Improving Speaking Fluency in a Task-Based Language Teaching Approach: The Case of EFL Learners at PUNIV-Cazenga

Gabriel Albino

doi:10.1177/2158244017691077

Abstract

This study was an attempt to assess how learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) improved their speaking fluency in a task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach used with ninth-grade learners at PUNIV-Cazenga, a high school in Luanda. In a case study design that used picture-description tasks, learners’ speeches were audio recorded before and after the teaching, in which recasts and prompts were utilized as feedback tools for 8 weeks. The findings indicated that learners improved in terms of their speaking fluency by maximizing their speed of speech production, increasing grammatical accuracy, elaborating on their utterances, and developing interactional language. Furthermore, learners’ opinions on being taught with the TBLT approach were sought, and the findings indicated that the learners felt encouraged to speak, believed in their potentials to use the target language, expanded their vocabulary, and recognized the relevance of the TBLT approach. The implications of the findings are discussed f...

Highlights

In the English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, EFL learners have few opportunities to practice English outside of a classroom (Samaranayake, 2016)
The improvement was first assessed in terms of rapid speech production, and it was assessed in terms of grammatical accuracy and other aspects of oral interactions such as fillers
The learners were engaged in tasks that promoted meaning making and focus on linguistic forms through the use of “recasts” and “prompting” (Guchte et al, 2015, p. 248)

Summary

Introduction

In the English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts, EFL learners have few opportunities to practice English outside of a classroom (Samaranayake, 2016). Many studies have been conducted in EFL contexts to find ways of helping learners improve their speaking problems (Brand & Götz, 2011; Crowther, Trofimovich, Isaacs, & Saito, 2015; Kessler, 2010; Lam, 2007; Nakatani, 2010; Rohani, 2011). In these studies, tasks of various types (Ellis, 2009; Long & Crookes, 1992; Prabhu, 1987; Skehan, 1998) have been used as main or secondary tools for gathering data. The literature, could be used as a source of reference on understanding how EFL learners overcome their speaking problems in a taskbased language teaching (TBLT) approach

Methods

Results

Conclusion