Abstract
This study examines intermediate level adult EFL students in Saudi Arabia, and the effectiveness of task-based learning in relation to their understanding of English grammar. The students were given three different tasks related to negative adverbs, designed to help them learn past-tense verb forms in English. There were three groups of 20 students, all of whom were learning at the same level. The groups were:
 
 Selected response group (SRG, n=20)
 Constrained constructed response group (CCR, n=20)
 Storytelling group (FRG, n=20)
 
 Each group was given a pre-test to determine their level before the tasks, a test immediately after, and a delayed test. The selected response group (SRG) performed best on the tests, demonstrating the effectiveness of taskbased teaching in grammar acquisition. Students were chosen at random for an interview, in which their grammar knowledge was assessed. This produced results that mirrored those of the tests. It was also clear that the kinds of tasks chosen by teachers had an impact on the effectiveness of their lessons. This study provides EFL teachers with vital information they can use in learning design and lesson planning and gives EFL students information they can use to support their own learning.
Highlights
1.0 IntroductionThe teaching of grammar is “a necessary component of any language teaching program” (Rutherford, 1987, p.9)
Task-based grammar teaching uses real-life tasks designed to help students use their grammar knowledge in a realistic way, in interactions that mirror those they will encounter in day-to-day life
The study set out to determine whether a task-based learning approach could lead to increased understanding of grammatical structures among EFL students
Summary
The teaching of grammar is “a necessary component of any language teaching program” (Rutherford, 1987, p.9). During the 1970s, formal grammar teaching fell out of favour in EFL classrooms, replaced by communicative methodology It has become clear in more recent years, partly as a result of academic research, that it is important for students to have an understanding of grammatical structures. This study examines how task-based teaching helps students to learn and seeks to identify the kinds of tasks that are most effective. Task based learning helps give students the ability to use their pre-existing knowledge more . Willis (1996) states that teachers should not seek to direct students’ learning but should understanding what a student needs to learn in order to carry out a task. This study examines how students learn English grammar, past tense verbs, across three different types of tasks. Further studies are required to examine the role of instruction in students’ ability to learn grammar via task-based learning. Studies should examine how students feel about task-based learning and about specific tasks they have undertaken
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