A Task-Based Approach to Motivate Speaking in the ESL Classroom

U Rathnasena

doi:10.4038/sjhs.v1i1.27

Abstract

The speaking competency of students learning General English at Tertiary Educational Institutes (TEIs) has become a primary concern of many academics and policy makers. In such a context, this paper investigates the implications of incorporating a task-based speaking component in the English as a Second Language (ESL ) curriculum at tertiary level. The sample cohort comprises of post Advanced Level students studying General English at a private institute. An identical speaking task was administered, first without scaffolding and later with scaffolding to observe students’ performance. It was observed that when a speaking activity is assigned, learners have the tendency to visualize it in L1 and convert it to L2. In a case where scaffolding items such as, notecards and strips are not allowed, learners memorize the lines or utterances and enact the given speaking task. Consequently, their discourse is impeded as they struggle for better vocabulary as well as sentences. Insights of the students’ need, and their feedback led the institute allocate extra time weekly for speaking. It is recommended that more task-based speaking activities are introduced to the institute’s ESL: Speaking Curriculum.

Highlights

Teaching English has been an intensively researched area in the Sri Lankan context
As oral proficiency is not tested at national level exams, the majority of students attend private institutes for English language education
English as a Second Language (ESL) learners struggle with lack of vocabulary, the participants in this study exhibited the same characteristic

Summary

Introduction

Teaching English has been an intensively researched area in the Sri Lankan context. From post-colonial times, English Language research paradigms have shifted, and pedagogical and andragogic approaches have been revised, restructured, and transformed by different national initiatives like “English as a life skill”. As oral proficiency is not tested at national level exams, the majority of students attend private institutes for English language education. These different institutes have various curricular and adopt independent teaching approaches. The majority of the population struggle when required to speak in the classroom and they are very reticent in the class and more often than not opt for the mother tongue as the main medium of communication. This situation has nearly made “speaking in English – an impossibility.”.

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