Efl Teachers'' Perceptions Of Task-Based Language Teaching A Case Study At A Midtier Language Center In Ho Chi Minh City Ma .Pdf

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TASK BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING A CASE[.]

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE

EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING: A CASE STUDY AT A MID- TIER LANGUAGE CENTER IN HO CHI MINH CITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of

Master in TESOL

By

THACH THI QUACH THI

Supervised by

CAO THI PHUONG DUNG, Ph.D.

HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2022

I would like to extend my sincerest gratitude to several people Without theirinstruction, support and encouragement, the completion of this thesis would not bepossible

First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr CaoThi Phuong Dung She has provided me with lots of invaluable knowledge, supportand guidance I really appreciate her professionalism and admire her patience when Iwork with her through this thesis Without her dedicated contribution, my thesis ishardly completed

Second, my special thanks go to my beloved friends and my dearest person fortheir care, support and encouragement They always stand by, bringing me lots ofenergy and motivation to reach the end of the Master-in-TESOL journey

Third, I am indebted to my family who always support and listen to me when Ihave difficulties in my studies They welcome me to get home every time I am underpressure to write the thesis

Finally, I would like to thank and congratulate myself on my effort andpatience to reach this far This journey is long enough and filled with spikes andthorns, so I am blissful to write these words to accomplish this thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

ABSTRACT ix

CHAPTER 1 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 3

1.3 Significance of the study 4

1.4 Scope of the study 4

1.5 Thesis organization 5

CHAPTER 2 6

LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Tasked-based Language Teaching (TBLT) 6

2.1.1 Theoretical Background of Task-Based Language Teaching 6

2.1.2 Defining key terms 7

2.1.3 Principles of Task-based Language Teaching 9

2.1.4 Task components 11

2.1.5 Task types 12

2.1.6 Task-based lesson procedure 13

2.1.7 Difference among tasks, exercises, activities 15

2.1.8 Previous studies on the use of TBLT in classroom practice 16

2.2 Teachers’ and students’ roles in the Task-based Language Teaching 21 2.2.1 Teachers’ roles 21

2.2.2 Students’ roles 21

2.3 Conceptual framework 22

CHAPTER 3 24

METHODOLOGY 24

3.1 Research questions 24

3.2 Research design 24

3.2.1 Participants 26

3.2.2 Research instruments 26

3.3 Context of the study 30

3.4 The pilot study 31

3.4.1 Rationale of the pilot study 31

3.4.2 Choice of the participant in the pilot study 31

3.4.3 Pilot study procedure 32

3.4.4 Findings from the pilot study 33

3.4.5 Conclusion 34

3.5 Data collection procedure 34

3.6 Data analysis procedure 36

3.7 Chapter summary 39

CHAPTER 4 40

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 40

4.1 Findings of the study 40

4.1.1 The current practice of Tasked-Based Language Teaching in teenage classes at ASTON language center 40

4.1.2 EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of Task-Based Language Teaching 51

4.2 Discussion 58

4.2.1 The current practice of Tasked-Based Language Teaching in teenage classes at ASTON language center 58

4.2.2 EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of Task-Based Language Teaching 63

CHAPTER 5 69

5.1 Overview of the study 69

5.2 Implications 69

5.2.1 Pedagogical implications 69

5.2.2 Implications for the TBLT users 70

5.3 Limitations 70

5.4 Suggestions for future research 70

5.5 Conclusion 71

REFERENCES 72

APPENDICES 78

Appendix A 78

QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW 78

Appendix B 80

OBSERVATION FORM 80

English as a Foreign LanguageMinistry of Education and Training

no dateEnglish for Academic PurposesVan Hien University

Ho Chi Minh City University of SportElite Teens

International English Language Teaching SystemKey English Test

Teaching Quality ManagerFor example (exempli gratia)and others (et alia)

Teacher

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 The task generator: a taxonomy of task types 12Table 4.1 The procedure of TBLT implementation by six teachers at ASTON42

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 A framework for TBLT 13

Figure 2.2 Difference among exercise, activity and task (Richards, n.d.) 16

Figure 2.3 Conceptual Framework 23

Figure 3.1 Three main steps of data collection procedure 35

Figure 3.2 The process of analyzing and interpreting qualitative data 36

Figure 3.3 The thematic network of the study 39

Figure 4.2 A framework for TBLT 58

This research is designed to investigate how EFL teachers at ASTONlanguage center in Ho Chi Minh City apply Task-Based Language Teaching(TBLT) to teach teenage students It also aims to explore teachers’ perceivedbenefits and drawbacks of the use of TBLT A qualitative case design wasemployed using the interviews and observations as research instruments forgenerating data.The participants recruited for the study are six Vietnameseteachers who have at least one-year experience in teaching English and areusing TBLT in their teenage classes at ASTON The findings from the studyshowed that the participants had a significant knowledge of TBLT on howthey apply it to teach teenage learners, especially procedure, instruction,groupings, task types, skills applied and roles of the teacher and students andhold a positive view on the use of the TBLT approach The study also foundthat the benefits of TBLT include motivation, authentic practice, formativeassessment, creativity, suitability and improvement and drawbacks consist ofchoice of tasks, preparation, negative factors, imprecision and assessment Thestudy concluded with a discussion of practical implications for pedagogy andTBLT users

Key words: TBLT, EFL teachers’ perceptions, benefits and drawbacks,case study

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The importance of learning English is more and more encouraged sothat everyone can achieve the fluency of this universal language these days Inorder to achieve better results in learning and teaching English, educatorsalways try to update better teaching methods and approaches through sometraining sessions, workshops and from their colleagues and books Someapproaches recently emphasize more on student-centered learning In theVietnamese context, some modern teaching approaches and methodologiessuch as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), Task-Based LanguageTeaching (TBLT) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) are also applied morepopularly in various levels of students

Nunan (2003) emphasizes the importance of TBLT, based on a study ofcurriculum guidelines and syllabi in the Asia-Pacific countries including Japan,Vietnam, China, Korea and Malaysia Some research on TBLT has beencarried out in teaching contexts in Asian countries which share a lot ofsimilarities with Vietnamese ones The study of Jeon and Hahn (2006) in Koreashows that many teachers hold a significant understanding of TBLT, but theyretain some fear of using TBLT Those teachers reveal that they face with somenew disciplinary problems about classroom practice, lack understanding ofTBLT's practical applications and confidence Another study of Liu, Mishan &Chambers (2018) in higher education in China found that most of theparticipants in the study hold positive views on TBLT and report a highfrequency of using it However, the study revealed that the majority of theparticipants are not confident in their understanding of TBLT In addition, thestudy found that the public examination system is seen as one of the keyreasons preventing the implementation of TBLT

A number of recent studies on TBLT have been done so far in Vietnam,but their focuses mostly were on the effect of using TBLT for teachingspeaking skill and the target learners were at the tertiary levels A study ofNguyen, Le & Barnard (2015) in Vietnam found that the understanding ofVietnamese teachers is rather restricted Their focus is on forms rather than onmeaning A study of Dao (2016) at Hanoi University revealed that mostVietnamese teachers in the study have much understanding of TBLT and holdpositive views on the use of TBLT The study also found that exam preparation

is considered as an obstacle which impedes TBLT implementation Nguyen &Nguyen (2017) conducted a study about teachers’ perceptions about TBLT andits implementation at Can Tho University The study found that the participantshold a positive attitude towards TBLT They believe that TBLT can promotestudents’ motivation and English ability However, they have difficulties intransferring theoretical knowledge of TBLT to their own classes Another study

of Tran (2019) at Ho Chi Minh University of Sport (HUS) revealed that thestudent participants express a positive attitude toward TBLT They believe thatTBLT implementation could improve their speaking ability

In terms of teaching teenagers in Vietnamese context, teenage learnershave to study at least twelve subjects following the curriculum of MOET(Ministry of Education and Training) updated in 2018 This leads to the lack ofrevision on their recent lessons and the overloaded tasks at home In otherwords, teenagers find it hard to manage lots of time to study English Moreover,speaking and listening outcomes are becoming more and more attentive in theirlearning program, which was not strongly emphasized in the last decade.Therefore, the need for more activities and tasks demanding communicativepractices such as TBLT in class is very impelling

Fortunately, teaching and learning English in Vietnam have beenupgraded these days Applying blended learning, making use of availableapplications from various platforms to improve the quality of both teaching andlearning English have been implemented in various education institutions in Ho

Chi Minh City Since most teenage students have their own smartphones ortablets serving for their studies, they can take advantage of those devices toimprove their English besides class time.

All things considered, many studies on TBLT in Vietnam have mainlypaid attention to the tertiary level They investigate teachers’ understanding ofTBLT and their perceptions on its implementation However, little research hasbeen done to explore how teachers perform TBLT in their teaching context andtheir perceptions on its use for teenagers Hence, further studies on the use ofTBLT for teenage levels are needed, which is expected to fulfill in this study.The context of this study is at ASTON language center which belongs to agroup of mid-tier centers in Ho Chi Minh City and the target learners areteenage students

1.2 Aims of the study

This study aims to:

(1)discover and gain in-depth understanding on how the EFL teachersperform Task-Based Language Teaching;

(2) investigate EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of TBLT into theirlanguage classes, namely the benefits and drawbacks

1.3 Significance of the study

Findings from the study strongly confirm the results from previousresearch First, TBLT brings motivation to students’ learning, the study showsthat the real-world tasks give them lots of interest and chances of independentwork Second, TBLT is really a suitable approach to develop communicativeoutcomes It enables learners to communicate a lot to deal with the tasks Third,real-life tasks allow students to practise authentic language use Fourth,preparation for the TBLT application takes lots of time Fortunately, thisproblem can be solved when teachers spend a certain time doing the same work.Besides, plenty of free online resources can be exploited to save time fromteachers’ preparation

On the other hand, other new findings in the study will provide newinsights into the field Some other findings about the benefits of TBLT in theresearch comprise an immediate progress report in class for teachers, allowingstudents to perform their creativity, a suitable approach to teenage learners.Other findings about the drawbacks of TBLT including difficulties in taskchoices, negative elements in class, inaccuracy and individual’s assessmentwere dug in order to be resolved Moreover, the findings and implications canserve as a reference for teachers working in a similar context This study is apremise for further studies in the future to explore fully the perceptions of EFLteachers of the use of TBLT for other levels

1.4 Scope of the study

This study was conducted at ASTON language center in Ho Chi MinhCity Subjects of the study were six Vietnamese teachers (30 percent of thetotal number of Vietnamese teachers; 86 percent of Vietnamese teachers whowere currently taking teenage classes at that time) The time frame for thisresearch was from January to July 2022 This study consisted of exploring thecurrent practice of TBLT and the perceptions of Vietnamese teachers on TBLTimplementation The teachers’ perceptions would be limited to benefits anddrawbacks only of the use of TBLT in the context of a language center

1.5 Thesis organization

The overall structure of the study takes the form of five chapters.Chapter 1 introduces the background to the study, aims, research questions,significance, scope and thesis organization Chapter 2 reviews the literaturerelated to Task-Based Language Teaching including theoretical backgroundand previous studies, some roles of both teachers and students in TBLT and theconceptual framework Chapter 3 is concerned with the methodology used inthe study, including research questions, research design, context of the study,the pilot study, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure Chapter

4 presents findings and discussion Chapter 5 shows the overview of the study,implications, limitations, suggestions for future research and conclusion

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, relevant issues of TBLT are presented including definingkey terms, principles of TBLT, task components, task types, task-based lessonprocedure, differences among a task, an exercise and an activity; previousstudies on the use of TBLT in classroom practice In addition, teachers’ andstudents’ roles in the Task-based Language Teaching, and Conceptualframework are also covered

2.1 Tasked-based Language Teaching (TBLT)

2.1.1 Theoretical Background of Task-Based Language Teaching

Richards & Rodgers (2014) state that “Task-Based Language Teaching(TBLT) refers to an approach based on the use of tasks as the core unit ofplanning and instruction in language teaching” (p 174) TBLT is presented as alogical development of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) by some ofits proponents (e.g., Willis 1996) and principles For example, realcommunication activities are essential for language learning, and learning ispromoted through activities in which language is used for carrying outmeaningful tasks However, the focus of TBLT is on language use beforeinstructing the form while CLT introduces the form before using the languagefor communication Moreover, TBLT enables the parallel use of sometraditional methods to facilitate language learning the best Richards & Rodgers(2001) state language that is meaningful to the learner promotes the learning,

and “engaging learners in task work provides a better context for the activation

of learning processes than form-focused activities” (p 223), so it provides

better opportunities for learners to produce language learning in TBLT

Feez (1998) summarizes the following key assumptions of task-basedinstructions The focus of TBLT is on process rather than product Its basicelements are purposeful activities and tasks emphasize on communication andmeaning Language can be learned by interactive and purposeful

communication through engaging in the activities and tasks Activities andtasks can be either what learners might need to achieve in real life or what have

a pedagogical purpose specific to the classroom Difficulty is an element whichconditions the sequence of activities and tasks in a task-based syllabus Thedifficulty of a task depends on a range of factors including the previousexperience of the learner, the complexity of the task, the language required toundertake the task, and the degree of support available (Feez, 1998)

2.1.2 Defining key terms

‘Task’

A task is the principal unit of Task-based Language Teaching, soteachers have to understand this primary concept to know what TBLT is.However, there have been various definitions of tasks in the literature Theresearcher reviews some definitions in the literature before concluding thedefinition of a task

A group of scholars have some overlap in defining a task Willis (1996)states that a task is a goal-oriented activity practised in the classroom to obtainthe outcome or goal Learners are required to use the target language forcommunication to solve the provided problem Thus, the target language isconsidered as the vehicle to produce the outcome through the exchange ofmeanings Skehan et al (1998), Willis & Willis (2007), Ellis (2003), cited inEllis et al (2020) claim that a task in TBLT should have a primary focus onmeaning There is some form of connection to similar real-world activities.Willis & Willis (2007) and Ellis (2003) add another aspect that the assessment

of a task is based on non-linguistic outcome rather than accurate use oflanguage forms Put another way, a task has a clearly defined communicativeoutcome Willis & Willis (2007) state that apart from focusing on meaning, atask must engage learners’ interest

Another proponent defines a task as follows: an activity that requiredlearners to think through a process “to arrive at an outcome from giveninformation” and “allowed teachers to control and regulate that process” wasconsidered as a task (Prabhu, 1987, p 24) Through this definition, all activities

happening can be directed and controlled by teachers but still provoke students’learning In essence, Prabhu accepts that an outcome is an element of a tasksince learners must produce the outcome in a task.

Concerning the type of tasks, Nunan (2004) drew a basic distinctionbetween a real-world task (also called a target task) and a pedagogical task Theformer refers to the use of language in the world beyond the classroom, and thelatter refers to all the tasks that occur in the classroom Early, Long (1985)argues that a target task is “a piece of work undertaken for oneself or for others,freely or for some reward” (p 89) Examples of tasks are painting a fence,dressing a child and filling out a form In other words, tasks can be “thehundred and one things people do in everyday life” (p 89) including things atwork and at play This means that tasks can be considered as some activities inreal life that need communication to complete an activity or to solve a project.Conclusively, the task used in TBLT is a real-world task which allows learners

to focus on the language use through the real contexts

In general, various ways of defining a ‘task’ have been offered bydifferent proponents through time With reference to definitions cited above,tasks in TBLT can be considered as meaningful communicative activitieswhere learners have to communicate in target language and interact to solve aproblem Besides, the non-linguistic outcome is measured instead of theaccuracy of language forms Although the main concentration of a task is onthe fluency of language use, there still have some reinforcements in accuracy atthe final stage of this approach Additionally, the type of task belongs to a real-world task

Perception

The term perception has been defined in a variety of ways according todifferent authors and certain time As stated in Cambridge Dictionary (4thedition 2013), perception is a belief or opinion, often held by many people andbased on how things seem Rao & Narayan (1988, p.329) define perception as

“the process whereby people select, organize, and interpret sensorystimulations into meaningful information about their work environment”

According to Wang (2007), perception is a collection of internal sensorycognitive processes that explore the mind for internal cognitive information anddetect, relate, and interpret it McDonald (2012) states that a distinct individualexperience derived from anything that is known to oneself might be described

as perception All things considered, with the purpose of this study, thedefinition of perception mostly closes to McDonald’s

Teenagers

According to Cambridge Dictionary (4th edition 2013), a teenager is ayoung person between thirteen and nineteen years old We also have anotherterm for this range of ages, which is adolescent, and this stage of human’sdevelopment is very sensitive Particularly, Plote & Smith (2016) state thatadolescence can be characterized by a rise in peer pressure, a separation fromparents, mood swings, parental disagreements, and dangerous or irresponsiblebehavior, among other things

Adolescence, as described by UNICEF (2011), is the time between theonset of puberty and the approach of maturity, when young people are gettingready to assume the tasks and responsibilities of adults in their culture Eachperson has a unique experience at this time depending on their level of physical,emotional, and cognitive development as well as other factors

Changes in both physical and psychological elements occur at this time,which typically makes it challenging for us to maintain control and meet all oftheir demands The theories regarding the characteristics of this age can bederived from a variety of studies, but each person will differ in terms of theirdevelopment process, their culture, and the environment in which they live

2.1.3 Principles of Task-based Language Teaching

Language teachers should pay much attention to the principles of TBLT

so that they can take the best advantage of its implementation

Some renowned scholars (Willis, 1996a; Skehan, 1998; Ellis, 2003;Swan, 2005) propose common principles for TBLT as follows:

 Instructed language learning should primarily involve ‘natural’ or

‘naturalistic’ language use, based on activities concerned with meaningrather than language structure

 Instruction should motivate learners to engage in language use rather thanteacher control

 Students should be primarily focused on meaning when they carry out atask

 There should be opportunities for focusing on form

 Formal pre- or post-task language study will be useful

Those common principles above can be elaborated as the following.First and foremost, the main focus is on how language should be used withinthe contexts Second, instruction, which enables students to engage in languageuse, must be paid more attention Third and fourth, the outcome should be acommunicative outcome, and the task has to provide more opportunities forstudents to use the language In other words, it concentrates on meaning orfocus-on-form Last but not least, both pre-task and post-task phases should beminded because pre-task would profitably scaffold the learning process ofstudents, and post-task would review, emphasize on language accuracy andreinforce their practice

Nunan (2004) also provides seven principles for TBLT: (1) scaffolding;(2) task dependency; (3) recycling; (4) active learning; (5) integration; (6)reproduction to creation; (7) reflection According to Nunan (2004), atscaffolding principle, the lessons and materials should provide a supportingframework within which the learning can take place At this early stage,learners should not be expected to produce language that has not beenintroduced either explicitly or implicitly Then, task dependency, within alesson, one task should grow out of and build upon the ones that have gonebefore It shows how one task exploits and builds on the one that has workedbefore After that, recycling language maximizes opportunities for learning and

activates the ‘organic’ learning principle Next, during the active learning stage,learners learn best by actively using the language they are learning Followingthat, integration means that learners should be taught in ways that make clearthe relationships between linguistic form, communicative function andsemantic meaning In the next stage, learners should be encouraged to movefrom reproductive to creative language use Last, reflection means that learnersshould be given opportunities to reflect on what they have learned and howwell they are doing.

Concerning some principles mentioned above, the researcher totallyagrees with common principles proposed by Willis (1996a), Skehan (1998),Ellis (2003) & Swan (2005) because those principles strongly emphasize on thecore concepts of the TBLT approach The author adds the second group ofprinciples by Nunan (2004) to this section because there are some overlapsamong the principles of two groups such as scaffolding, recycling and activelearning

2.1.4 Task components

Candlin (1987) suggests that a task should include “input, roles, settings,actions, monitoring, outcomes and feedback” Data that learners have to work

on are referred to as input in this situation The relationship among participants

in a task is considered as roles Setting refers to where tasks take place - in theclassroom practice or out-of-class arrangement Actions can be understood thatthe procedure and sub-tasks are performed by learners during classroomprogress Monitoring describes the supervision of the task in progress.Outcomes imply the goals of the task, and feedback is the final stage referring

to the evaluation of the task

Meanwhile, Wright (1987a) argues that a task should contain only twoelements, input data and an initiating question He clarifies that input data may

be provided by the materials, teachers or even learners An initial question willguide learners through what to do with the provided data In conclusion, in thisstudy, components of a task as suggested by Candlin are proper for one reason

or another to the task-based lesson procedure due to their sake of completenessand lucidity After scrutinizing the components of a task from the view of someauthors by studying the task definition and principles of TBLT, the researcherconcludes that a task consists of seven elements as suggested by Candlin(1987).

2.1.5 Task types

Scholars discuss and present different task types since differentproponents have written about TBLT According to Prabhu (1987), tasks werecategorized into three principal types: information gap, reasoning gap, andopinion gap Firstly, an information-gap task involves transferring informationfrom one person to another, or from one form to another, and requires decoding

or encoding the information from or into language Secondly, a reasoning-gaptask means applying some techniques such as interpretation, deduction,practical reasoning, or a perception of relations or patterns to obtain new ideasfrom supplied information Lastly, an opinion-gap task refers to recognizingand expressing a particular preference, emotion, or attitude in reaction to acertain circumstance

More recently, Willis & Willis (2007) present a taxonomy of task types

by generating a set of different kinds of tasks

Table 2.1 The task generator: a taxonomy of task types (Willis & Willis,

2007, p.107)

Task types Examples of specific tasks

Listing brainstorming, fact-finding

Ordering and sorting sequencing, ranking, classifying

Matching words and phrases to pictures

directions to street mapComparing finding differences or similarities

Sharing personal experience story-telling, anecdotes, reminiscences

Projects and creative tasks class newspaper, poster, survey, fantasy, etc.Problem-solving puzzles, logic problems, prediction

Depending on the styles of different teachers, they can decide to use themost suitable type of tasks In this study, the author tends to support thetaxonomy of task types by Willis & Willis (2007) due to the simplicity of theirdescription In each group of task types, specific examples are given toillustrate what can be done Moreover, the order of those types is presentedfrom the most basic tasks to more complex ones.

2.1.6 Task-based lesson procedure

Regarding the procedure of a task-based lesson, Willis (1996, p 38)suggests a framework for TBLT as follows:

Figure 2.1 A framework for TBLT (Willis, 1996)

It can be seen that a task contains three phases: Pre-task, task cycle andlanguage focus in a cycle of teaching According to Willis (1996), the very firstphase of this cycle (or pre-task) introduces the topic and task Specifically,students understand the theme and objectives of the tasks through the teacher’sexplanation or clarity by brainstorming ideas with the class or using pictures,mime or personal experience to give introduction of the topic Additionally,students may do a pre-task, for example, topic-based odd-word-out games.Also, teachers need to highlight some useful words or phrases instead of pre-teaching new structures In the meantime, students are assigned somepreparation time to think about how to deal with the task If the task is based onthe text, they need to read the text at this time

Willis (1996) says that the second phase - task cycle - consists of threesub-phases: task, planning and report In the task section, tasks are done bystudents in pairs or groups, and students have chances to use whateverlanguage they already have to deal with the task by expressing what they want

to say Teacher walks around, monitors and encourages students tocommunicate using the target language in a supportive way Teacher possiblyhelps students to formulate what students want to say, but will not correct anyerrors of form at this time The task sub-phase focuses on the discussion withinsmall groups instead of the whole class Next, the planning section prepares forthe next stage Students are asked to report briefly what has been done to thewhole class Students have to draft and rehearse what they want to present bysaying or writing in advance Teacher advises students on the language andperhaps suggests some useful phrases to polish and correct their language.Teacher instructs students to practise peer editing and use dictionaries if thetask is on writing This stage emphasizes on clarity, organization and accuracy

of the task Next, in the report section, some pairs or groups of students areasked to report briefly their outcomes to the whole class while other pairs orgroups give comments and add extra points Teachers might give comments onthe content of students’ reports This second phase emphasizes on the fluency

of learners in using the target language to communicate in order to solve thetask rather than accuracy of the language form while the last phase is opposite

Willis (1996) explains that in the third phase, the teacher analyzes andensures the accuracy, then suggests the solutions and provides more practice.More particularly, analysis is applied to figure out the strengths andweaknesses by setting some language-focused tasks based on the texts studentshave read Students start working on those items, and the teacher walks around

to support them The teacher then reviews the analysis and writes relevantlanguage on the board for students to make notes At last, the teacher hasstudents practise some necessary activities based on the language analysis.Practice activities can include repetition, sentence completion and memorychallenge games

2.1.7 Difference among tasks, exercises, activities

The terms - task, exercise, activity - are understood differentlydepending on who defines them According to Richards (n.d), an exercise is atype of teaching method that incorporates controlled, supervised, or open-ended practice of a language skill Exercises include drills, cloze activities, andreading comprehension passages An activity, on the other hand, is a broaderterm that refers to any type of purposeful classroom practice that involvesstudents accomplishing something related to the course's goals Singing a song,playing a game, participating in a debate, and having a group discussion are allexamples of varied teaching activities

According to the definition of Richards (n.d), a task is something thatlearners perform or complete using their own linguistic resources or thoseoffered through pre-task work It has an outcome that is not solely related tolanguage learning, yet language acquisition may occur as the learner completesthe task Furthermore, it is relevant to the needs of the learners and includes afocus on meaning It necessitates the application of communication strategiesand interactional skills by learners when working on activities with two ormore people A task also allows for opportunities to reflect on language use

The figure below illustrates the differences among exercise, task andactivity by presenting the brief characteristics of each concept Richard tellsthese variances with no date (n.d.) shown from his own page

Figure 2.2 Difference among exercise, activity and task (Richards, n.d.)

Ellis (2003) conveyed his view of a task and an exercise in TBLT Hereveals that:

‘Tasks” are activities that call for primarily meaning-focused language use In contrast, “exercises” are activities that call for primarily form- focused language use Thus, a “task” requires the participants to function primarily as “language user” in the sense that they must employ the same kinds of communicative processes as those involved in real-world activities (p 3)

All things considered, the crucial difference between a task and anexercise is clearly stated A task firmly emphasizes on meaning - the correctlanguage usage in the authentic practice contexts - while an exercise aims tofocus on the correctness of linguistic forms

2.1.8 Previous studies on the use of TBLT in classroom practice

With reference to the effects of TBLT, numerous studies have beencarried out by lots of TBLT advocates in a variety of contexts The findings ofthose researches diverged into two significant matters - TBLT’s benefits anddrawbacks The order of the following researches are shown starting with the

general views of the world to the context of Vietnam to illustrate what TBLTcritics have found about the TBLT approach.

Referring to benefits, TBLT proponents claim that tasks enable learners

to attain language through communication and engagement (Ellis, 2003;Prabhu, 1987) In addition, TBLT proponents state that TBLT gives learnersmany opportunities to utilize the language they have known without beingpenalized for their inevitable inaccuracies (Willis & Willis, 2007) The aim ofTBLT is to develop the ability of learners to engage in significant and fluentcommunication (Willis & Willis, 2009)

According to Ellis (2009), TBLT is considered as an appropriateapproach to emphasize listening and reading tasks for beginner learners Itenables learners to improve both comprehension skills and grammaticalresources serving for speaking and writing skills Also, a task-based approachhas a positive impact on motivation (Willis, 2011) The author believes thatTBLT provides learners with opportunities to deal with real-life tasks fromeasy to challenging Learners have chances to do things with the language tosuccessfully complete an assigned task, which brings them motivation

Another study of Hadi (2012) on the learners’ perceptions of TBLT inIranian context, including 88 EFL learners participated A task-basedquestionnaire was employed to examine their perceptions According to thefindings, the majority of respondents showed a high level of understanding ofTBLT concepts Such a positive view notwithstanding, learners also revealed afew negative outlooks on the implementation of TBLT Learners did notconsider their lecturers to be sufficiently fluent in the target language Otherchallenges included the inadequacy of the textbook contents and a lack ofclarity about their progress while being taught in TBLT

Furthermore, the study of Douglas & Kim (2014) was conducted in theCanadian context to investigate instructors’ perceptions in English forAcademic Purposes (EAP) It revealed that TBLT was deemed suitable forEAP instruction by a large number of participants (86% of the participants

using TBLT in at least half of their lessons) The top three tasks used by EAPteachers were presentations, essays, and interviews The outstandingadvantages of TBLT were its practicality, effectiveness, and learner-centeredness while its main disadvantages were misaligned studentexpectations, lack of classroom time, and extensive instructor preparation.

Although many proponents state the strengths of TBLT in teachingEnglish as above, it remains a controversial topic In relevant to the drawbacks

of TBLT, Seedhouse (1999) states that TBLT results in little acquisitive value

in language use He explains that learners may switch to their native language

to communicate instead of using the target language Some other critics alsoargue that TBLT lacks empirical evidence for claiming that it is superior toform-focused approaches (Bruton, 2002; Sheen, 2003; Swan, 2005) It suggeststhat grammar should be introduced for beginners since they need it forcommunication (Bruton, 2005; Sheen, 2003; Swan, 2005) Likewise, Swan(2005) agrees with Bruton (2002) that TBLT is inadequate for low-levellearners The task-cycle phase requires learners to communicate with theirclassmates, but weak learners often lack communicative proficiency in thetarget language to fulfill the assigned task

Additionally, Sato (2010) & Swan (2005) said that the use of TBLT hasdifficulties in a large-size English class since learners hardly get a chance tospeak if the group is large TBLT only provides learners with limited newlanguage compared to traditional methods (Sato, 2010; Swan, 2005)

In the Korean EFL context, the study of Jeon and Hahn (2006) involved

228 teachers, including 112 middle school teachers (49.1%) and 116 highschool teachers (50.9%) Two different methods were used for data collection -visiting for questionnaire response (Likert-type) and emailing the writtenquestionnaire (open-ended items) Their study revealed that although manyteachers get a high level of understanding of TBLT concepts, they retain somefear of adopting TBLT as an instructional method First, teachers are under thepsychological strain of dealing with some new disciplinary issues related toclassroom practice Second, teachers lack practical application knowledge of

task-based methods or techniques Third, teachers are hesitant to adopt TBLTbecause they lack confidence.

The study by Nguyen (2010) at Van Hien University (VHU) indicatedsome findings First, a significant proportion of VHU English teachersunderstand tasks and TBLT, which contributes to the exploitation of the merits

of TBLT to develop the communicative competence of students Having saidthat, the effectiveness of TBLT’s implementation at VHU is still challenged byabout 30% of VHU English teachers who have shown their incompleteunderstanding of tasks and TBLT approach Second, whereas they have a highunderstanding of TBLT, the frequency of employing the TBLT approach is nothigh The reason for this low rate of application is the school exams, includingtwo written exams each semester Third, regarding the task types used in class,the respondents prefer some types of tasks to others Specifically, “Problem-solving” is the most favourable of all VHU English teachers “Comparing” and

“Projects and creative tasks” are often utilized by half of those respondentswhile other types are hardly introduced in their class

Nguyen, Le, and Barnard (2015) conducted two case studies in similarsettings in Vietnam, where TBLT has just been implemented Both studiesevaluated the level of a group of Vietnamese teachers' readiness for TBLT byanalyzing their beliefs and practices, using qualitative multi-methods for datagathering and grounded theory for data analysis The findings showed that,despite having worked with task-based materials for several years, participantinstructors' views and behaviors diverged significantly from TBLT conceptsdescribed in the literature This research focused on two primary themes:teachers’ understanding of tasks and teachers' classroom practices, which allowfor a discussion of what instructors believe, know, and do in connection toTBLT implementation in their specific contexts The outcomes revealed thatthe understanding of TBLT of Vietnamese teachers was somewhat restricted.Plus, they tended to focus on forms rather than on meaning They believed thatthe students needed an explicit knowledge of relevant grammatical featuresbefore they could communicate effectively

Another study at a tertiary level by Dao (2016) recruited 55 teachers atHanoi University The instruction to collect data was a questionnaire adaptedand developed from Jeon and Hahn (2006) covering four domains: (1) teachers’demographic information; (2) the investigation of teachers’ belief of TBLT; (3)teachers’ attitudes towards TBLT; and (4) different challenges when workingwith TBLT The study found that most teachers have a practical understanding

of the main features of tasks and TBLT They hold positive views on the TBLTimplementation The data also identify exam preparation as the biggest obstaclefor Vietnamese university teachers when adopting TBLT (Dao, 2016)

In the Vietnamese context, many teachers indicate that they have asignificant knowledge of TBLT and hold a positive view However, they stillhave some difficulties applying TBLT to their own classes Particularly, astudy conducted by Nguyen & Nguyen (2017) at Can Tho university examineshow EFL teachers, who have been using traditional teaching methods for years,react to a training program of TBLT in their authentic classrooms The trainingmainly aimed at presenting basic pedagogical teaching principles of TBLT andthe role of the teacher in a TBLT classroom The participants in this study werethree teachers and 180 students Data were collected via classroomobservations and semi-structured interviews and analyzed qualitativelyafterwards This study finds that the teachers have a positive attitude towardsthe task-based approach They firmly believe that TBLT could promotelearners’ motivation and ability of language use Yet, the in-service teacherscould not successfully transfer the theoretical knowledge of TBLT (includingTBLT principles and the role of the teacher) that they had acquired during thetraining program to their authentic classrooms

Tran (2019) conducted a study at HUS to investigate the effects ofTBLT on the speaking skill of EFL learners and their attitudes toward thisapproach The participants of the study included 59 non-English-majorfreshmen, 29 of whom joined the control group and the rest were in theexperimental group The findings showed that the influential rates of TBLT onEnglish speaking and other aspects of English learning were at various extents

More explicitly, learners’ oral interaction was improved the most whereasgrammar and vocabulary got the least progress In addition, relating to thelearners’ feelings about the applied approach, they expressed their highlypositive attitudes toward this approach and its role in improving their speakingskill.

2.2 Teachers’ and students’ roles in the Task-based Language Teaching 2.2.1 Teachers’ roles

In TBLT, according to Richards & Rodgers (2001), teachers should

perform three main roles: (1) selector and sequencer of tasks; (2) preparing

learners for tasks; and (3) consciousness-raising Richards & Rogers (2001)

explain, in relation to the first teacher role, it should be emphasized that thelanguage teacher plays an active role in selecting, adapting, and designing tasks,

as well as building these tasks to meet the needs, expectations, interests, andlanguage ability levels of the learners Relevant to the second role, it may beclaimed that language learners benefit from some pre-task training (Richards &Rodgers, 2001) Topic introduction, task instructions, supporting students inlearning or retaining useful terms and phrases to make work completion easier,and presenting a partial display of task process are examples of trainingactivities Concerning the third teacher role, it should be noted that the teacheremploys a variety of form-focusing techniques, including attention-focusedpre-task activities, studying the given text, guided exposure to similar tasks,and the use of highlighted material (Richards & Rodgers, 2001)

2.2.2 Students’ roles

Richards & Rodgers state that the primary roles of students in the TBLT

are as follows: (1) group participant; (2) monitor; and (3) risk-taker and

innovator They add, relevant to the first learner role, it can be stated that the

students do a variety of tasks in pairs or small groups For students who aremore accustomed to whole-class activities and/or individual work, pair orgroup work may require some adaptation Related to the second role, Richards

& Rodgers (2001) mention tasks are used as a tool to facilitate the learning

process in task-based learning Classroom activities should be planned in such

a way that students can examine how language is used in communication.Learners should pay attention to the message in task work as well as the form

in which such communications are often packaged In relation to the third role,many tasks force learners to develop and elaborate communications for whichthey lack full linguistic resources and prior experience This is supposed to bethe point of such duties in reality Guessing from linguistic and contextualclues, asking for clarification, and consulting with other students may all beabilities that need to be improved (Richards and Rodgers, 2001)

2.3 Conceptual framework

Theories and suggestions by influential authors in the field of languageteaching and linguistics are reviewed for building a conceptual framework forthe study In this framework, the author reviewed tasks in TBLT, then theprinciples and some relevant issues of TBLT Based on those theories in thefield, the study would like to explore how EFL teachers apply this teachingapproach in their context and elucidate the benefits and drawbacks of theTBLT’s implementation in the context of a middling language center in Ho ChiMinh City

Figure 2.4 below illustrates the conceptual framework based on thetheories reviewed in the literature It can be elaborated that the relationshipbetween tasks along with principles in TBLT and the current practice of TBLT

in terms of procedure, instruction, groupings, task types, skills applied androles of the teacher and students is significant From the practice of TBLT,previous studies present the benefits and drawbacks of the use of the TBLTapproach Referring to the benefits, motivation, authentic practice,improvement are found Concerning the drawbacks, extensive preparation,misaligned students’ needs, lack of time, big class size and little acquisition areconsidered

Figure 2.3 Conceptual Framework

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the methodology employed in the study Itincludes the presentation of the research questions, research design, the context

of the study, the pilot study, data collection procedure and data analysisprocedure In the research design section, the description of participants andtwo research instruments will be presented

3.1 Research questions

As mentioned earlier in Chapter 1, the current study is aimed at seekinganswers to the research questions: 1 How do EFL teachers apply Task-BasedLanguage Teaching to their classes? 2 What are the EFL teachers’ perceptions

of the use of Task-Based Language Teaching in their classes? Sub-questions ofresearch question 2: (1) What are EFL teachers’ perceived benefits of the use

of TBLT? (2) What are EFL teachers’ perceived drawbacks of the use of TBLT?

3.2 Research design

In order to find out the answers for the research questions mentionedabove, a qualitative case design was employed A qualitative research,according to Krathwohl (1993), provides written descriptions of a case, a group,

a situation, or an event, allowing it to visualize not only what happened but alsoqualifying the description in order to portray it more clearly Mackey & Gass(2006, p 162) state that qualitative approach allows researchers to collect

“careful and detailed descriptions” Case study is the most suitable approach to

be employed to “provide insight into an issue” (Stake, 2003) In addition, a

case study would enable the researcher to learn about all aspects of the real-lifesituation, such as interaction events and participant relationships (Cohen,Manion, & Morrison, 2007) Case study is categorized into three types -intrinsic, instrumental and collective study (Stake, 2003) Stake (1995)categorizes case studies into three types: intrinsic (a single case) that isimportant in its own right, not necessarily because of its potential predictivetheoretical powers; instrumental (a single case where the focus is on going

beyond the case to understand a broader phenomenon of interest); andcollective (a multiple case version of instrumental where the focus is onlearning about a phenomenon) In this study, an instrumental case study waschosen because it is thought to be fairly typical of a class of situations in whichthe intricacy of the phenomenon being examined suggests that closerexamination of a single case can yield more knowledge than surveying arepresentative sample (Taber, 2014).

The data collection took place from early May to late June 2022 Theresearch instruments used in this study were interview and observation with theinterview as a principal tool of data collection Interviews were designed tocollect information about (1) how EFL teachers used TBLT in classroom, and(2) the benefits and drawbacks of the use of TBLT in their classrooms atASTON language center, especially at classes of teenagers (also called ETclasses at ASTON) Interviews were utilized to collect data in this researchbecause it provided the author with thorough conversations which broughtdetailed answers for the study

Apart from the interview, observation was also employed to strengthenthe reliability of the answers from the interview section According to Pawar(2004, p 18), observation methods aid in overcoming “some of the limitations

of other data collecting methods” such as interview, questionnaire and focusing

on group discussion Moreover, the method helps to collect “rich and insightfuldata in natural settings” at a lower cost and with less inconvenience to theresearcher In this study, the observation helped the researcher get a realisticpicture of TBLT employed in the classroom practice at ASTON center Classobservations were conducted only once in each teacher participant’s classwithin the year of 2022 The researcher took the role of an overt non-participant observer who stands aside from students and takes notes obviouslybecause she intentionally observed the usual class activities and theirinteraction She did not want to interfere with the students’ behaviour inpair/group work due to her involvement Interviews and observations were

flexibly carried out in terms of order Put another way, it was optional tointerview the participants first and then observe their classes or vice versa Theorder was dependent upon the schedule of teachers, and could be conducted ondifferent days.

3.2.1 Participants

Participants recruited for the main study are six Vietnamese teacherswho are currently teaching teenagers at ASTON language center All of themmust meet the two criteria: (1) having at least one-year experience of teachingEnglish at English centers and (2) using TBLT for teenage classes Concerningthe first criterion, teachers who have many years of teaching experience wouldprobably provide a deeper understanding of the use of TBLT besides their goodknowledge In relation to the second criterion, the study emphasizes onexploring the benefits and drawbacks of the use of TBLT in English classes forteenagers, so recruited teachers must be those teachers who are using TBLT forteenage levels at the language center

3.2.2 Research instruments

Research instruments employed for the study are interviews andobservations Interviews are mainly used to collect data on teachers’ practiceand their perceptions of the use of TBLT to their classes, especially theiradvantages and disadvantages In order to have an accurate view on what isgoing on in the classroom, the researcher developed another tool - classroomobservation This set of data is used to validate the reliability of the interviewdata

3.2.2.1 Interview

Interview was employed in many studies due to its dominant features.Firstly, Cohen et al (2007, p 349) remark it allows researchers to be flexible atusing multi-sensory channels: verbal, non-verbal, spoken and heard for datacollection Secondly, Cohen et al (2007) add that the order of the interviewmay be controlled while still giving the space for spontaneity Thirdly, itenables researchers to press not only for complete answers but also for

responses about complex and deep issues since they are “active interactionsbetween two or more people, leading to a negotiated contextually based result.”(Silverman, 1997, p 98).

Fourthly, according to Tuckman (1972), interview can help to explore

“what is inside a person’s head” as it is possible to measure what a personknows (knowledge and information), what a person likes or dislikes (valuesand preferences), and what a person thinks (attitudes and beliefs) Fifthly, asPatton (1990) aptly puts it, “the purpose of interviewing is not to put things insomeone’s mind (for example, the interview’s preconceived categories fororganizing the world) but to access to the perspectives of the person beinginterviewed” (p 278) In other words, interviews can validate other methods,and help the researchers to get a rich context beyond supplementing the detailswhich might not be found from the observation Thanks to some dominantfeatures as mentioned above, interviews are chosen as the main tool for thisstudy

As regards the interview structure, the researcher chose a structured interview, including some guiding questions in accordance with thetopic of the study According to Bernard (1988), the benefit of a semi-structured interview is that the interviewer maintains control over the process

semi-of getting information from the interviewee while remaining free to pursue newleads as they emerge Similarly, Hitchcock and Hughes (1989, p 83) describesemi-structured interview as a kind of interview process which allows “depth to

be achieved” by giving the interviewer the opportunity to “probe and expand”the interviewee's responses The list of questions were composed by theresearcher based on theories mentioned in the literature in order to answer tworesearch questions of the study The author would like to explore: (1) theparticipants’ background; (2) the use of TBLT in their teaching; and (3) thebenefits and drawbacks in the use of TBLT The questions for the interview(see Appendix A.) had two main parts: (1) background information, comprisingfour questions; (2) EFL teachers’ perceptions of the use of TBLT, includingtwo main sections: seven questions about how teachers apply TBLT and five

questions about benefits and drawbacks of TBLT Those questions for theinterview were formulated based on the themes discussed in the literature andconceptual framework.

In addition, according to Denscombe (2014), seating arrangement isimportant in the interview room since it allows comfortable interaction betweenthe researcher and the interviewee He suggests the researcher should try to set

up the seating arrangement so that the two parties are at a 90 degree angle toeach other in a one-to-one interview This provides for eye contact without thefeeling of hostility that comes with sitting directly across from someone

3.2.2.2 Observation

In order to have a thorough and deep understanding on the application ofthe TBLT in classroom practice, class observation was to be used apart frominterview The reason motivating the researcher to employ this tool was thatKumar (1996) credited that observation is the most appropriate method of datacollection in situations where full and/or accurate information cannot beelicited through questioning because participants are either unwilling orunaware of the answers The fact that respondents provide irrelevant andinconsistent answers among the open-ended questions or they do not want toreveal the truth of their use of TBLT is inevitable Thus, observation was a verypowerful tool for the researcher to have an insight into the study situation

In addition, according to Kumar (1996), another reason for handlingobservation is that it is a systematic data-collecting technique that involveswatching individuals in their natural environment or in a naturally occurringsituation The processes under observation are normal and not contrived Theycan range from individual cases to groups and whole communities Observationallows for a more in-depth and comprehensive understanding of a phenomenon,situation, or setting, as well as the behavior of the people in that setting Thedata collection is laborious and time-consuming and may have to be repeated toensure reliability (Kumar, 1996)

In this study, the type of observation was non-participant observation.

According to Kumar (1996, p 141), a researcher does not “get involved in theactivities of the group” but remains “a passive observer, watching and listening

to its activities and drawing conclusions from this” The observation was

conducted under natural conditions which mean “observing a group in its

natural operation rather than intervening in its activities” (Kumar, 1996, pp.141-142) The reasons for those choices can be explained by the fact that theresearcher does not want to intervene or impact on the performances of bothteachers and students Moreover, she also wants to capture the whole picture ofclass activities

According to Kumar (1996), the method you choose to capture theobservation depends on the purpose of the observation, the intricacy of theinteraction and the type of population being observed The author chose

narrative recording for this study because it allows the author to record a

description of the interaction in her own words The researcher usually makesbrief notes while observing the interaction and completes the observation form(see Appendix B) soon after that

The observation form was adopted from a sample field-note of astudent’s observation of an Art Object (Creswell, 2012) and was modified to aform based on the list of interview questions The observation was used tocross check what teachers answered in the interview section about how theyapply TBLT Below are the headings of the observation:

 What (what kind of task was used? - pedagogical or target tasks)

 When (which stages/ skills of the lesson was applied with TBLT?)

 How (the procedures of TBLT were performed, the instruction andlanguage use were used)

 Groupings

 Roles (of both students and their teacher)

 Teacher’s benefits

 Teacher’s drawbacks

Those headings of the observation form were interpreted from the interviewquestions

3.3 Context of the study

This study was conducted at ASTON language center founded in 2005,

a branch of an Educational Group and its headquarter in America Its branchesare distributed in America, China and Vietnam (two campuses in Ho Chi MinhCity and one campus in Can Tho City) This study intentionally selected twocampuses in Ho Chi Minh City as the research site where the author hasworked since October 2016 until present because they were convenient for theresearcher in terms of distance and relation The teaching staff of the languagecenter have a strong desire to learn effective techniques and teaching methods

to boost their teaching quality This language center regularly begins new termsever three months in March, June, September and December However, theopening courses have been significantly affected due to the pandemic between

2020 and 2021 It caused the center to close in May 2021 and converted someclasses to online learning Luckily, their classes resumed in February 2022

The language center has around 80 classes, and the class size is quitesmall, around 8 to 12 students The duration of each session is 120 minutesincluding a ten-minute break The center offers various time frames forstudents to choose during weekdays (Tuesdays - Thursdays; Wednesdays -Fridays) and weekends (morning - evening shifts) The students are gradedfrom preschool to teenage groups Within a teenage class, Vietnamese andForeign teachers share the class in accordance with the arrangement ofadministrative staff To put it in another way, each teacher handles half of thecourse

With regard to curriculum, a variety of programs are taught such asPlayground Kids, Elite Kids, Elite Teens and Cambridge test preparation