THE ROLE OF TASK-BASED LEARNING IN TEACHING ENGLISH AT GRADE 7 IN

PRIVATE SCHOOLS OF LAHORE- TEACHERS AND CO-ORDINATORS PERSPECTIVE

A MULTIPLE CASE STUDY

By

Nadia Urooj

And

Tayyaba Rana
 ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine how task-based learning plays a role in teaching English

language effectively and how the basic language skills can be learned through this methodology

effectively. A mixed method multiple case study methodology was employed for the research

design, and semi-structured interviews and class observations were chosen for data collection.

Data analysis revealed that the major school chains in the city of Lahore are following the task-

based methodology and they think it quite appropriate for language learning and communicative

competence. Since listening, speaking, reading and writing are prominent parts of the English

language, the teachers need to have the knowledge and proficiency of how to improve students’

proficiency in an effective way. The students are very eager to learn and they like to be part of

different tasks but there is a need to initiate and introduce different techniques to enhance their

motivation and interest. However the teachers reported to be overburdened by the workload.

There is a need to incorporate effective methods for learning language at all levels as teachers are

convinced that task-based methodology is not appropriate for existing examination system in

Pakistan.

INDEX WORDS: TBL Task-based learning, Communicative Competence, Listening, Speaking,

Reading, Writing, Feedback, Evaluation, Methodology, and Motivation

 INTRODUCTION

Language is important to facilitate the thinking process and the major carrier of any group’s

traditional beliefs, customs, and history. the importance of language in the life of a man cannot be

denied. It is the epicenter of human affairs, from the most mundane to the most philosophical. It

is used for sharing feelings, bargaining at stores, gossip with friends and family as well as for

intense negotiations, contracts, discussing ethics and explaining religious beliefs. In fact

communication is the primary function of language and the most important as well. Saussure,

Delacroix and Laguna (20th century) are of the opinion that language is developed to fulfil the

need of communication than any other factor and this need surpassed all the aspects of language

learning. Learning means to attain new knowledge, behaviour, values, preferences or skills or to

adapt and strengthen existing ones and able to combine different sorts of information. It is often

defined as a change in behaviour (Birkenholz, 1999) that is largely established by the human

beings through various skills and knowledge that they possess and derivative from

education.World has become a global village and English is the language spoken and understood

by many. English language has been a tool for success or failure in all fields of life. Zeegers

(2005) supports this notion and argues that it is the language which facilitates all other learning

and all learning failure is language failure.

Teachers have been using tasks for hundreds of years. Frequently, in the past, the task was a

piece of translation often from a literary source. Today, tasks have included projects for producing

posters, brochures, pamphlets, oral presentations, radio plays, videos, websites and dramatic

performances. The characteristic of all these tasks is not just concentrating on one particular

structure, function or vocabulary group but these tasks make the most of a wider range of language.

Keeping in view what task actually is and how we can achieve communicative competence through
it, we need to understand what are the examples of tasks might be. The examples of tasks in task

– based language learning could be painting a fence, dressing a child, filling out a form, buying a

pair of shoes, making an airline reservation, borrowing a library book, taking a driving test, typing

a letter, weighing a patient, sorting letters, taking a hotel reservation etc. So in a typical task-based

class, Learners begin by carrying out a communication task (anyone mentioned above) using the

target language they have learnt from previous lessons or from other sources inside or outside of

the classroom. They then talk or write about how they do the task and compare the findings

independently. At some point they might listen to recordings or watch videos of other people

doing the same task, or read or search something individually or collectively related to the theme

of the task, again relating them to their own experience of doing the task. When the students

complete the task, the teacher makes them to take notice of the language used, make corrections

and improvements to the students' performance. This makes TBL popular among students &

teachers for developing target language fluency and student’s confidence. N. Prabhu from

Banglore, southern India developed Task-based learning. Prabhu strongly believed that students

may learn more efficiently when their minds are completely focused on the task, rather than the

language (as cited in Littlewood, 2004)

According to Lightbrown and Spada (1999), the teacher’s aim is to facilitate a

communicative and task-based instructional environment that lays great stress on interaction,

conversation, and language use, not learning language itself. Task-based learning can be very

effective at middle level and beyond, but many teachers are apprehensive about its futility at

lower levels. This particular methodology requires a change in the traditional role of the teacher.

Richards and Rogers (2001) assert that the teacher is the one who raises the Consciousness of the

students by using a mixture of form-focusing techniques, which include attention-focusing pre-

task activities, studying the given text, guided exposure to parallel tasks, and use of highlighted

material. In addition to it during teaching, the teacher has to lay emphasis on fluency and

outcome, not accuracy. But teacher must make sure that student’s pronunciation is at least

understandable to other students. Although students do tasks independently in a task-based

approach, the teacher still has the overall control and power to stop anything if necessary.

Teacher’s role is a “language guide” after running a task. (pp. 235-236).

The citizens of modern era need to be skilled and fluent readers in order to be successful in

their professional and academic careers (Grabe & Stoller, 2002 & Grabe, 2009). . The research

studies regarding the acquisition of English language skills at school level are important to

conduct for bringing required changes in English curricula and in redefining and revising

policies related to the teaching and learning of English language in Pakistan.

This research study categorically examined to what extent the TBL addresses the language

comprehension of Pakistani students. This particular research will elicit information about the

perceptions of language teachers at middle school, what type of communication skills they want

in a student at their level and whether they find TBL an approach that can answer the language

needs of their students and at what extent they find it practical and easy to transmit to their students.

This research will surely discover the gap between the students' language needs and their current

competency after enrolling into a task-based learning course.

Main Research Question: The role of Task-based Learning in teaching English at Grade 7 in

Private schools of Lahore – (Teachers and Co-coordinators’ perspective) A Multiple Case Study

Sub Questions:

 What is the opinion of students about their improvement in four language skills after

enrolling into a task based learning course?

  What is the opinion of teachers about the improvement of students in language skills

after a task based learning course?

 Do students feel comfortable by working in groups or pairs?

 How far close interaction with peers influence the participant’s task based performance?

Results of this study are expected to be useful for:

1. English Language teachers and curriculum developers by providing them essential

information about how task-based learning is helpful for their students in language learning

and a crucial factor to redefine the content and overall objectives of their courses and

teaching methodologies

2. Students to revise their learning strategies by having a clear vision of what they are

supposed to learn and with TBL how they can improve their language learning, thus raising

their motivation level.

3. Quality enhancement cells, established in many schools in Pakistan to enhance

theteaching and learning standards, so that different needs analysis would be carried out

and an overall improvement in learning strategies and pedagogies could be achieved.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Task-Based Learning (TBL) is based on the activities designed for learners doing authentic tasks

(Simpson, online). Learners are asked to perform a task without any guidance from the teacher.
For task completion, learners have to use the language in a similar way as language is used in the

real world outside the classroom. TBL approach does not contain pre-determined language

syllabus. Language items that learners need to complete tasks successfully emerge in the process

and can be recycled at the end of activities. The main advantage of TBL is language usage for a

meaningful communication. In this respect, TBL is closely associated with Content- Based

Instruction that combines language learning and content of subject matter. Both methodologies

allow integrating all language skills, i.e. listening, speaking, reading and writing into development

of fluency towards accuracy. Tasks can be easily related to students’ real-life language needs and

create contexts that facilitate second language acquisition Task-Based Learning (TBL) is based on

the activities designed for learners doing authentic tasks (Simpson, online). Learners are asked to

perform a task without any guidance from the teacher. For task completion, learners have to use

the language in a similar way as language is used in the real world outside the classroom. TBL

approach does not contain pre-determined language syllabus. Language items that learners need

to complete tasks successfully emerge in the process and can be recycled at the end of activities.

The main advantage of TBL is language usage for a meaningful communication. In this respect,

TBL is closely associated with Content- Based Instruction that combines language learning and

content of subject matter. Both methodologies allow integrating all language skills, i.e. listening,

speaking, reading and writing into development of fluency towards accuracy. Tasks can be easily

related to students’ real-life language needs and create contexts that facilitate second language

acquisition

Task-based approach is a dynamic and developing teaching method which advocates learning

and training, language knowledge and skills when completing tasks .Learning process is based on

a set of communicative tasks that have a direct link to the curricular goals (Brown, 1994). In the
field of education the teachers of Business Communications were the first ones who identify the

importance of task in learning. We can find chapters entitled “Enquires”, “Orders”, “Complaints”

and so on in the books written almost 50 years ago to teach ‘Letter Writing’. The same approach

was applied to general language teaching in David Wilkins’ Notional Syllabuses in1976. The

contribution of Prabhu in this regard has already been mentioned. It was one of the early

applications of a task-based learning project named Banglore Project (Beretta and Davies, 1985;

Prabhu, 1987; Beretta, 1990) and the other one is called the Malaysian Communicational Syllabus

(1975) that was within a communicative framework for language teaching. Both of these projects

were relatively short-lived. The American Government Language Institutes introduced task-based

instruction for teaching foreign languages to adults in the early 1980s (Leaver & Kaplan, 2004).

Presently, we can find significant amount of literature on task-based language teaching and

learning in second and foreign languages (Bygate, Skehan & Swain, 2001; Crookes & Gass, 1993;

Ellis, 2000, 2003; Leaver & Kaplan, 2004; Nunan, 2004; Van den Branden, 2006; Willis, 1996,

among others).

Littlewood (2004, p. 319) argues that the task-based approach has reached the status of a new

orthodoxy, he is of the opinion that “in current pedagogical discussion,….it is difficult to avoid

the term ‘task’ as it once was to avoid the term ‘communicative’. With the passage of time the

attention of researchers and language instructors is more towards task-based learning so the

biennial international conference on task-based language teaching was held in Leuven, Belgium

in 2005.The second one was held at the University of Hawaii in September, 2007 at Manoa. The

third one was at Lan Researchers. Willis and Willis (2007, pp. 12-14) later offers the following

criteria in the form of questions, if answers confidently, the activity is more close to the task.

• Will the activity engage learners' interest?

• Is there a primary focus on meaning?

• Is there a goal or an outcome?

• Is success judged in terms of outcome?

• Is completion a priority?

• Does the activity relate to real world activities?

Through this approach, tasks are considered as the central units of syllabus design (Long &

Crookes, 1992) or as the focal point of instruction (Willis, 1996) and the language use during tasks

are the driving force for language development (Long, 1989; Prabhu, 1987). Nowadays TBLT is

a very broad term, which involves not only research and teaching, but testing and curriculum

design in SLA. Crooks and Gass (1993) argue that TBLT is mainly used in two areas: “first, as an

aspect of the research methodology used in studies of second language acquisition (SLA) from the

beginning of the 1980s, and second, as a concept used in second language curriculum design from

the middle of the 1980s” (p.1). Recently Samuda and Bygate (2008) talk beyond SLA and point

out TBLT from an educational perspective. Samuda and Bygate (2008) are of the view that by

1913 Dewey was emphasizing on a focused classroom learning that could meet the challenges of

individual student interests. In more clear terms the classroom learning should be connected with

students’ personal experiences, or classroom teaching should be genuine. The implication is that

we should need to devise new ways of instruction so that the content is accessible, practical and

applicable according to the understanding level of the learners” (Samuda & Bygate, 2008, p. 20)

Although there may be several effective frameworks for creating a task-based learning lesson, here

is a rather comprehensive one suggested by Jane Willis.

1. Pre-task
2. Task

3. Planning

4. Report

5. Analysis

6. Practice

Task-based learning is often done through peer learning, a term used by Wills et al. (1999) that

broadly incorporate collaborative and cooperative learning Wills et al; (1999) mentions that the

majority of teaching staff who has attended workshops on peer learning share that their students

are more satisfied with the courses when peer learning techniques are used. Research suggests that

pupils who understand what they are being asked to learn and how they will recognize success are

more likely to make learning gains than those who don’t. This is particularly true for less able

pupils (Black& William (1998, 2003, 2004, 2009; DeMeester & Jones,2009; Meyer, Turner,

Wiggins & McTighe,2000; Spencer,1997)

Teacher-centered learning becomes learner centered. Tasks provide both the input and output

processing necessary for language acquisition and activity itself as well as the achievement is

motivational. Learning difficulty can be overcome and improvement can be achieved for a

particular pedagogical purpose. As Task-based instruction is not teacher-centered so it requires

individual and group responsibility, commitment and motivation on the part of the students. If

students are notably lacking in these qualities, task-based instruction may, indeed, be difficult to

implement (Krahne, 1987). Teachers should be provided with knowledge or skills necessary to

make informed choices about the types of tasks and their sequencing (Lee, 1987, p. 42) and

students should be encouraged and trained to make their own informed contributions to syllabus
design. The difficulty of a task depends on many factors including the previous experience of the

learner, the complexity of the task, the language required to undertake the task, and the degree of

support available. (Richards and Rodgers, 2001) Errors are not essentially the result of bad

learning, but are the part of the natural process of inter language forms that steadily moving

towards target forms (Ellis, 1994). The material used for TBA can be best divided, as Nunan

suggests (1989), into pedagogical material and realia. These materials have a crucial importance

in task-based learning such tasks provide the basis of classroom activities and a sufficient supply

of appropriate classroom tasks for the teacher (Richards & Rodgers, 2007, p. 236). There are

familiar classroom activities for teachers in the material which employ collaborative learning,

communicative language teaching, or small- group activities (Richards & Rodgers, 2007, p. 236).

realia, are authentic materials. (Richards & Rodgers, 2007, p. 237).

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is supposed to develop students’ communicative

competence, a basis of CLT. So the merger of “TBLT is a recent extension of traditional CLT”

(Richards and Rodgers, 2001, p. 224). Feez and Joyce (1998) argue that successful

implementation of the text-based approach should have five phases in which the teacher and

students work together to understand text-types: Phase 1: Context building, i.e., students construct

their knowledge of the topic they are going to explore through the use of language. Phase 2:

Deconstruct the text, i.e., students examine samples of texts (spoken or written) in the content area

and the text type, and try to understand the purpose, organization, and language features (e.g.,

tenses, nouns, verbs, connectors, specific vocabulary). Phase 3: Combined construction of the text

i.e. students cooperate with the teacher and/or partners to create texts in the same text type and

content area. Phase 4: Self-sufficient construction of the text, i.e., students work alone to create
their own texts with feedback from peers and teachers. Phase 5: Linking to related texts. The idea

discussed above is that both teachers and students work together to complete the task.

Vocabulary enhancement is another important feature of overall learning and it has a special

focus in TBL. The main question in the acquisition of L2 is always that how can this vocabulary

learning be done meaningfully? In TBL for instance, one way is that students can create concept

maps that show new vocabulary and concepts in their natural networked state. Secondly, games

can engage students and help them understand new terms. The games not only derive meaning

just from the vocabulary but also from the effort to support one’s group mates. As the brain

understands in multiple ways, especially for academic purposes, words are essential for making

meaning, whether in language class or elsewhere. Another way of learning vocabulary can be

meaningful is via writing. Students should be able to understand meaning and to create meaning

that others can understand. The fact needs to emphasize here more vigorously that understanding

involves more than just knowing something or even being able to do something, it should be a bit

like the insightful reply. This is the one particular area where the concept of writing to learn can

be valuable. Task-based learning is considered widely applicable as it is suitable for learners of

all ages and backgrounds and different socio-cultural environment. Free from any language

constraints make it closer to real-life communicative situation, which is a way of bringing the real

world into classroom (Krahne, 1987). Tasks not only provide a natural opportunity for revision

and recycling but also give teachers the opportunity to assess learners’ progress. A language

learning process having clear objectives to gain from the tasks, and the tasks in a way contribute

to language progress by encouraging students to plan and be more ambitious in the language they

use, rather than just saying the first thing that comes into their minds. So the learners have to

invest personally in a supportive, non-threatening environment (Funda, 2005). Task-based activity

(TBA) does not mean doing a grammar lesson but it means employing a variety of form–focusing

techniques, including attention-focusing pre-task and activities, text exploration, guided exposure

to parallel tasks, and use of highlighted material (Richards Rodgers, 2007, p. 236). Unlike

traditional methods of learning, these focus on form activities are designed to draw the attention

of learners to specific language items are overall referred to as consciousness-raising tasks or

discovery learning activities and are a feature of inductive grammar teaching (Thornbury, 2000,

pp. 24, 29).

Student de-motivation is a major problem in educational settings worldwide. In this context

there is a need to find ways to raise teachers’ awareness of their motivating practices and to train

them in using skills that can help them to motivate learners. Teachers generally are of the view

that students’ passive learning could be an indication of low achievement, low competence and

low confidence in English learning and assume that students have poor motivation and low

competence and another aspect is as it is already discussed that learners’ motivations are dynamic

and are affected by many motivational factors. In addition to it learners’ motivation can be

affected by the quality of the learning experience. If the whole process of English learning is

productive and enjoyable, learners are more likely to actively participate in learning for its own

sake so as to experience pleasure and to satisfy their curiosity. In other words, their motivation

for English learning is intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation is the real impetus to initiate

second or foreign language (L2) learning and later on the driving force to sustain the long and

often tiresome learning process. The absence or lack of motivation sometimes results in the

failure of the most remarkable and gifted individuals who are unable to accomplish long term

goals There are some key features that are provided by teachers and are most likely to promote

classroom learning. These features include input, roles of learners in performing a task, such as
information-giver and information-receiver, settings (inside or outside of class) , actions means

procedures to follow in performing the task, monitoring- the supervisory process of ensuring that

the task performance remains on track, outcomes, feedback , evaluation of the whole or parts of

a task performance by the teacher or other learners, including corrective feedback on language

use as well as other helpful feedback (Candlin, 1987).

Deci and Ryan (1985) presented two categories of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

Intrinsic motivation concerned with the internal incentive to do things for one’s fulfilment (Deci

& Ryan, 1985; Lepper & Malone, 1987). Lepper and Malone (1987) are of the view that there

are seven factors that promote intrinsic motivation: four are individual (challenge, curiosity,

control, and fantasy) and three are interpersonal (competition, cooperation, and recognition).

Individual factors are associated with students’ efforts. Interpersonal factors play a role only

when students interact with others. Therefore, intrinsic motivation allows students to experience

a sense of self determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985) and responsibility for their learning. Intrinsic

motivation is very close to task based learning and the teacher’s use of motivational strategies is

generally believed to enhance student motivation.

Task based learning (TBL) is an approach that can accelerate students’ English learning

experience and motivations as it is based on different tasks, can be detrimental for student

motivation. As it is the learners who view information through their own interpretations and

construct new information with various perspectives and that are hugely driven by their personal

constructions. In this way many preconceived ideas about English learning may be there when

they come to an EFL class. Some beliefs may be related to their cultural background. Some are

likely to be influenced by their previous learning experience. Many researchers (Abraham and

Vann, 1987; Horwitz, 1985, 1987, 1988; Wenden, 1986a, 1987) are of the opinion that learners’
beliefs can influence their motivation to learn, their prospect about language learning, their

notions about what is easy or difficult about a language, and their selection of using learning

strategies, which relate to their performance in tasks. Riley (1996) claims that learners’ beliefs

about language learning influence a learner’s attitude, motivation and behaviour directly (Riley,

1996, p. 155). In other words, learners’ beliefs are a crucial factor in determining learning success

or failure. So in this way, it is necessary for teachers to be aware of students’ beliefs about English

language learning\ the achievement of students is always a grave concern of the educators and

considered a prime objective and the expected learning outcomes by the end of the year are

assessed using a multiple range of methods including portfolios prepared by the students during

the year and an end-of-year assessment comprising a written assessment. Teaching and learning

are a shared process and assessment deals with how well students are learning and teachers are

teaching. Assessment results have great implications for teaching and instruction. Whatever the

research analysis to date of the process of teaching reveals that the primary aim of assessment is

to promote learning of suggested syllabus and assessment results are used to decide whether the

objectives are achieved or not. However, what to assess? How to assess? Are the big questions

that need answers and the inability to their satisfying and desirable response is the major drawback

due to which ESL teachers are unable to get the desired results? The assessment tools are not of

quality rather quite poor in terms of following principles of assessment, even the assessment

preparation process is not followed by the mentioned steps of assessment development. In

addition to it, most of the teachers have concerns about their students’ inability to cope and be

successful in the real world. When we study task-based learning assessment we find out that

Task-based language assessment (TBLA) starts when there is a need that proficiency only in

grammar and lexicon of a language is not enough for using a language to achieve ends in social
situations. Language use is required in a more realistic and complex settings rather than to assess

isolated skills. It is due to TBLA that some pertinent questions are raised as how to design

complex tasks, evaluate students’ performances, and draw valid conclusions there from.

Following are some relevant questions that deal with the current notions of task-based language

performance assessment:

-What is measured by a given performance task?

-How do the tasks should be measured?

-What is measured by a collection of tasks?

-What are the features of tasks that generally determine their difficulty?

-What are some of the features of TBLAs that determine their reliability?

-What are the factors that affect the validity of TBLA?

-What are the factors that affect TBLAs generalizability?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This multiple case study research design is descriptive and holistic in nature, combining both

Qualitative and Quantitative research techniques. Multiple case study is a modification that
includes two or more observations of the same phenomenon. This modification provides

“replication” that is used to independently confirm emerging “constructs” and propositions. It is

also used for revealing complementary aspects of the phenomenon. The result is more vigorous,

dynamic and generalizable. As Case study is the basic research strategy to be employed in this

proposed study, so qualitative methods pre-dominate the nested, quantitative approach. In mixed

methods research, the methods are forced to share the same research questions, to collect the data

that complement each other, and to conduct counterpart analyses (e.g., Yin, 2006b). In short it is

considered more appropriate to follow a mixed methods design. In our opinion, mixed methods

research can permit the researchers to address more complicated research questions and collect

richer, stronger and better evidence than can be attained by any single method. It all depends upon

the nature of research questions and the ability of investigator to use different methods. Mixed

methods research opens a class of research designs that deserve consideration. It is in fact points

to the fact that certain kinds of case studies already represent a kind of mixed methods research.

The embedded case studies not only depends on more holistic data collection strategies for

studying the main case but also include surveys or other more quantitative techniques to collect

data about the embedded unit(s) of analysis. In this research the same technique has been used as

survey is used to get the holistic view of the situation under discussion. Richards Richards, 2001)

it is recommended to involve all stakeholders in the process of learning effectively and efficiently,

so all of these stake holders will comprise target population for this study. These stakeholders

include:

1. Language Teachers

2. Academic coordinators
Interviews of academic coordinators of each school are also done. Class room observations of all

three classes have also been carried out to have the clear and intimate picture of the whole situation

and for better understanding.

For collecting both qualitative and quantitative data, more than one sampling techniques were

used. For the sake of conducting interviews with the teachers and academic coordinators,

purposive sampling had been considered.

To make a decision about research tools to use in the study is a task that demands consideration of various

situations and factors involved in study for example, population of study, characteristics of sample, type

and form of data researcher wants to gather, design of research study, time frame available and resources

available for research. Considering all these factors following research tools have been selected to be used

in this proposed investigation. Tools are listed below:

Questionnaires are designed to elicit information from teachers about students’ learning needs and

preferences. The questionnaire from the teachers was designed to elicit information about their teaching

practices, students’ response and hurdles and outcomes that they achieve through task-based learning.

Questionnaire is the most appropriate tool to work with teachers, as it provide detailed information in less

time.

Class room observations have been used to identify learning process and target language needs of

students and teachers. They are also used to complement the information gathered from teachers

about the methodologies and activities they used to employ during their teaching. . They attempt

to discover the impact of interventions made in the classroom. Through classroom observations

the students’ knowledge, skill and attitudes can be observed more closely and intimately.

Observation is considered probably the most effective way to see what people do and to hear what

they say and feel. In this way researchers are in a position to gain more accurate information by
watching students than by asking them. For effective observations it is important that observations

are as objective as possible and observers should be aware of their own interests and biases so that

the information acquired is valid and reliable and not selected to prove a point. Whereas the note-

taking qualitative data has been carefully reported. Themes have been derived from the qualitative

data and analyze them in the light of research questions. Analyses of the findings are based on the

quantified resultant data which helps the researcher to draw conclusions and suggest

recommendations. Detailed narrative of informal interviews and classroom observations is also

presented to have the full understanding of discussion, issues and outcomes.

Data presentation from teachers’ questionnaire

A survey questionnaire was designed to find out the views of English teachers of grade 7 about

the effectiveness and practicability of task-based learning. Some of the questions were designed

to find out that how task-based learning helps teachers in the process of learning and what are the

possible difficulties in this regard. It gives a detailed analysis and insight of what they think about

different aspects of task-based learning, its benefits and limitations. It comprised 35questions and

the subjects filled it to the fullest and nobody left any question.

Number of Schools: 3

Selected Level: Grade 7

Total number of teachers: 3

Total number of questions: 35

Data presentation from teachers’ questionnaire

 A survey questionnaire was designed to find out the views of English teachers of grade 8 about

the effectiveness and practicability of task-based learning. Some of the questions were designed

to find out that how task-based learning helps teachers in the process of learning and what are the

possible difficulties in this regard. It gives a detailed analysis and insight of what they think about

different aspects of task-based learning, its benefits and limitations. It comprises 35questions and

the subjects filled it to the fullest and nobody left any question.

Number of Schools: 3

Selected Level: Grade 8

Total number of teachers: 3

Total number of questions: 35

1 TBLT requires high proficiency of the teachers

2.5
2
2

1.5
1
1

0.5
,0 ,0 ,0
0
strongly agree neutral disagree strongly
agree disagree

Figure 1 showing teachers’ response regarding proficiency required by TBLT

 Two teachers strongly agree with this statement whereas the third one also agrees as they think

that only those who have got training and learn the skill, can do it. But for the question that teachers

lack training and full understanding of TBL approach, each teacher showed a different approach.

One strongly agrees the statement, other agrees and one has shown strong disagreement. Whereas

majority of them agree with the statement that teachers have less resources and time for material

preparation. It shows that although teachers are convinced that teachers require high proficiency

but their opinion is divided whether they lack training and full understanding of TBL approach. It

is also quite evident from their responses that they have less resources and time for material

preparation and they voice this issue during their interviews as well. Whereas when we see the

results of statement 25 that asks whether TBLT requires much preparation time compared to other

approaches, it consolidates teachers’ opinion that they need more time for preparation as two

teachers agree with the statement. The results of statement 24 are very interesting in this regard

as majority of teachers think that TBLT gives much sychological burden to teacher as a facilitator.

The graph below shows that two out of three teachers feel a great psychological burden as a

facilitator while conducting TBL. But here we can see a teacher who strongly disagrees with the

opinion of other two.

 1.2
1 1 1
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
0 0
0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 2 showing how teachers see TBLT a great psychological burden for the facilitator

2 TBL is learner - centred approach

TBL approach claims itself a learner-centred approach. Teachers’ and students’ replies to the

questionnaire and interviews with the coordinators prove this claim. The figure below presents

the view that the teachers agree that TBL is a learner–centred approach as two of them have shown

strong agreement while the third one also agrees. Statement 13 also shows teachers’ agreement

and further clarifies the point regarding student-centred approach as it is asked that classroom tasks

should be based on students' needs. The results of statement 14 show that teachers want their

students to experiment with the language both spoken and written. As it is a basic requirement of

student–centred approach that students feel themselves free to experiment with the language and

learn it through communicative competence.

 2.5
2
2

1.5
1
1

0.5
0 0 0
0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 3 showing teachers’ consensus on TBL as learner- centred approach

5 TBL does not teach grammar.

In this graph one teacher has the extremely different view from the other two and she thinks

TBL does not teach grammar whereas the other two do not agree with her point of view. This is a

very important question if we talk about TBL as there is much criticism about the approach as it

is assumed that through TBL grammar is not taught. Here the results show that the educators who

are participating in this research also agree with this notion. But the results of statement 20 show

that majority of teachers usually use tasks and assignments that draw learner's attention to specific

grammatical features. This investigation shows that there is a very clear trend among the teachers

to use different tasks and assignments for the improvement of grammar. One teacher decides to

stay neutral but nobody disagrees.

 2.5
2
2

1.5
1
1

0.5
0 0 0
0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 4 showing difference on opinion on grammar teaching

6 TBL teaches and focuses on the culture of target language

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 5 showing teachers’ opinion about teaching the culture of target language through TBL

In this bar-chart, again we have a different view of a teacher who thinks that TBL does not

focus and teaches the culture of target language whereas other two disagree from her point of view
and they are of the opinion that TBL does. This point further clears that while giving the response

of statement 12, the majority of teachers disagree the statement and say that they are not in favour

of that students are allowed to use both L1 and L2 in class activities for better understanding and

better performance. The response of teachers to Statement 17 shows that they all are unanimous

in their approach as they say that their instructional and assessment material is in target language.

It shows clearly that they think that TBL teaches the culture of target language as they use the

material in target language and most of them are not in favour of using L1 for language learning.

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 6 showing teachers’ opinion on the use of L1 & L2

This bar-chart shows that most of the teachers are not in favour of using both L1 and L2 for

better understanding and performance but one out of them agrees and thinks it an option.

Statement 33 also enhances the point as teachers agree that TBLT provides a relaxed atmosphere

to promote the target language use.

7 Students show resistance in active participation in TBL activities.

 1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 7 showing teachers’ viewpoint about students’ resistance

Here again, we can notice three different viewpoints. All seem to be the result of different

experiences at individual level. It is a very interesting response as the study shows that TBL is an

approach that is liked by teachers and students both for the enhancement of language learning but

later interviews also highlight this point and teachers share their experience regarding their

reluctance towards different tasks.

8 TBL is unsuitable for existing examination system in Pakistan.

 3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 8 showing complete unanimity on unsuitability of TBL with existing examination system

All three teachers are unanimous in their opinion that TBL is unsuitable for existing

examination system in Pakistan that is very surprising indeed. This is surprising as according to

the research TBL is very effectively being done in these private schools but it is unable to produce

results in existing examination system in Pakistan. It is quite understandable as while responding

to this statement, one teacher also writes particularly for matriculation. Although not required but

her note in the filled questionnaire clears the point. In Pakistan students opt for either O Levels or

Matric exams, Matric examination system does not follow task-based approach as students need

to learn certain questions. Due to this, private school students mostly do well in O Levels and

government school students’ bag positions in Matriculation.

9 Large class size is a hurdle for effective TBL

The investigation shows that two teachers strongly agree and agree whereas the third one

strongly disagrees with the statement and unlike the other two she thinks that large class size is not
at all a hurdle for effective TBL. The results of statement 23 show that all the teachers agree that

they often use small group tasks to reduce learner anxiety. But the results of statement 28 that

TBLT is appropriate for small group work show that everyone has a different opinion. One

strongly agrees, other one is neutral and the third one disagrees.

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 9 showing teachers’ opinion on large class size

10 When students work in pairs or groups, they learn from each other's mistakes

Here we can see a complete consensus as all the teachers believe that when students work in

pairs or groups, they learn from each other’s mistakes.

 2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 10 showing agreement on students’ learning from each other’s’ mistakes

Statement 19 further confirms this viewpoint as it shows teachers’ complete agreement that

TBL helps learners to acquire competency necessary to deal with many situations and to work in

team. There is a broad consensus among all the three teachers that TBL helps learners to acquire

competency and to do work in a group.

3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 11 showing teachers’ agreement to deal situations and team work through TBL
 The results of statement 31 that TBLT creates a collaborative learning environment further

confirm this point as we have a complete agreement among all the three educators.

11 Motivation plays an active role in second language acquisition

Here again all the three educators are in full agreement as without motivation they think that

L2 learning would be a difficult task to do and motivation makes it easy. The results of statement

30 that TBLT encourages learners' motivation also confirms as we can see that all the teachers

strongly agree or agree the statement.

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 12 showing teachers’ response on motivation

15 In TBL teacher input is of no importance

Here we can witness the teacher’s disagreement as they think that teacher’s role is important.

One teacher decides to stay neutral. This is an important question regarding TBL as it is strongly

believed that teachers have a minimal role but their responses to different statements show that it’s

the teachers who are a driving force and facilitate students in their learning.
 1.2
1 1 1
1

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2
0 0
0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 13 showing teachers’ response about their input in TBL

16 English classes should be full of activities such as role-plays, games, tasks, pair/group

work

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 14 showing majority of teachers are for activities in English classes

 In this graph, two out of three teachers either strongly agree or agree with the statement.

Although here we can see one teacher who remains neutral but no one disagrees the statements

that shows that English teachers want their classes full of activities.

18 I assess all aspects of my students’ language (listening, speaking, reading, writing)

through different task outcomes.

This graph shows that none of the teachers disagree with this statement. All are either strongly

agree or agree. In fact majority of them strongly agree that they assess all aspects of their students’

language through different task outcomes. The results of statement 21 suggest that at least some

part of student's grade should be based on the completion of assigned tasks. So the teachers have

the strong opinion that students’ grades should also comprise on how they have completed the

assigned tasks so that what the students’ are doing in the class should be well rewarded.

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 15 showing teachers’ response about assessment

22 I use indirect cues and hints to signal errors to the learners (asking them that they are

sure about their response, facial expressions & body language).

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 16 showing response about informal feedback of teachers

The response shows that all the three teachers facilitate their students and also give them an

informal feedback in the form of gestures. It confirms the point that in TBL teachers play the role

of a facilitator and constant feedback is the highlight of TBL approach.

26 TBLT is proper for controlling classroom arrangements.

For this statement, we get a divided opinion as presented in the bar chart below. One teacher

agrees, other remains neutral whereas the third one shows her disagreement.
 1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 17 showing teachers’ response regarding TBLT for controlling classroom arrangements

27 TBLT materials in textbooks are meaningful and purposeful based on the real-world

context

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 18 showing teachers’ opinion about meaningful and purposeful TBLT materials in

textbooks
 These findings show that all the teachers are very much satisfied with the materials they have

in their textbooks and they feel them meaningful and purposeful.

29 TBLT improves learners' interaction skills

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 19 showing how teachers rate TBLT for interaction skills

In this bar-chart, we can see the broad agreement among the teachers as they think that TBLT

improves learners’ interaction skills. Statement 32 also shows the same result as teachers are

convinced that TBLT promotes learners’ academic progress. As this is the opinion of those

individuals who are directly related to students’ academics, so it carries weight. The results of

Statement 34 show teachers’ agreement that TBLT activates learners' needs and interests. In the

chart below, we can see that two teachers agree the statement that through TBLT learners’ needs

and interests are activated but we can also see that one teacher decides to stay neutral in this respect.
 2.5

1.5

0.5

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree

Figure 20 showing teachers’ opinion on TBLT’s role for learners’ needs and interests

35 TBL is the best approach for L2 learners

While replying to this categorical statement, we can see three different strands as one teacher

strongly agrees, other agrees and one decides to stay neutral. But the broad consensus is that

majority of them agrees the statement.

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
strongly agree agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree
Figure 21 showing broad consensus among teachers about TBL as an approach

Class Observations

As it is already mentioned that different tools are adapted to research different aspects of task-

based learning and how it is being conducted in different schools of the city of Lahore. Class

observation is one of them and described in detail in the research methodology chapter of this

dissertation. For this particular research, three schools were chosen and one class from each school

was observed. Unlike the questionnaire, it was really hard to observe the classes. Earlier it was

administration of all the three schools that was very reluctant to give permission of the observations

later there were different functions and assessments schedules that made it really hard for me to

carry out the observations. Anyways after frequent visits and due to the cooperation of the

concerned teachers, we managed to do the observations successfully.

Instructor: ABC

Observer: Researcher

Grade: 7

Subject: English language & literature

Time: 35 min each class

Number of classes observed: 1 (each school)

Number of students School X: 13 (co-ed)

Number of students School Y: 20 (boys)

Number of students School Z: 26 (girls)

1Class Observation school X (co-ed)

For the class observation at school X, the school administration asked us to meet the instructor

before the commencement of the class. The meeting was very fruitful as the teacher had a lot to

share with us about the particular lesson and what teaching style and pedagogy she was going to

use in the class. As this was a co-ed class, the teacher also shared some discipline and class control

issues faced by her. The number of this class was also less due to discipline problems. It was

proved right as when weentered the class, the students were not very disciplined and well behaved.

There was a lot of noise in the class and the students even did not bother who entered the class.

Although after coming to the rostrum, the teacher managed to keep them quiet and the lesson

started. The topic of the lesson was “Report writing based on survey”. The teacher very aptly

connected the lesson what they had done earlier and it was a sort of recap of the task that they were

doing already. The students were through with the survey. Now they had to write a report based

on the survey. As the students were very well briefed about the task so they were very confident

about what they were going to do. Due to this, there was an element of excitement amongst them

and they were also very excited about the findings of the survey. The teaching strategies were

matched to the learner and lesson objectives, although the pupils already knew and understood

what they were trying to achieve but sometimes we felt that they were not interested in the given

task. The students had ample time and opportunity to think about their task and make appropriate

decisions as the lesson was of block periods. Learners were not involved in problem-solving or

creative tasks at large. The role of the facilitator was quite active as she continuously intervened,

monitored and assessed the students herself as well as peer and self-assessment was also quite
evident. There was not a great deal of interaction amongst the different groups of pupils although

the teacher allowed the participants to dominate the conversation. Most of the groups were

depending hugely on one or two members and everyone was not involved. In the end it was

observed that they had completed the task but I felt that at times they were less committed and

indifferent to the different tasks and showed complete disinterest of what they were doing.

2 Class Observation school Y (boys section)

When we entered the class following the teacher in school Y, it seemed very lively as students

were geared up for learning and they very enthusiastically greeted us both. It is observed that the

class was very upbeat and enthusiastic when it started and the atmosphere remained till the end of

the class as majority of these students agree (Q.27 of questionnaire) that their English classes are

enjoyable and fun. The teacher was also prepared for imparting knowledge as she started the class

with a pre-task related to poetry. The topic of the lesson was “I know why the caged bird sings”

by Maya Angelou. The class was very enthusiastic and agile for the poetry lesson and it was quite

evident that the students had a great flair for poetry. The teacher put up the recital strategies and

employed the silent, individual modeled reading techniques. By the end of the lesson, it was quite

evident that the students had made progress for the understanding of the poetic devices. It seemed

that the tone of the poem, intonation and the theme of the poem became clearer to them. As it was

mentioned earlier that the class was very enthusiastic and upbeat but throughout the lesson the

students remained well behaved and engaged with their work. The subject knowledge and prior

knowledge about the topic also influenced the confidence and motivation of the students as the

students related the feelings of the caged bird with the black lady and the plight of the black people

that they had undergone in US during their struggle for emancipation. The teacher did not activate

much of the students’ prior knowledge about the theme or topic although she made a grid on the
board that arouse the students’ emotions about emancipation and freedom. The tasks were quite

challenging for the students as the teacher started from the easier to the complex as students had

to identify the poetic devices, reading and recital strategies and critical appreciation to identify the

rhyming pattern, genre, tone and mood of the poem. As it was mentioned many times before that

the class was very excited and fun-filled, this excitement was quite evident and worth appreciating

when the students were identifying the poetic devices and comparing reading and recital strategies.

It was observed that teaching strategies were matched to the learner and lesson objectives as pupils

knew and understood what they were trying to achieve and they had the opportunity to think about

and make appropriate decisions about the given task. It also proved that the tasks given to the

students were student- centred and they had full control of doing them according to their ideas by

using the target language. Another thing to be worth noting was that students had the stamina and

strength to keep going and there were no signs of boredom or annoyance among the students. The

teacher played the role of the facilitator and wherever required, she intervened and monitored the

progress of the students. Another important feature of the class was on-going assessment. It was

noted that transition from one task to the next was very smooth and classroom environment never

disturbed at any point. The teacher allowed the participants to dominate the conversation and the

contribution was mostly from students’ side and students most of the time was involved in

problem-solving or creative tasks.

3 Class Observation school Z (girls)

When we entered the classroom, we found everyone very well behaved and organized although

the number of this class was the highest that we observed so far. The students were all geared up

for the class work. The topic of the lesson was “story writing based on an idiom”. The topic to be

studied was already known to the students and it seemed that they had done some work or research
on the topic. The teacher was busy in activating students’ prior knowledge about the theme of the

lesson through a question answer session. Although the students were very enthusiastic about

writing a story but the new concept that they had to write a story based on an idiom was quite

challenging for them. Teaching strategies such as giving them limited word bank and examples

from daily life matched to the learner and lesson objectives as pupils knew and understood what

they were trying to achieve. The class was mainly student- centred and the teacher gave the

students ample time and opportunity to think about and make appropriate decisions. Teacher and

peer assessment was quite evident as teacher was continuously monitoring the progress of the

students and before submitting the work, peer checking and counter checking by group leader was

done. Transition from one task to the other connected the content with the idea but at times it was

observed that some students were quite unable to connect it properly as one group turned out with

not a very good idea and there was a long discussion on their idea that was not very much related.

One reason what I could observe was that the class had very large groups and it was difficult to

hold the idea in such large groups.

4 Semi-structured interview with students

Interview is another tool to inquire after the different aspects of the research question. Semi-

structured interviews were designed and conducted to have face to face interaction with the

students. Two students from each class were selected on the basis of their grades and class

participation. One student was the high achiever while the other one had shown satisfactory

results. All of the six students were very confident during the interview and they tried their best

to respond in the best possible manner.

1 Do you think class presentations develop basic skills? (Improves confidence) Do you feel

that you can speak confidently & accurately during class presentations?

Student 1 replied that she positively thinks that class presentations develop basic skills. She was

not very sure that these presentations could develop or improve confidence but she did not reject

the idea that these presentations are an instrument in the development of confidence. She had the

strong feeling that she can speak confidently and accurately during class presentations.

Student 2 was also for the class presentations. He strongly believed that class presentations

develop basic skills and improve confidence. He said that he can speak confidently and accurately

during class but sometimes he feels nervous and reason for his nervousness he cited that he

considers himself a bit shy and sometimes less preparation and non-availability of data or resources

lead to nervousness.

Student 3 class presentations develop basic skills, improves confidence and she felt that at times

she feels less confident and accurate during presentations.

Student 4 was of the opinion that class presentations are good for developing basic skills and

improving confidence and he shared that he can speak confidently during class presentations.

Student 5 like other students, he was also for class presentations and considered them good for

skill development and improving confidence level but he was of the opinion that only at times he

can speak confidently and accurately during class presentations.

Student 6 was for classroom presentations quite vigorously but she confided that is unable to

speak confidently and accurately during the presentations and get confused. She was of the opinion

that class presentations bring more clarity to concepts and help us to formulate opinions. Although
she herself does not contribute much but she felt that she got a lot of ideas from presentations and

they are good for learning.

2 How much reading/writing you are doing in your class right now? Do you notice any

growth in your reading /writing abilities yet? What are your teacher’s comments on your

work? What are your teacher’s expectations for reading/writing? Are you able to meet these

expectations without problem?

Student 1 talked about different proportions of skills during her class. She divided it into different

proportions as according to her , 70% class time goes in reading and reading related activities and

tasks, 20% goes to the discussion about the topic and 10% to writing related tasks. She feels

growth in her reading and writing abilities and according to her it is all due to the teaching strategy

used in her class and unto her, her teacher also thinks that she is improving but she needs a lot of

practice in grammar. While talking about her teacher’s expectation about her language

improvement, she shared that her teacher does not want that she should be well-versed with each

and every thing or she wants her to be perfect all the time but she wants that she should be

consistent in her learning process. And she was quite sure that she is capable to meet these

expectations.

Student 2 said that in his class, more emphasis is on writing tasks. He divided the percentage of

these tasks into 80% writing, 10% reading & 10 % listening and speaking. He was of the feeling

that he has noted a lot of improvement in his writing but his teacher says that he can do even better.

In this way, she tries to encourage him more in his efforts. He was very confident about meeting

the expectations of his teacher without any problem and it seemed from his brimming confidence

and enthusiasm.
Student 3 said that they are doing a lot of reading in their class and the time given to writing is

appropriate according to her. She was of the opinion that that her writing and reading abilities

improve a lot. She was quite sure that her teacher is not happy with her handwriting and expects

a lot from her and sometimes she (student) is able to meet these expectations and sometime not.

Student 4 said that they read novels besides text books and they (novels) really improve and

enhance their reading skills. He said that his teacher expects more improvement in his reading and

writing skills and right now he has some problems regarding this but wants to present his work in

a better form.

Student 5 considered the distribution of work regarding different skills is appropriate but his

teacher is a bit tough with him regarding mistakes. May be it is due to her higher expectations and

he believed that he is unable of meet her expectations.

Student 6 said that most of their lesson time consumes in reading and writing and she thought that

due to this extensive practice, now she has better pronunciation and learned many new words. Her

teacher is very appreciative of her work but she has higher expectations and the student was of the

opinion that she is always capable to meet her expectations.

3 Do you speak up in class? Are you comfortable during interaction with your teachers &

peers?

Student 1 confirmed that she is among those students who usually speak up in class and she is

very much comfortable during her interaction with her teachers and peers.

Student 2 was very positive about his participation in class activities and tasks and he confided

that he is the active part of most of the activities. He said that he is very comfortable during his
interaction with his teachers and peers and this is of course an outcome of the teaching

methodology and the pedagogy used in class.

Student 3 said that she is comfortable during her interaction with teachers and peers but she can

only speak up in a familiar group means she wants the same group for work during the lesson.

Student 4 usually speaks up in class and quite easily shares his opinion. He said that he is

comfortable during his interaction with his teachers and peers most of the time but sometimes if

he does not know the right answer, he feels hesitant.

Student 5 is comfortable during class discussion and conversation with his teachers and peers. As

it is noticed earlier that he is for class presentations so when asked about their impact, he termed

them informative.

Student 6 said that she has good communication skills and very comfortable wither teachers and

peers during conversation.

4 What do you think about class presentations? Why it is good/bad?

Student 1 spoke highly about class presentations and she is always for the presentations. She was

of the opinion that presentations help us to share ideas and thoughts but she felt that sometimes

she is disheartened if does not get proper feedback or things go wrong during presentations.

Student 2 was also for the class presentations. He strongly believed that class presentations

develop basic skills and improve confidence. He spoke highly for class presentations, nothing bad

about them, he claimed. He considered the presentations as a bonus for language learning and

achieving high grades as in his school, presentations are marked and included in final assessments.
Student 3 termed her class presentations as average ones as she was of the opinion that only good

students lead the presentations as they are more vocal and confident.

Student 4 was all for class presentations and speaks highly about them as according to him class

presentations not only improves and enhances knowledge but also the speaking skills and a

confidence booster.

Student 5 As it is noticed earlier that he was for class presentations so when asked about their

impact, he termed them informative.

Student 6 considered class presentations as a good way to learn language skills. She was of the

opinion that due to presentations, there is more clarity of the concepts. She also said that

presentations help them to hold their own opinions and exchange and share different and variety

of opinions. So in this way, more knowledge is there to share and get.

5 What do you think about the number of tasks and the type of tasks your teacher is using?

Student 1 likes different tasks that are the constant feature of her language class and she mentioned

some as role play, creative writing, narrative writing and group work.

Student 2 is for the number of tasks used in his class, he said that they are topic relevant tasks and

upon the teacher how many she plans and executes.

Student 3 felt that class tasks are monotonous and a lot of CW being done as compare to HW.

She suggested that there should be some unique and interesting tasks.

Student 4 did not answer about the number of tasks in his class but said that his teacher mostly

initiate class discussions that are really helpful for learning and doing different tasks.
Student 5 also showed his concern about class work and gave the suggestion that it should be less

and more and innovative tasks should be introduced. When asked what his suggestions are in this

regard, he was unable to answer but he was quite sure that the tasks they are doing right now should

be more innovative.

Student 6 She was very much satisfied about the number of tasks undertaken in her class and she

did not want more tasks to be introduced.

6 Did you enjoy English lessons in the beginning of the year more, or English lessons after

the middle of the year?

Student 1 spoke enthusiastically about her English lessons that she enjoys them in the beginning

of the year more as compare to middle of the year. She said that in the beginning, teachers seem

to be more enthusiastic about different tasks and we spend more time on task execution but after

middle of the year they are in a hurry to complete the syllabus and busy in other official

responsibilities. So in this way less time is spent on tasks.

Student 2 said that English lessons are enjoyable in the beginning of the year as compare of middle

of the year but he could not give any example regarding this feeling. May be it is the same reason

as student 1 described when she said that teachers get less time after the middle of the year to plan

and execute more tasks vigorously.

Student 3 felt that in the second term she enjoys her English lessons more as she feels more

comfortable with the teacher, lessons seem more interesting and more understanding of strategies

and syllabus is there.

Student 4 Like most of interviewees enjoyed his English lessons in the beginning of the year more.
Student 5 He enjoys second term of his session more as he thinks that by then they are well

adjusted in the class.

Student 6 She enjoys her English lessons throughout the year.

5 Semi-structured interview with English teachers

Semi-structured interview was designed to take a closer and clear insight into the thoughts and

ideas of the English teachers. This tool really proved very helpful as I had a very detailed and

intimate talk with all the teachers except Teacher C as she was very busy. She responded all the

questions but it was very brief. Earlier during class observation, we got much time with her and

we discussed about her class and teaching style in detail. Although it took us a lot of time to

manage for the interviews but we must say that all the interviews were in a candid and frank

atmosphere and teachers tried to explain and share their thoughts in the best possible manner.

For this research, three teachers have been interviewed. Teacher A is a senior teacher having

ten years of experience, who started her career as a junior school teacher and now taking the middle

school classes from the last three years. Teacher B is a relatively new teacher having experience

of more than three years in middle school. Whereas Teacher C is again a senior teacher having 9

years of experience of teaching in different schools of the city of Lahore. She has been associated

with her current school for the last 4 years. We found all the three teachers very professional, that's

why they had a lot of ideas for improvement. We found them very open and enthusiastic towards

new ideas and strategies. The interviews were more like a discussion on learning, task-based

learning and about school environment.

1 How long have you been teaching English? What books are being taught for general

English courses in this institution?

Teacher A told that now she is a senior teacher who started her career as a junior school teacher

and now taking the middle school classes from the last three years. She has been teaching for

almost ten years and earlier she was using “Step Ahead” and now it is replaced by “International

Approach” by Oxford University Press.

Teacher B has the experience of almost 3 years of teaching to grade 8. She told that in her

institution "Oxford Progressive English" and "New Modern English" are used for middle school.

She spoke highly about both of the books for language learning. She said that both of the books

contain language and literature based tasks and students take a lot of interest by doing the designed

tasks and activities.

Teacher C was a senior teacher having 9 years’ experience of teaching in different schools. She

has been associated with her current school for the last 4 years and according to her, she is enjoying

every bit of it. She told me that from the last two years her school has introduced “Step Ahead”

for the middle school. She found the book very apt for task-based learning as it is designed on the

pattern of O levels and class 8th is considered pre- O levels, so according to her it is very helpful

for the students to practice different tasks. It has also improved the language skills of the students.

I found her very satisfied with the tasks in “Step Ahead” as she felt that she did not need to create

tasks for students as they were quite sufficient in the book. She has a great passion for teaching

and I found her very open and enthusiastic towards new ideas and strategies.

2 What is teachers’ perception generally about task-based approach for different skills?

(listening, speaking, reading, writing) What is your perception about task-based approach?

Teacher A was of the view that teachers in her institution consider this approach a good exercise

to the brain as this approach is student- centred. She further said that teachers find themselves
very comfortable with this approach but she had the opinion that they require training to employ

this approach in a better way. She herself found it very beneficial as she thinks that through this

approach cognitive learning of students really improves. In this respect she gave the example of

pre-task discussion that she said usually takes 20 minutes of her class. Brain storming is quite

beneficial, she shared her opinion. She claimed that her school depends entirely on task-based

approach for English language learning.

Teacher B said that that she always practices task-based learning to teach English as it is the

methodology adopted by her institution for teaching languages whether it is English or Urdu. Her

opinion about her colleagues was however different as most of them consider it very time

consuming. They feel over-burden and consider that a lot of effort is required in this respect and

they have many other responsibilities as teachers. Overall she was of the view that they are quite

aware of the benefits of task-based learning but they think as they have to cover the syllabus so

they have less time for the tasks to do. She also emphasized that for the students of primary and

secondary classes, task-based learning is the best approach for communicative competence.

Teacher C did not reply to my question regarding teachers’ perception about task-based approach

for different skills but she found TBL “especially useful for improving writing and interpersonal

skills” as students manage to finish the task in their mother tongue.

3 Are principles of task-based approach applied in General English classes?

Teacher A replied that as her school curriculum is based on task-based approach so the principles

of task-based approach are also applied in general English classes.

Teacher B replied that we have to fit them in and find ways as grammar is not explicitly taught

through this approach.

Teacher C said that she does not think that it can be applied to General English as she was of the

view that general English syllabus is not designed in the way that these rules can be applied.

4 Do you have to follow the guidelines or lesson plan or you teach the way you prefer?

Teacher A said that she prefers the way which she likes to teach as in her school only certain

guidelines are provided for making the lesson plan. She makes the lesson plan according to

guidelines but she has the authority to change the plan according to the needs and requirements of

her students or how the task proceeds.

Teacher B confided that she always makes a lesson plan as according to her it is not possible to

teach through task-based approach without a proper lesson plan but she moulds it according to

students' needs.

Teacher C teaches the students as she prefers and does not follow any specific guidelines or lesson

plan as in her schools broad guidelines are provided to the teachers regarding teaching of different

language skills. They are free to devise their own strategies and how to proceed their lesson.

5 Please define the steps you use in your class for different tasks.

Teacher A defined different steps she uses in her class for different tasks. She said that she drives

students toward topic through class discussion and for every task at least 20 minutes are given to

the discussion. It not only develops spoken skills of the students but also gives them different

ideas to do the task. With the help of the teacher, they understand the concept in a better way.

Through reading text, the students derive the talking points and in this way they understand the

text in a better way that helps them to do the reading tasks.

Teacher B shared her steps for different tasks as brainstorming and arrange students & discipline

them for task focus & make mixed ability groups.

Teacher C defined the steps she uses in her class for different tasks that she usually makes groups

for the task first, then explains the task to the students and its pros and cons and then let the students

explore the challenges on their own. She also said that she also gives samples to students if any

documentation involved.

6 Do you find your teaching methodology effective for teaching different tasks? If not, why?

Teacher A found her teaching methodology very effective and she felt herself very comfortable

with her methodology.

Teacher B found her teaching methodology very effective. In this regard she narrated an incident

in which she had to take two substitute classes in a row and for this purpose, she divided her class

into two large groups and gave them different activities. According to her, it was the most

interesting substitution classes she ever had as students learned different concepts with the help of

their fellow students and made work easy and informative for her as well.

Teacher C found her methodology very effective.

7 Have you ever noticed students' reluctance while doing different tasks? If yes what can be

the cause or source of this problem?

Teacher A was of the view that sometimes students feel reluctant to carry out tasks. According

to her the main reason for their reluctance is their irregularity as they find themselves out of touch

and they are reluctant at different stages of the task. It is due to their short attention span or cultural

difference as sometimes they are unable to relate themselves with the topic. A very basic reason

for their reluctance according to her was if they are new to the network. Due to this they need time

to settle with the new methodology and system.

Teacher B although did not share any experience but she insisted that sometimes students feel

reluctance while carrying out different tasks. She shared her surprise that in this respect even some

very brilliant students have such issues. When asked about the reason she said that they feel

reluctance due to their failure to communicate. They lack confidence. No doubt they are brilliant

otherwise but speaking confidently is always a problem for them.

Teacher C Sometimes she finds her students reluctant to do tasks and according to her, it is due

to their weak interpersonal skills and less enthusiasm for joining and doing something different.

8 What is collaborative or cooperative learning to you? Do you apply it in your classes?

Teacher A was a strong supporter of collaborative learning. She viewed it as the most appropriate

way to achieve higher standards of learning. She said that she herself learns a lot through

collaborative learning.

Teacher B To her collaborative or cooperative learning is “pure knowledge” as she shared her

opinion that through this approach we can learn through others weaknesses and experience and it

is more a support to our learning process. She further said that most of the time she applies the

same approach in her classes.

Teacher C collaborative learning provides opportunity for students to learn from each other

strengths and weaknesses.

9 What are your suggestions to overcome the problems that you face during different tasks

in your class?

Teacher A While sharing her suggestions about how to improve task –based learning, said in very

clear terms that teachers in our system are involved in a lot of unnecessary responsibilities and
activities that should be lessened and there should be an activity coordinator to carry out different

activities in the school so that teachers are able to give ample time and proper concentration to the

learning tasks that is their prime responsibility. In this way, she said that we can achieve better

outcomes through task-based learning.

Teacher B complained that the teachers are quite over-burdened and due to this many a times they

are unable to execute their entire planning. She also said that a number of books are introduced

and they have to cover them all. She said that there should be a proper curriculum. She was not

against defined or prescribed books but her suggestion was that there should have an ample time

for language practice. According to her, English should be treated as a language rather than a

subject.

Teacher C faces less motivated students with parasitic tendencies and psychological problems. In

order to overcome these problems, she recommended that students should be given detailed and

clear instructions

10 Do you have any further idea or recommendation?

Teacher A Her over-all recommendations for a better learning environment were that there should

be healthy environment in the schools and the communication gap between the staff and

administration should be narrowed down. She also pointed out towards the dilemma in our schools

in which teachers are just puppets in the hands of administration and parents as administration

usually takes side of the parents and according to her this is the greatest hindrance towards attaining

the aim of better learning.

Teacher B recommended that due to L2, English needs a lot of practice and she strongly

recommended that TBLT can be a way out to achieve this outcome in our scenario.
Teacher C said that teachers need to develop strategies based on their experience to have

motivated students that is a key to learning, according to her.

6 Semi-structured interview with academic coordinators

Academic coordinators of all the three schools have vast experience of teaching besides

administration. Two of the academic coordinators also have the experience abroad that gave the

insight into different techniques used here and abroad. They shared their experiences about

different cultural settings and how language can be learned in different scenario and background.

Academic coordinators 1 and 2 have more than 20 years of experience whereas as coordinator 3

also have 10 years of experience. All three are still actively involved in teaching as well.

1 Describe a curriculum project based on task – based learning that you have led as academic

coordinator and your role in the process.

Academic coordinator 1 While responding to the question about her experience as a leader of a

curriculum project that was based on task-based learning, she shared that she always led a project

that is based on TBL as an academic coordinator. Explaining a particular project and her role in

this respect, she said that as a head her role was to provide guidelines and create opportunities.

She motivated her colleagues and created citizenship behavior. It was meant according to her to

give her subordinates a sense of ownership so that they could feel an ownership and consider

themselves valuable not just spoon-fed.

Academic coordinator 2 described his experience in detail as an academic coordinator when he

led a curriculum project based on task-based learning. He said that it was an OXFAM project and

for the extremely rural and poor students in Fiji and Solomon Island. There he got the opportunity

to form a curriculum based on TBL. The interesting part of this project was that only their only
top students are allowed to continue their education. It was not only to learn the language but side

by side community training in different skills. In this way language had been used and learned for

the special purpose and curriculum designed was very challenging and student- centred.

Academic coordinator 3 described briefly about a project that was based on different tasks that

she led as a coordinator and arranged an awareness campaign among students on a social issue. In

this campaign different tasks were given to a group of students that they had to carry out and her

role was that of a facilitator.

2 Describe your experience working with English language learners.

Academic coordinator 1 described her working experience with English language learners as

excellent and termed it an aspect that she always feels important. She said that she sometimes

lowers her standard for technical reasons but not for the language people.

Academic coordinator 2 termed his experience working with English language learners as mixed

because he has different experiences at different places. He said that his experience in Saudi

Arabia was the worst in this regard and he termed his experience in Pakistan a good one as

according to him students here are extremely motivated to learn the language. This might be the

reason that he has been working here from the last five years or so and intended to continue it in

the coming years.

Academic coordinator 3 described her experience working with English language learners as a

difficult one. She shared that she had to work with linguistically very weak students. They are

de-motivated due to their less interpersonal skills and highly heterogeneous population also make

it “difficult to follow uniform strategies” She said that her teachers are a bit reluctant to take up

TBL approach as according to her it has still many unexplored areas related to pedagogical issues.
3 Describe what you consider good assessment.

Academic coordinator 1 According to her formative assessment is what she termed as good

assessment. She believes in regular and constant assessment.

Academic coordinator 2 considered holistic assessment as a good one. He shared his views in

this regard quite extensively. He was of the opinion that there should be some context of

understanding and purpose behind every activity. While giving example of the reading skill, he

said that assessment should be in this way that gives the understanding of how the student

approaches text. So he does not believe in just objective or subjective examination but the holistic

approach to assess a student.

Academic coordinator 3 Good assessment, according to her is the holistic one. She said that it

should be based on exploring what students know, not on what they do not know.

4 What do you see as the Curriculum Director's role in working with your staff?

Academic coordinator 1 described her role as a curriculum director in-detail, she said that she

has to play different roles. She at sometimes has to be a trainer, then to be a mentor and has to

evaluate at the end of the day, then has to be change again and go back to training for implementing

the curriculum and after evaluation let her subordinates to lead. She said that a good administrator

has to wear different caps and acts as a kind of buffer. So in this way as a curriculum director, she

has to play different changing roles but at the end she grooms many people and guides them how

to work properly. In this way she has assumed the role of the mentor gives the required training

for the job.

Academic coordinator 2 saw himself in a mentor’s role while working with his staff. He was of

the opinion that he has the role of a supporter of the staff with ongoing development.
Academic coordinator 3 said about her role a difficult one as she was of the opinion that teachers

are a bit reluctant to take up TBT (task-based teaching) approach because it has still many

unexplored areas related to pedagogical issues. She felt that sometimes it is difficult as teachers

have less training and resources to follow this approach.

5 When you walk into a classroom, how can you tell if learning is going on?

Academic coordinator 1 promptly said that when teacher stops talking and students start

conversing. It also emphasizes the fact that she believes in student-centred learning and sees the

role of the teacher as a facilitator.

Academic coordinator 2 According to him learning is when you enter into a class, you find

smiling faces of kids while teachers are engaged and active. A positive noisy classroom with

learning activities is the proof of learning with positive outcome unto him. He termed strong

interpersonal relationship and communicative competence as a strong proof of learning process.

Academic coordinator 3 was very loud and clear when she talked about the classroom where

learning is going on. To her, the class where students are involved and enjoying the lesson and

participating in different tasks is a classroom where learning takes place.

6 What do you expect to see in quality lesson plans based on task-based learning approach?

Academic coordinator 1 Her expectations about a quality lesson plan is that is based on task-

based approach and reveal what it should actually be. She was of the opinion that the teacher

should not be a personality who is unable to innovate. According to her a teacher should be very

dynamic and it shows clearly from the lesson plan. Lesson plans should not be static but they

should reflect the diversity of the teacher who according to her should not be a teacher rather acts

as a facilitator.
Academic coordinator 2 said that a teacher should be the in charge of his/her lesson plan. It is a

kind of safety-net. It is a reminder of what a teacher is going to impart in a class. He was for

writing the plans in detail and the best plan according to him is the one who can be used by the

substitute teacher with complete command and confidence if the teacher is absent. He was of the

opinion that lesson plan is for the student support not a prescription. In this way, he laid emphasis

on student- centred lesson plans and teacher’s role as a facilitator was very much emphasized.

Academic coordinator 3 said that any lesson plan which follows all the objectives of Blooms

taxonomy is a quality lesson plan.

Analysis of teachers’ questionnaire

Three English teachers of class 7 of the schools under discussion filled a close-ended

questionnaire designed for this research study. It gives a detailed analysis and insight of what they

think about different aspects of task-based learning, its benefits and limitations. It comprises 35

questions and the subjects filled it completely and nobody left any question. It provided a rich

data to understand the phenomenon.

Although it is derived from the results of the questionnaire and the majority of the teachers

think that TBLT requires high proficiency of teachers, more time for preparation and less effective

for grammar teaching but they consider it the best approach to teach language. They call it a

learner-centred approach. They agree that when students work in pairs and groups, they learn from

each other’s’ mistakes (statement 10). Most of them are not in favour of using both L1 & L2 for

better performance and understanding (statement 12) and their focus is on the acquisition of target

language. The results of statement 14 show that teachers are of the view that motivation plays an

active role in L2 learning. For the learning of different language skills the results of this
questionnaire show that teachers consider that students’ free experimentation with spoken and

written language, is the most important thing (statement 14). Results of Statement 29 show that

they all agree that TBLT improves learners’ interaction skills. They are of the view that English

classes are full of activities such as role plays, games and pair/group work. It is very important for

learning different language skills. They have consensus that TBL helps learners to acquire

competency necessary to deal with many situations and to work in team.

It shows that students learn better in collaboration or in groups. These teachers assess all

language skills through different task outcomes. So proper execution of the tasks and complete

understanding of how the tasks should be executed is of high importance. As grammar is the vital

part of language learning, the teachers use different tasks for grammar enhancement and it also

nullifies the opinion as most of them said that TBL does not teach grammar. These teachers are

of the opinion that some part of students’ grade should be based on the completion of assigned

tasks as it surely motivates the students that influences task based performance. The teachers

consider informal feedback from teachers and small group task also motivate the students to

perform better (statement 22 & 23). All the teachers who responded the questionnaire were of the

opinion that TBLT improves interaction skills of students, encourages motivation, creates

collaborative learning environment and promotes academic progress (statements 29, 30, 31 & 32)

9 Analysis of class observations

It is mentioned earlier in data presentation that the class had serious discipline issues so it affects

their overall learning at large. Although writing and speaking tasks were being done in the class

but students’ motivation was quite less. Although they showed their excitement towards the survey

results (lesson task) but soon they lost that excitement as majority of them were less focused on

tasks. Although the group work was under way and they were using target language for the
completion of the tasks but this collaborative work proved a boon and a ban at the same time as

one or two students from each group had the complete focus on the task while the rest were not

giving any attention. So in this way all the important ingredients of task based learning were in

practice but how they were beneficial for all of them and contributing towards the improvement

of language skills, cannot be told. It proves that although collaborative learning is beneficial but

without motivation, interest and focus, the desired results cannot be achieved. One important thing

was that the given task was completed and teacher was very active to facilitate the students with

her feedback.

Another class was observed in school Y. Here reading and comprehension skills are being

taught. The proceedings of this class showed that motivation influences the learners’ task based

performance. In this respect the role of peer and collaborative learning was also quite evident.

Different groups were competing to each other for better performance. The class showed quite

improved language skills as it was also shown in the case of school X as well. There was a constant

peer and teacher assessment going on in the class that surely improved the performance of the

learners. The class at school Z was much disciplined and students were highly motivated and it

was quite evident that high motivation had a very positive influence on learners’ performance.

Students were involved in a writing task and successful transition from one task to the other proved

that students are quite good in the skill. Group activity was a good technique but due to very large

groups, the students were unable to comprehend it properly. That’s why a group was unable to

present the proper idea. Close interaction with the peers also influence the performance as students

completed the task in the end.

Analysis of interviews of teachers

Interviews with three English language teachers provided a rich data to have a clear view of

perceptions of English teachers about the role of task based approach in teaching English at grade

7. It was important to know the views of the teachers about the role of task based approach for

teaching English because until and unless a teacher is not convinced about the importance of

something he or she cannot motivate the learner towards learning a particular thing. Learning

process cannot be completed without the input of the major stakeholders. It is important to have

a clear picture of any situation. Instead of simply interpreting the data according to its face value,

here a critical approach is opted for data analysis to avoid biases and exaggeration of facts that is

an unavoidable while talking to professionals about their professional activities. During analyzing

the qualitative data gathered through semi-structured interviews, following themes have emerged.

A brief discussion on all of these themes is as follows:

Task-based approach - Best for cognitive learning and communicative competence

All the three teachers interviewed shared their opinion that they consider task -based approach

best for cognitive learning and communicative competence. They were very sure about the fact

that they have noticed a marked difference in their students’ cognition and conversation abilities.

It was very much evident from students understanding of the questionnaire and during their

interviews. They were confident, had opinions and very understandable. It was also noticed

through the results of the teachers' questionnaire that they consider task- based approach, the best

for language learning especially in L2 context. Although some of them were apprehensive as they

think that through TBL, grammar is difficult to teach but also mentioned that they use different

tasks to teach grammar.

Teach in the preferred way

The interviews of the teachers gave the impression that they teach the way they like and do not

follow any lesson plan precisely. Although there is an evidence that they make the lesson plan on

regular basis and they mentioned it in the interview but still the emphasis was on their own

preferred way. The interviews of the coordinators revealed there are set rules for lesson plans and

teachers have to submit them beforehand. There is a possibility that teachers modify it according

to students' needs but it is not possible that they just follow their instinct.

Class discussion and brain storming

The interviews of the students revealed that class discussion and brain storming is the first step

that these teachers do when they start their class or introduce new topic. It gives the students an

understanding of the topic that is going to introduce and they start thinking about different ideas

come to their mind. The students take benefit of the knowledge and ideas of their fellow students

and of course their instructors as well.

Effective teaching methodology

All the teachers think that they have an effective teaching methodology. They give ample time

to teach and practice different language skills and the completion of the tasks. Different tasks are

given to the students and different techniques are used to get the desired results. Peer and self-

assessment techniques besides teachers' assessment are used. Teachers' role is of a facilitator and

students' learning needs are kept in mind and different tasks and activities are designed to achieve

this outcome. It is revealed through the results of students' questionnaire that some students do

not agree with some of these facts. Either they do not understand the concepts or they need more

practice in this regard. Motivation and pair or group work is also the part of teaching methodology
of these teachers but they should work on discipline, effective group work and learning

opportunities for all. In this way students can extract more from the teaching methodology.

The findings are presented in the order of research questions. The research questions that guided this

study were:

1: What is the opinion of teachers about the improvement of students in language skills after a task

based learning course?

2: How far students assist each other while working on tasks?

2.1 Do students feel comfortable by working in groups or pairs?

2.2 Do the students learn to work in collaboration?

2.3 Do the student interaction and communication develop while assist each other on tasks?

3: What influences the participants’ task based performance?

3.1 How far motivation influence the participant’s task based performance?

3.2 How far close interaction with peers influence the participant’s task based performance?

3.3 How far the commitment of the participant influence his/her task based performance?

The teachers’ opinion is not different in this respect. They strongly believe that TBL is a learner-centred

approach and it was quite evident from the class observations as teacher’s role was more of a facilitator.

The teachers wanted their students to experiment with the language both spoken and written and

feel themselves free to experiment with the language and learn it through communicative

competence. Whereas the study also reveals that the majority of teachers who participated in the

study are not quite convinced that grammar can be learned through TBL, although they are quite

convinced that four basic language skills can be best taught through TBL and they term TBL as

the best approach to learn language. In respect of grammar learning, it is also very interesting to
note that the same teachers usually use tasks and assignments that draw learner's attention to

specific grammatical features. It is found that teachers also assess all the aspects of their

students’ language learning through different task outcomes and they are strongly for the

recognition of students’ efforts to incorporate them into grades. The study reveals that teachers

believe that TBLT improves learners’ interaction skills and promotes academic progress. As

Littlewood (2004) argued that the task-based approach had reached the status of a new

orthodoxy, he is of the opinion that “in current pedagogical discussion, it is difficult to avoid the

term ‘task’ as it once was to avoid the term ‘communicative’. (p. 319)

This opinion is further confirmed and gained weight as all the three teachers interviewed have a

considered opinion that they consider task -based approach best for cognitive learning and

communicative competence. They were absolutely sure that they have noticed a marked

difference in their students’ cognition and conversation abilities. The findings of the interviews

of academic coordinators bring all stakeholders agreed on the point as they are strongly for

student-centred classes and for dynamic lesson plans that incorporate the learning of all skills.

Our study shows that students feel a marked growth in their performance and this view is also

shared by their teachers. Whereas academic coordinators are consciously facilitating the process

as they have ample experience to introduce task-based methodology for language learning and

get the desired results. It is noted that to make the language as realistic as possible, integrated

instruction needs to introduce. As it is observed in the schools under discussion that integrated

tasks for learning basic skills were employed as most of the time one task gives the practice of all

language skills and features simultaneously, all of which are requisite in language learning.

In all the schools under discussion, a number of tasks are being used for language learning. A

common misunderstanding of task-based instruction is that oral interaction is the most focused
part of it but the tasks can be designed to develop any of the four language skills (listening,

speaking, reading and writing). It is considered a language learning approach that was for

“communicative activities” later described as “tasks” and successfully initiated for language

learning by Prabhu to teach secondary school classes. Many tasks are ‘integrative’ (i.e. involve

more than one skill) and they can easily be related to students’ real-life language needs. Willis

(1996) rightly said that TBL provides a holistic language experience where learners naturally

integrate four skills through tasks and the study under discussion proved this point.

The results of the questions related to collaborative and cooperative learning show clear evidence

that the students, teachers and academic coordinators find the approach the most beneficial for

learning a language. The coordinators even shared that they are using the same approach for the

learning of other languages in their institutions. Majority of the students and teachers show their

enthusiasm and satisfaction for the collaborative and cooperative learning as they execute most

of their tasks through presentations or pair/group activity. Students feel very comfortable with

their interaction with their teachers and peers as they interact a lot in the class. Due to different

tasks and group and pair work, they are always in close contact with their teachers and peers.

Motivation influences the learners’ task based performance. In this respect the role of peer and

collaborative learning was also quite evident. Different groups were competing to each other for

better performance. There was a constant peer and teacher assessment going on in the class that

surely improved the performance of the learners. The class at school Z was much disciplined

and students were highly motivated and it was quite evident that high motivation had a very

positive influence on learners’ performance. Through discipline the students can concentrate

more on studies and when concentration increases, the performance automatically increases. The

interest of students in the task execution is of prime importance for learning. It was observed
during class observation that due to indiscipline and disinterest, the students did not show the

desired performance. Researchers found that the most suitable curriculum and good teaching are

not enough to ensure student achievement, students also need to have a little motivation.

(Dörnyei, 2005) Once the learners are motivated, they can complete the given tasks or achieve

desired objectives (Brophy, 2005). The motivational conditions can be established by generating

a good teacher student rapport and creating a pleasant and supportive classroom atmosphere.

Learners’ beliefs are important in enhancing motivation, pointed out by a teacher during her

interview for the current study that student’s background or new to the system affects learning.

So, it is reasonably concluded that a challenging task which is just beyond learners’ current level

of skill can intrinsically arouse their learning motivation (Schmidt et al, 1996). While

responding to one of the question in the questionnaire, students said that their classes are

challenging and they definitely increase motivation amongst them. Research says that positive

interdependence between group members is required for a good cooperative task (Johnson et al.,

1991). The results that we got from the question 11 of the questionnaire prove that students

listen to each other during discussions. It is all due to their close interaction with their peers that

they learn to improve the social behaviours. Language learning is improved ‘particularly when

they (the learners) negotiate toward mutual comprehension of each other’s message meaning’

(Pica, Kanagy and Falodun, 1993:11).

The following conclusions can be drawn from the findings of this study.

 The first conclusion is that the holistic assessment is required in schools where task-based

learning is being done.

 The second conclusion is that there is the need of effective task-based work plans and

their implementation.
  The third conclusion is that teachers’ prime job is to impart learning.

 The fourth conclusion is that most of the teachers are not properly trained for task-based

learning teaching.

 Last, TBL is the student-centred approach.

Through teachers’ questionnaires and interviews of teachers and academic coordinators, it can be

concluded that task-based learning is highly beneficial for the improvement of basic language

skills. The class observations also strengthen the fact that task-based learning can play an

important role in this regard. Researchers found that TBL's main advantage is to use language

for a meaningful communication. In this respect, TBL is closely associated with content-based

instruction that combines language learning and content of subject matter. Both methodologies

allow the integration of all language skills, i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing, into

development of fluency towards accuracy. Here the example of teaching one skill, for instance,

reading can be easily tied to teach writing and vocabulary, and to teach pronunciation, listening,

and cross-cultural pragmatics (Hinkel, 2001; Lazaraton, 2001; McCarthy & O’Keeffe, 2004).

The researchers have experienced that through the medium of literature the learners can be

provided with excellent and ample language opportunities and fun experiences that not only

encourage and enhance oral language, but also reinforce and intensify their writing abilities.

Students will have a lot of oral practice by giving those summaries, dramatizations, simulations

and role plays, which in turn, contributes to rapid writing enhancement.

Motivation plays an important role to improve academic performance. In our study, it was very

evident that motivation plays an important role to enhance learning that leads to academic

performance. Teachers use many techniques to improve motivation of students such as feedback
gestures. They come up with the view that some portion of students’ grades should be based on

their performance in class tasks. It is also quite clear from class observations that where students

were highly motivated, the performance was better.

Close interaction among peers enhance learning and improve social behaviours.

Teachers also give much importance to pair and group work and they are convinced that in this

way they can achieve good results. Holistic assessment is required in schools where task-based

learning is being done. It can be concluded from teachers and academic coordinators views that

schools should introduce holistic assessment system.

Most of the teachers are not properly trained for task-based learning teaching. It can be concluded

from the results of the teachers’ questionnaire that most of the teachers are not properly trained to teach

through the task-based methodology. Actually in Pakistan teachers do not get pre-service training. So

when most of the teachers start their career they are untrained and learn their work on job. In this way if

the institute is not following certain methodology, they do not get practice about that. So it is difficult for

them to execute any methodology for that matter. there is a need for the implementation of motivational

strategies, conducive and facilitated working environment for teaching staff, comprehensive assessment

tests need to be initiated, and there is a need of a trained and reflective teaching staff.

Now that we have completed our investigation, the question now is whether or not we have

reached our goals that we set out in the introduction. We could answer both yes and no

considering all three questions. We feel that we have partly solved those problems but there is

still information that we have not been able to get since there was a time limit and our study

confined to just three schools and in these schools just one section of grade 7. Language learning

is a very vast topic and my research just focuses few elements. There are many factors that have

their influence on language learning but I focused only few.

As it is already mentioned that TBL claims a student-centred approach but the importance of

teachers cannot be denied. Their role as a facilitator is highly important. They need to initiate

interactive teaching techniques, such as small group discussions, student presentations, debates,

role playing, problem posing, and student paper exchanges, dialogues, study groups, literary

circles etc. They should create a supportive, inclusive classroom climate so that no student feel

as a left out. Teachers need to have an input in course designing and multicultural courses must

be designed to enhance students’ ability to function in an increasingly diverse society and to

express them in a more interactive way. Teachers need to emphasize on mixed ability groups for

better learning and comprehension. Second language teachers can help students learn to think

rather than focus students' attention solely on learning the language, which will lead them to

develop stronger learning skills. The flood of information, sample lesson plans and available

learner materials give teachers opportunities for comparison with their own experiences and for

‘articulating, examining, and revising their assumptions’ (Ramani, 1987).

References

 Beretta, A., & Davies, A. (1985). Evaluation of the Bangalore project. ELT journal, 39(2)

 Bygate, M., Skehan, P., & Swain, M. (Eds.). (2001). Researching Pedagogic Tasks: Second

Language. Learning, Teaching Snd Testing. Pearson Education

 Bygate, M., Skehan, P., & Swain, M. (Eds.). (2001). Researching Pedagogic Tasks:

Second

Language. Learning, Teaching Snd Testing. Pearson Education

 Crookes, G., & Chaudron, C. (2001). Guidelines for language classroom instruction.

Teaching English as a second or foreign language..

 Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: Individual differences in

 second language acquisition. Routledge.

 Ellis (Ed.), Implicit and explicit learning of languages (pp. 371-392). London: Academic.

 Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford University Press

 Lees, R. B. (1957). Review of Chomsky 1957. Language.

 Lightbrown, P. M., & Spada, N. (1999). How languages are learnt. Oxford, England:

Oxford University Press.

 Long, M. H., & Crookes, G. (1993). Units of analysis in syllabus design: The case for task.

MULTILINGUAL MATTERS

 Nunan, D. (2006). Task-based language teaching in the Asia context: Defining'task'.

Asian EFL Journal.

 Prabhu, N. S. (1987). Second language pedagogy (Vol. 20). Oxford: Oxford University

Press.

 Schmidt, R. (1993). Awareness and second language acquisition. Annual review of applied

linguistics.

 Skehan, P., & Foster, P. (2001). Cognition and tasks. Cognition and second language

Instruction

 Spada, N., & Lightbown, P. M. (1999). Instruction, first language influence, and

developmental readiness in second language acquisition. The Modern Language

Journal.

 Thornbury, S. (2000). Accuracy, fluency and complexity. English Teaching Professional.

 Yin, R. K. (1994). Discovering the future of the case study method in evaluation research.
APPENDIX A

Questionnaire for teachers

Please answer the following questions carefully. Try and answer all the questions.

Questions SA A N DA SD
1. TBLT requires high proficiency of the
teachers.
2. Teachers have less resources and time for
material preparation.
3. Teachers lack training and full
understanding of TBL approach.
4. TBL is a learner centred approach.

5. TBL does not teach grammar.

6. TBL teaches and focuses on the culture of

target language.
7. Students show resistance in active
participation in TBL activities.

8. TBL is unsuitable for existing examination

system in Pakistan.
9. Large class size is a hurdle for effective
TBL.
10. When students work in pairs or groups,
they learn from each other’s mistakes.
11. Motivation plays an active role in second
language acquisition.
12. Students are allowed to use both L1 & L2
in class activities for better understanding
and better performance.
13. Classroom tasks should be based on
students needs.
14. The most important thing is to let the
student experiment with the language both
spoken and written.
15. In TBL teacher input is of no importance.

16. English classes should be full of activities

such as role plays, games, tasks, pair/group
work.
17. My instructional and assessment material
is in target language
18. I assess all aspects of my student’s
language(listening, reading, writing, speaking)
through different tasks outcomes
19. TBL help learners to acquire competency
necessary to deal with many situations and to
work in teams
20. I usually use tasks and assignments that
draws learner’s attention to specific
grammatical features
21. I suggest that at least some part of
student’s grade should base on completion of
assigned tasks
22. I use indirect cues and hints to signal
errors to the learners(asking them that they
are sure about their response, facial
expressions& body language)
23. I often use small group tasks to reduce
learner anxiety
24. TBLT gives much psychological
burden to teacher as a facilitator.

25. TBLT requires much preparation

time compared to other approaches.

26. TBLT is proper for controlling

classroom arrangements.
27. TBLT materials in textbooks are
meaningful and purposeful based on
the real-world context
28. TBLT is appropriate for small group work

29. TBLT improves learners’ interaction skills

30. TBLT encourages learners’ motivation

31. TBLT creates a collaborative learning

environment
32. TBLT promotes learners’ academic
progress
33. TBLT provides a relaxed atmosphere to
promote the target
language use.
34. TBLT activates learners’ needs and
interests
35. TBL is the best approach for L2 learners

Thank you so much for your time!!

Appendix B
Semi-structured interview for students
Q YES NO
1. Do you think class
presentations develop
basic skills?
a. Improves confidence
b. Do you feel that you
can speak confidently &
accurately during class
presentations?

2. How much
reading/writing you are
doing in your class right
now?
a. Do you notice any
growth in your reading
/writing abilities yet?
What are your teacher’s
comments on your
work?
b. What are your teacher’s
expectations for
reading/writing?
c. Are you able to meet
these expectations
without problem?
3. Do you speak up in
class?
a. Are you comfortable
during interaction with
your teachers & peers?
4. What do you think
about class
presentations?
a. Why it is good/bad?
5. What do you think
about the number of
tasks and the type of
tasks your teacher is
using?
6. Did you enjoy English
lessons in the beginning
of the year more, or
English lessons after the
middle of the year?
Appendix C
Semi-structured interview for teachers

1. How long have you been teaching English?

a. What books are being taught for general English courses in this institution?

2. What is teachers perception generally about task-based approach for different skills?
(reading, writing, listening, speaking)
a. What is your perception about task-based approach?
3. Are principles of task-based approach applied in General English classes?

4. Do you have to follow the guidelines or lesson plan or you teach the way you prefer?

5. Please define the steps you use in your class for different tasks.

6. Do you find your teaching methodology effective for teaching different tasks? If not, why?
7. Have you ever noticed students' reluctance while doing different tasks? If yes what can be
the cause or source of this problem?

8. What is collaborative or cooperative learning to you?

a. Do you apply it in your classes?

9. What are your suggestions to overcome the problems that you face during different tasks in
your class?

10. Do you have any further idea or recommendation?

Appendix D

Semi-structured interview for academic coordinator

1. Describe a curriculum project based on task – based learning that you have led as an
academic coordinator and your role in the process.
2. Describe your experience working with English language learners.

3. Describe what you consider good assessment.

4. What do you see as the Curriculum Director's role in working with your staff?

5. When you walk into a classroom, how can you tell if learning is going on?

6. What do you expect to see in quality lesson plans based on task-based learning
approach?