The Impact of Task-Based English Language Teaching on Students (Dissertation Sample)

THE IMPACT OF TASK-BASED ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING ON STUDENTS' COMPETENCES
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Abstract
This paper delves into the impact of task-based English teaching on students' competencies, such as reading comprehension, writing, speaking, and oral communication. It sheds light on the recent literature and studies on task-based language teaching (TBLT). The research focuses on TBLT in English as a foreign and second (EFL) and (ESL) contexts. At the same time, it gives attention to the design, implementation, and assessment of task-based English language instruction activities. A growing body of literature suggests that TBLT has gained significance in recent decades because of its perceived relevance in augmenting linguistic and non-linguistic competencies of learners. The use of tasks in language learning classrooms promotes students' learning, social interaction, and motivation to use English in real-life situations. Further, the paper analyzes a recent study conducted to investigate the effect of task-based English language teaching on Chinese students' literary competencies. This paper recommends that additional exploration is needed to examine the integration of computer-mediated technologies, smartphones, and Web 2.0 tools in enhancing the effectiveness of TBLT on language teaching.
Keywords
Task-based language teaching (TBLT), EFL and ESL learners' competence, writing, speaking, reading comprehension, oral communication
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc10881427 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc10881428 \h 4Objectives of the study PAGEREF _Toc10881429 \h 5Theoretical framework of the study PAGEREF _Toc10881430 \h 6Literature review PAGEREF _Toc10881431 \h 9Research Focus PAGEREF _Toc10881432 \h 20Research Methodology PAGEREF _Toc10881433 \h 20Research Findings PAGEREF _Toc10881434 \h 21Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc10881435 \h 28References PAGEREF _Toc10881436 \h 29
The Impact of Task-Based English Language Teaching on Students' Competence
Introduction
The adoption of task-based language teaching (TBLT) methods in linguistic instruction has increased in the past decade (Derakhshan 2018, p. 527). The technique entails using pedagogic tasks that learners undertake in the manner of communication to attain forecasted results for evaluation. The tasks can also involve opinion gaps in authentic texts performed by students to achieve predetermined objectives. According to Mohammadi and Safdari (2015, p.416), task-based language teaching methods provide students with natural resources of meaningful content, ideal contexts for communicative activities, and avenues for support to provide better opportunities for language use and interaction. There exist multiple definitions of task-based teaching and learning. For instance, Mahdieh and Farnaz (2015, p. 92) describe pedagogical tasks as structured language learning activities encompassing appropriate content, specific working procedures, pre-set objectives, and different outcomes. Such tasks have basic features. Derakhshan (2018, p. 528) notes that in a pedagogical task, the meaning is supreme. Participants should construct their purposes, the task should relate to real life, and the outcome should be evaluated.
TBLT has been defined as a work plan that requires pragmatic language consumption to attain an outcome that is assessed following the accuracy and suitability of content. Ellis (2017, p. 246) posits that TBLT is a thoroughgoing approach that targets communication, relates to real-world endeavors, prioritizes task completion, and assesses outcomes. Assessment forms an integral part of task-based language teaching. A consistent student assessment and feedback framework boosts the effectiveness of TBLT. Derakhshan (2018, p. 529) maintains that TBLT has a plethora of alternatives characterized by its fundamental objectives of enhancing students' learning process, establishing learners' autonomy and self-control strengths. In addition, it promotes students' cognitive competencies in an intensive reading course and analytic writing, especially in EFL and ESL classrooms (Ellis 2017, p. 273). It is noteworthy that task-based English language teaching encompasses collaborative assessment, boosting students' self-regulative capacities and learning cognition. The approach encourages a suitable written-plus-spoken feedback framework that enhances students' motivation and language use competence.
Objectives of the study
The above brief overview shows that task-based language teaching is essential to improving students' competence at cognitive and language acquisition levels. Nevertheless, scant empirical evidence exists of the practical application of the approach in English teaching practise (Ellis 2017, p. 277). This research study is based on a basic re-conceptualization of task-based English language teaching to determine its influence on students' competence. The paper examines learners' perceptions of the usefulness of tasks and evaluation. This study reviews recent literature on implementing task-based English teaching in (EFL) and (ESL) settings. In foreign language (FL) contexts, the English language is taught as a significant subject (Ellis 2017, p. 278). There has been extensive research carried out in foreign language settings to determine the impact of TBLT in enhancing learners' competence (Setayesh & Marzban 2017, p. 70). Additionally, TBLT helps change the instructors' role from demanding to dialogue organizers, implementors, and language mentors, allowing learners to share more significant responsibilities in the learning process. Moreover, task-based language instruction enhances students' freedom to express themselves and their autonomy in the learning process. Derakhshan (2018, p. 540) notes several task-based English language instruction aspects. Notably, teaching should ensure well-adjusted development in language performance, including accuracy, fluency, and complexity that contribute to the sustainable progression in students' speaking abilities. In this case, complexity implies the acquisition of new rules and restructuring of the English language system in speaking proficiency. Learners are likely to achieve such complexity if they develop control over newly acquired speaking skills and integrate them into fluent performance (Ahmed & Bidin 2016, p. 207). Likewise, instructors can enhance EFL learners' English-speaking proficiency by developing accessibility and analyzability concepts. Accessibility implies an empowered memory-based system that enables students to stay abreast with the ongoing discourse by utilizing prepared lexical language. The analyzability concept of speaking helps students rely on language rules that increase their flexibility in speaking. Most studies are based on either cognitive or socio-cultural approaches.
On the one hand, research couched within a cognitive framework attempts to analyze the connection between tasks and effective language use and processing. On the other hand, studies based on the socio-cultural approach evaluate students' interactions, cooperation, and language use as they help one another in task completion (Herraiz 2018, p. 38). Proponents of TBLT maintain that task-based instruction can be incorporated into English language teaching to augment learner autonomy and facilitate authentic classroom interaction.
The theoretical framework of the study
Communicative tasks endeavor to foster learners' abilities to achieve communication in real-time. According to Pierson (2015, p. 105), it is essential to integrate communicative tasks systematically to develop second English learners' speaking competencies. TBLT should integrate a cognitive approach with communicative tasks to achieve three primary goals: fluency, accuracy, and complexity (Setayesh & Marzban 2017, p.72). The cognitive approach requires task-based instruction to adhere to three necessary procedures. First, selecting a range of target structures is critical to providing fertile conditions for enhancing language development. Second, tasks should be chosen and sequenced to attain a balanced goal development (Ellis 2017, p. 280). Third, the implementation of tasks is necessary for manipulating learners' attentional focus. Primarily, teachers should design tasks to augment students' attention on form and in the framework of meaningful language use.
According to Pierson (2015, p. 119), task-based English teaching effectively enhances students' speaking and analytic writing skills because it uses real-life activities such as story-telling, problem-solving, and giving directions. Such tasks permeate many features of language teaching research and practice besides taking on diverse forms under various appearances. Task-based language instruction uses real-world activities that promote situational authenticity (NamazianDost, Bohloulzadeh, & Pazhakh 2017, p. 243). The emergence of TBLT can be ascribed to the need for language instructors to help learners with both acquisition and knowledge of the language. Additionally, task-based language educators use the approach to help learners hone their skills and abilities to utilize language in real-world endeavors. The technique adopts three critical strategies proposed by Martin Bygate: task-supported approach, task-referenced approach, and task-based approach (Mahdieh & Farnaz 2015, p. 98). The task-supported approach entails using tasks to complement prevailing language teaching methods. At the same time, the task-referenced tactic utilizes tasks to characterize the competencies that students are supposed to acquire after the course (Setayesh & Marzban 2017, 76). The task-based method entail...