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A Study Focusing on Applying Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) Methods

into English Vocabulary Teaching for EFL Learners

Article · August 2021

DOI: 10.24052/IJHEM/V08N01/ART-6

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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

A Study Focusing on Applying Task-Based Language Teaching

(TBLT) Methods into English Vocabulary Teaching for EFL Learners
Yilin Huang
Sohani Gandhioke
Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong Province, China

Abstract
To solve the problem of Chinese EFL students’ passive and ineffective vocabulary
learning, task-based language teaching (TBLT) methods were introduced to English classes
at a university. With TBLT, students interacted with each other by using English, especially
Key words English words learnt, in order to fulfil the tasks designed by teachers. Based on second
TBLT, language acquisition theories, students were able to understand input and produce output
English during this process. This paper focuses on using TBLT in English vocabulary teaching in
vocabulary three non-English major classes of a Chinese university, involving the use of some word
teaching practice, games. The word games’ features, organization, and a skill set built through those games,
interactive word will be discussed.
games, In terms of methodology, an online questionnaire survey was conducted among 93
input, university students from the three classes. Also, results of the students’ before-task and
output
after-task word quizzes on Moodle platform and exam paper results were analysed. The
research findings showed that students enjoyed playing word games in the English class and
benefitted from it, in terms of language development and building skills. This paper
recommends teachers to use TBLT in English vocabulary teaching and learning, as it is
practical and can assist in EFL learners’ vocabulary acquisition.

Corresponding author: Yilin Huang

Email address for the corresponding author: [email protected]
The first submission received: 24th July 2021
Revised submission received: 23rd August 2021
Accepted: 27th August 2021

Introduction
Typically, in an EFL class, Chinese students sit in a classroom and passively listen to the teacher’s
instruction. Teachers impart knowledge to students, but what happens in reality is, very often students
cannot really understand the teacher’s lecture, not to mention apply the knowledge in practice.
Generated in the 1980s, task-based language teaching (TBLT) method has proved helpful in solving
this problem. TBLT refers to a teaching methodology used in a language classroom. Based on certain
communicative methods and language projects, teachers design some specific and practical tasks.
Students complete the tasks assigned by using the foreign language to express, communicate, consult, and
respond, in order to master and use the language. It puts a stress on the students’ language learning
process and knowledge construction process, requiring students to change from passive recipients of
knowledge to becoming active constructivists. Also, the teachers’ role changes from a knowledge provider
to a promoter of language output, through the process of engaging students in the tasks.
Some scholars have done research on using TBLT in university English classes. For example,
according to Willis’ theory (1996), about three TBLT stages, namely pre-task, task loop, and language
focus, Chi and Li (2012) discuss how to apply these three stages in an English class. Similarly, based on
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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

Skehan’s three tasks’ theory (1998), i.e., pre-task, while-task, and post-task, Zhao (2019) mentions some
principles and steps of the design of a TBLT class.
Although TBLT is popular among teachers and students, as Liu (2011) suggests, it has faced some
obstacles when it was applied in a class, such as students’ frequent use of Chinese. Hua (2013) studies the
problems and solutions when using TBLT in speaking classes, while Chen (2015) illustrates its successful
use in a writing class. Meng (2019) argues that TBLT is very effective when teaching university students
English reading skills. Although the use of TBLT in some components of university English classes has
been discussed, using TBLT for English vocabulary teaching and learning still needs further research. This
paper focuses on the application of TBLT in vocabulary acquisition and the effectiveness of this teaching
method. In this research, three classes comprising 93 non-English major students at a university in China,
learnt vocabulary with the help of games. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey was conducted, and
students’ exam results, as well as before-test and after-test results, were collected to analyse whether there
was an improvement in their vocabulary acquisition.
Literature review
To better understand TBLT, some notions such as “task”, “TBLT”, “input theory”, and “output
theory” need to be illustrated with more details.
“Task” and TBLT
Nunan (1989:10) defines “task” as the complement of an event with the use of target language in
class, involving the understanding and application of the language, as well as the interaction between
students. A task should be complete and can be regarded as communicative behaviour. Whether the task
has been fulfilled depends on whether the aim has been accomplished.
With a particular aim in teaching and learning, teachers design some tasks for students to complete
and ensure that the students apply English when doing these tasks. According to Richards & Rodgers
(2001), compared with traditional instructional teaching, TBLT can stimulate the learning process and
create a better learning environment for language learners. Study of the target language enables learners
to indulge in understandable input and places them in some tasks which demand meaningful negotiation
and communication, so that effective output can be produced.
Input hypothesis
As Krashen (1982, 1985) claims, the comprehensible input hypothesis stresses that in order to make
sure that students understand the input, after offering students enough knowledge, teachers should
design and give students some tasks to enable them to comprehend the knowledge, which would also
promote students’ active and autonomous learning. During this process, the teaching model shifts from
closed to open-ended, and the communication method changes from mono-directional to bidirectional
(Wen, 2010).
Output hypothesis
The output hypothesis put forward by Swain (1985) suggests that apart from “understandable input”,
second language learners also need understandable output, as language output can improve the fluency
and accuracy of expressions used in the target language. When producing understandable output,
learners can notice the weaknesses in the level of their second language, thus encouraging them to correct
their use of expressions and improve their language proficiency. Only when understandable input and
understandable output work corporately can learners’ language abilities be enhanced.

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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

In a nutshell, TBLT refers to a student-centred teaching method, wherein, by using the target
language learners can understand the knowledge imparted to them in the classroom, produce meaningful
output, and have effective interaction with each other. In the activities, tasks should be real-life based and
communication-oriented, and more emphases should be placed on information and meaning. The
completion of a task serves as a standard of self-evaluation and brings learners a sense of achievement
(Chen, 2018).
Applying TBLT in vocabulary teaching
Vocabulary is often said to be a boring part of English teaching, as sometimes teachers find it hard to
make students remember and use the words learnt. The authors experienced first-hand some TBLT
methods in vocabulary teaching in three classes comprising 93 non-English major freshers, including one
design major class, at a university in China, and it turned out that these methods worked well with the
students. The English textbooks being used were, New Standard College English: An Integrated Course, 1&2.
As a prerequisite, students were assigned to study words from a wordlist in each unit, which indicates
that they had received some input before the class. The next part of the paper will introduce some TBLT
methods used in teaching vocabulary to make students produce understandable output.
Fill in the word forms: - builds communication skills
Before class, students had studied a list of words of the unit as an input. In class, the focus of the
vocabulary review section was to help students to use the words learnt as an output, and in this way
improve their communicative skills. Therefore, some forms were prepared for students to fill in, as part of
the class activity. The words missing in Paper A could be found in Paper B, and vice versa, as shown
below.
A B C D E F
1 uneasy console probable
2 excessive reveal
3 mourning vitality sympathetic
Table 1. Paper A—Word Bank
A B C D E F
1 infancy comprehend
2 evolve imitate discipline
3 response distinct
Table 2. Paper B—Word Bank

In class, each student grabbed a piece of paper, Paper A or Paper B. Then, students A found students
whose paper was different from theirs, resulting in students A and students B pairing up. Next, students
explained the definitions of the missing words to each other, but they were not allowed to say the missing
words when describing. Pairs worked together to fill in all the blanks with the correct spelling. When a
student spelled a word out, his/her partner needed to check the spelling.
In this cooperative and communicative way, students could master the definitions and spelling of the
words very well, and they had fun when playing the word game. Words were used in an actual scenario,
thereby accomplishing the aim of the task.
Chain story: - fosters students’ story-telling ability
With words studied in advance, students tried to use those words in a chain story word game.
Students worked in groups and used the given words to tell a story. See the word bank as follows:

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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

assignment browse burglar

calculator camcorder check
criminal cut and paste download
dropout entertain escape
Table 3 Chain Story Word Bank
During the 15-minute communicative process, students recalled the meanings, used the words
together, and created an interesting story as a group. This also cultivated their team spirit. Finally, the
teacher invited the students, in groups, to share their story with the class. With the pressure of being
asked to present, the students appeared more focused and engaged. Furthermore, students’ story-telling
skills were fostered when playing this game.
Pictionary: - cultivates students’ creativity
Pictionary is a game played by a science geek named Sheldon in an American sitcom called The Big
Bang Theory. Inspired by this, a Pictionary game was designed for students to review words while
painting. Before class, the authors created a form for the students to fill up and provided them with some
colour pens and A4 papers.
Word +
Meaning:
___________________
___________________

Table 4 Pictionary (Form)

architect assistant calendar co-worker
diaper disorganized forgetful employer
impatient punctual requirement schedule

Table 5 Pictionary (Word Bank)

In class, first, students formed groups of three, and the time limit was set as 15 minutes. Then,
Student A picked up a vocabulary card, face down, and drew a picture based on the card within 1 minute.
Student A was instructed to neither describe the word when drawing, nor write anything in their
paintings. Other group members guessed the word and explained its meaning, then wrote down the
English word with its Chinese meaning on the paper. Every group went through the same process. Each
of the group members took turns drawing pictures and filling in the form. When they finished the first
three paintings, they asked the teacher for more cards. At the end, the group which got the most words
won the game.
The authors were amazed by how innovative the students had turned out to be; especially, the design
and art students, who illustrated their creativity through many of their paintings. While other liberal arts
and science students enjoyed playing the Pictionary game, design and art students showed their talent in
painting a step further. Thus, this was a successful task for most non-English major university students.
Charades: - boosts students’ performing skills
Charades is a game popular in western countries as well as in China. The authors readjusted the rules
and made it a word game used in an English class. The aim of the task was to make students understand
the words and act them out.

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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

First, students formed groups of three and were given a stack of word cards. They were allowed to
use their body language only, without using any spoken words. Students stood up, and each group
formed a line. The third student, C, of each group, turned his/her back to the performing group members
when it was their group’s turn to act out the word.
Student C Student B Student A
Table 6 Charades: Queue in the First Round

In each group, Student A picked up a word card and acted out the word to Student B without
speaking anything. Student B either copied the movement from Student A, or created new acting gestures
based on his/her own understanding of the word, which was then passed to Student C, who had, in the
meantime, turned around after being told to do so. Student C had to guess the word and spell it out as
well.
After the first round, Student A, in every group, ran to the end of the queue and Students B & C
moved one step forward (see below). Thus, students changed their positions and roles, taking turns acting
and guessing.
Student A Student C Student B
Figure 7 Charades: Queue in the Second Round

Such a game of acting kept students from getting bored and weary. Instead, they were engaged in the
acting and word review process. However, this game is recommended to be used in those classes where
most of the students are active and outgoing, so that students do not feel uncomfortable when performing
the task.
Research Methods
Quantitative research methods were employed in this empirical study. Data were collected from two
online questionnaires (pre-and-post-tests), Moodle platform, and from examination papers, as shown in
the following sections.
Questionnaires
A survey was conducted via two online questionnaires sent to three classes comprising 93 students,
with 91 questionnaires collected. All the participants were non-English major freshers, with 56.04% of
male and 43.96% of female students. The two questionnaires were used as a pre-test and a post-test, with
some questions in common, before and after the introduction of word games in class.
There were five sections in the questionnaire. The first part was about the basic information of the
participants; the second part was about students’ attitudes towards the study of English words; the third
part required students to self-evaluate their English level; the fourth part asked students’ opinion about
playing word games in class and the last part was about students’ opinion whether word activities would
indeed boost their vocabulary.
A Likert Scale was adopted, with 1 representing “strongly disagree”, 2 representing “disagree”, 3
representing “moderate”, 4 representing “agree” and 5 representing “strongly agree”, and points were
given accordingly. The higher the overall score, the higher was the indication that the students liked
playing word games to a greater degree.
Result Analysis
As can be seen from the post-test data collected, on a scale of 1 to 5, with just under 4 points in
average in Section 2, students showed a positive attitude towards vocabulary learning. Section 3 dealt

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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

with students’ English level, where students were asked whether they could recall words quickly; fully
comprehend the teaching in the English medium classroom; quickly recognize words while reading, or
while listening; and felt more at ease using words in speaking and writing, correctly. The result showed
that compared to the average score in the pre-test, the average post-test score increased from 3.21 to 3.59
indicating that students’ capability of applying words in practice had noticeably increased.
In Section 4, an overwhelming majority of university freshers (97.80%) liked joining word activities in
English classes. The four main reasons why they liked doing word tasks in class were that they could
enjoy “interesting” activities (94.38%) by “socializing with classmates” (83.15%) and “applying English”
(77.53%) in a “stress-free learning environment” (78.65%).
As found in Section 5, doing word tasks made students gain more knowledge, improve efficiency in
their studies, and were now able to generate positive output, as most of them found that they became
more adept in English, particularly in speaking, listening, and in word acquisition. During the process of
participation in the word games, students developed many abilities, especially communication skills
(92.31%). Students became more attentive and engaged in class. Meanwhile, they enjoyed the stress-free
learning environment and liked having English classes.
Having word activities not just benefitted students in class, but they also had positive effects on the
students even after class. These activities motivated students to learn English willingly and helped them
to build friendships with fellow students. Students loved playing word games and looked forward to
playing more games in every class. In the questionnaire, the overall score was 71.57 out of 100, which
meant that a significant majority of students enjoyed playing word games in class. Thus, the authors
recommend that teachers should design more word activities/games/tasks tailored for university
students, with a focus to reinforce their own efforts to encourage their students to practice vocabulary in
real-life situations, and to make their teaching exemplar impactful for all teachers to emulate.
Moodle platform and examination papers
Students were required to complete word quizzes using a standard format for different units
arranged on Moodle, an online study platform used by the university, before and after the word games
were introduced. The average scores were compared as follows.
According to Moodle results, students’ performance on word quizzes improved quickly. Prior to the
introduction of any word games, students’ average score was recorded at 89.68%, while the average after-
game score was 92.41%. Clearly, students mastered words better after participation in the word games.
More importantly, in the final examinations, the results showed the average scores of correct answers
in the vocabulary section as 85.02%, which was noticeably higher, compared to the remaining parts of
their answers in the English question paper. This illustrates that the word games worked very well in
terms of students’ vocabulary learning.
Discussions and limitations
This study demonstrates that TBLT-based word games were popular among university students and
decidedly helped them in their language learning and skill building efforts. In contrast to Liu’s (2011)
previous findings of students’ frequent use of Chinese when doing a task, this survey found that English
was frequently used when students were playing word games, as long as the games were well-designed,
and students were properly instructed.
This study accords with relevant theories. Tasks, defined as “communicative behaviour” by Nunan
(1989:10), were successfully designed and introduced in class, with a requirement for students to use
appropriate words while interacting with others. As Richards & Rodgers (2001) point out, TBLT promotes
the learning process and provides students with a stress-free learning environment, which is consistent

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 International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 8 Number 1 August 2021

with the encouraging responses received from our students while answering the research question of why
they liked playing word games.
According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis (1982, 1985), words were learnt as an input when teachers
interpreted some of them in class and students studied a word list before playing games. While doing
word tasks, students had a productive outcome (Swain, 1985), as they became more confident and could
produce more output, especially when speaking English and using words.
However, there are some limitations in this research. For instance, using a questionnaire as a
methodology can be subjective. Students could sometimes respond with the answers that they know the
instructor wants to hear, particularly in Section 2 regarding students’ attitudes towards word learning.
Therefore, class observation and instructors’ evaluation of the students should be included when
examining the results. Also, for future research, more data should be collected continually, using the
Moodle platform, for instance, and examination papers, to ensure wider and more in-depth results to
calculate progress and effectiveness of the tasks assigned.
Conclusion
Teaching vocabulary is an art and the TBLT method is a good choice. With a particular objective in
mind, teachers can design some interesting and useful tasks for students and keep them “learning by
doing” (Dewey, 1916). Students need to have some input, then apply what they have learnt to practice,
thus producing effective output. It shifts from a teacher-focused method to student-centred one. What
teachers need to do is to primarily take care of the first and the last stages, namely, the plan management
and the reflective stages of the tasks, while students should be given the opportunity to become the actual
masters of the classroom and real users of the English language. After trying out several TBLT methods in
class and analysing the research findings, it is safe to draw a conclusion that TBLT is a popular and
practical methodology in English vocabulary teaching, at the same time contributing greatly to students’
vocabulary learning. Tasks designed for this research showed a remarkable improvement not just in
students’ vocabulary building, but also demonstrated that playing word games, tremendously enhanced
students’ communication ability, story-telling skills, creativity, and performance skills. TBLT thus used in
a language learning classroom ensures that students have a rich, immersive learning experience.
Acknowledgements
We would like to extend our profound gratitude to our colleague, Professor Fang Fan, for his exemplary guidance
and valuable information that he provided throughout the course of our paper. The help given by him greatly
inspired us and enabled us to bring this research to fruition. Also, we are deeply obliged to our leaders and the staff
members of Shantou University who helped us during the course of this research. We would truly like to thank all
the students involved, for the strong support provided by them.
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