Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES THAN THU THAO THE EFFECT OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING ON WRITING SKILL OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS IN A HIGH SCHOOL M.A THESIS Fiel
INTRODUCTION
Background to the study
In Vietnamese educational settings, English has become the most important foreign language in schools when the Vietnamese national policy was introduced English as a foreign language (EFL) primary curriculum in which English is taught as a compulsory subject from Grade 3 (Nguyen H.T.M, 2011) and used as a medium of instruction in higher education (Ly, T T & Nguyen, T H., 2018) Additionally, English is considered not only a major foreign language, but also an international language by which people can pursue their dreams of material success and privilege outside their home country (Doan, 2014, Bui & Nguyen, 2015)
Although English plays dominant role in primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions as well as foreign language centres throughout Vietnam, English competence used by Vietnamese learners still remains a problem, in which writing skill is a concerning issue
Among the language skills, writing has been considered the most challenge for teachers to teach, as well as to master for language learners The ability to express one's ideas in writing in a second or foreign language and to do so with reasonable coherence and accuracy is a major achievement; many native speakers of English never truly master this skill
It is common for students in today's educational system to dislike and/or avoid the writing tasks Many students feel that writing takes too long For some, writing is a very laborious task because there are so many sub-components which need to be pulled together For others, the reason lies in some processing difficulties, such as dyslexia or dysgraphia Some educators wonder if students no longer enjoy the slower, more refined process of written communication because they spend so much time watching the faster-paced visual modality of television There are many reasons students avoid writing Firstly, students have a hard time getting started and feel overwhelmed by the task, and they need to concentrate to form letters Some students struggle to organize and use mechanics of writing Besides, they are slow and inefficient in retrieving the right word(s) to express an idea They struggle to develop their ideas fluently (poor ideation) and they struggle to keep track of their thoughts while also getting them down on paper In addition, some students might feel that the process of writing on paper is slow and tedious They feel that the paper never turns out the way they want Some realize that the paper is still sloppy even though substantial time and effort were spent Some are dyslexic, which causes very poor spelling and interferes with automatic use of writing mechanics
Almost of the above-mentioned reasons refer to learners themselves Few of them deal with the roles of teachers or teaching methods that they have been offering by teachers at secondary schools This study looks at the issue from the perspectives of teaching methods
As a teacher of English at a high school in a remote school in Thai Nguyen province, we notice that the teaching methods need some changes to benefit learners in some ways That is the primary reason for me to conduct the present study “The effect of task-based language teaching on writing skill of grade 10 students in a high school” This research attempts to determine the effectiveness of task-based instructions over the old fashioned teaching methods.
Significance of the study
The study was significant for several important reasons Firstly, this research would shed light on the implementation of TBLT in teaching writing to investigate the effectiveness of applying this method for secondary students at Binh Yen high school Secondly, it could be an approach for both teachers and students in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning writing which set a better start off for university education Lastly, this study contribute to the innovation in teaching methods that have been out-of-fashion
The primary purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness (if any) of the task-based language teaching (TBLT) on the achievement of writing skill compared with traditional teaching instructions such as grammar-translation, the controlled composition approach, the process-approach that have been in use at Binh Yen high school for years The independent variable was defined as task-based instructions during one school term of teaching writing The dependent variable was defined as writing achievement of the controlled group of students The secondary purpose of the study was to find out some attitudes towards the uses of TBLT instructions from other teachers and students
From the above-mentioned purpose, the study attempted to answer the following research questions:
1.4.1 Is there a statistically significant difference on writing achievement between task-based instructions and traditional teaching instructions?
1.4.2 What are teachers and students’ attitudes towards TBLT instructions?
This paper comprises of five chapters:
Chapter 1, Introduction, would mention the background, the significance of the study, the purpose statement and the research questions
Chapter 2, Literature review, provides the theoretical background of the TBLT, particularly in teaching writing The researcher would review previous studies domestically as well as internationally about TBLT
Chapter 3, Methodology, would present the research design, participants, data collection and analysis which have been used for the current study
Chapter 4, Results and Discussions would be devoted to present the findings of the study, plus some brief discussions of the key findings
Chapter 5, Conclusion and pedagogical application, concludes the study and suggests some application for teaching writing at high schools.
Research questions
From the above-mentioned purpose, the study attempted to answer the following research questions:
1.4.1 Is there a statistically significant difference on writing achievement between task-based instructions and traditional teaching instructions?
1.4.2 What are teachers and students’ attitudes towards TBLT instructions?
Organization of the study
This paper comprises of five chapters:
Chapter 1, Introduction, would mention the background, the significance of the study, the purpose statement and the research questions
Chapter 2, Literature review, provides the theoretical background of the TBLT, particularly in teaching writing The researcher would review previous studies domestically as well as internationally about TBLT
Chapter 3, Methodology, would present the research design, participants, data collection and analysis which have been used for the current study
Chapter 4, Results and Discussions would be devoted to present the findings of the study, plus some brief discussions of the key findings
Chapter 5, Conclusion and pedagogical application, concludes the study and suggests some application for teaching writing at high schools.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The teaching of writing at schools
Research shows that student writing poses specific challenges both for English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a foreign language Lea and Street (1998:157) report that literacy standards in schools and higher education institutions are very low and academics often complain that students cannot write properly Munro (2003:327) confirms this view and argues that dealing effectively with students‘ literacy difficulties and, in turn, poor academic writing skills, is a challenge that schools across the world have to contend with In Vietnam, too, there are growing concerns about the high levels of poor student writing in schools and higher education Universities report show that students entering higher education struggle to write effectively and are therefore under-prepared for studies in institutions of higher learning Many students at universities blame that they were not well-prepared for writing at schools (Cliff and Hanslo 2009:274) Under- prepared students find it difficult to cope with the writing tasks that are expected of them in higher education teaching and learning contexts Niven (2005:774) attributes the problems of under-prepared students‟ experience with writing at university to the wide gap between writing expectations and demands between school and university
It is hard to admit but true that teachers at schools are not well-prepared for teaching writing Staff under-preparedness is an important issue because in some instances under-preparedness tends to be perceived and ascribed to students only But, as Moutlana (2007:3) argues, the problem of student writing is exacerbated by teachers who are not adequately prepared to provide the appropriate support to under-prepared students School teachers need to consider the possibility of their own under-preparedness to address the specific writing problems of the diverse student body that they are required to teach each year in the first-year classroom In order to address writing difficulties, teachers should also see themselves as active participants in the process by making sure that they are fully equipped and trained to help students improve their writing skills It is therefore necessary that teachers are adequately trained to address students‘ specific writing skills that are required for further study at universities.
An overview of task-based language teaching
Task-Based Language Teaching is theoretically framed by Piagetian (cognitive) and Vygotskian (sociocultural) perspectives as they both emphasize the role of social interaction in cognitive development (Piaget, 1970; Vygotsky, 1978) and which is a fundamental component of TBLT (Lee, 2000) For clarification, the cognitive and sociocultural perspectives of learning, the psychological (cognitive) theories trace the arrows from the person to the external objectified culture while sociological (sociocultural) learning theories start with objectified culture and point inwards to the individual and, hence, learning should be seen from both perspectives (Jarvis, 2009)
(TBLT) uses meaningful, inquiry-based, real-world activities (Brown, 2007; Willis & Willis, 2007) Many researchers view this method as emerging from Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) (Brown, 2007; Ellis, 2003) Others see it as a new approach to English language teaching and learning (Kumaravadivelu,
2006) In TBLT, priority is placed on the completion of tasks that are assessed in terms of outcome (Brown, 2007; Willis & Willis, 2007) Also, students pass through three stages when adopting TBLT in an English language lesson In the first stage, groups of students engage in real life situations that are similar to the task they will perform in the classroom (pre-task stage) In the second stage, groups of students perform the main task of the associated lesson or content (running task stage) In the third stage, groups of students display or provide an indicator that they have successfully completed the task for the purposes of assessment and evaluation (task completion stage) The task as a work plan (Breen, 1989; Ellis, 2003) is specified by the four competencies it can serve: linguistic, sociolinguistic, discourse, and strategic (Canale, 1983) The inner design or ―complexity‖ of the task itself can be viewed from both cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives (Skehan, 1998)
Cognitively, the task is a means of carrying topics into classrooms, setting the discourse motion, and encouraging students to produce an output (Wright,
1987) Tasks require that learners build (a) an exemplar-based system that is lexical in nature and includes both discrete lexical items and—importantly—ready-made formulaic chunks of language; and (b) a rule-based system that consists of abstract representations of the underlying patterns of the language, requires more processing, and is best suited for more controlled, less fluent language performance (Skehan, 1998) When performing tasks, learners pass through three stages during the process of producing the language: conceptualization, formulation, and articulation (Levelt, 1989)
Socio-culturally, tasks are designed to provide students with dialogic interaction that can provide a ―window for viewing the cognitive processes the learner is internalizing‖ (Ellis, 2003, p 184) In this way, learning is mediated through interaction with others (Vygotsky, 1978)
Two principles of TBLT suggest that it is theoretically framed and influenced by Vygotsky‘s (1978) sociocultural theory First, learning through interaction among learners is a fundamental principle of TBLT (Lee, 2000) At the same time, this principle is partially resembled by or linked to mediation in the sociocultural theory and which, in essence, suggests that learning is socially constructed (Vygotsky, 1978) Tasks in TBLT include mediation by others in social interaction, by self through private speech, and through artifacts (Lantolf, 2000)
Second, the sequence of TBLT in classroom and the roles played by both of the students and teacher (Brown, 2007; Ellis, 2003; Skehan, 1998) are consistent with or guided by the implications of Vygotsky‘s (1978) theory of the Zone Proximal Development ZPD
Principles of TBLT are further informed by a number of curriculum theorists and thinkers For instance, tasks which are seen as a synonym of activities and problem solving exercises (Brown, 2007; Wright, 1985) are informed by the notion of learning through activities (Dewey, 2009), which holds that the curriculum
―should exhibit these activities to the child, and reproduce them in such ways that the child will gradually learn the meaning of them, and be capable of playing his own part in relation to them‖ (p 36)
Similarly, the best way to learn is through the exercise of problem-solving (Bruner, 1961) Finally, yet importantly, the notion of imitation of real-life world to be present in curricula (Friere, 2009) is a fundamental characteristic of tasks implemented in task based language teaching and learning (Fulcher, 2000) At last, the notion of dialogue needed to be present in curricula (Schubert, Marshall, Sears, Allen, & Roberts, 2007) is present among learners and teacher when performing a task (Willis & Willis, 2007).
Task-based language teaching versus traditional teaching method
History of language teaching proved that most language learners taught through methods that emphasize mastery of grammar do not achieve an acceptable level of competency in the target language Language learning in the classroom is usually based upon the belief that language is a system of wordings governed by a grammar and a lexicon However, it is more productive to see language primarily as a meaning system Halliday's (1975) description of his young son's acquisition of his first language is significantly entitled 'learning how to mean'
Apart from highly gifted and motivated students, most learners working within a structure-based approach fail to attain a useable level of fluency and proficiency in second language (L2) even after years of instruction (Skehan,1996)
In India, Prabhu (1987: 11) notes that the structure-based courses required "a good deal of remedial re-teaching which, in turn, led to similarly unsatisfactory results"
American government language institutions (AGLI) found that with task- based instruction and authentic material, learners made far more rapid progress and were able to use their new foreign language in real-world circumstances with a reasonable level of efficiency after quite short courses They were able to operate an effective meaning system, i.e., to express what they wanted to say, even though their grammar and lexicon were often far from perfect (Lever and Willis, 2004)
Recently, a number of researchers, syllabus designers and educational innovators have called for a move in language teaching toward task-based approaches to instruction (Prabhu, 1987; Nunan, 1989, Long and Crooks, 1991; Ellis, 2003)
Since the advent of communicative language teaching and the belief that language is best learned when it is being used to communicate messages, the communicative task has ascended to a position of prominence as a unit of organization in syllabus design Nunn (2006), for example, proposed a task-based unitary framework because it ―leads to student-led holistic outcomes in the form of written reports, spoken presentations and substantial small-group conversations that lead to decision-making outcomes‖ (p.70) This interest in the task has been motivated to a considerable extent by the fact that ‗task‘ is seen as a construct of equal importance to second language acquisition (SLA) researchers and to language teachers (Pica,1997)
The rise of task-based language teaching has led to a variety of different interpretations of what exactly constitutes a task Central to the notion of a communicative task is the exchange of meanings Willis (1996) defined task as an activity where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome Here the notion of meaning is subsumed in ‗outcome‘ Likewise, for Nunan (2006) tasks have a non-linguistic outcome He defines task as a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order to express meaning, and in which the intention is to convey meaning rather than to manipulate form The task should also have a sense of completeness, being able to stand alone as a communicative act in its own right with a beginning, middle and an end (p.17).
Traditional writing techniques versus TBLT instructions
Traditionally, many writing teachers explicate the writing process as a linear process (Grabe and Kaplan 1996) For example, Paltridge et al (2009) identifies four distinct sub-processes in writing First, in the conceptualizing stage, writers generate and select ideas that they can use in their writing and organize the ideas in a neat way (e.g., an essay must have an introduction, body, and a conclusion) The second sub-process is called formulating, which means putting ideas into sentences The third sub-process is revising, where writers rewrite and improve the essays The revisions can be related to the content, grammar, and mechanics The fourth sub- process is reading Writers read the essay‘s instruction They read to gather information for the essay topic They re-read their writing to make sure that they are answering the essay‘s prompts The linear process model may ―under-conceptualize and oversimplify‖ the writing process (Emig 1971, p 98) This oversimplification may be problematic because it can be inflexible and limits the freedom to explore, whereas writing in practice could be an unstructured process of self-discovery
There have changes in approaches to teaching writing over the last few decades (Paltridge et al 2009) From the mid-1940s to mid-1960s, controlled composition was practiced widely in writing classes Such a teaching approach aims to improve the accuracy of students‘ written works, based on a behaviourist view that repetition and imitation will lead to habit formation (e.g., writing grammatically correct sentences) An example of controlled composition is for teachers to give sample sentences of a chosen structure, and then students are tasked to write a few sentences following that pattern Later in the mid-1960s, English Language teachers realized that students needed to focus not only on grammatical accuracy of the sentences they produced but also the functions of writing Thus, teachers adopted a rhetorical function approach where they shifted the teaching focus from sentence level accuracy to a discourse level that emphasized the purposes of writing such as description, comparison, and contrast Since the 1970s, the process approach to writing has gained popularity Instead of focusing primarily on the form/correctness of the writing, teachers now encourage students to pay attention to macro-level communicative purposes The aim of the process approach is to let the students‘ ideas decide the form of a piece of writing (Silva 1990)
As discussed in the previous part, TBLT has been seen as an emerging of communicative language teaching (CLT) It represents a middle ground between naturalistic forms of communicative language teaching focused on comprehensible input and traditional language teaching focused almost exclusively on grammar According to Ellis (2003), although the emphasis of TBLT is on oral communicative competence, it can encompass all four domains of language (listening, speaking, reading, and writing); while grammar exercises (associated with traditional language teaching) prompt students to learn target language forms, and tasks guide students to actually use the target language Skehan (1998) noted that tasks emphasize primacy of meaning and present a communication problem that needs to be solved The most fundamental mind-shift of TBLT is the concept of linking classroom instruction with the real-world importance of language: communication Smith (1988) observed that:
Anything a child is not interested in doing should be modified or avoided Forcing a child into boring or painful activity will merely teach the child that the activity is boring or painful, no matter how good we think it is for the child Anything with a mark attached should be avoided Children quickly learn that many school activities are worth doing only for the grade, and when they learn that, they learn that the activity is intrinsically worthless (Smith: 15)
Lightbown (1998), states that ―the segregation between language instruction and language use can become a self-fulfilling prophesy when language knowledge and actual use are segregated in a way that language learning does not lead to grammatical competence under conditions of actual communication.
Task-based language instruction as socio-cognitive approach
The basic principle of TBLT is theoretically framed from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives Recent research has indicated that the socio-cognitive approach to writing can be effective in enhancing student performance in writing English as a second language Cognitive and genre theories are common approaches to teaching academic writing to students at upper primary and secondary schools However, the cognitive approach to teaching writing focuses on idea generation and planning strategies This approach neglects socio-cultural factors, such as the target readers‘ possible reaction to texts (Hyland 2002) The genre approach to teaching writing focuses on rhetorical moves and organization structure (Sawyer and Watson
1989), rather than the thinking processes that are involved in the enactment of the discourse moves (Chandrasegaran 2013) The prescriptive nature of a genre approach to writing may inhibit students‘ creativity (Hyland 2002)
Motivated by the limitations of cognitive and genre approaches to writing pedagogy, Chandrasegaran (2013) suggests a socio-cognitive approach to writing, which takes into account the socio-cultural contexts, thinking processes in enacting each genre practice, and reader expectations, to overcome the shortcomings of the cognitive and genre approaches Studies have suggested that the use of a socio- cognitive approach to teaching writing has positive results in improving the students‘ writing Graham et al (2005) pointed out that third grade struggling students in the United States, who were explicitly taught the thinking processes and the structure of genres, wrote ―longer, more complete, and qualitatively better‖ narratives and persuasive writing (p 234) With explicit teaching of genre and a sociocultural approach to writing, Chandrasegaran and Yeo (2006) found that Secondary three (i.e., ninth grade) students in Singapore showed an improvement in writing narratives in terms of setting the rhetorical goal In recent studies, Chandrasegaran (2013) and Chandrasegaran et al (2007) found that secondary three (i.e., ninth grade) students in a Singapore school improved in expository writing Specifically, through teachers‘ guided class discussions and explicit teaching of thinking processes in the enactment of genre practices, the students raised their awareness of the social context of the texts, as well as reader and writer roles, and they showed improvements in discourse moves such as stating and elaborating claims as well as countering opposing views
Knowledge-transformation is an important implementation device in the socio-cognitive approach to writing Teachers need to explicitly teach students how to establish the macro-rhetorical goal of an essay When students plan, organize, write/ revise, they need to ensure that the relevant information helps them achieve the macro-rhetorical goal By adopting the socio-cognitive approach to writing, students consciously define their goal as impact on the intended readers In organizing and presenting their ideas, they need to learn how to make a text coherent, which includes but goes beyond using cohesive devices In this regard, they need to have a good understanding of the macrostructure of the genre, information structure, proposition development, and the appropriate use of meta- discourse markers Writing teachers should emphasize to students that a good piece of writing cannot be produced in one draft; it has to go through multiple times of revision It is also very important for students to adopt self-editing strategies in all their written work They can read aloud their writing so that they can detect the problematic parts of their writing They have to start to plan their writing early and finish their writing early so that they have sufficient time to revise their work During the self-editing process, they would need to revise both the surface level errors such as grammar and mechanics, as well as issues at the discourse level, such as how they present themselves in their writing, the tone they use, the development of ideas, the contextualization of ideas, and the use of language, data, and evidence that their readers find persuasive.
Pedagogical principles for writing teachers in TBLT
In the task-based learning, teacher has a very important responsibility (Richards & Rodgers, 1986) The teacher must choose and edit tasks prudently in order to achieve task objectives (Willis, 1996) Following TBLT instructions in a writing class, teachers need to explain the purpose of writing to the students
Make sure students understand that establishing the macro rhetorical goal and purposes of writing is an essential part of the writing process
Ensure that students recognize the functions of academic writing After that, they may begin to appreciate its importance in writing
Plan activities that require students to identify the purpose of writing at the modelling, joint construction, and independent writing stages
Writing lessons would address the knowledge-transformation approach to writing
Teach the knowledge-transformation approach to writing with a focus of establishing the macro-rhetorical goal of the essay
Explicitly teach students the thinking processes in planning, organizing, writing, and revising the essay using the knowledge-transformation approach to writing
Create class activities that raise students‘ awareness of the differences between the information-focused approach and the knowledge- transformation approach to writing
English language writers‘ writing performance can be enhanced by understanding coherence in a broader sense
Teach the features of a coherent text at a discourse level and highlight the differences in meaning between meta-discourse markers and cohesive devices in writing
Encourage students to self-edit their texts by reading aloud and self- evaluating their writing using a coherence checklist
Plan peer review activities, focusing on the development of coherence in writing Peer reviewers can also comment on the macro-rhetorical goal of their peer‘s essays
Teach students that writing is a non-linear process involving many stages, not limited to conceptualizing, formulating, reading and revising
Recognize that students will encounter difficulties during the writing processes such as ‗setting the macro rhetorical goal,‘ ‗establishing writer identity,‘ and ‗considering the reader
Plan group activities that heighten students‘ awareness of the nature of writing Help students develop an understanding that pre-writing, drafting, and revising cannot be separated from each other into neat independent stages.
The ‗task‘ in the TBLT
The term ‗task‘ in language teaching is different from normal tasks, the so- called real-world or target tasks (Nunan, 2004: 1) In terms of language teaching, the task is pedagogical task, the tasks that occur in the classroom Here is a definition of a pedagogical task:
… an activity or action which is carried out as the result of processing or understanding language (i.e., as a response) For example, drawing a map while listening to a tape, listening to an instruction and performing a command may be referred to as tasks Tasks may or may not involve the production of language A task usually requires the teacher to specify what will be regarded as successful completion of the task The use of a variety of different kinds of tasks in language teaching is said to make language teaching more communicative … since it provides a purpose for a classroom activity which goes beyond the practice of language for its own sake
The term ‗task‘ can mean different things to different people (Leaver and Willis, 2004) Just as there are weak and strong forms of communicative language teaching, there are different definitions of the word 'task' Most of the definitions include mention of achieving or arriving at an outcome or attaining an objective The definitions also show that tasks are meaning focused In other words, learners are free to use whatever language they want in order to convey their intended meaning and to sustain the interaction Prabhu (1987:2) defines a task as "an activity which requires learners to arrive to an outcome from given information through some processes of thought and which allowed teachers to control and regulate that process was regarded as a task" Nunan (1999: 10) defines task as "a piece of classroom work which involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form"
Willis (1996:53) asserted that task is a goal-oriented activity with real outcome; this implies that a task is "a goal- oriented activity which learners use language to achieve a real outcome In other words, learners use whatever target language resources they have in order to solve a problem, do a puzzle, play a game or share and compare experiences"
Skehan (1998:95) says that task is "an activity in which: meaning is primary; there is some communication problem to solve; there is some sort of relationship to comparable real-world activities; task completion has some priority; and the assessment of task performance is in terms of task outcome"
Ellis (2003:16) mentioned six criterial features of a task:
A task is a work plan A task constitutes a plan for learning activity This work plan takes the form of teaching materials The actual activity that results may or may not match that intended by the plan
A task involves a primary focus on meaning A task seeks to engage learners in using language pragmatically rather than displaying language It seeks to develop L2 proficiency through communicating Thus, it requires a primary focus on meaning
A task involves real-world processes of language use The work plan may require learners to engage in language activity such as that found in the real-world, for example, completing a form, or it may involve them in language activity that is artificial, for example, determining whether two pictures are the same or different
A task can involve any of the four language skills The work plan may require learners to (1) listen or read a text and display their understanding, (2) produce an oral or written text, or (3) employ a combination of receptive and productive skills
A task engages cognitive processes The work plan requires learners to employ cognitive processes such as selecting, classifying, ordering, reasoning and evaluating information in order to carry out the task
A task has a clearly defined communicative outcome The work plan stipulates the non-linguistic outcome of the task, which serves as the goal of the activity for the learners The stated outcome of a task serves as the means of determining when participants have completed a task
Willis (1996: 149) listed the following types of tasks of TBLT:
Listing: Brainstorming and fact-finding, the outcome is a completed list or draft mind map This type of task can help train students' comprehension and induction ability
Ordering, sorting: Sequencing, ranking and classifying, the outcome is a set of information ordered and sorted according to specific criteria These types might foster comprehension, logic and reasoning ability
Comparing: Matching, finding similarities, or differences The outcome can be appropriately matched or assembled items This type of task enhances students' ability of differentiation
Problem solving: Analyzing real situations, reasoning, and decision-making
The outcome involves solutions to the problem, which can then be evaluated These tasks help promote students' reasoning and decision-making abilities
Sharing experience: Narrating, describing, exploring and explaining attitudes, opinions, and reactions The outcome is usually social These tasks help students to share and exchange their knowledge and experience
Creative tasks: Brainstorming, fact finding, ordering and sorting, comparing and many other activities The outcome is an end product that can be appreciated by a wider audience Students cultivate their comprehensive problem-solving abilities as well as their reasoning and analyzing abilities
Ellis (2003) asserted that the design of a task-based lesson involves consideration of the stages or components of a lesson that has a task as its principal component Various designs have been proposed (for example, Prabhu, 1987;
Skehan 1996) However, they all have in common three principal phases, these phases reflected the chronology of a task-based lesson Thus, the first phase is 'pre- task' and concerns the various activities that teachers and students can undertake before they start the task; such as whether students are given time to plan the performance of the task The second phase, the 'during task' phase, centers on the task itself and affords various instructional options, including whether students are required to operate under time pressure The final 'post-task' phase involves procedures for following up on the task performance
Willis (1996) offered a framework that aimed to marry 'form' and 'meaning' through careful task design Willis's approach to TBLT was influential to the current perception of task-based instruction in many practical classroom situations The central feature of Willis's approach was that language form emerged as relevant to the meanings that were being attempted because of the task Hence, meaning triggered form (Skehan,
1998) Willis's framework for TBLT is outlined in the table below:
Pre-Task - Introduction to topic and task
- Provide exposure to real language
- Use of texts and activities upon those texts
- Teacher helps with language emphasis on clarity, organisation, accuracy
Table 1: Willis's (1996:26) model for task-based instruction
Willis's framework offered a more practical orientation to the implementation of TBLT as it was designed in a task cycle
The purpose of the pre-task phase is to prepare students to perform the task in ways that will promote acquisition Skehan (1996) refers to two broad alternatives available to the teacher during the pre-task phase:
Previous studies
To order to provide a clear picture of the development of the TBLT in Vietnam as well as worldwide, some previous studies related to TBLT will be reviewed here
The first research had been done by Hanh, N.T.M and Tuan, L.T.,(2018) under the title ―The effect of task-based language teaching on EFL learners‘ writing performance at Tien Giang university‖ Enhancing learners‘ motivation and performance has always been concern of language teacher This study employed the quasi-experimental approach.TBLT is applied with the aim of finding solution to problems like poor learner motivation and performance 40 freshmen participated in the study They are splited into the control group and experimental group In this study, learner‘s opinions about TBLT are investigated through different data collection Pretests and posttests, pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires are used in this research The finding of this study reveals that TBLT positively influenced on EFL learners‘ writing Moreover, there was a positive influence of TBLT on learners‘ writing motivation and a positive correlation between learners‘ writing motivation and writing performance
The second research was conducted by Ahmed, R Z., & Bidin, S J B
(2016) entitled ―The Effect of Task Based Language Teaching on Writing Skills of EFL Learners in Malaysia‖ Like above-mentioned research, this study also used quasi- experimental method The participants of this study are EFL learners enrolled in undergraduate programs at public sector Malaysian universities In current research, participants were divided into an experimental and a control group The data were collected following a Mixed Method Research paradigm during pretest and posttest A Paired Samples T-test was used to determine the statistical significance of the learners‘ scores in pretest as compared to the posttest The finding of this study indicates that TBLT was the most interesting and a learner centered approach enabling learners to use their existing linguistic resources The use of existing linguistic resources is a fundamental principle of TBLT as it leads the EFL learners to be fluent and confident users of English language both inside and outside the classroom in real life situations
The last research was implemented by Han, M (2014) in the context of School of Foreign Languages, China West Normal University, Nanchong, China under the title ―The Effects of Task-based Teaching Approach on College Writing Classes‖ The thesis‘s theoretical foundation is based on Krashen‘s acquisition theory This study used questionnaires with qualitative research method All the findings from this research suggest that task- based teaching approach can cultivate learners‘ selfstudy awareness as well as improve learners‘ writing competence and language proficiency significantly In this study, TBLT approach is very effective for writing classes
All researchers above mentioned the information relating to applying task- based language teaching method for EFL learners on writing skills, the third research for college learners Nevertheless, so far there have been no studies on the effectiveness of TBLT on high school students It is the gap that has inspired the researcher to conduct the current study In this study, the researcher continues to employ task-based language teaching approach on writing skill, however, the main focus of participants is on grade 10 students in a high school.
Teaching and learning context at Binh Yen high school
As a matter of fact, English is a global language, and the number of people learning English through the world is expanding, especially in Asia (Richards &
Rodgers, 2002, p 3) They estimate that 60 percent of today's world population is multilingual From both a contemporary and a historical perspective, bilingualism or multilingualism is the norm rather than the exception‖; and they also point out that today English is the world's most widely studied foreign language
The actual target learners of this research are grade 10 students in Binh Yen high school located in Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province Students here have to face up with a great deal of challenges and difficulties in learning English because of their low background level with narrow vocabulary and many gaps in grammar knowledge In addition, they have to acquire a large amount of knowledge in all subjects, so they donot spend much time improving English regularly More importantly, students have very few English lessons at school The curriculum of English subject in grade 10 has only 15 units Each unit has only one writing lesson That means grade 10 students are being taught only 15 writing classes per year They donot have enough opportunities to use English outside the classes Therefore, the learners do not experience English language used in authentic contexts; this has a big influence on learners' motivation and their achievement
The real leaning context in Binh Yen high school leads to hindrance for teachers because instructors have to modify curricula, syllabuses and methods towards learners According to Waguey &, Hufanam (2013) ―One can say that most of the learners in seem to favor a communicative approach to perfecting their language skills by working in pairs/groups, tending to be actively engaged in classroom discussions, and practicing their English through having interaction with other people‖ There needs to be a closer cooperation between teachers and students so that language learning activities should be arranged and implemented in the writing classes However, the teaching and learning of writing at Binh Yen high school has been ineffective and got many challenges As an English teacher of this school, I decided to conduct this study “The effect of task-based language teaching on writing skill of grade 10 students in a high school” in the hope of understanding more about students‘ problems and meeting their needs of learning writing skill as well as seeking solutions for these matters.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Participants
This study targets students who are studying at grade 10 The total number of participants is 92, from two classes that the researcher is in charge of teaching These students come from nearby regions in Dinh Hoa district Some of them live in town centre However, most of them come from mountainous areas They belong to different ethnic minority groups such as Tay, Thai and Kinh
In order to compare the effectiveness of TBLT instruction, the participants are divided into two groups: Control group (CG) and Experimental group (EG) The description of the participants could be found in the table 2 below;
Control Group (CG) female 22 23.91 male 23 25.00
Experimental Group (EG) female 20 21.73 male 27 29.34
Note Due to rounding errors, percentages may not equal 100%
Table 2: Frequency Table for Nominal Variables
Apart from student group, the researcher selected six English teachers from Binh Yen high school and 4 teachers from Cho Chu high school for interviewing They were selected for the study based on the following relevant attributes: young and competent teachers, open-minded in responding to questions of my interview, confident enough in their teaching to be observed in the classroom, professionally motivated to take part in the study, aware of the study's demands and willing to participate on that basis The participation of these teachers helps the researcher find out their uses of variety of teaching techniques that they exploit during writing classes.
Research design
The purposes of the current study include investigating the effectiveness of TBLT and the attitudes of the teachers and learners about the task-based writing instructions We realized that a purely quantitative methodology would be inadequate A mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data analysis would be appropriate for the questions posited in this study It is obvious that data produced by mixed method research (MMR) is more authenticated, replicable, valid and verifiable as compared to any other approach producing data singly Creswell and Clark (2007: p 5) define MMR as ―it involves philosophical assumptions that guide the direction of the collection and analysis of data and the mixture of qualitative and quantitative data in a single study Its central assertion is that the use of quantitative and qualitative approaches in combination provides a better understanding of research problems than either approach can do alone‖
Ultimately, mixed methods research is about heightened knowledge and validity The design as a product should be of sufficient quality to achieve multiple validities legitimation (Johnson and Christensen 2017; Onwuegbuzie and Johnson
2006), which refers to the mixed methods research study meeting the relevant combination or set of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods validities in each research study
MMR is supported by both type of data collection along with data analysis following qualitative as well as quantitative paradigms Both inductive and deductive approaches are employed in MMR for data collection (Riazi & Candlin,
2014) It is a kind of research, where the researchers focus on qualitative paradigm during one phase and follow quantitative paradigm at the other phase of the research According to Zohrabi (2013) an MMR has more reliable and valid research instruments for data collection as compared to any other single paradigm Current study was an example of a small-scale MMR as the researcher started with the Pre-test of the research participants of control and experimental group, followed by treatment of TBLT to the experimental group
Pre-test and post-test were also administered for the control group being taught by traditional methodology Attitudinal questionnaires were utilized by the participants to find out their perceptions and feedback about the TBLT treatment It can by concluded the MMR is just like conducting two mini studies simultaneously within one main research for corroboration of the research findings (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003).
Data collection instruments
The main instruments for data collection are (a) a pre-test to document the level of students‘ English writing performance they have at the beginning of the study; (b) post-tests to evaluate the effectiveness of TBLT
The primary purpose of the pre-test is to function as the main covariate It is used to provide a baseline for the students‘ current level of writing performance so this study can examine the effect of treatment The pre-test also helps increase the power of the study by reducing the error that can be attributed to prior differences among students and its relation to the outcome It is not used to place students in certain levels or groups
Post-tests are administered at the end of each two weeks to assess students‘ writing achievement on the content covered in each five weeks This process continues for fifteen weeks, which is the duration of the study
The pre-test and post-tests were from the mid-term and final term tests in academic programs of grade 10 The students were asked to write about 120 - 150 words in 30 minutes The pre-test was ―describing a close friend‖ and the post-test was ―describing a famous person" The students‘ pre-tests and post-tests were marked based on the Analytic Marking Scale adopted from Hughey et al (1983), which consists of five dimensions (content, organization, grammar, vocabulary and mechanics)
The secondary instruments that are used to collect data for the second research questions are (c) attitudinal questionnaires that are delivered to experimental group to specify their opinions as well as feedbacks after the treatment The questionnaires consist of 15 items using Likert scale continuum from
―strongly agree‖ to ―strongly disagree‖ ranging from 1 to 5 The feedback was obtained in order to find out research participants‘ opinion about three subcategories: (1) Student (2) Materials (3) Teacher
For triangulation purpose, some interviews are conducted among 10 teachers of English in Binh Yen high school and Cho Chu high school The interviews employ semi- structure questions to gather data from teachers and some selected students
Interviewing is an effective research instrument to get real statistics of any aspects in life It may be used as the primary research tool or as a checking mechanism to triangulate data gathered from other sources (Mc Donough & Mc Donough, 2005) A semi- structured interview first gives the interviewee a degree of power and control over the course of the interview Secondly, it gives the interviewer a greater deal of flexibility Finally, and most profoundly, this form of interviewing gives one privileged access to other people's lives
In this study, the semi-structured interviews, lasting 35 minutes to 1 hour, were conducted with each of the teachers and were recorded TBLT was a major focus of the interviews.
Data analysis procedures
At the beginning of the school year, the researcher asked Binh Yen administrators for permission to carry out the study On being approved, the researcher administered a pre-test to both groups (CG and EG) to gain the baseline of their writing performance The results will then be kept for further comparison and analysis The treatment (TBLT) is delivered to the EG while the CG is taught following the usual traditional method, i.e., grammar translation, controlled composition The detail description of the lesson plan is recorded (see appendix 1) After each 5 weeks, a progress test is given to both groups, known as post-test CG1, post-test EG1; post-test CG2, post-test EG2; post-test CG3, post-test EG3 Finally, results of the post-test 3 of both groups will be compared with that of pre-test which was done at the initial stage of the study
In order to gain the attitudes of teachers and students about the application of TBLT, the researcher adopted an attitudinal questionnaire developed by the researcher (see appendix 2)
In order to gain information for triangulation to valid the qualitative results, the researcher conducted some semi-structured interviews with 10 English teachers in two schools in Dinh Hoa district Five students from EG would be also interviewed to get their opinions about TBLT
The qualitative data will then be analysed to support for the overall findings of the study.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter devotes to presenting the major findings of the study The quantitative results answer the first research question that whether there is a statistically significant difference in the writing achievement using TBLT or not The qualitative results obtaining from attitudinal questionnaires and interviews will provide the answer for the second research question
Research question 1: Is there a statistically significant difference on writing achievement between task-based instructions and traditional teaching instructions?
In order to determine the statistically significant difference on writing achievement between task-based instructions and traditional teaching instructions a two-tailed paired samples t-test was conducted to examine whether the mean difference of Pre-test and Post-test EG1 was significantly different from zero
Normality A Shapiro-Wilk test was conducted to determine whether the differences in Pre-test and Post-test EG1 could have been produced by a normal distribution (Razali & Wah, 2011) The results of the Shapiro-Wilk test were significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, W = 0.89, p < 001 This result suggests the differences in Pre-test and Posttest_EG1 are unlikely to have been produced by a normal distribution, indicating the normality assumption is violated
Homogeneity of Variance Levene's test was conducted to assess whether the variances of Pre-test and Post-test EG1 were significantly different The result of Levene's test for was not significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, F (1, 182) 2.02, p = 157 This result suggests it is possible that Pre-test and Post-test EG1 were produced by distributions with equal variances, indicating the assumption of homogeneity of variance was met
The result of the two-tailed paired samples t-test was significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, t(91) = -8.31, p < 001 This finding suggests the difference in the mean of Pre-test and the mean of Post-test EG1 was significantly different from zero
The mean of Pre-test was significantly lower than the mean of Post-test EG1 The results are presented in Table 3 A bar plot of the means is presented in Figure 1
Pre-test Post-test EG1
Note N = 92 Degrees of Freedom for the t-statistic = 91 d represents
Table 3: Two-Tailed Paired Samples t-Test for the difference between Pre-test and Post-test EG1
Figure 1: The means of Pre-test and Post-test EG1
A two-tailed paired samples t-test was conducted to examine whether the mean difference of Pre-test and Post-test CG1 was significantly different from zero
Normality A Shapiro-Wilk test was conducted to determine whether the differences in Pre-test and Post-test G1 could have been produced by a normal distribution (Razali & Wah, 2011) The results of the Shapiro-Wilk test were significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, W = 0.92, p < 001 This result suggests the differences in Pre-test and Post-test CG1 are unlikely to have been produced by a normal distribution, indicating the normality assumption is violated
Homogeneity of Variance Levene's test was conducted to assess whether the variances of Pre-test and Post-test CG1 were significantly different The result of Levene's test for was not significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, F (1, 182) 1.32, p = 252 This result suggests it is possible that Pre-test and Post-test CG1 were produced by distributions with equal variances, indicating the assumption of homogeneity of variance was met
The result of the two-tailed paired samples t-test was not significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, t(91) = -1.12, p = 266 This finding suggests the difference in the mean of Pre-test and the mean of Post-test CG1 was not significantly different from zero The results are presented in Table 4 A bar plot of the means is presented in Figure 2
Pre-test Post-test_CG1
Note N = 92 Degrees of Freedom for the t-statistic = 91 d represents
Table 4: Two-Tailed Paired Samples t-Test for the difference between Pre-test and Post-test CG1
Figure 2: The means of Pre-test and Post-test CG1
A two-tailed paired samples t-test was conducted to examine whether the mean difference of Post-test EG2 and Post-test CG2 was significantly different from zero
Normality A Shapiro-Wilk test was conducted to determine whether the differences in Post-test EG2 and Post-test CG2 could have been produced by a normal distribution (Razali & Wah, 2011) The results of the Shapiro-Wilk test were significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, W = 0.90, p < 001 This result suggests the differences in Post-test EG2 and Post-test CG2 are unlikely to have been produced by a normal distribution, indicating the normality assumption is violated
Homogeneity of Variance Levene's test was conducted to assess whether the variances of Post-test EG2 and Post-test CG2 were significantly different The result of Levene's test for was significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, F(1, 182)
= 5.91, p = 016 This result suggests it is unlikely that Post-test EG2 and Post-test CG2 were produced by distributions with equal variances, indicating the assumption of homogeneity of variance was violated
The result of the two-tailed paired samples t-test was significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, t(91) = 6.76, p < 001 This finding suggests the difference in the mean of Post-test EG2 and the mean of Post-test CG2 was significantly different from zero The mean of Post-test EG2 was significantly higher than the mean of Post-test CG2 The results are presented in Table 5 A bar plot of the means is presented in Figure 3
Post-test EG2 Post-test CG2
Note N = 92 Degrees of Freedom for the t-statistic = 91 d represents Cohen's d
Table 5: Two-Tailed Paired Samples t-Test for the Difference between Post- test EG2 and Post-test CG2
Figure 3: The means of Post-test EG2 and Post-test CG2
A two-tailed paired samples t-test was conducted to examine whether the mean difference of Post-test EG3 and Post-test CG3 was significantly different from zero
Normality A Shapiro-Wilk test was conducted to determine whether the differences in Post-test EG3 and Post-test CG3 could have been produced by a normal distribution (Razali & Wah, 2011) The results of the Shapiro-Wilk test were significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, W = 0.86, p < 001 This result suggests the differences in Posttest_EG3 and Posttest_CG3 are unlikely to have been produced by a normal distribution, indicating the normality assumption is violated
Homogeneity of Variance Levene's test was conducted to assess whether the variances of Posttest_EG3 and Posttest_CG3 were significantly different The result of Levene's test for was not significant based on an alpha value of 0.05, F(1,
182) = 2.82, p = 095 This result suggests it is possible that Posttest_EG3 and Posttest_CG3 were produced by distributions with equal variances, indicating the assumption of homogeneity of variance was met
Summary of findings
This study attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of TBLT instructions on teaching writing The treatment consisted of a series of TBLT writing instructions
In this study, the researcher implemented a 15-week intervention for two groups grade 10 students at Binh Yen high school The results of the study reveal that the results of writing performance were reported at a low level (M=3.72) The results also confirmed that the intervention worked well for the experimental group The mean score of the pre-test (the baseline for both groups) was M=3.72 The intervention focused on TBLT instructions After first five weeks, the means of post-test1 were M=4.96 and M=3.83 for experimental group and control group respectively There was a significant difference between the mean of pre-test and post-test1 for the experimental group (M=3.72 compared to M=4.96), while the control group showed a little improvement (M=3.72 compared to M=3.83) the difference was not significant After another five weeks, the difference in the mean scores of the experimental group were far more than the mean scores of the control group, M=5.60 and M=4.54 respectively By the end of the fifteenth week of the intervention, the mean of post-test 3 of the experimental group reached M=6.41, the mean for control group was M=5.45 The difference of the mean scores in the pre- test and post-test revealed a significant improvement in both groups However, the experimental group showed a greater improvement, M=6.41 and M=5.45 respectively We could see that the uses of TBLT writing instruction improved writing achievement greatly
In terms of the attitudes towards the uses of TBLT instructions, the researcher finds that most participants were happy with the new approach in teaching writing at the selected school (Binh Yen) Most of the participants (69.92%) strongly agree that TBLT focuses more on learners It is also inferred that they became more active in participating in the instructions given by the teachers The teacher‘s involvement in teaching was also noted as a strong point (68.08%) appreciated the individual assistance from teachers 62.56% of the participants evaluated that the class atmosphere was friendly 61.64% said that ― learning was more interesting than my earlier schooling ‖ 54.28% strongly agreed that teachers talked clearly and understandably They were also happy that they are all participated in the class actively (51.52%) instead of only strong students as in classical class
The data obtained from teachers‘ interview showed that most of them (8 out of 10) were bored with grammar translation teaching method because students are not very concentrated, except for strong students
Some teachers (3) confess that they have heard about TBLT but they know little about the method They expect some extra training about the method
Most of the teachers agree that the TBLT is a better way to teach language skills in schools, especially in teaching writing
The findings from the study can be used as a reference for language teachers in Vietnam to pay more attention to the teaching of English comprehension.
Limitations of the study
The current study was conducted at a school in the remote area of Thai Nguyen province with only 92 grade 10 students so the findings might not be generalized in a large scale
The researcher was just a novice learner in carrying out study, so the internal validity might not be assured It has been illustrated though data analysis that TBLT shows better results when compared with traditional teaching method, however, there may be other factors did some effects to the findings
Finally, regardless of some limitations, researcher hope that this would be a reference for teachers at schools when teaching writing.
Practical Implication
This dissertation will help the readers understand about the implementation TBLT in writing skill Through this research, teachers can get the idea of engaging their students in class activities Furthermore, the current study emphasized on the attitudes of students and teachers towards TBLT Hence, the findings of the research can be beneficial for English language teachers and students, and the government as well to encourage teachers to use TBLT in language classrooms
Recommendations
The researcher would like to provide some suggestions on the basis of the findings, which were:
• Language teachers can follow TBLT by adapting it according to their classroom context
• Teachers‘ training programs can be arranged based on how to implement TBLT successfully.
Further Studies 43 REFERENCES I APPENDIX 1: TBLT LESSON PLANS VIII APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONS TO GUIDE THE TEACHER INTERVIEWS XI APPENDIX 3: ATTITUDINAL QUESTIONNAIRES
This study was carried out based on two schools of Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province Hence, future researchers can implement with schools outside this location and maximize the sample Moreover, further studies can also be done including other dimensions like focused group discussion and by experimenting through taking classes to figure out the effectiveness of TBLT concretely Besides, future researchers can take the other two core skills of language, for example listening and speaking, in account to conduct their studies to find out how TBLT impacts on the other two skills as well
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You are staying in a hostel and have made a few good friends Write a letter to your parents, describing one of those close friends in about 350-400 words You may follow the guidelines provided
Your relationship with the person – relative or friend
How did you become acquainted?
Qualities of the person; warm, kind, generous, understanding, jovial, admirable, interesting, helpful
Other qualities – a willingness to teach you many things (You may decide to state the qualities directly or you may prefer to give instances of things the person did or said to demonstrate the qualities you mentioned.)
Your own feelings towards the person
Write about some details about an unusual person you know
His/her name; interesting features; achievements
What makes him/her different from the average person
Qualities of the person; humble, kind, talented, exceptional, famous, notorious, modest
Teacher's name : Than Thu Thao
Level of the students : Upper-
Goal : Students will demonstrate their writing abilities through guided productive activities
Number of Students : 47 Students Length of the Lesson: 45 minutes Genre: Journalistic
Aim: By the end of the lesson , students will have chosen their favorite well-known singer/painter /musician and written a biography for a cutural magazine,based on a biography previously read during the lesson , following the pattern of it , with the least number of errors
Pre-Task 10 minutes Students are taught some possible unknown vocabulary
Learners are shown a piece of documentary in order to make predictions about the topic
Learners are joined in teams
Once in teams, students are assigned roles
Learners are given and asked to skim a text (a different chunk per member) (Attachment #1) So they can get the main idea of the chunk they were given
When teams are done with the reading, are asked to discuss if the predictions they did about the topic were right or wrong
Teams are asked to accept / refuse and justify their reasons for the predictions they did before
Teams are asked to read in a detailed way (scanning) their pieces of texts they were previously distributed (Students might be asked to write specific features of the text if possible or necessary)
Once they have read, students are asked to give back the piece of the text they were given before
Each team is required to discuss and clarify the different pieces of the text they have already read, as well as summarize each read by each member in one sentence
Teams are selected at random in order to present the sentence they wrote for the read and support it according to the text
Students are asked to pay attention to their peers‘ sentences and justifications due to they will be asked at random to suggest an alternative for the sentence presented before
Post-Task 15 minutes Students are asked about the outline of a biography
#2) students are exposed to a possible structure of a biography may follow
Learners are required to, in their teams, choose someone they admire (singer, writer, painter ) in order to write a brief biography of he/she
Students are asked to read other teams‘ work in order to check the pattern in which a biography should be written
APPENDIX 4: QUESTIONS TO GUIDE THE TEACHER INTERVIEWS Teacher:
1 What is your overall impression of Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)?
2 How would you define Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)?
3 Can you think of any similarities or differences of TBLT with other language teaching methods that are familiar to you?
4 Can you suggest some advantages of using tasks in your language teaching?
5 Can you also think of any disadvantages of using tasks in your language teaching?
6 What do you think about the students' errors in your teaching?
7 Is error correction an essential part in Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)?
8 What kind of role do students play in Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)?
9 Do you think they are more active or more passive than in other English teaching environment?
10 What do you think about your role as teacher in Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)?
11 What do you think about the role of grammar in Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)?
12 Are there any advantages or problems of focusing on grammar in TBLT?
13 Any other comments in relation to implementing TBLT?
14 What is your overall evaluation of TBLT? a Good b Fair c Not applicable d Need more training
Thank you for your time and enthusiasm!