setUpBeanDefinition(Element stepElement, AbstractBeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext,
-			String jobRepositoryRef) {
-		checkStepAttributes(stepElement, bd);
-
 		bd.setAbstract(Boolean.valueOf(stepElement.getAttribute("abstract")));
 
-		RuntimeBeanReference jobRepositoryBeanRef = new RuntimeBeanReference(jobRepositoryRef);
-		bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("jobRepository", jobRepositoryBeanRef);
+		return bd;
 
-		String transactionManagerRef = stepElement.getAttribute("transaction-manager");
+	}
+
+	private void parseTasklet(Element taskletElement, AbstractBeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext,
+			String jobRepositoryRef, boolean stepUnderspecified) {
+
+		bd.setBeanClass(StepParserStepFactoryBean.class);
+
+		String taskletRef = taskletElement.getAttribute(TASKLET_REF_ATTR);
+		@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+		List<Element> chunkTaskletElements = (List<Element>) DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(taskletElement,
+				CHUNK_TASKLET_ELE);
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(taskletRef)) {
+			if (chunkTaskletElements.size() > 0) {
+				parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+						"The <" + CHUNK_TASKLET_ELE + "/> element can't be combined with the '" + TASKLET_REF_ATTR
+								+ "=\"" + taskletRef + "\"' attribute specification for <"
+								+ taskletElement.getNodeName() + "/>", taskletElement);
+			}
+			parseTaskletRef(taskletRef, bd.getPropertyValues());
+		}
+		else if (chunkTaskletElements.size() == 1) {
+			chunkTaskletParser.parse(chunkTaskletElements.get(0), bd, parserContext, stepUnderspecified);
+		}
+		else if (chunkTaskletElements.size() > 1) {
+			parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+					"The '<" + CHUNK_TASKLET_ELE + "/>' element may not appear more than once in a single <"
+							+ taskletElement.getNodeName() + "/>.", taskletElement);
+		}
+		else if (!stepUnderspecified) {
+			parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+					"Step [" + taskletElement.getAttribute(ID_ATTR) + "] has neither a <" + CHUNK_TASKLET_ELE
+							+ "/> element nor a '" + TASKLET_REF_ATTR + "' attribute.", taskletElement);
+		}
+
+		setUpBeanDefinitionForTaskletStep(taskletElement, bd, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef);
+
+	}
+
+	private void parseTaskletRef(String taskletRef, MutablePropertyValues propertyValues) {
+		if (StringUtils.hasText(taskletRef)) {
+			RuntimeBeanReference taskletBeanRef = new RuntimeBeanReference(taskletRef);
+			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("tasklet", taskletBeanRef);
+		}
+	}
+
+	private void setUpBeanDefinitionForTaskletStep(Element taskletElement, AbstractBeanDefinition bd,
+			ParserContext parserContext, String jobRepositoryRef) {
+
+		MutablePropertyValues propertyValues = bd.getPropertyValues();
+
+		checkStepAttributes(taskletElement, propertyValues);
+
+		propertyValues.addPropertyValue("jobRepository", resolveJobRepositoryRef(taskletElement, parserContext,
+				jobRepositoryRef));
+
+		String transactionManagerRef = taskletElement.getAttribute("transaction-manager");
 		RuntimeBeanReference transactionManagerBeanRef = new RuntimeBeanReference(transactionManagerRef);
-		bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("transactionManager", transactionManagerBeanRef);
+		propertyValues.addPropertyValue("transactionManager", transactionManagerBeanRef);
 
-		handleTransactionAttributesElement(stepElement, bd, parserContext);
+		handleTransactionAttributesElement(taskletElement, propertyValues, parserContext);
 
-		handleListenersElement(stepElement, bd, parserContext);
+		handleListenersElement(taskletElement, propertyValues, parserContext);
 
-		handleExceptionElement(stepElement, parserContext, bd, "no-rollback-exception-classes",
+		handleExceptionElement(taskletElement, parserContext, propertyValues, "no-rollback-exception-classes",
 				"noRollbackExceptionClasses");
 
 		bd.setRole(BeanDefinition.ROLE_SUPPORT);
 
-		bd.setSource(parserContext.extractSource(stepElement));
+		bd.setSource(parserContext.extractSource(taskletElement));
 
 	}
 
-	private void handleTransactionAttributesElement(Element stepElement, AbstractBeanDefinition bd,
+	private RuntimeBeanReference resolveJobRepositoryRef(Element taskletElement, ParserContext parserContext,
+			String jobRepositoryRef) {
+		if (!StringUtils.hasText(jobRepositoryRef)) {
+			jobRepositoryRef = taskletElement.getAttribute(JOB_REPO_ATTR);
+			if (!StringUtils.hasText(jobRepositoryRef)) {
+				parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
+						"The '" + JOB_REPO_ATTR + "' attribute may exist on an <" + taskletElement.getNodeName()
+								+ "/> element.", taskletElement);
+			}
+		}
+		RuntimeBeanReference jobRepositoryBeanRef = new RuntimeBeanReference(jobRepositoryRef);
+		return jobRepositoryBeanRef;
+	}
+
+	private void handleTransactionAttributesElement(Element stepElement, MutablePropertyValues propertyValues,
 			ParserContext parserContext) {
 		@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 		List<Element> txAttrElements = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(stepElement, TX_ATTRIBUTES_ELE);
@@ -164,15 +193,15 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 			Element txAttrElement = txAttrElements.get(0);
 			String propagation = txAttrElement.getAttribute("propagation");
 			if (StringUtils.hasText(propagation)) {
-				bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("propagation", propagation);
+				propertyValues.addPropertyValue("propagation", propagation);
 			}
 			String isolation = txAttrElement.getAttribute("isolation");
 			if (StringUtils.hasText(isolation)) {
-				bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("isolation", isolation);
+				propertyValues.addPropertyValue("isolation", isolation);
 			}
 			String timeout = txAttrElement.getAttribute("timeout");
 			if (StringUtils.hasText(timeout)) {
-				bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("transactionTimeout", timeout);
+				propertyValues.addPropertyValue("transactionTimeout", timeout);
 			}
 		}
 		else if (txAttrElements.size() > 1) {
@@ -183,8 +212,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-	public static void handleExceptionElement(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, BeanDefinition bd,
-			String subElementName, String propertyName) {
+	public static void handleExceptionElement(Element element, ParserContext parserContext,
+			MutablePropertyValues propertyValues, String subElementName, String propertyName) {
 		List<Element> children = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(element, subElementName);
 		if (children.size() == 1) {
 			Element child = children.get(0);
@@ -195,7 +224,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 					ManagedList managedList = new ManagedList();
 					managedList.setMergeEnabled(Boolean.valueOf(child.getAttribute(MERGE_ATTR)));
 					managedList.addAll(Arrays.asList(exceptionArray));
-					bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue(propertyName, managedList);
+					propertyValues.addPropertyValue(propertyName, managedList);
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -207,23 +236,20 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 
 	}
 
-	private void checkStepAttributes(Element stepElement, AbstractBeanDefinition bd) {
+	private void checkStepAttributes(Element stepElement, MutablePropertyValues propertyValues) {
 		String startLimit = stepElement.getAttribute("start-limit");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(startLimit)) {
-			bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("startLimit", startLimit);
+			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("startLimit", startLimit);
 		}
 		String allowStartIfComplete = stepElement.getAttribute("allow-start-if-complete");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(allowStartIfComplete)) {
-			bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("allowStartIfComplete", allowStartIfComplete);
-		}
-		String parentRef = stepElement.getAttribute(PARENT_ATTR);
-		if (StringUtils.hasText(parentRef)) {
-			bd.setParentName(parentRef);
+			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("allowStartIfComplete", allowStartIfComplete);
 		}
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-	private void handleListenersElement(Element stepElement, BeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext) {
+	private void handleListenersElement(Element stepElement, MutablePropertyValues propertyValues,
+			ParserContext parserContext) {
 		List<Element> listenersElements = DomUtils.getChildElementsByTagName(stepElement, LISTENERS_ELE);
 		if (listenersElements.size() == 1) {
 			Element listenersElement = listenersElements.get(0);
@@ -238,7 +264,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractStepParser {
 					listenerBeans.add(stepListenerParser.parse(listenerElement, parserContext));
 				}
 			}
-			bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("listeners", listenerBeans);
+			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("listeners", listenerBeans);
 			parserContext.popAndRegisterContainingComponent();
 		}
 		else if (listenersElements.size() > 1) {
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParser.java
similarity index 84%
rename from spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParser.java
rename to spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParser.java
index 8ae6d3f32..cfc68789b 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParser.java
@@ -20,12 +20,10 @@ import static org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.AbstractStepParse
 import java.util.List;
 
 import org.springframework.beans.MutablePropertyValues;
-import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanReference;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.RuntimeBeanReference;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.parsing.CompositeComponentDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinition;
-import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.GenericBeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.ManagedList;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.RootBeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.ParserContext;
@@ -35,13 +33,12 @@ import org.w3c.dom.Element;
 import org.w3c.dom.NamedNodeMap;
 
 /**
- * Internal parser for the &lt;tasklet/&gt; element either inside a job or as a
- * standalone tasklet definition.
+ * Internal parser for the &lt;chunk-tasklet/&gt; element either inside a step.
  * 
  * @author Thomas Risberg
  * @since 2.0
  */
-public class TaskletElementParser {
+public class ChunkTaskletParser {
 
 	private static final String ID_ATTR = "id";
 
@@ -59,14 +56,11 @@ public class TaskletElementParser {
 	 * @param element
 	 * @param parserContext
 	 */
-	protected AbstractBeanDefinition parse(Element element, ParserContext parserContext, boolean underspecified) {
-
-		GenericBeanDefinition bd = new GenericBeanDefinition();
-		bd.setBeanClass(StepParserStepFactoryBean.class);
+	protected void parse(Element element, AbstractBeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext, boolean underspecified) {
 
 		MutablePropertyValues propertyValues = bd.getPropertyValues();
 
-		propertyValues.addPropertyValue("hasTaskletElement", Boolean.TRUE);
+		propertyValues.addPropertyValue("hasChunkTaskletElement", Boolean.TRUE);
 
 		String readerBeanId = element.getAttribute("reader");
 		if (StringUtils.hasText(readerBeanId)) {
@@ -106,7 +100,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParser {
 		if (!underspecified
 				&& propertyValues.contains("commitInterval") == propertyValues.contains("chunkCompletionPolicy")) {
 			parserContext.getReaderContext().error(
-					"The '" + element.getNodeName() + "' element must contain either '" + COMMIT_INTERVAL_ATTR + "' "
+					"The <" + element.getNodeName() + "/> element must contain either '" + COMMIT_INTERVAL_ATTR + "' "
 							+ "or '" + CHUNK_COMPLETION_POLICY_ATTR + "', but not both.", element);
 		}
 
@@ -130,21 +124,23 @@ public class TaskletElementParser {
 			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("isReaderTransactionalQueue", isReaderTransactionalQueue);
 		}
 
-		handleExceptionElement(element, parserContext, bd, "skippable-exception-classes", "skippableExceptionClasses");
+		handleExceptionElement(element, parserContext, propertyValues, "skippable-exception-classes",
+				"skippableExceptionClasses");
 
-		handleExceptionElement(element, parserContext, bd, "retryable-exception-classes", "retryableExceptionClasses");
+		handleExceptionElement(element, parserContext, propertyValues, "retryable-exception-classes",
+				"retryableExceptionClasses");
 
-		handleExceptionElement(element, parserContext, bd, "fatal-exception-classes", "fatalExceptionClasses");
+		handleExceptionElement(element, parserContext, propertyValues, "fatal-exception-classes",
+				"fatalExceptionClasses");
 
-		handleRetryListenersElement(element, bd, parserContext);
+		handleRetryListenersElement(element, propertyValues, parserContext);
 
-		handleStreamsElement(element, bd, parserContext);
-
-		return bd;
+		handleStreamsElement(element, propertyValues, parserContext);
 
 	}
 
-	private void handleRetryListenersElement(Element element, BeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext) {
+	private void handleRetryListenersElement(Element element, MutablePropertyValues propertyValues,
+			ParserContext parserContext) {
 		Element listenersElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "retry-listeners");
 		if (listenersElement != null) {
 			CompositeComponentDefinition compositeDef = new CompositeComponentDefinition(listenersElement.getTagName(),
@@ -153,7 +149,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParser {
 			ManagedList retryListenerBeans = new ManagedList();
 			retryListenerBeans.setMergeEnabled(Boolean.valueOf(listenersElement.getAttribute(MERGE_ATTR)));
 			handleRetryListenerElements(parserContext, listenersElement, retryListenerBeans);
-			bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("retryListeners", retryListenerBeans);
+			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("retryListeners", retryListenerBeans);
 			parserContext.popAndRegisterContainingComponent();
 		}
 	}
@@ -207,7 +203,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParser {
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
-	private void handleStreamsElement(Element element, BeanDefinition bd, ParserContext parserContext) {
+	private void handleStreamsElement(Element element, MutablePropertyValues propertyValues, ParserContext parserContext) {
 		Element streamsElement = DomUtils.getChildElementByTagName(element, "streams");
 		if (streamsElement != null) {
 			ManagedList streamBeans = new ManagedList();
@@ -226,7 +222,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParser {
 					}
 				}
 			}
-			bd.getPropertyValues().addPropertyValue("streams", streamBeans);
+			propertyValues.addPropertyValue("streams", streamBeans);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/InlineStepParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/InlineStepParser.java
index b3cf6f26f..732e60252 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/InlineStepParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/InlineStepParser.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public class InlineStepParser extends AbstractStepParser {
 		BeanDefinitionBuilder stateBuilder = BeanDefinitionBuilder.genericBeanDefinition(StepState.class);
 		String stepId = element.getAttribute(ID_ATTR);
 
-		AbstractBeanDefinition bd = parseTasklet(element, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef);
+		AbstractBeanDefinition bd = parseStep(element, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef);
 		parserContext.registerBeanComponent(new BeanComponentDefinition(bd, stepId));
 		stateBuilder.addConstructorArgReference(stepId);
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParser.java
index 754a9ebdb..aabe143cd 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParser.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ import org.w3c.dom.Element;
  */
 public class JobParser extends AbstractSingleBeanDefinitionParser {
 
-	private JobExecutionListenerParser jobListenerParser = new JobExecutionListenerParser();
+	private static final JobExecutionListenerParser jobListenerParser = new JobExecutionListenerParser();
 
 	@Override
 	protected Class<FlowJob> getBeanClass(Element element) {
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StandaloneStepParser.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StandaloneStepParser.java
index df0efc427..5de0846c0 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StandaloneStepParser.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StandaloneStepParser.java
@@ -37,7 +37,6 @@ public class StandaloneStepParser extends AbstractStepParser {
 	 * @param parserContext the parser context for the bean factory
 	 */
 	public AbstractBeanDefinition parse(Element element, ParserContext parserContext) {
-		String jobRepositoryRef = element.getAttribute("job-repository");
-		return parseTasklet(element, parserContext, jobRepositoryRef);
+		return parseStep(element, parserContext, null);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java
index 6a5ba553d..53f5a7c01 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBean.java
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 	//
 	// Additional
 	//
-	private boolean hasTaskletElement = false;
+	private boolean hasChunkTaskletElement = false;
 
 	/**
 	 * Create a {@link Step} from the configuration provided.
@@ -135,8 +135,9 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 	 * @see FactoryBean#getObject()
 	 */
 	public final Object getObject() throws Exception {
-		if (hasTaskletElement) {
-			Assert.isNull(tasklet, "Step [" + name + "] has both a <tasklet/> element and a 'tasklet' attribute.");
+		if (hasChunkTaskletElement) {
+			Assert.isNull(tasklet, "Step [" + name
+					+ "] has both a <chunk-tasklet/> element and a 'ref' attribute  referencing a Tasklet.");
 
 			if (isFaultTolerant()) {
 				FaultTolerantStepFactoryBean<I, O> fb = new FaultTolerantStepFactoryBean<I, O>();
@@ -158,7 +159,7 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 		}
 		else {
 			throw new IllegalStateException("Step [" + name
-					+ "] has neither a <tasklet/> element nor a 'tasklet' attribute.");
+					+ "] has neither a <chunk-tasklet/> element nor a 'ref' attribute referencing a Tasklet.");
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -281,9 +282,9 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 			ts.setTransactionAttribute(new DefaultTransactionAttribute(attribute) {
 
 				/**
-				 * Ignore the default behaviour and rollback on all exceptions that
-				 * bubble up to the tasklet level. The tasklet has to deal with the
-				 * rollback rules internally.
+				 * Ignore the default behaviour and rollback on all exceptions
+				 * that bubble up to the tasklet level. The tasklet has to deal
+				 * with the rollback rules internally.
 				 */
 				@Override
 				public boolean rollbackOn(Throwable ex) {
@@ -470,7 +471,7 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 	 * {@link MapRetryContextCache}.<br/>
 	 * 
 	 * @param cacheCapacity the cache capacity to set (greater than 0 else
-	 * ignored)
+	 *            ignored)
 	 */
 	public void setCacheCapacity(int cacheCapacity) {
 		this.cacheCapacity = cacheCapacity;
@@ -596,9 +597,11 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 	public void setRetryableExceptionClasses(Collection<Class<? extends Throwable>> retryableExceptionClasses) {
 		this.retryableExceptionClasses = retryableExceptionClasses;
 	}
-	
+
 	/**
-	 * Exception classes that may not cause a rollback if encountered in the right place.
+	 * Exception classes that may not cause a rollback if encountered in the
+	 * right place.
+	 * 
 	 * @param noRollbackExceptionClasses the noRollbackExceptionClasses to set
 	 */
 	public void setNoRollbackExceptionClasses(Collection<Class<? extends Throwable>> noRollbackExceptionClasses) {
@@ -626,9 +629,9 @@ class StepParserStepFactoryBean<I, O> implements FactoryBean, BeanNameAware {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * @param hasTaskletElement
+	 * @param hasChunkTaskletElement
 	 */
-	public void setHasTaskletElement(boolean hasTaskletElement) {
-		this.hasTaskletElement = hasTaskletElement;
+	public void setHasChunkTaskletElement(boolean hasChunkTaskletElement) {
+		this.hasChunkTaskletElement = hasChunkTaskletElement;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
index 6d3e1a732..ffeb3a30d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/main/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@
 		</xsd:complexType>
 	</xsd:element>
 
-	<xsd:element name="step" type="stepType">
+	<xsd:element name="step">
 		<xsd:annotation>
 			<xsd:documentation>
 				Defines a stage in job processing backed by a
@@ -78,6 +78,22 @@
 				to form a Job flow.
 			</xsd:documentation>
 		</xsd:annotation>
+		<xsd:complexType>
+			<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
+				<xsd:element name="tasklet">
+					<xsd:complexType>
+						<xsd:complexContent>
+							<xsd:extension base="taskletType">
+								<xsd:attributeGroup ref="jobRepositoryAttribute"/>
+							</xsd:extension>
+						</xsd:complexContent>
+					</xsd:complexType>
+				</xsd:element>
+			</xsd:choice>
+			<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID" use="required" />
+			<xsd:attributeGroup ref="parentAttribute"/>
+			<xsd:attributeGroup ref="abstractAttribute" />
+		</xsd:complexType>
 	</xsd:element>
 
 	<xsd:element name="job-listener">
@@ -163,17 +179,25 @@
 
 	<xsd:group name="flowGroup">
 		<xsd:choice>
-			<xsd:element name="step" type="flowStepType">
+			<xsd:element name="step">
 				<xsd:annotation>
 					<xsd:documentation>
 						Defines a stage in job processing backed by a
 						Step. The id attribute must be specified. The
-						step requires either a tasklet definition, a
-						tasklet reference, a reference to a step defined
-						elsewhere, or a reference to a (possibly
-						abstract) parent step.
+						step requires either a chunk-tasklet definition,
+						a tasklet reference, or a reference to a 
+						(possibly abstract) parent step.
 					</xsd:documentation>
 				</xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:complexType>
+					<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
+						<xsd:element name="tasklet" type="taskletType"/>
+						<xsd:group ref="transitions" />
+					</xsd:choice>
+					<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID" use="required" />
+					<xsd:attributeGroup ref="parentAttribute"/>
+					<xsd:attributeGroup ref="nextAttribute" />
+				</xsd:complexType>
 			</xsd:element>
 			<xsd:element name="split">
 				<xsd:annotation>
@@ -239,31 +263,9 @@
 		</xsd:choice>
 	</xsd:group>
 
-	<xsd:complexType name="stepType">
+	<xsd:complexType name="taskletType">
 		<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
-			<xsd:group ref="stepElements" />
-		</xsd:choice>
-		<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID" use="required" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="jobRepositoryAttribute" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="stepAttributes" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="abstractAttribute" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="transactionManagerAttribute" />
-	</xsd:complexType>
-
-	<xsd:complexType name="flowStepType">
-		<xsd:choice minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
-			<xsd:group ref="stepElements" />
-			<xsd:group ref="transitions" />
-		</xsd:choice>
-		<xsd:attribute name="id" type="xsd:ID" use="required" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="stepAttributes" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="transactionManagerAttribute" />
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="nextAttribute" />
-	</xsd:complexType>
-
-	<xsd:group name="stepElements">
-		<xsd:choice>
-			<xsd:element name="tasklet" type="taskletType" />
+			<xsd:element name="chunk-tasklet" type="chunkTaskletType" />
 			<xsd:element name="transaction-attributes" type="transaction-attributesType" />
 			<xsd:element name="no-rollback-exception-classes">
 				<xsd:annotation>
@@ -284,7 +286,34 @@
 			</xsd:element>
 			<xsd:element name="listeners" type="stepListenersType" />
 		</xsd:choice>
-	</xsd:group>
+		<xsd:attribute name="ref" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation>
+				The tasklet is a reference to another bean definition that implements the Tasklet interface.
+				</xsd:documentation>
+				<xsd:appinfo>
+					<tool:annotation kind="ref">
+						<tool:expected-type type="org.springframework.batch.core.step.tasklet.Tasklet"/>
+					</tool:annotation>
+				</xsd:appinfo>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attribute name="start-limit" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+				The maximum number of times a Step may be started.
+				]]></xsd:documentation>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attribute name="allow-start-if-complete" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
+			<xsd:annotation>
+				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
+				Set to true to allow a step to be started even if it is already complete.
+				]]></xsd:documentation>
+			</xsd:annotation>
+		</xsd:attribute>
+		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="transactionManagerAttribute"/>
+	</xsd:complexType>
 
 	<xsd:complexType name="transaction-attributesType">
 		<xsd:attribute name="propagation" default="REQUIRED">
@@ -331,7 +360,7 @@
 		</xsd:restriction>
 	</xsd:simpleType>
 
-	<xsd:complexType name="taskletType">
+	<xsd:complexType name="chunkTaskletType">
 		<xsd:all>
 			<xsd:element name="retry-listeners" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1">
 				<xsd:annotation>
@@ -741,36 +770,6 @@
 		</xsd:attribute>
 	</xsd:attributeGroup>
 
-	<xsd:attributeGroup name="stepAttributes">
-		<xsd:attribute name="tasklet" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
-			<xsd:annotation>
-				<xsd:documentation>
-				The tasklet is a reference to another bean definition that implements the Tasklet interface.
-				</xsd:documentation>
-				<xsd:appinfo>
-					<tool:annotation kind="ref">
-						<tool:expected-type type="org.springframework.batch.core.step.tasklet.Tasklet"/>
-					</tool:annotation>
-				</xsd:appinfo>
-			</xsd:annotation>
-		</xsd:attribute>
-		<xsd:attribute name="start-limit" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
-			<xsd:annotation>
-				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-				The maximum number of times a Step may be started.
-				]]></xsd:documentation>
-			</xsd:annotation>
-		</xsd:attribute>
-		<xsd:attribute name="allow-start-if-complete" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
-			<xsd:annotation>
-				<xsd:documentation><![CDATA[
-				Set to true to allow a step to be started even if it is already complete.
-				]]></xsd:documentation>
-			</xsd:annotation>
-		</xsd:attribute>
-		<xsd:attributeGroup ref="parentAttribute"/>
-	</xsd:attributeGroup>
-
 	<xsd:attributeGroup name="parentAttribute">
 		<xsd:attribute name="parent" type="xsd:string" use="optional">
 			<xsd:annotation>
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParserTests.java b/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParserTests.java
similarity index 89%
rename from spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParserTests.java
rename to spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParserTests.java
index 870cf49b8..7217fbd09 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParserTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParserTests.java
@@ -41,15 +41,15 @@ import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
  * @author Dan Garrette
  * @since 2.0
  */
-public class TaskletElementParserTests {
+public class ChunkTaskletParserTests {
 
-	private ConfigurableApplicationContext taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
-			"org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml");
+	private ConfigurableApplicationContext chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext(
+			"org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml");
 
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritSkippable() throws Exception {
 		Collection<Class<?>> skippable = getExceptionClasses("s1", "skippable",
-				taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+				chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		assertEquals(2, skippable.size());
 		boolean e = false;
 		boolean f = false;
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritFatal() throws Exception {
-		Collection<Class<?>> fatal = getExceptionClasses("s1", "fatal", taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+		Collection<Class<?>> fatal = getExceptionClasses("s1", "fatal", chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		boolean a = false;
 		boolean b = false;
 		for (Class<?> cls : fatal) {
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritStreams() throws Exception {
-		Collection<ItemStream> streams = getStreams("s1", taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+		Collection<ItemStream> streams = getStreams("s1", chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		assertEquals(2, streams.size());
 		boolean c = false;
 		for (ItemStream o : streams) {
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritRetryListeners() throws Exception {
 		Collection<RetryListener> retryListeners = getRetryListeners("s1",
-				taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+				chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		assertEquals(2, retryListeners.size());
 		boolean g = false;
 		boolean h = false;
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritSkippable_NoMerge() throws Exception {
 		Collection<Class<?>> skippable = getExceptionClasses("s2", "skippable",
-				taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+				chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		assertEquals(1, skippable.size());
 		boolean e = false;
 		for (Class<?> cls : skippable) {
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritFatal_NoMerge() throws Exception {
-		Collection<Class<?>> fatal = getExceptionClasses("s2", "fatal", taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+		Collection<Class<?>> fatal = getExceptionClasses("s2", "fatal", chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		boolean a = false;
 		boolean b = false;
 		for (Class<?> cls : fatal) {
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritStreams_NoMerge() throws Exception {
-		Collection<ItemStream> streams = getStreams("s2", taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+		Collection<ItemStream> streams = getStreams("s2", chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		assertEquals(1, streams.size());
 		boolean c = false;
 		for (ItemStream o : streams) {
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ public class TaskletElementParserTests {
 	@Test
 	public void testInheritRetryListeners_NoMerge() throws Exception {
 		Collection<RetryListener> retryListeners = getRetryListeners("s2",
-				taskletElementParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
+				chunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTestsContext);
 		assertEquals(1, retryListeners.size());
 		boolean h = false;
 		for (RetryListener o : retryListeners) {
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests.java b/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests.java
index 15b93e977..08ff17dec 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests.java
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests.java
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ public class StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests {
 	@Test
 	public void testSimpleStep() throws Exception {
 		StepParserStepFactoryBean<Object, Object> fb = new StepParserStepFactoryBean<Object, Object>();
-		fb.setHasTaskletElement(true);
+		fb.setHasChunkTaskletElement(true);
 		fb.setBeanName("step1");
 		fb.setAllowStartIfComplete(true);
 		fb.setJobRepository(new JobRepositorySupport());
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ public class StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests {
 		fb.setItemProcessor(new PassThroughItemProcessor<Object>());
 		fb.setItemWriter(new DummyItemWriter());
 		fb.setStreams(new ItemStream[] { new FlatFileItemReader<Object>() });
-		
+
 		Object step = fb.getObject();
 		assertTrue(step instanceof TaskletStep);
 		Object tasklet = ReflectionTestUtils.getField(step, "tasklet");
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public class StepParserStepFactoryBeanTests {
 	@Test
 	public void testFaultTolerantStep() throws Exception {
 		StepParserStepFactoryBean<Object, Object> fb = new StepParserStepFactoryBean<Object, Object>();
-		fb.setHasTaskletElement(true);
+		fb.setHasChunkTaskletElement(true);
 		fb.setBeanName("step1");
 		fb.setAllowStartIfComplete(true);
 		fb.setJobRepository(new JobRepositorySupport());
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForJobElementTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForJobElementTests-context.xml
index c0096e7de..ce13738f5 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForJobElementTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForJobElementTests-context.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 	
 	<job id="job">
-		<step id="step" tasklet="tasklet"/>
+		<step id="step">
+			<tasklet ref="tasklet"/>
+		</step>
 	</job>
 	
 	<beans:bean id="tasklet" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestTasklet"/>
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForStepElementTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForStepElementTests-context.xml
index 2390ccce0..b0024a1a1 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForStepElementTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/AutoRegisteringStepScopeForStepElementTests-context.xml
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@
 
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 	
-	<step id="step" tasklet="tasklet"/>
+	<step id="step">
+		<tasklet ref="tasklet"/>
+	</step>
 
 	<beans:bean id="tasklet" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestTasklet"/>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dd9ebde48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/ChunkTaskletParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<beans:beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/batch" xmlns:beans="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
+	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/batch http://www.springframework.org/schema/batch/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
+	http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd">
+
+	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
+
+	<job id="job">
+		<step id="s1" parent="baseStep">
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" skip-limit="5">
+					<skippable-exception-classes merge="true">
+						java.lang.NullPointerException
+					</skippable-exception-classes>
+		        	<fatal-exception-classes merge="true">
+		        		org.springframework.dao.CannotAcquireLockException
+		        	</fatal-exception-classes>
+		        	<streams merge="true">
+		        		<stream ref="stream1"/>
+		        	</streams>
+					<retry-listeners merge="true">
+						<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.DummyRetryListener"/>
+					</retry-listeners>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+			</tasklet>
+		</step>
+
+		<step id="s2" parent="baseStep">
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" skip-limit="5">
+					<skippable-exception-classes>
+						java.lang.NullPointerException
+					</skippable-exception-classes>
+		        	<fatal-exception-classes>
+		        		org.springframework.dao.CannotAcquireLockException
+		        	</fatal-exception-classes>
+		        	<streams>
+		        		<stream ref="stream1"/>
+		        	</streams>
+					<retry-listeners>
+						<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.DummyRetryListener"/>
+					</retry-listeners>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+			</tasklet>
+		</step>
+	</job>
+
+	<step id="baseStep" abstract="true">
+		<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet>
+					<skippable-exception-classes>
+						java.lang.ArithmeticException
+					</skippable-exception-classes>
+					<fatal-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.dao.DeadlockLoserDataAccessException
+					</fatal-exception-classes>
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="stream2"/>
+					</streams>
+					<retry-listeners>
+						<listener class="org.springframework.batch.retry.listener.RetryListenerSupport"/>
+					</retry-listeners>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+		</tasklet>
+	</step>
+	
+	<beans:bean id="stream1" class="org.springframework.batch.item.support.CompositeItemStream"/>
+	<beans:bean id="stream2" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestReader"/>
+
+</beans:beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml
index d4e7da248..2b52350ac 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/JobParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 
 	<job id="job1" parent="baseJob">
-		<step id="s1" tasklet="dummyTasklet"/>
+		<step id="s1">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet"/>
+		</step>
 		
 		<listeners merge="true">
 			<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.listener.JobExecutionListenerSupport"/>
@@ -15,7 +17,9 @@
 	</job>
 
 	<job id="job2" parent="baseJob">
-		<step id="s2" tasklet="dummyTasklet"/>
+		<step id="s2">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet"/>
+		</step>
 		
 		<listeners>
 			<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.listener.JobExecutionListenerSupport"/>
@@ -23,7 +27,9 @@
 	</job>
 
 	<job id="job3" parent="baseJob3">
-		<step id="s3" tasklet="dummyTasklet"/>
+		<step id="s3">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet"/>
+		</step>
 		
 		<listeners merge="true">
 			<listener ref="listener1"/>
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepListenerParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepListenerParserTests-context.xml
index 7b8f6685b..a1270b1ad 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepListenerParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepListenerParserTests-context.xml
@@ -7,18 +7,22 @@
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 	
 	<job id="job">
-		<step id="s1" tasklet="dummyTasklet" parent="baseStep">
-			<listeners merge="true">
-				<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.DummyAnnotationStepExecutionListener"/>
-				<listener ref="toplevel1"/>
-			</listeners>
+		<step id="s1" parent="baseStep">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet">
+				<listeners merge="true">
+					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.DummyAnnotationStepExecutionListener"/>
+					<listener ref="toplevel1"/>
+				</listeners>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 
-		<step id="s2" tasklet="dummyTasklet" parent="baseStep">
-			<listeners>
-				<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.listener.StepExecutionListenerSupport"/>
-				<listener ref="toplevel2"/>
-			</listeners>
+		<step id="s2" parent="baseStep">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet">
+				<listeners>
+					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.listener.StepExecutionListenerSupport"/>
+					<listener ref="toplevel2"/>
+				</listeners>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 	
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadRetryListenerTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadRetryListenerTests-context.xml
index b477a3d73..d01d76e19 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadRetryListenerTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadRetryListenerTests-context.xml
@@ -8,25 +8,28 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="step">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer" commit-interval="10" skip-limit="20"
-				retry-limit="3" cache-capacity="100" is-reader-transactional-queue="true" task-executor="taskExecutor">
-				<retry-listeners>
-					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestRetryListener" ref="retryListener" />
-				</retry-listeners>
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="reader" />
-				</streams>
-				<skippable-exception-classes>
-					org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException,
-				</skippable-exception-classes>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer" commit-interval="10" skip-limit="20"
+								retry-limit="3" cache-capacity="100" is-reader-transactional-queue="true" 
+								task-executor="taskExecutor">
+					<retry-listeners>
+						<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestRetryListener" ref="retryListener" />
+					</retry-listeners>
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="reader" />
+					</streams>
+					<skippable-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException,
+					</skippable-exception-classes>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" timeout="10" />
+				<no-rollback-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
+					</no-rollback-exception-classes>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="listener" />
+				</listeners>
 			</tasklet>
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" timeout="10" />
-			<no-rollback-exception-classes>
-					org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
-				</no-rollback-exception-classes>
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="listener" />
-			</listeners>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadStepListenerTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadStepListenerTests-context.xml
index 90d7b66e9..163ce5466 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadStepListenerTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserBadStepListenerTests-context.xml
@@ -7,10 +7,12 @@
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 	
 	<job id="job">
-		<step id="ft-step" tasklet="tasklet">
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="listener" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener"/>
-			</listeners>
+		<step id="ft-step">
+			<tasklet ref="tasklet">
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="listener" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener"/>
+				</listeners>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
index d4c170986..edff1125e 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="s1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" 
-				commit-interval="25" chunk-completion-policy="completionPolicy"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" 
+							   commit-interval="25" chunk-completion-policy="completionPolicy"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 	
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalTests-context.xml
index 9dad4bb5b..35694bace 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCommitIntervalTests-context.xml
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="s1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" 
-				commit-interval="25"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="25"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 	
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
index a9c3c247a..5a7ea02a4 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
@@ -8,8 +8,9 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="s1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" 
-				chunk-completion-policy="completionPolicy"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" chunk-completion-policy="completionPolicy"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 	
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserNoCommitIntervalOrCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserNoCommitIntervalOrCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
index 523878166..edb75150c 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserNoCommitIntervalOrCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserNoCommitIntervalOrCompletionPolicyTests-context.xml
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="s1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 	
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml
index 1d2e6ea45..74449c173 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserParentAttributeTests-context.xml
@@ -8,47 +8,65 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="s1" parent="baseStep" next="s2">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="s2" parent="standalone2" next="s3" />
-		<step id="s3" tasklet="dummyTasklet" parent="baseStep" next="s4">
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		<step id="s3" parent="baseStep" next="s4">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet">
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="s4" parent="standalone4" next="s5" />
 		<step id="s5" parent="baseStep" next="s6">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="s6" parent="standalone6" next="s7" />
-		<step id="s7" tasklet="dummyTasklet" parent="baseStep" next="s8">
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		<step id="s7" parent="baseStep" next="s8">
+			<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet">
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="s8" parent="standalone8" next="s5" />
 	</job>
 
 	<step id="standalone2" parent="baseStep">
-		<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
-		<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		<tasklet>
+			<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
+			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
-	<step id="standalone4" tasklet="dummyTasklet" parent="baseStep">
-		<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+	<step id="standalone4"  parent="baseStep">
+		<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet">
+			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
 	<step id="standalone6" parent="baseStep">
-		<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
-		<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		<tasklet>
+			<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" />
+			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
-	<step id="standalone8" tasklet="dummyTasklet" parent="baseStep">
-		<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+	<step id="standalone8" parent="baseStep">
+		<tasklet ref="dummyTasklet">
+			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" />
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
 	<step id="baseStep" abstract="true">
-		<transaction-attributes timeout="10"/>
-		<listeners>
-			<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.listener.StepExecutionListenerSupport" />
-		</listeners>
+		<tasklet>
+			<transaction-attributes timeout="10"/>
+			<listeners>
+				<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.listener.StepExecutionListenerSupport" />
+			</listeners>
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 </beans:beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserTaskletAttributesTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserTaskletAttributesTests-context.xml
index feb249ed1..d3427bb30 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserTaskletAttributesTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepParserTaskletAttributesTests-context.xml
@@ -5,29 +5,32 @@
 	http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd">
 
 	<job id="job">
-		<step id="step" start-limit="25" allow-start-if-complete="true">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer" commit-interval="10" skip-limit="20"
-				retry-limit="3" cache-capacity="100" is-reader-transactional-queue="true" task-executor="taskExecutor">
-				<retry-listeners>
-					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestRetryListener" />
-				</retry-listeners>
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="reader" />
-				</streams>
-				<fatal-exception-classes>
-					org.springframework.jdbc.BadSqlGrammarException
-				</fatal-exception-classes>
-				<skippable-exception-classes>
-					org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
-				</skippable-exception-classes>
+		<step id="step">
+			<tasklet start-limit="25" allow-start-if-complete="true">
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer" commit-interval="10" skip-limit="20"
+								retry-limit="3" cache-capacity="100" is-reader-transactional-queue="true" 
+								task-executor="taskExecutor">
+					<retry-listeners>
+						<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestRetryListener" />
+					</retry-listeners>
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="reader" />
+					</streams>
+					<fatal-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.jdbc.BadSqlGrammarException
+					</fatal-exception-classes>
+					<skippable-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
+					</skippable-exception-classes>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" timeout="10" />
+				<no-rollback-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
+				</no-rollback-exception-classes>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="listener" />
+				</listeners>
 			</tasklet>
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" timeout="10" />
-			<no-rollback-exception-classes>
-					org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
-			</no-rollback-exception-classes>
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="listener" />
-			</listeners>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithBasicProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithBasicProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
index 4ac8af32c..fa09b704f 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithBasicProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithBasicProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
@@ -8,17 +8,19 @@
 	
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="ft-step">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer"
-					commit-interval="10">
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="reader"/>
-				</streams>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer"
+								commit-interval="10">
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="reader"/>
+					</streams>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+				<listeners>
+					 <listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener"
+						       after-step-method="destroy"/> 
+					<listener ref="listener"/>
+				</listeners>
 			</tasklet>
-			<listeners>
-				 <listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener"
-					after-step-method="destroy"/> 
-				<listener ref="listener"/>
-			</listeners>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithFaultTolerantProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithFaultTolerantProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
index f96cce0a6..f144ab264 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithFaultTolerantProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithFaultTolerantProcessTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
@@ -8,27 +8,29 @@
 
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="step">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer" commit-interval="10" skip-limit="20"
-				retry-limit="3" cache-capacity="100" is-reader-transactional-queue="true" task-executor="taskExecutor">
-				<retry-listeners>
-					<listener ref="retryListener" />
-					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestRetryListener" />
-				</retry-listeners>
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="reader" />
-				</streams>
-				<skippable-exception-classes>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="writer" commit-interval="10" skip-limit="20"
+				               retry-limit="3" cache-capacity="100" is-reader-transactional-queue="true" task-executor="taskExecutor">
+					<retry-listeners>
+						<listener ref="retryListener" />
+						<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestRetryListener" />
+					</retry-listeners>
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="reader" />
+					</streams>
+					<skippable-exception-classes>
+						org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
+					</skippable-exception-classes>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+				<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" timeout="10" />
+				<no-rollback-exception-classes>
 					org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
-				</skippable-exception-classes>
+				</no-rollback-exception-classes>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener" />
+					<listener ref="listener" />
+				</listeners>
 			</tasklet>
-			<transaction-attributes propagation="REQUIRED" isolation="DEFAULT" timeout="10" />
-			<no-rollback-exception-classes>
-				org.springframework.dao.DataIntegrityViolationException
-			</no-rollback-exception-classes>
-			<listeners>
-				<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestListener" />
-				<listener ref="listener" />
-			</listeners>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithSimpleTaskJobParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithSimpleTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
index 96dd2fd8e..40779ed65 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithSimpleTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StepWithSimpleTaskJobParserTests-context.xml
@@ -7,13 +7,16 @@
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 	
 	<job id="job">
-		<step id="step1" tasklet="tasklet">
+		<step id="step1">
+			<tasklet ref="tasklet"/>
 			<next on="*" to="step2" />
 		</step>
-		<step id="step2" tasklet="tasklet">
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="listener"/>
-			</listeners>
+		<step id="step2">
+			<tasklet ref="tasklet">
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="listener"/>
+				</listeners>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnCompletedStepJobParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnCompletedStepJobParserTests-context.xml
index 207b5a047..990f38c8f 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnCompletedStepJobParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnCompletedStepJobParserTests-context.xml
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@
 	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
 	
 	<job id="job">
-		<!-- On restart this step will be re-executed: effect is infinitely re-runnable job -->
-		<step id="s1" parent="step1" allow-start-if-complete="true">
+		<step id="s1" parent="step1">
+			<!-- On restart this step will be re-executed: effect is infinitely re-runnable job -->
+			<tasklet allow-start-if-complete="true"/>
 			<!-- On normal step status: stop the job, but restart with the same step. -->
 			<stop on="COMPLETED" restart="s1"/>
 			<end on="*"/>
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnFailedStepJobParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnFailedStepJobParserTests-context.xml
index 3d8bb2589..190af67ca 100644
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnFailedStepJobParserTests-context.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/StopRestartOnFailedStepJobParserTests-context.xml
@@ -9,8 +9,9 @@
 	<job id="job">
 		<step id="s0" parent="step2" next="fail"/>
 		
-		<!-- On restart this step will be re-executed: effect is infinitely re-runnable job -->
-		<step id="fail" parent="failingStep" allow-start-if-complete="true">
+		<step id="fail" parent="failingStep">
+			<!-- On restart this step will be re-executed: effect is infinitely re-runnable job -->
+			<tasklet allow-start-if-complete="true"/>
 			<!-- On failure: stop the job, but restart with the same step. -->
 			<stop on="FAILED" restart="fail"/>
 			<end on="*"/>
diff --git a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml b/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml
deleted file mode 100644
index 873b64bc6..000000000
--- a/spring-batch-core/src/test/resources/org/springframework/batch/core/configuration/xml/TaskletElementParentAttributeParserTests-context.xml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<beans:beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/batch" xmlns:beans="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
-	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
-	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/batch http://www.springframework.org/schema/batch/spring-batch-2.0.xsd
-	http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd">
-
-	<beans:import resource="common-context.xml" />
-
-	<job id="job">
-		<step id="s1" parent="baseStep">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" skip-limit="5">
-				<skippable-exception-classes merge="true">
-					java.lang.NullPointerException
-				</skippable-exception-classes>
-	        	<fatal-exception-classes merge="true">
-	        		org.springframework.dao.CannotAcquireLockException
-	        	</fatal-exception-classes>
-	        	<streams merge="true">
-	        		<stream ref="stream1"/>
-	        	</streams>
-				<retry-listeners merge="true">
-					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.DummyRetryListener"/>
-				</retry-listeners>
-			</tasklet>
-		</step>
-
-		<step id="s2" parent="baseStep">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="5" skip-limit="5">
-				<skippable-exception-classes>
-					java.lang.NullPointerException
-				</skippable-exception-classes>
-	        	<fatal-exception-classes>
-	        		org.springframework.dao.CannotAcquireLockException
-	        	</fatal-exception-classes>
-	        	<streams>
-	        		<stream ref="stream1"/>
-	        	</streams>
-				<retry-listeners>
-					<listener class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.DummyRetryListener"/>
-				</retry-listeners>
-			</tasklet>
-		</step>
-	</job>
-
-	<step id="baseStep" abstract="true">
-		<tasklet>
-			<skippable-exception-classes>
-				java.lang.ArithmeticException
-			</skippable-exception-classes>
-			<fatal-exception-classes>
-				org.springframework.dao.DeadlockLoserDataAccessException
-			</fatal-exception-classes>
-			<streams>
-				<stream ref="stream2"/>
-			</streams>
-			<retry-listeners>
-				<listener class="org.springframework.batch.retry.listener.RetryListenerSupport"/>
-			</retry-listeners>
-		</tasklet>
-	</step>
-	
-	<beans:bean id="stream1" class="org.springframework.batch.item.support.CompositeItemStream"/>
-	<beans:bean id="stream2" class="org.springframework.batch.core.configuration.xml.TestReader"/>
-
-</beans:beans>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/adhocLoopJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/adhocLoopJob.xml
index 042d58bde..d0905aaba 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/adhocLoopJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/adhocLoopJob.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 
 	<job id="loopJob" incrementer="jobParametersIncrementer">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="3"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="3"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
@@ -23,7 +25,7 @@
 	<beans:bean id="writer" class="org.springframework.batch.sample.common.InfiniteLoopWriter" />
 	
 	<beans:bean id="jobParametersIncrementer" 
-	      class="org.springframework.batch.sample.common.InfiniteLoopIncrementer"/>
+	            class="org.springframework.batch.sample.common.InfiniteLoopIncrementer"/>
 
 	<aop:config>
 		<aop:aspect ref="eventAdvice">
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/beanWrapperMapperSampleJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/beanWrapperMapperSampleJob.xml
index d5f526ee0..2c7b3545a 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/beanWrapperMapperSampleJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/beanWrapperMapperSampleJob.xml
@@ -10,10 +10,15 @@
 
 	<job id="beanWrapperMapperJob">
 		<step id="step1" next="step2">
-			<tasklet reader="tradeFileItemReader" processor="processor" writer="tradeWriter" commit-interval="1"></tasklet>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="tradeFileItemReader" processor="processor" writer="tradeWriter" 
+				               commit-interval="1"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="step2">
-			<tasklet reader="personFileItemReader" writer="personWriter" commit-interval="1"></tasklet>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="personFileItemReader" writer="personWriter" commit-interval="1"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/compositeItemWriterSampleJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/compositeItemWriterSampleJob.xml
index 3d40ae9d3..993db2071 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/compositeItemWriterSampleJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/compositeItemWriterSampleJob.xml
@@ -17,12 +17,15 @@
 
 	<job id="compositeItemWriterJob">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="fileItemReader" processor="processor" writer="compositeWriter" commit-interval="1">
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="fileItemReader"/>
-					<stream ref="fileItemWriter1"/>
-					<stream ref="fileItemWriter2"/>
-				</streams>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="fileItemReader" processor="processor" writer="compositeWriter" 
+				               commit-interval="1">
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="fileItemReader"/>
+						<stream ref="fileItemWriter1"/>
+						<stream ref="fileItemWriter2"/>
+					</streams>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
 			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/customerFilterJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/customerFilterJob.xml
index 6ba952958..f9dd68333 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/customerFilterJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/customerFilterJob.xml
@@ -9,13 +9,15 @@
 
 	<job id="customerFilterJob">
 		<step id="uploadCustomer">
-			<tasklet reader="customerFileUploadReader" 
-			         processor="customerUpdateProcessor" 
-			         writer="customerUpdateWriter" 
-			         commit-interval="1"/>
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="customerTokenizer"/>
-			</listeners>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet 	reader="customerFileUploadReader" 
+								processor="customerUpdateProcessor" 
+								writer="customerUpdateWriter" 
+								commit-interval="1"/>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="customerTokenizer"/>
+				</listeners>
+		    </tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 		
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/delegatingJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/delegatingJob.xml
index 89e0ffb86..bf91e5d5d 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/delegatingJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/delegatingJob.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
 
 	<job id="delegateJob">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="1"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="1"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/footballJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/footballJob.xml
index e324bee00..5b389273a 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/footballJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/footballJob.xml
@@ -13,19 +13,25 @@
 
 	<job id="footballJob">
 		<step id="playerload" next="gameLoad">
-			<tasklet reader="playerFileItemReader" writer="playerWriter" 
-			               commit-interval="${job.commit.interval}" />
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="playerFileItemReader" writer="playerWriter" 
+			                   commit-interval="${job.commit.interval}" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="gameLoad" next="playerSummarization">
-			<tasklet reader="gameFileItemReader" writer="gameWriter" 
-			               commit-interval="${job.commit.interval}" />
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="gameFileItemReader" writer="gameWriter" 
+			                   commit-interval="${job.commit.interval}" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="playerSummarization" parent="summarizationStep" />
 	</job>
 
 	<step id="summarizationStep">
-		<tasklet reader="playerSummarizationSource" writer="summaryWriter" 
-			               commit-interval="${job.commit.interval}" />
+		<tasklet>
+			<chunk-tasklet reader="playerSummarizationSource" writer="summaryWriter" 
+		                   commit-interval="${job.commit.interval}" />
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
 	<beans:bean id="playerWriter" class="org.springframework.batch.sample.domain.football.internal.PlayerItemWriter">
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/headerFooterSample.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/headerFooterSample.xml
index 47ea26bf0..f826a0ff8 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/headerFooterSample.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/headerFooterSample.xml
@@ -14,16 +14,17 @@
 
 	<job id="headerFooterSample">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="3">
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="reader"/>
-					<stream ref="writer"/>
-				</streams>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="3">
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="reader"/>
+						<stream ref="writer"/>
+					</streams>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="footerCallback"/>
+				</listeners>
 			</tasklet>
-			
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="footerCallback"/>
-			</listeners>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/hibernateJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/hibernateJob.xml
index ce1794258..1e2b4aca9 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/hibernateJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/hibernateJob.xml
@@ -12,18 +12,21 @@
 
 	<job id="hibernateJob" restartable="false">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="hibernateItemReader" 
-			         processor="creditIncreaseProcessor" 
-			         writer="hibernateCreditWriter" 
-			         skip-limit="5" 
-			         commit-interval="3"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="hibernateItemReader" 
+						       processor="creditIncreaseProcessor" 
+						       writer="hibernateCreditWriter" 
+						       skip-limit="5" 
+						       commit-interval="3"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
-	<beans:bean id="creditIncreaseProcessor" class="org.springframework.batch.sample.domain.trade.internal.CustomerCreditIncreaseProcessor" />
+	<beans:bean id="creditIncreaseProcessor" 
+	            class="org.springframework.batch.sample.domain.trade.internal.CustomerCreditIncreaseProcessor" />
 
 	<beans:bean id="hibernateCreditWriter"
-		class="org.springframework.batch.sample.domain.trade.internal.HibernateAwareCustomerCreditItemWriter">
+		        class="org.springframework.batch.sample.domain.trade.internal.HibernateAwareCustomerCreditItemWriter">
 		<beans:property name="sessionFactory" ref="sessionFactory" />
 		<beans:property name="dao" ref="customerCreditDao" />
 	</beans:bean>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/ioSampleJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/ioSampleJob.xml
index 2224154ab..862e54e2a 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/ioSampleJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/ioSampleJob.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 
 	<job id="ioSampleJob">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="itemReader" processor="itemProcessor" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="2"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="itemReader" processor="itemProcessor" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="2"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiLine.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiLine.xml
index 6a96ca97d..fbea07b00 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiLine.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiLine.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 		
 	<batch:job id="ioSampleJob">
 		<batch:step id="step1">
-			<batch:tasklet reader="itemReader" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="2"/>
+			<batch:tasklet>
+				<batch:chunk-tasklet reader="itemReader" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="2"/>
+			</batch:tasklet>
 		</batch:step>
 	</batch:job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiRecordType.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiRecordType.xml
index 1926f5162..a9608a535 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiRecordType.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/iosample/multiRecordType.xml
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 		
 	<batch:job id="ioSampleJob">
 		<batch:step id="step1">
-			<batch:tasklet reader="itemReader" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="2"/>
+			<batch:tasklet>
+				<batch:chunk-tasklet reader="itemReader" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="2"/>
+			</batch:tasklet>
 		</batch:step>
 	</batch:job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/loopFlowSample.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/loopFlowSample.xml
index 27a39a868..6a6cc9897 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/loopFlowSample.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/loopFlowSample.xml
@@ -13,17 +13,20 @@
 
 	<job id="loopFlowSample">
 		<step id="step1" next="step2">
-			<tasklet reader="itemGenerator" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="1"/>
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="resettingListener"/>
-			</listeners>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="itemGenerator" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="1"/>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="resettingListener"/>
+				</listeners>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
-		<step id="step2" allow-start-if-complete="true" next="limitDecision">
-			<tasklet reader="itemGenerator" writer="itemWriter" 
-			         commit-interval="1"/>
-			<listeners>
-				<listener ref="resettingListener"/>
-			</listeners>
+		<step id="step2" next="limitDecision">
+			<tasklet allow-start-if-complete="true">
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="itemGenerator" writer="itemWriter" commit-interval="1"/>
+				<listeners>
+					<listener ref="resettingListener"/>
+				</listeners>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<decision id="limitDecision" decider="limitDecider">
 			<next on="CONTINUE" to="step2" />
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineJob.xml
index ae3e8ff5e..c602c1bbf 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineJob.xml
@@ -12,10 +12,12 @@
 
 	<batch:job id="multilineJob">
 		<batch:step id="step1">
-			<batch:tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="1">
-				<batch:streams>
-					<batch:stream ref="fileItemReader"/>
-				</batch:streams>
+			<batch:tasklet>
+				<batch:chunk-tasklet reader="reader" writer="writer" commit-interval="1">
+					<batch:streams>
+						<batch:stream ref="fileItemReader"/>
+					</batch:streams>
+				</batch:chunk-tasklet>
 			</batch:tasklet>
 		</batch:step>
 	</batch:job>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineOrderJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineOrderJob.xml
index af791ada6..638f8396e 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineOrderJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/multilineOrderJob.xml
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@
 
 	<job id="multilineOrderJob">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="fileItemWriter" commit-interval="5">
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="fileItemWriter"/>
-					<stream ref="fileItemReader"/>
-				</streams>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="reader" processor="processor" writer="fileItemWriter" commit-interval="5">
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="fileItemWriter"/>
+						<stream ref="fileItemReader"/>
+					</streams>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
 			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/parallelJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/parallelJob.xml
index 008f794df..2685dd5cf 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/parallelJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/parallelJob.xml
@@ -13,17 +13,21 @@
 
 	<job id="parallelJob">
 		<step id="staging" next="loading">
-			<tasklet reader="fileItemReader" 
-			         processor="validatingProcessor" 
-			         writer="stagingItemWriter" 
-			         commit-interval="2"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="fileItemReader" 
+						       processor="validatingProcessor" 
+						       writer="stagingItemWriter" 
+						       commit-interval="2"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="loading">
-			<tasklet reader="stagingReader" 
-			         processor="stagingProcessor" 
-			         writer="tradeWriter" 
-			         commit-interval="1" 
-			         task-executor="taskExecutor"/>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="stagingReader" 
+					           processor="stagingProcessor" 
+					           writer="tradeWriter" 
+					           commit-interval="1" 
+					           task-executor="taskExecutor"/>
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
 
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/partitionJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/partitionJob.xml
index effbd3fdb..9065db3f0 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/partitionJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/partitionJob.xml
@@ -9,11 +9,10 @@
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx http://www.springframework.org/schema/tx/spring-tx-2.0.xsd
 		http://www.springframework.org/schema/util http://www.springframework.org/schema/util/spring-util-2.0.xsd">
 
-	<bean id="partitionJob" class="org.springframework.batch.core.job.SimpleJob">
-		<property name="jobRepository" ref="jobRepository" />
-		<property name="steps" ref="step1:master"/>
-	</bean>
-
+	<batch:job id="partitionJob">
+		<batch:step id="step" parent="step1:master" />
+	</batch:job>
+	
 	<bean name="step1:master" class="org.springframework.batch.core.partition.support.PartitionStep">
 		<property name="jobRepository" ref="jobRepository" />
 		<property name="stepExecutionSplitter">
@@ -37,11 +36,13 @@
 		</property>
 	</bean>
 
-	<batch:step id="step1" job-repository="jobRepository" transaction-manager="transactionManager">
-		<batch:tasklet writer="itemWriter" reader="itemReader" processor="itemProcessor" commit-interval="5" />
-		<batch:listeners>
-			<batch:listener ref="fileNameListener" />
-		</batch:listeners>
+	<batch:step id="step1">
+		<batch:tasklet job-repository="jobRepository" transaction-manager="transactionManager">
+			<batch:chunk-tasklet writer="itemWriter" reader="itemReader" processor="itemProcessor" commit-interval="5" />
+			<batch:listeners>
+				<batch:listener ref="fileNameListener" />
+			</batch:listeners>
+		</batch:tasklet>
 	</batch:step>
 
 	<bean id="fileNameListener" class="org.springframework.batch.sample.common.OutputFileListener" />
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/restartSample.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/restartSample.xml
index cec7feb18..7edb570af 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/restartSample.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/restartSample.xml
@@ -10,10 +10,12 @@
 
 	<job id="restartSampleJob" restartable="true">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="itemReader" processor="processor" writer="tradeWriter" commit-interval="2">
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="fileItemReader" />
-				</streams>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="itemReader" processor="processor" writer="tradeWriter" commit-interval="2">
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="fileItemReader" />
+					</streams>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
 			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/retrySample.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/retrySample.xml
index c1d8fc3b9..50e51a6f4 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/retrySample.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/retrySample.xml
@@ -13,13 +13,15 @@
 
 	<job id="retrySample">
 		<step id="step1">
-			<tasklet reader="itemGenerator" 
-			         writer="itemWriter" 
-			         commit-interval="1"
-			         retry-limit="3">
-			    <retryable-exception-classes>
-			    	java.lang.Exception
-			    </retryable-exception-classes>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="itemGenerator" 
+					           writer="itemWriter" 
+					           commit-interval="1"
+					           retry-limit="3">
+				    <retryable-exception-classes>
+				    	java.lang.Exception
+				    </retryable-exception-classes>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
 			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/skipSampleJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/skipSampleJob.xml
index 222e5581c..67b724e17 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/skipSampleJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/skipSampleJob.xml
@@ -13,9 +13,11 @@
  			http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-2.0.xsd">
 
 	<job id="skipJob" incrementer="incrementer">
-		<step id="step1" parent="baseStep">
-			<tasklet reader="fileItemReader" processor="tradeProcessor" writer="tradeWriter" 
-			         commit-interval="3" skip-limit="10">
+		<step id="step1" parent="baseStep">
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="fileItemReader" processor="tradeProcessor" writer="tradeWriter" 
+				               commit-interval="3" skip-limit="10">
+				</chunk-tasklet>
 			</tasklet>
 
 			<next on="*" to="step2" />
@@ -23,7 +25,9 @@
 			<fail on="FAILED" exit-code="FAILED"/>
 		</step>
 
-		<step id="errorPrint1" tasklet="errorLogTasklet" next="step2"/>
+		<step id="errorPrint1" next="step2">
+			<tasklet ref="errorLogTasklet"/>
+		</step>
 
 		<step id="step2" parent="secondPass" next="skipCheckingDecision"/>
 
@@ -33,33 +37,41 @@
 			<fail on="FAILED" exit-code="FAILED"/>
 		</decision>
 		
-		<step id="errorPrint2" tasklet="errorLogTasklet"/>
+		<step id="errorPrint2">
+			<tasklet ref="errorLogTasklet"/>
+		</step>
 	</job>
 
 	<step id="secondPass" parent="t2">
-		<tasklet writer="itemTrackingWriter">
-			<skippable-exception-classes merge="true">
-				java.lang.RuntimeException
-			</skippable-exception-classes>
+		<tasklet>
+			<chunk-tasklet writer="itemTrackingWriter">
+				<skippable-exception-classes merge="true">
+					java.lang.RuntimeException
+				</skippable-exception-classes>
+			</chunk-tasklet>
 		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
 	<step id="t2" parent="t3" abstract="true"/>
 
 	<step id="t3" parent="baseStep" abstract="true">
-		<tasklet reader="tradeSqlItemReader" processor="tradeProcessor" writer="dummyWriter" 
-		         commit-interval="2" skip-limit="10">
-			<skippable-exception-classes>
-				org.springframework.batch.item.validator.ValidationException
-			</skippable-exception-classes>
+		<tasklet>
+			<chunk-tasklet reader="tradeSqlItemReader" processor="tradeProcessor" writer="dummyWriter" 
+			               commit-interval="2" skip-limit="10">
+				<skippable-exception-classes>
+					org.springframework.batch.item.validator.ValidationException
+				</skippable-exception-classes>
+			</chunk-tasklet>
 		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 
 	<step id="baseStep" abstract="true">
-		<listeners>
-			<listener class="org.springframework.batch.sample.common.SkipCheckingListener"/>
-			<listener ref="promotionListener"/>
-		</listeners>
+		<tasklet>
+			<listeners>
+				<listener class="org.springframework.batch.sample.common.SkipCheckingListener"/>
+				<listener ref="promotionListener"/>
+			</listeners>
+		</tasklet>
 	</step>
 	
 	<beans:bean id="dummyWriter" class="org.springframework.batch.sample.support.DummyItemWriter"/>
diff --git a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/tradeJob.xml b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/tradeJob.xml
index d539cf303..5fbce155f 100644
--- a/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/tradeJob.xml
+++ b/spring-batch-samples/src/main/resources/jobs/tradeJob.xml
@@ -11,18 +11,25 @@
 
 	<job id="tradeJob">
 		<step id="step1" next="step2">
-			<tasklet reader="fileItemReader" processor="validatingProcessor" writer="tradeWriter" commit-interval="1">
-				<streams>
-					<stream ref="fileItemReader" />
-				</streams>
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="fileItemReader" processor="validatingProcessor" writer="tradeWriter" 
+				               commit-interval="1">
+					<streams>
+						<stream ref="fileItemReader" />
+					</streams>
+				</chunk-tasklet>
+				<transaction-attributes isolation="READ_COMMITTED" />
 			</tasklet>
-			<transaction-attributes isolation="READ_COMMITTED" />
 		</step>
 		<step id="step2" next="step3">
-			<tasklet reader="tradeSqlItemReader" writer="customerWriter" commit-interval="1" />
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="tradeSqlItemReader" writer="customerWriter" commit-interval="1" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 		<step id="step3">
-			<tasklet reader="customerSqlItemReader" writer="creditWriter" commit-interval="1" />
+			<tasklet>
+				<chunk-tasklet reader="customerSqlItemReader" writer="creditWriter" commit-interval="1" />
+			</tasklet>
 		</step>
 	</job>