Impact of goal-tracking on engagement in language use in an online TBLT module for thai university students

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of using a criterion-referenced goal-tracking system on task engagement. The study was conducted during a fully-online TBLT program that consisted of 24 task performances of an interactive task type, Giving Directions, sequenced from less to more complex. Seventy-eight first-year English for International Communication majors at a university in Thailand completed the 6-h TBLT module in either one of two groups: 1) Goal-tracking, which required learners to reflect on whether they had met pre-determined criteria for successful task performance, and 2) non-goal-tracking, which required learners to reflect on their performance without the provision of any performance criteria. To determine the impact of goal-tracking on task engagement, task performances before and after the module were analyzed for indicators of Engagement in Language use (ELU) and included words and turns produced (behavioral engagement), backchannels (social engagement), and negotiation of meaning sequences (cognitive engagement). A multivariate analysis revealed that learners significantly improved in ELU after completion of the TBLT module regardless of group. However, while goal-tracking resulted in significantly more negotiation of meaning sequences (cognitive engagement), non-goal-tracking did not. Results are discussed in terms of how goal-tracking within a TBLT course might be implemented to improve task engagement.