2.1 Tasked-based Language Teaching (TBLT)
2.1.8 Previous studies on the use of TBLT in classroom practice
With reference to the effects of TBLT, numerous studies have been carried out by lots of TBLT advocates in a variety of contexts. The findings of those researches diverged into two significant matters - TBLT’s benefits and drawbacks. The order of the following researches are shown starting with the
general views of the world to the context of Vietnam to illustrate what TBLT critics 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 learners many opportunities to utilize the language they have known without being penalized for their inevitable inaccuracies (Willis & Willis, 2007). The aim of TBLT is to develop the ability of learners to engage in significant and fluent communication (Willis & Willis, 2009).
According to Ellis (2009), TBLT is considered as an appropriate approach to emphasize listening and reading tasks for beginner learners. It enables learners to improve both comprehension skills and grammatical resources serving for speaking and writing skills. Also, a task-based approach has a positive impact on motivation (Willis, 2011). The author believes that TBLT provides learners with opportunities to deal with real-life tasks from easy to challenging. Learners have chances to do things with the language to successfully complete an assigned task, which brings them motivation.
Another study of Hadi (2012) on the learners’ perceptions of TBLT in Iranian context, including 88 EFL learners participated. A task-based questionnaire was employed to examine their perceptions. According to the findings, the majority of respondents showed a high level of understanding of TBLT concepts. Such a positive view notwithstanding, learners also revealed a few negative outlooks on the implementation of TBLT. Learners did not consider their lecturers to be sufficiently fluent in the target language. Other challenges included the inadequacy of the textbook contents and a lack of clarity about their progress while being taught in TBLT.
Furthermore, the study of Douglas & Kim (2014) was conducted in the Canadian context to investigate instructors’ perceptions in English for Academic Purposes (EAP). It revealed that TBLT was deemed suitable for EAP 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 EAP teachers were presentations, essays, and interviews. The outstanding advantages of TBLT were its practicality, effectiveness, and learner- centeredness while its main disadvantages were misaligned student expectations, lack of classroom time, and extensive instructor preparation.
Although many proponents state the strengths of TBLT in teaching English 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 also argue that TBLT lacks empirical evidence for claiming that it is superior to form-focused approaches (Bruton, 2002; Sheen, 2003; Swan, 2005). It suggests that grammar should be introduced for beginners since they need it for communication (Bruton, 2005; Sheen, 2003; Swan, 2005). Likewise, Swan (2005) agrees with Bruton (2002) that TBLT is inadequate for low-level learners. The task-cycle phase requires learners to communicate with their classmates, but weak learners often lack communicative proficiency in the target language to fulfill the assigned task.
Additionally, Sato (2010) & Swan (2005) said that the use of TBLT has difficulties in a large-size English class since learners hardly get a chance to speak if the group is large. TBLT only provides learners with limited new language 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 high school teachers (50.9%). Two different methods were used for data collection - visiting for questionnaire response (Likert-type) and emailing the written questionnaire (open-ended items). Their study revealed that although many teachers get a high level of understanding of TBLT concepts, they retain some fear of adopting TBLT as an instructional method. First, teachers are under the psychological strain of dealing with some new disciplinary issues related to classroom practice. Second, teachers lack practical application knowledge of
task-based methods or techniques. Third, teachers are hesitant to adopt TBLT because they lack confidence.
The study by Nguyen (2010) at Van Hien University (VHU) indicated some findings. First, a significant proportion of VHU English teachers understand tasks and TBLT, which contributes to the exploitation of the merits of TBLT to develop the communicative competence of students. Having said that, the effectiveness of TBLT’s implementation at VHU is still challenged by about 30% of VHU English teachers who have shown their incomplete understanding of tasks and TBLT approach. Second, whereas they have a high understanding of TBLT, the frequency of employing the TBLT approach is not high. The reason for this low rate of application is the school exams, including two 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 respondents while other types are hardly introduced in their class.
Nguyen, Le, and Barnard (2015) conducted two case studies in similar settings in Vietnam, where TBLT has just been implemented. Both studies evaluated the level of a group of Vietnamese teachers' readiness for TBLT by analyzing their beliefs and practices, using qualitative multi-methods for data gathering and grounded theory for data analysis. The findings showed that, despite having worked with task-based materials for several years, participant instructors' views and behaviors diverged significantly from TBLT concepts described in the literature. This research focused on two primary themes:
teachers’ understanding of tasks and teachers' classroom practices, which allow for a discussion of what instructors believe, know, and do in connection to TBLT implementation in their specific contexts. The outcomes revealed that the understanding of TBLT of Vietnamese teachers was somewhat restricted.
Plus, they tended to focus on forms rather than on meaning. They believed that the students needed an explicit knowledge of relevant grammatical features before they could communicate effectively.
Another study at a tertiary level by Dao (2016) recruited 55 teachers at Hanoi University. The instruction to collect data was a questionnaire adapted and 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 working with 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 TBLT implementation. The data also identify exam preparation as the biggest obstacle for Vietnamese university teachers when adopting TBLT (Dao, 2016).
In the Vietnamese context, many teachers indicate that they have a significant knowledge of TBLT and hold a positive view. However, they still have some difficulties applying TBLT to their own classes. Particularly, a study conducted by Nguyen & Nguyen (2017) at Can Tho university examines how EFL teachers, who have been using traditional teaching methods for years, react to a training program of TBLT in their authentic classrooms. The training mainly aimed at presenting basic pedagogical teaching principles of TBLT and the role of the teacher in a TBLT classroom. The participants in this study were three teachers and 180 students. Data were collected via classroom observations and semi-structured interviews and analyzed qualitatively afterwards. This study finds that the teachers have a positive attitude towards the task-based approach. They firmly believe that TBLT could promote learners’ motivation and ability of language use. Yet, the in-service teachers could not successfully transfer the theoretical knowledge of TBLT (including TBLT principles and the role of the teacher) that they had acquired during the training program to their authentic classrooms.
Tran (2019) conducted a study at HUS to investigate the effects of TBLT on the speaking skill of EFL learners and their attitudes toward this approach. The participants of the study included 59 non-English-major freshmen, 29 of whom joined the control group and the rest were in the experimental group. The findings showed that the influential rates of TBLT on English speaking and other aspects of English learning were at various extents.
More explicitly, learners’ oral interaction was improved the most whereas grammar and vocabulary got the least progress. In addition, relating to the learners’ feelings about the applied approach, they expressed their highly positive attitudes toward this approach and its role in improving their speaking skill.