The effect of task based language teaching on improving the writing and speaking skills of Pakistani ESL learners

Studies in Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) to improve writing and speaking skills of university undergraduates are very limited, particularly in Pakistani English Language Teaching (ELT) scenario. Pakistani learners face problems to communicate in English outside classrooms. This study endeavors to determine the effect of TBLT in improving writing and speaking skills of Pakistani undergraduates. The prime objective of the study is to enable the learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) to communicate fluently in English during real life situations. The quasi-experimental study was designed using a mixed method research paradigm. Research participants comprised 50 university undergraduates divided into an experimental and a control group. The study consisted of 12 weeks of TBLT treatment to the experimental group and the control group was taught by the existing teaching methodology in Pakistan. The pretest and the posttest were conducted to determine any linguistic achievement in terms of Second Language (L2) performance triad i.e. Complexity (capacity to use advanced L2 language), Accuracy (ability to produce error free L2) and Fluency (ability to produce fluent L2). For qualitative data, students from the experimental group wrote their views about TBLT treatment on Weekly Reflective Journals. Fifty ELT practitioners teaching at primary, secondary and tertiary levels responded to the questionnaire to investigate their views about introducing TBLT and existing Pakistani ELT. A Paired Samples T-test was administered to determine significant differences among the quantitative data. For qualitative data, a thematic analysis was used to examine themes in the Reflective Journals and in the responses from the teachers. The findings revealed that the experimental group performed better than the control group in L2 writing and speaking. The teachers were not satisfied with the existing ELT system and majority of the teachers did not know about TBLT. The study concluded that TBLT improved L2 writing and speaking skills. It was recommended to implement TBLT for better ESL pedagogy in Pakistan.