Task-Based Versus Task-Supported Language Instruction: An Experimental Study

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of task-based and task-supported instruction in the acquisition of the English passive construction—a structure about which learners had limited prior knowledge. A total of 150 Chinese middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) learners were randomly assigned to five groups—one control group who only took the pretest and posttests and four experimental groups who attended a 2-hour treatment session where they performed two dictogloss tasks in groups, each including a reporting phase when the learners took turns to tell the narrative. Among the four experimental groups, one just performed the two oral tasks; a second group received explicit instruction before performing the tasks; a third group received within-task feedback but no explicit instruction; and the fourth group received both explicit instruction and within-task feedback. Treatment effects were gauged via a grammaticality judgment test (GJT) and an elicited imitation test (EIT). On the GJT, the conditions with explicit instruction and/or feedback led to significant gains with explicit instruction plus feedback showing the largest effects. On the EIT, there was no effect for any of the three treatment groups when the data were analyzed for the whole cohort. However, when the learners were subdivided into those with zero and some prior knowledge based on their pretest EIT scores, explicit instruction plus within-task feedback was more effective than the other treatment types for the latter.

Optimizing Second Language Practice in the Classroom: Perspectives from Cognitive Psychology

“…The control can then be gradually decreased, after which learners engage in meaning-focused activities. This approach is compatible with the presentation-practice-production model (Sato, 2010) and task-supported language instruction (Li, Ellis, & Zhu, 2016). On the other hand, a "strong" view on task-based language teaching (Long, 2015) proposes that tasks should not focus on certain linguistic forms, and explicit instruction should not be prepared by teachers, which may seem incongruent with the idea of systematic and deliberate practice.…”

Sociocultural Theory and Task‐Based Language Teaching: The Role of Praxis

“…Task‐supported research involving dynamic assessment might revitalize process–product studies. One recent CIT study that compared task‐supported and task‐based instruction (Li, Ellis, & Zhu, ) showed significant effects for explicit instruction in learners with some prior knowledge of the tested language features, but the authors note their study focused on the product, not the process. It would be interesting to know how a study that focused on processes and included CBI and DA would compare to traditional explicit instruction.…”

Evaluation of the Course on Finite Element Method With Ansys Application Software for Improving Mechanical Engineering Students’ Problem-Solving Skills

“…Research in this area typically are limited to two categories, namely (a) the impact of using specific technique or tool on learning (e.g. Campo, 2016;Li, et al, 2016) and (b) various tasks, teaching techniques, or media uses learning a particular task (e.g. Moore & Lorenzo, 2015;Lee, 2016;Ahmed, 2017); nevertheless, limited research is found in exploring students' experience in task-based learning activities.…”