Effect of localized task-based language teaching on Chinese secondary school English learners’ oral production in examination-oriented contexts

Abstract

Despite the abundance of pedagogical reforms conducted in task-based language teaching (TBLT), few studies have fully explored the adaptation of TBLT to cater to the specific language learning requirements and cultural contexts of local communities. It is important to consider localized TBLT, referring to a context-specific adaptation of the classical TBLT approach, tailored to meet the unique needs and circumstances of a particular teaching environment. This study seeks to bridge this gap by examining the effects of a localized TBLT approach on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ oral production in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency in examination-oriented contexts. A total of 101 Chinese secondary school students participated in this study and were divided into two groups, namely, an experimental group (N = 50), which was taught employing the localized TBLT approach, and a comparison group (N = 51), which received traditional presentation–practice–production (PPP) instruction. The intervention spanned 15 weeks, with three instructional sessions per week. The results revealed that localized TBLT instruction had a significantly larger effect on fluency and complexity than traditional PPP instruction. The study has implications for localizing TBLT to better suit local contexts and achieve improved student learning outcomes in other similar EFL settings characterized by a focus on examination preparation.