Task-based Language Teaching: Reducing Anxiety, and Improving Online Spoken Interaction

Abstract

This research study analyzed to what extent the "weak" version of Task Based Language Teaching (TBLT) supplemented by sound instructional practice strategies could reduce anxiety and improve online spoken interaction among learners who were in a CEFR B2 EFL course. At the end of this study, the researcher evaluated the extent to which this innovation had a significant impact on learners’ perspectives. The length of this innovation was five weeks, and it involved twenty-nine students who took this course as a requirement to obtain their tertiary degree in Guayaquil- Ecuador. Quantitative results showed that the intervention had a large effect both on the students’ anxiety reduction, Cohen’s d = 2.96, and online spoken interaction, Cohen’s d = 2.40. Regarding learners’ perspectives, quantitative results demonstrated learners felt comfortable in the classroom; they learned how to improve their pronunciation and they considered it was significant to learn L2 through real-life tasks using technology. Finally, this study was conducted in an EFL class, which could be especially suitable for those educators who teach in the Ecuadorian Public System.