Luận văn a study on the use of task based approach in teaching speaking to the 2nd year english majored students

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES LƯƠNG THỊ MINI PHƯƠNG ASTUDY ON ‘THE LSE OF TASK-BASED APPROACH

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯƠNG THỊ MINI PHƯƠNG

ASTUDY ON ‘THE LSE OF TASK-BASED APPROACH IN

TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE 2“ YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED

STUDENTS

(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC SỬ DỰNG PHƯƠNG PHAP DAY HOC THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG GIÁO NHIỆM VỤ TRONG DẠY HỌC KĨ NĂNG

NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH}

MLA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

HA NOI, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

LƯƠNG THỊ MINH PHƯƠNG

ASTUDY ON TIIE USE OF TASK-BASED APPROACII IN

TEACHING SPEAKING TO THE 2™ YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED

STUDENTS

(SGIMEN CỨỬU VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC THEO DƯỜNG HƯỚNG GIAO NHTEM VỤ TRONG DAY HOC ki NANG NÓI CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYỂN ‘TLENG ANH}

MLA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English caching Mcthodology

Code: 6014.0111

Supervisor: Dr Duong Thi Nu

ILA NOT, 2014

CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “A stedy on the use of task-based approach

in teaching speaking to the 2" year English majored students” is my own study in the fulfillnent of (he requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts al Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and Intemational Studies, Vietnam

National University, [anoi

Hanoi, 2014

Luong Thi Minh Phuong

Acknowledgements

L would like to express my most sincere gratitude to my respectable

supervisor, Dr Duong Thi Nu for her restless and sympathetic

encouragement, valuable advice and patient guidance until the completion

of this study

My sincere thanks also go to my dear colleagues at Vietnam University of Commerce for all their helps, supports and encouragement

when I encountered difficulties

I wish to acknowledge my thankfulness to class 140SENPRSOL of English Fuculty at Vietnam Universi

2 of Commerce for their enthusiastic

participation in the experiment

Finally, I am deeply indebted to my beloved mother, my family members and my post-graduate friends Nguyen Thi Mat Huong, Anh20B,

Ta Thi Mai Huong, Anh20B, Tran Thi Long, Anh20B, Tran Thi Huyen, Anh20B, Nguyen Hoang Do, Anh20A and others for their sacrifice and

encouragement and care.

Abstracts

The foous of this study was on the use of task-based approach in

teaching speaking for the 2°4 year Fnglish majored students al Viebwan

University of Commerce A one group pro-test/post-test quasi- experimental design was employed with the participation of 40 students

from English Faculty The test results showed thal lhe task-based approach

had a positive impact on students’ speaking achievement after the

experiment Another instrument, the questionnaire, was administered ta

the participants in order io draw on qualitative data The data revealed the positive consequences for significant changes in students’ learning attitude

and motivation The task-based project also welcomed favorable

cvaluations from the students that would be of great help to the future applications of task-based language teaching

Aims of the study

Scape of the sindy

Significanes of the sluty

Method of the sluty

Organization of the steady

1.2.2Definitions of Tasks within TBI

1.2.3TBL ina Business English course

1.2.4Framework for Task-based Instruction (TBI)

1,3 Advantages of TBLT

1.4 Misanderstanding about TBLT

1.5 Theoretical justificafion for FBLT

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Students’ improvement in learning speaking

43.2 Students’ attitudes towards and motivation of the Task-based project

4.2 Limitations of the study

RRKEERENCES che hước .40 APPENDIX I

APPENDIX IT

APPENDIX TT

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS:

ELT: English language Teaching

ESL: English as a Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes

THỊ 'Task-based Instruclion

THUI: 'Task-based Language 'Teachine,

VỤC: Vietnam Universily of Commerce

Table 3.2: T-test Resutts

Table 4: Scores of Pre-treatment and post-treatment Tests

Table 5: Students’ attitude towards the task-based project

List of Graphs

Graph 1: Frequency distribution of the pro-test scores

Graph 2: ‘requency distribution of the post-test scores

Graph 3: Levels of interest in the new speaking learning metho

Graph 4: Students’ attitude towards the TB project

Graph 5: Students’ evaluation of the effectiveness of the TBL approach

PART A - INERODUCTION

i Rationale

Courses in (listening and) speaking skills have a prominent place in language programmes around the world today Tver-growing needs for fluency in English around (he world as a cousequence of the role of English as the world’s international language have given priority to finding more effective ways to teach English (Richards, 2009) Vietnam is not aut of this current trends for English teaching and leaming

The needs for meeting job requirements put students majored in business to enhancing their language skills and ability for international business communication However, the current situation of teaching and learning now in Vietnam is of critical problem to solve xesulting from inappropriate teaching

qmalcrials and instructional techniques Here comes the same context to what

happens in the teaching and learning HSP at Vietnam University of Commerce The traditional method being applied now is mainly teacher-centered and lecture- oriented, which commonly results in the passivity and non-involvernent in speaking activities of students Krom all of the above, finding appropriate methods is an urge

that the teachers here are striving for

Willis and Willis (2007-1) asseris that “ the most clfcctive way lo tcach a

language is by engaging learners in real language use in the classroom This is done

by designing tasks — discussions, problems, games, and so on — which require

leamers to use the language for themselves.” Othor language roscarchers and

practitioners like Candlin (1987), Swain (1995) and IIutchinson and Walter (1987)

all agree thal TRLT could bring good opporlmtics for studetits to master the

language skills through numerous and useful kinds of tasks,

From this suggestion and above initial problems, the author decided to develop a quasi-cxporimental rescarch on the use of task-based approach in teaching speaking for the 2™! year English majored students at Viemam

University of Commerce

to

2 Aims of the study

This was a quasi-experiment research of which purpose was (o inveshigate

the influenec of implementing task-based approach on the second-ycar-English- major students at Vietnam University of Commerce (VUC) Specifically, it

addressed the following research question:

- How do second-year English major students at Vietnam University of Commerce benefit from the implementation of the task-based approach?

The foous of the study is not only on student's achievement in their speaking

skills but alse on their changes im leaning altitude and motivation

2 Scope af the study

The study was conducted on 10 second-year English major of the English Department of Vietnam University of Commerce and restricted to the first half of the first semester of 2013-2014 The intervention lasted for about one month and a half with five contacts, each a week

4 Significance of the study

‘The study was conducted to find out whether the TB approach fits the needs

of enhancing second-year students’ speaking ability As a result, the teachers al

UC are persuaded to adopt this approach mm their teaching not only speaking but other language skills

5 Method of the study

a Sample

The sample consists of 40 students of the early second year in English Faoulty of Vietnam University of Commerce The students were selected randomly according to their credit registration at the end of the first year,

The class were lo receive TB instruction following an oral pre-test and then

another post-test to check the effect of the new approach on speaking ability

The class were taught by the teacher who is qualified and has 5 years of experience in leaching business English al VUC

b Tustrumentation

A quasi-experimental research were employed in this minor thesis to find out

the atliludes and motivation of 2 year students toward speaking as well as the

influence of BLY on their speaking ability

In order to collect sufficient and relevant data for the study, two research

techniques wore implemented

- Using an oral pre-test and a post-test to evaluate the teaching and learning,

Tesulls

- Conducting a semi-structured questionnaire to ivestigate how the

students are interested in the intervention

« Procedures

‘The steps of the study are executed as follow:

1 Adunnister the first oral lest la check the eurent speaking ability of the

participants

bà Implementing the TB instruction to the selected group of participants with

a detailed schedule

3 Issuing a survey questionnaire to check students’ attitudes, understanding

of the experiment period

4, Admuuister a post-treatment test

5 Analyze the data and discuss the findings

6 Structure of the study

The study consists of three parts:

Part A — Introduction presents the rationale, aim, scope, significance and

method of the study Part B — Development: this part comprises of three chapters:

- Chapter 1: Theoretical Rackground and Literature review cover the overview of the literature in which relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerning Business English, speaking skills and task-based language teaching (TBLT)

- Chapter 2 — Revearch Method comlinucs with the rescarch inelhod including the participants of the study, the instrumentation, the methods and procedures of data collection and data analysis

- Chapter 3 — Findings and Discussion demonstrates the findings accompanied by data analysis and discussion

Part C — Conclusion recapitulates the major findings of the study and

ropresenls further recommendations for the implementation of

TBLT.

PART B - DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 — THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1.1 Business English

Business English has boon receiving much concen [rom ESP practitioners, learners and language researchers Cr (2002) sees Business English as a subfield

thal focuses on the development of communicative competence for business settings,

also known as target situations or situated contexts in business

Business English is a rapidly growing field within the area of English language Teaching (ELT) and ESP (English for Specific Purposes) It is a straightforward term that is widely used and readily understood by practitioners, but its generality can lead to confusion (Johnson, 1993, Pickett, 1986 and Johns, 1986)

‘The term can be used to desoribe courses that range from an essentially English for General Purposes course that includes the teaching of some business lexis, to very

specific courses, either in particular skills such as participating in or chairing

mleciings or report writing, or im particular disciplines such as finance or marketing BBE also differs itself from other ESP fields in that it is often a mix of specific

content (relating to a particular job area or industry), and general content (relating

to general ability to communicate more effectively albeit in business situation) (Bllis and Johnson, 1994, p.3)

According to Dudley-Evans and John (1998) Business English is difficult to

define and limit in linguistic terms It therefore ‘requires the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult leamer within a specific learning context” Johns and Dudley-Ryans, 1991) and rnust be ‘designed to meet specified needs of the leamer’ (Streven, 1988)

Picket (1986) considers Business Fnglish as a ‘medialing laryuage between the technicalitics of particular businesscs and the language of the general public’, which puts a distinction between General Lnglish and Specialist Linglish To

different people, Business Tinglish can have different meanings for which suit their purposes of leaning and using English

Business English refers to the teaching of non-native speakers who needs Lnglish for business purposes usually working in a company at managerial level and needing lo vommunivate in English with cither native speakers or other ESL speakers with whom they do not share a first language (Dudley-Hvans and John, 1996) Therefore, teaching BE is believed to be the teaching of Tinglish to adults working in businesses, or preparing to work in the field of business, ie a needs- directed teaching in which as much as possible must be made job-related, focused

on learners’ needs and relevant to them

The content matter in Business English can be divided into two broad categories of real content and career content and is mentioned in the work of

Dudiey-Evans and John (1998) Defining the real conleri and career content in BE

teaching are of utmost importance to BE teachers

Career content concerns all activities related to the process of

communication and learning of students including reading, listening, writing and speaking By the way of illustration, career content in speaking skills is placed on

the performance-related activities like socializing or providing for personal needs

when on a business trip The read content deals with the language used in ESP materials and teaching As being defined by Dudley-Lvans and John (1998), real

content includes linguistic and communicative skills of students’ communicative

and loaning activilics

There is a significant correlation between career content and real content for

the [onner is made the focal poimt while the Jatler 1s introduced the [ollowing carcer

content requirements It leads to the achievement of the integration of particular content with language teaching aims, so that the career content dictates the selection and sequence of language to be learned by students,

112 Speshing

Various definitions on the concept of speaking have been pointed out by a number of language researchers According lo Chaney (1998, p 13), speaking is dhe process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts Accordingly, Brown, (1994); Bums & Joyce, (1997) and Florez, (1999, p.1) consider speaking as am inleractive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and receiving and processing information Its form and meaning are dependent on the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experiences, the physical

environment, and the purposes for speaking,

Speaking plays a vital role in communication Ur (1996), Bailey and Savage

(1994: vii} claim that, “for many peuple, speaking is secn as the central skill

‘because of the desire to communicate with others, often face-to-face and in real

time” Tn Ur's opinion, speaking is intuitively considered as the most important skill

of the [our onss

According to Ilaws and Thomas (1994), in an ESL spoken-Inglish course it

is all loo easy fo make Ihe mistaken assumption that students” competence can be

developed by just any kind of speaking activities If the focus of the course is on

conversational skills, this will not ensure that leamers will develop the ability to use

language for informative purposes, which is the aspect of spoken English that

students most often have difficulty with These skills must be introduced as a

component in their own right and explicitly taught

Also, the aulhors stale that ong of Ihe related problems that (caching speaking encounters is motivation In order to encourage language learners to speak without hesitation, it is advisable for teacher lo raise a willingness and a need to talk in each leamer by providing them with familiar topivs or situations that they feel they need

or reasonable to talk about ‘Ihe resultant lack of interest and motivation can be

altributed {o the purposclessmess of the language they are being asked lo produce

While lis & Johnson (1994), Dudiey-Livans & St John (1998) divide speaking skills in BE into meetings and discussions, oral presentations, telephoning

and socializing, Brieger (1997) separates BE into presentations, meetings, telephoning and negotiations The following will focus on four common types of

speaking skills employing in BE

a Meetings and discussions

Ellis & Johnson (1994-91) and Brieger (1997:48) agree that there are

different types of meetings and discussions covering from large, formal meetings,

small, informal meetings and discussions of all kinds Each of them requires

specific kinds of language and language skills Bosicles, language Sunolions relating

to participating in meetings can be found in negotiating, setting out facts and

figures, expressing opinions, supporiing an argument, agreeing and ‹lisagreeimg,

balancing points of view, make suggestions, promising, interrupting, and adding new points (Ellis & Tohnson: ibid}

b Oral presentations

Oral presentation, or spoken monologue, can be a feature of IOP and LAP works (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998:112) including BE Presentations are great

way to have studorfs practice all Janguage system arcas (vocabulary, grammar,

discourse and phonology) and skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing) They also build confidence and presenting skills thal needed for most people in the world

of work Presentation skills can be built through different sets of activitics and

learning form, take task-based as an example According to Dudley-Evans and John (1998), confidence is a significant factor for many people mm spcaking a language

and classroom feedback should be based on maintaining and increasing confidence

Teacher can make a motivation for speaking by highlighting and building on their students’ strengths as well as discussing posilive [eatizes first Areas for improvement in students’ oral presentation skills need concrete suggestions of ways and means of achieving them

c Telephoning

Telephoning can be distinguished as a performance area even though it actually refers 10 a channel of communication and may cover a wide range of situations and types of interactions (Ellis and Johnson, 1994) in business For non native speakers, speaking on the telephone presents a variety of new and difficult

barriers {0 nalural communisation because of having no visual supports (graphics,

figwes, facial expression, etc.), yet it is an unavoidable and crucial part of the

‘business world,

d Socializing

Controversial ideas are raised accordingly whether socializing can be considered as a performance area of BE, Durlley-Rvans and John (1998) alert language Icarners of avoiding the misunderstanding of the term ‘socializing’ as they may forget to remain it in business context The socializing skill consists of three distinel types of situation and behavior: (1) the transactional situation where speakers have a particular purpose, (2) the situation where people make contact with other for business reasons, and (3) where speakers interact with no fixed purpose othor Than to pass the lime of day or to create a tore relaxed almosphere int which

they can get to know each other better (Hillis and Jobn, 1994),

1.2 ‘Task-based language teaching (IBLT)

1.2.1 Task-based language teaching (TRLT)

Task-based language teaching (TBLT), or task-based language leaming (TBL) or task-based instruction (TBD, was first developed in India by N.S Prabhu

in the 1980s and has become a keen contemporary interest in Linglish language teaching (ELT) field Willis (1996), Brown (1994), Littlewood (2004), some of TBLY proponents, presents it as a logical development of Communicative

Language Teaching (CLT) since the emphasis of TBLT is on communicative leaming and teaching of language

TBLT has been advocated by a number of language rescarchers and teachers

in the world despite the fact that its clear definitions are still in search Say

Richards & Rodgers (2™ ed 2001), TBLT is an approach based on the use of tasks

as the core unit of planning and instruction in language leaching Foster (1999)

points out that different task-based approach all share the common ground: giving leamer tasks to transact rather than items to leam This means that with TBLT, learners are provided with an crvironment thal best, promotes the natural language

leamig process During this interaction practices, students have chance to

understand each other and to express their own meaning Richards and Rodgers (2001) and Tarsen-Frecman (2000) give their own definition on Ihe term ‘task’, @ frequently used words in classroom for years In TBL', tasks are always central activities where the target language is used for a communicative purpose in order to achicve an outcome cmphasizing on exchanging meaning not producing language forms The tasks here cover a wide range of language but a concentration on one particular structure function, or vocabulary group This belief is based on the belief thal studert cart use language effectively when focusing on the task ilaelf rather than

on the language they are using Since tasks are basic unit of a TBLT framework, it

is crucial to give clear definitions of tasks

231 Definitions of tasks within Tusk-based Instruction (TBI)

According to Willis (1996), tasks are activities where the target language is

used by the leamer for a communicative purpose (goal) in order to achieve an outcome ‘That means a task can be anything from doing a puzzle to making an

airline reservation

Other definitions are provided by a number of scholars Eke Nunan (2004), Long (1985)s, Breen (1987), Skehan (1996b) Those concepts are defined on the basis of scope and perspective Nunan (2004) desoribes task as a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing, or interacting with the target language while their attention is focused on mobilizing their grammatical knowledge in order lo express meuning rather than form He emphasizes the fact that pedagogical tasks involve communicative language use as well as agrees with Willis and Wills (2001) that tasks differentiate themselves from grammatical exercises by aiming lo achieve un outcomes with a free use of range of

language structures Skehan (1998) proposed a definition of task following Candlin (1987), Nuswn (1989), Tong (1989) and others that a task is an activity in which: (1) meaning is primary, (2) there is some communication to solve, (3) there is some sort

of relationship to comparable real-world activities, (4) task completion has some

priorily, and (5) the assessment of Ihie (ask is in icrns of an outcome

‘fo sum vp, tasks can be understood as classroom activities designed for leamer to practice the information exchange and meaning negotiation using the target language to achieve an outcome

a Task types

Nunan (2004, pp.1) and Richards & Rodgers (2001) classily tasks into lwo main types: (1) target tasks or real-world tasks and (2) pedagogical tasks ‘he former, as the name implies, refer to the use of language in the world beyond the classroom, and the latter are those that occur in the classroom Generally, targct tasks tend to give more specific and explicitly related to classroom instruction while pedapopical tasks includes a series of techniques designed ultimately for students ta perform the target tasks According to Richards and Rodgers (ibid), targets tasks are designed to practice or rehearse those activities that are found to be important in a need analysis and that turn out to be important and useful in the real world, He also provides examples of pedagogical tasks such as jigsaw, information-gap, problem solving, decision-making, and opinion exchange tasks

Th nghe, lasks are categorized in different ways Pica, Kanagy and Falodun (1993) categorizes tasks based on the types of interactions in the product including, jigsaw tasks (learners combine different pieces of information to make a whole, information-gap lasks (sludenis negotiate to find out and match complementary sets

of information), problem solving tasks (students make decisions on a given problem through negotiation and discussion), and opinion-exchange tasks (students engage

in discussion and exchange of ideas, an agreement may not need to be reached)

From another viewpoint, Long (1989) suggests six types of tasks in pairs based on their functions: (1) dealing with information: One-way tasks (describing

information without pre-reading), two-way tasks (accessing final results of a problem solving activities); (2) dealing with task preparalion: planned Lasky (for dealing with interviews), unplanned tasks (face-to-face conversations), (3) convergent tasks (problem solving, through social interaction) and divergent tasks

(exchanging information lo achieve the same outcome)

b, Task components

Drawing on the conceptualizations of Candlin (1987), Wright (19874) and some others, Nunan (1989:48) atuilyzes task in terms of ils components: goals, input, procedures, teacher role, learner role, and settings The diagram of task and

- Goals are the general intentions behind any given task

- Input refers to the data that form the point of departure for the tasks

- Activities specify what leamers will actually do with the input

- Teachers and learners roles reley to the part thal learers and (eachers arc

expected to play

- Settings refer 1o the classroom arrangements

Tying oul lhe tasks

1.2.3 Task-hased Jearning in a Business English course

According to Bilis and Iohnson (1994:39), in case of applying TBLT in teaching BE, more attention should be paid to such following points

- Task simulation must be the fabric of a business course as should fit in the Jearner’s real situation as closely as possible

- Practice tasks may comprise of long or short ones, from asking learners to describe a company’s product to setting up a telephone role-play or a

simulated meeting or petting them to prepare a short presentation defending a cerlain point of view

- Within classroom cnvironment, tasks must be deoply defined so that the learners know exactly what the setting is who they are supposed to be, what

aorls of things they are supposed to comnnunicale in cerinm business

contexts, and what is expected in performance

- It is essential to set up the tasks thoroughly in order to get maximum value

from il as much time can be wasted if learners do not know what they are

supposed to be doing,

Tasks chosen depend on the needs of the learners in relation to their jobs If

the leamers are oxperienced ones, more supporting materials will be referred to the tasks as well as relied on only minimal input from the leamers

1.2.4 The framework for task-based instruction (I'BL)

Willis (1996.38) presents TBILT in three seclions: pre-task, task cyele, and

language focus

The pre-tesk stage aims at exploring the topic with the students to raise the

schematic knowledge of il, and lo provide a reason for real communication as well

as providing a model of similar task to make the language available sa noticing can

occur (Schmidl, 1990) Coucurrently, this stage covers the brainstorming and mìnd

saps activitics Skchan (1998) accordingly proposes the activities used in pro-task stage including a model to introduce, mobilise, recycle language, to ease processing

load (content, focus), and to push learners to try new form of language (Sato, 1988;

Chafe, 1994) Learners may be asked to engage in pre-task planning with which they can be guided language or content focus, or there is even no planning needed at

all (Foster and Skehan, 1996, Skehan and Foster, 1997)

Willis (ibid) calls the second stage during task as “task cycle” that includes three sub-stages: (1) fask (student perform the task and teacher monitors), (2)

Planning (students prepare to report to the whole class and teacher provides help

with the language) (3) reports (chosen/volunteer groups to present before class)

According to Skehan (1998), there is a number of options which may

imflucnes allcnitional availability: (1) time pressure: the spsed with wlich a lask

needs to be complete (time limit or no time limit) (Yuan and Ellis, 2003); (2)

support: whether ta allow students access to the input data while performing the

task (Robinson, 1995; Brown el al, 1984; Foster and Skehar, 1997); (3) surprise:

introducing some surprise clement into the task (Foster and Skchan, ibid), and (4)

control: giving learners opportunity ta choose the way they like ta do the task

(Kuramadiveln, 1993; Breen, 1997)

‘The post-task stage is called as ‘language focus’ that includes consciousness- raising activities and practice-oriented work of words, structures, and functions

yoquired for a communivative purpose and relevant to learners (Willis, 1996)

Meanwhile, Skehan (1998) suggests altering attentional balance through post-task activities such as public performance (Samuda et al, 1996), analyzing task performance (Lynch, 1998) This stage also covers the reflection and consolidation that are to encourage leamers to restructure, and to use the task and its performance

as input to help in the process of ‘noticing the gap’ and to develop language (Willis

and Willis, 1996; Johns, 1991) Bygate (1996, 1999), Lynch and Maelcan (2000,

2001) believes within the cycles of task-based activities, there may be task

repetition

13° Advaniages of TRLT

Task-based Language Teaching is an application of second language teaching

tiformed by the most recent research findings on second Language acquisition

(SLA) As such, it plays an important role in current language pedagogy (Solares,

2006) Amongst advocates of LHI,T are Ritchie (2003), Skehan (1996), Bowen

(2000), or Numan (2005) TBILT has the advantage of gelling the student to use

their skills at their current level To help develop language through its use It has the advantage of getting the focus of the student toward achieving a goal where language becomes a tool, making the usc of language a necessity Ritchie (2003), consider ‘I'BL'T a better approach over traditional ones because Jeamers are exposed

to richer language, namely the comprehensible input

Skehan (1996b) indicated that the strength of TBIT is that 1L provides learners

the opportunity to make use of lexical resources they have either from previous kmowledge or the pre-task input Then through interactions or negotiations of

meanings, students can svenlually develop greater Muency (p.22)

Bowen (2000) and Frost (2004) highlight the advantages of TBLT over the

nore Lradilional PresenL, Practice, Produce (PPP) approach as it allows students to

be fice of language control, not the pre-selected items and focus on form in general, not any the single ones In addition, Numan (2005) added that “TBL does provice a Mlexible, functionally compatible and comloxtual sensitive approach for many

teachers, as well as the learners” He also emphasizes that the attractiveness of {BL

relates not only to the enumerated benefits as “i# provides rather a useful practice thal can be applied across many approaches, ax well as boundaries TBI may provide an enduring legacy that meets the test of the time it may also provide a curricular and syllabus framework of flexibility that logically students and teachers will be drawn fo even if it need not to be the central features for certain places”

1.4 Misunderstanding about TBLT

Ellis (2009) figured out the misunderstandings about TBLT The most common misconceptions are listed as follows:

L ‘Tasks are not clearly distmguish from other terms like exercises or

acuvilics as Widdowson (2003) claims that the taske’ defining cntena are

loosely formulated

kở The sole aim of TBLT is to develop communicative fluency and there is no room for focusing on form

3 ‘TBLT only focuses on oral skills, especially speaking,

4 TBLT requires group work

5 The teacher’s role is simply to tanage students’ performance of tasks

6, ‘TBLT requires teachers and students to use Linglish all the time

7 TBLT is only suitable for ESL contexts

8 TBLT provides Jeamers with very little input

‘Those misconceptions have arisen for a number of reasons but named two in particular: misropresentalions of the (heorctical background for TBI.T and failures

to acknowledge the differences existing amongst advocates of BLY like Seedhouse (e.g, 1999; 2005), Sheen (1994, 2003), Swan (2005a, 2005b), Widdowson (2003), Carless (2005), and Litlewood (2007)

It is obvious that TBLT allows interactions to take place depending, on three

factors: the proficiency of the sludents, the design features of tasks, and the method

of implementation Thercfore, more advanced learners performing more complex tasks will engage in more linguistically rich interactions, especially if they are given the opporlmily to engage in pre-task and online planning (Yuan and Fllis, 2003)

Moreover, the rich evidence from task-based literature can firmly show that tasks

can result in highly complex language use Different kinds of tasks in different levels bring students chance 10 employ the TBA flexibly from group works (ic problem solving, socializing) or individually (input-based tasks, information gap tasks, for example, according to Prabhu) Besides, the role of the teachers do not show only in facilitating learners to understand what to do but also in the pro-task and post-task stages as correctors and providers of new language Also, the ‘BLT

do not prohibit leamers from using L1 (mother tongue) all the time as sociocultural theory views the 1.1 as a useful cognitive tool for scalTolding 1.2 learner production and facilitating private speech (see, for example, Anton and DiCamilla, 1998); and

Learners make effective use of the L1 to establish the goals for a task and the

procadluras Lo be followed in tackling it

1.5 Theoretical justification for TBLT

‘TLT has evolved in a respond to a better understanding of the way languages are learned, claimed Foster (1999), that is, language is acquired dough

communication (Howard, 1984) ‘his comment is based on the research findings in

SLA (second language acquisition) that learners do not acquire target language in the order it is presented to them no matter how carefully teachers and textbooks

organize it (Foster, 1999; Skehan, 1996) The rationale for the employment of

communicative tasks is based on contemporary theories of language learning and

acquisilion, which claim that language usc is the driving force for language development (Long, 1989; Prabhu, 1987) For example, advocates of such theories

(see Pica, Kanagy, and Falodun, 1983) suggest that, as Norris et al (1998) put it,

the best way to learn and teach a language is through social interactions [ they} allow students to work toward a clear goal, share information and opinions,

negotiale meaning, get the interlocutor’s help in comprehending mput, and receive

feedback on their language production In the process, learners not only use their

inerlanguage, but alyo modify it, which in turn promotes acquisition (p31)

According to Kasper (2001:520), for forcign language (FL)/ second language (L2) learners, the classroom may be the only available environment where they can try out whal using the [foreign language [eels like, and how more or less comfortable they are with different aspects of FL pragmatics That is why using tasks conforms

to the most prominent hypotheses interpreting I'L acquisition

The use of tasks as vchicle:

lor facililating 1.2/ FI development is supported

by Swain’s output hypothesis (1985) Swain argues that it is through the process of producing language (output) that learners may be able to test their theories about the target language, gain control over form, and perhaps internalize linguistic imowledge ‘Therefore, output produced in tasks is not the result of the language learning process, but rather a step in the process (Adams, 2003:28)

Another prominent reason for using tasks in Ihe 1.2 classroom evolved from Long’s interaction hypothesis (1996) According to his hypothesis, learners,

thronghout interaction, often negotiate meaning to achieve mutual comprehension

The effort to achieve toutual comprehension involves the use of a varicly of

strategies, such as asking an interlocutor to confirm message content, or requesting

thal an ierlaculor explain something further This sort of tateraction was assumed

to foster L2/FL development Similarly, from a communicative competence perspective, tasks were assumed to help leamers engage properly with discourse by

dong il (McCarthy & Carter, 2001b:59; Dinapoli, 2000:1 and Ellis, 2003:58) Tr

consideration of the leamer-centered approach, Candlin (1987) points out that TBL

is a means to enhancing classroom communication and acquisition Sheen (1994)

royards Task-based approaches as the mechanism to induce language acquisition.

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHOD

2.1 The context of the study

‘the study was conducted at Hanoi University of Commerce which has a reputation in the fields of commerce and economies Six years ago, the English Fapuly was established in order to moel tho demand of producing qualified graduates that have both English proficiency and economic background ‘The

students have to pass a severe entrance examination to attend a 4 — year — training

program which equips them with plenty of knowledge, skills and experience

‘Tightly following the standard of higher education quality, the university provides

different courses in eight semesters to students of English Faculty, focusing on four

yoeeptive and produclive skills (Listening, Reading, Spoaking, and Writing) namely Basic English freshmen (pre-intermediate level), Business Inglish 1 (1.1 — 1.4) for

sophomores (intermediate level), and Business English 2 (2.1 — 2.4) for juniors

(upper-intermediate level), theories of language (Phonetics, Advanced Grammar, Semantics, Pragmatics, etc.); and translation studies (for senior students, such as

Translation practices, Inlerprelalion, elc.) Studerts here have chances lo study with

one of the latest Business English course books — The Business by MacMillan —

which provides a wide range of business Linglish knowledge covered in the four skills and specialized for the first 1o the third yoar of studying at this university

‘the course book adapted in this research paper is ‘The Business Intermediate for the second year students in English Faculty

2.2 Participants

‘The participants of the study were 40 second-year students aged from 18 to 20 years old and from both urban and rural areas Their English proficiency was

taeasured with the score range of Busitiess Rasic 4 from 5.5 — 9.3 (band 10) and is

equivalent to 350 450 TOLIC er 35 4.0 ILLS As having studied basic

economics before Business English 1 these students have certain basic economics

backgroud as well as language skills Tt is therefore advantageous for them 1o participate in topies and productive activities in Business English

As being adult learners, the students are notable for a number of special

features (Harmer, 2001:40) such as (1) engagement with abstracl thoughls, (2)

whole range of life experience to draw on, (3) expectation about the learning

process and (may have) their own sels patierns of learning, (4) betler disciplinary

(5) rich range of experiences, which allows teachers to use a wide range of activities with them, and (6) having clear understanding of why they are learning and what

they want to gel out of it

‘the classes were classified upon the results of the previous semester and the new credit registration This means the participants have been familiar with the

course book The Business pre-intermediale which has sindlar layout like the current

one of a higher level, he Business intermediate

The researcher conducted the study herself at the English Faculty, Vietnam University of Commerce

2.3 Research design

231 Quasi-experimental research

Aitning at using task-based approach (TBA) im leachirys speaking skills for Ihe second-year major students at Vietnam University of Commerce, the author

suggested implementing a quasi-experimental research in this study due to the fact

that, sludents were classified upon passing the [inal examination resulls of the first year and their registration for credits required

So, what is a quasi-experimental design? Quasi-experimental design is a form

of experimental research used extensively in the social sciences and psychology A quasi-experiment is an empirical study used to estimate the causal impact of an

intervention on ils largel population These designs share many similaritics with the

traditional experimental design or randomized controlled trial, but they specifically lack the element of random assignment to treatment or control Instead, quasi- experimental designs lypically allow the researcher 1 control [he assignment to the treatment condition, but using some criterion other than random assignment (e.2.,

an eligibility cutoff mark) (Dinardo, J., 2008)

According (o Cohen ef al (2007:275), a quasi-experimental design includes

(1) the one group pretest post-test; (2) the non-equivalent control group design; and (3) the time series design The authors also state that quasi-experiments may

covers pre-experiments im which ene group prefest-postlest design is employed

This sort of experiments helps researchers to evaluate the significant of a new

teaching method or the attitude of the participants towards a change or renovation in syllabus design

2.3.2 Design

In this paper, the author used only one treatment proup with two tests applying

before and after the intervention The experiment mentioned above can be visualized as follow:

- Qn, post-treatment test (post-test)

‘The one group pre‘post-test design was used in order to compare the results of the

both two tests that come before and after the treatment On the basis of this, the

Tesearcher can evaluate the mfluence of the task-based instruction on the process of

learning Unglish speaking skills

23.3 instrumentation

According lo McMillan and Schumacher (2001), dala used im researches

should be collected through various instruments to maximize their validity

Data for the study were collected through the administration of two oral

pre‘post-ests and a seii-struckured interview

a Oral Pre‘Post-tests

Baker (1989:3) shows thal a test is a way of arriving al a meaningful decision

Thus two major tests wore constructed by the researcher to meet the aims of the current study which discovered the participants’ achievement after the intervention

Two oral tests administered prior to and after undertaking the study were

based on the textbook The Business Intermediate by John Allison with Paul

Timmerson (2007) Criteria for speaking tests assessment were adapted from Donna

(2000, p.300) including five subscales as appropriacy of language, accuracy, fluency? style, dealing with questions and cultural factors The marking scales range