TITLE:
The Effect of Task Based Language Teaching on Writing Skills of EFL Learners in Malaysia
AUTHORS:
Rai Zahoor Ahmed, Siti Jamilah Bt Bidin
KEYWORDS:
Task Based Language Teaching, Productive Skills, Second Language Acquisition English as Foreign Language, Mixed Method Research
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modern Linguistics,
Vol.6 No.3,
June
8,
2016
ABSTRACT: This quasi experimental study has validated the effectiveness of Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in promoting writing skills of EFL learners enrolled in undergraduate programs at public sector Malaysian universities. TBLT is emerging as an essential part of curricula in language pedagogies in several countries around the globe and advocated by prominent SLA researchers along with ELT practitioners. In current study research participants were divided into an experimental and a control group. The data were collected following a Mixed Method Research paradigm during pretest and posttest. A Paired Samples T-test was used to determine the statistical significance of the learners’ scores in pretest as compared to the posttest. The vast majority of the learners opined in their reflective journal that TBLT was the most interesting and a learner centered approach enabling learners to use their existing linguistic resources. The use of existing linguistic resources is a fundamental principle of TBLT as it leads the EFL learners to be fluent and confident users of English language both inside and outside the classroom in real life situations.