Synopsis

Reflection on Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT)

in Lower Secondary Schools through the Analysis of a Teaching Unit
Name: Amna Iqbal Butt
Module: IV
Date: 4th November ,2022

The topic area of your proposed study

Reflection on Task-based Language Teaching (TBLT) in Lower Secondary Schools through the
Analysis of a Teaching Unit

The purpose of your proposed study

The extant literature offers perceptions of teachers' insights into TBLT, few studies have focused
directly on teachers' insights of the usage of TBLT in lower secondary schools in Saudi Arabia.
Therefore, this study will address the paucity of research on TBLT in Saudi Arabia by reporting
and investigating the occurrence and usage of TBLT in lower secondary schools and how TBLT
teachers perceive the strengths and weaknesses of this teaching method.

What and how the literature supports the relevance of your proposed study?
TBLT is a language teaching method that provides students with the likelihood for involvement
in authentic usage of the target language through activities. As a central element of TBLT, this
activity provides the primary emphasis and context of learning, and it boosts language utilisation
similar to language utilized beyond the lower secondary schools (Liu & Guo, 2020). It should be
noted that students learn the language and establish competencies as they complete tasks, which
encourages them to expand their attainable language resources. The different opinions and
objectives of academicians and teacher educators studying projects and TBLT have led to
different objectives of projects in the literature (Sholeh, 2020). The following instances portray
the scope of the definitions but do not imply exhaustiveness. Dao (2022) states: “A task is
always an activity in which the learner uses the target language for communicative purposes (a
goal) to achieve success”. It has been observed that a role-playing game involves a group of
entrepreneurs disagreeing about a case study to solve a problem, which is an instance of a project
since it contains an objective. However, a role play in which students act out a role in practicing
a prescribed grammar point would not count as an assignment. Willis' definition includes the
normal use of English (Spada, 2022). The benefits of TBLT have been well described in the
literature. It has been observed that TBLT is important since students learn language through
interactive interactions while involving in significant activities. It is also considered that TBLT is
pertinent to the requirements and interests of students, as it facilitates language learning and skill
development inherent to performing tasks that students might experience beyond the classroom.
Ahmed & Lenchuk (2020) further noted these advantages, noting that students utilize self-
selected language in the task, which facilitates them in emphasizing on the essence of the
information for completing it. Certain language elements are not compulsory on the students,
which indicates that they are not controlled by the language. Students use the language they have
instead of practicing assigned language items.

Your intended research methodology

This study will adopt a mixed-method study design to conduct a survey among Saudi Arabia
students from different universities who studied English in classrooms and TBLT. The survey
will be conducted in three phases. In the first phase, students will be asked to complete a
questionnaire after face-to-face education by filling in the subsequent online form. The follow-up
process will be completed after 21 days, in which all participants will be switched to distance
learning and will be asked to complete the same form again before the course ended.
The data analysis process will be conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
version 25 to confirm or disprove hypotheses about the increased usage of TBLT in lower
secondary schools. Lastly, after the survey, interviews will be conducted with the students to
identify factors that could have a significant impact on the results obtained.

References
Ahmed, A., & Lenchuk, I. (2020). Making sense of task-based language teaching in the Omani
EFL context. Asian EFL Journal, 24(3), 6-27.
Dao, H. (2022). Perspectives from Task-Based Language Teaching on EFL Textbook Use: A
Participatory Action Research Study at a Vietnamese University (Doctoral dissertation, Open
Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington).
Liu, C., & Guo, R. (2020). A Study of Localization of Task-Based Language Teaching in
China. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 43(2), 205-218.
Sholeh, M. B. (2020). Implementation of task-based learning in teaching English in Indonesia:
Benefits and problems. Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 15(1), 1-9.
Spada, N. (2022). Reflecting on task-based language teaching from an Instructed SLA
perspective. Language Teaching, 55(1), 74-86.