A Study on the Application of TBA in College English Teaching

Liaoning University of Technology/Bi Ran

【Abstract】To investigate whether there are some significant differences in English teaching for the two teaching methods （TBA and PPP），An experiment is conducted， which focuses on the effectiveness of task-based classes model and aims at finding out whether the students English proficiency can be improved.

【Key words】Study on application； TBA； College English teaching

1. The definition and features of TBA

TBA is a teaching approach that puts tasks at the center of the methodological focus. It considers the learning process as a set of communicative tasks that are directly linked to the curricular goals.

Nunan （1991）have summarized characteristics of TBA from different aspects.1）An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language.2）The introduction of authentic texts into the learning situation.3）Provision of opportunities for learners to focus not only on language， but also on the learning process itself.4）An enhancement of the learners own personal experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning.5）An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activation outside the classroom.

2. Methodologies

2.1 Hypothesis

a. TBA is more effective than the PPP （presentation， practice and production）teaching method in college English teaching.

b. The application of TBA can improve students achievement.

2.2 Subjects

The experiment was carried out in two classes of Grade one in Liaoning University of Technology. They were chosen as respectively the experimental group （EG）and the control group （CG）. Traditional teaching method —PPP approach is used in the control group and TBA is used in the experimental class.

2.3 Instruments

The instrument is language tests. A pre-test and a post-test are provided to find out whether there are any changes in the participants achievement after the experiment.

3. Results of the experiment and analysis

To provide an objection， scientific and comprehensive analysis， the following two statistical analysis ways were conducted： the ordinary analysis and the z-value analysis （SPSS）， which can provide the same result from different perspectives.

The results were reported in the following table.

To describe the differences between the two classes more explicitly .Table 1 and Table2 are given as follows：

Table1 exposes that levels in the mean score， the excellence ratio， and the passing rate in EG had significantly increased

Table1 the comparison of pre-test and post-test in EG

Group N Mean Score of every part Excellence Passing rate

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Total N （%） N （%）

Pre-test 37 9.1 14 23 12 6.4 64.5 3 8.1% 19 51.4%

Post-test 37 13 16 25 14 7.9 75.9 8 21.6% 28 75.7%

Table 2 the comparison of pre-test and post-test in CG

Group N Mean Score of every part Excellence Passing rate

Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Total N （%） N （%）

pre-test 38 9.2 14 23 12 6.7 64.9 4 10.5% 19 50.0%

Post-test 38 11 15 24 13 6.8 68.8 5 13.2% 22 57.9%

（12.4point， 13.5%， 24.3% respectively）； the results show clearly that that TBA worked well.

Table2 fully indicates that increased degrees in the mean score， the excellence ratio， and the passing rate in CG were less， so we can say the traditional teaching method applied in CG worked not as well as the TBA in EG.

By comparison，the above-mentioned results show preliminarily that Task-based language teaching developed the overall English level. The average English achievements in EG is apparently higher than that in CG. In that way， TBA is more effective than the PPP teaching method in vocational college English teaching.

To further prove the difference between the experimental class and the control class in the two tests， another samples Z-score was conducted. The results were reported in the following tables.

Table3 the comparison of pre-test and post-test in EG

Item Group Number Mean S.D Z-score P-value

Part I Pre-test 37 9.1 1.58 3.42 0.01

Post-test 37 13 1.26

Part II Pre-test 37 14 1.86 2.94 0.02

Post-test 37 16 1.75

Part III Pre-test 37 23 1.78 3.01 0.02

Post-test 37 25 1.57

Part IV Pre-test 37 12 2.01 2.84 0.03

Post-test 37 14 1.75

Part V Pre-test 37 6.4 1.22 4.21 0.03

Post-test 37 7.9 1.11

Total Pre-test 37 64.5 7.46 3.28 0.024

Post-test 37 75.9 6.98

As showed in table 3 ， z-value is above 2.58， p<0.05， from which it can be concluded that the difference between the post-test and pre-test in EC is statistically significant. according to z-value and p-value， we can say that difference between the post-test and pre-test in EC is statistically insignificant.

From the results of the above four tables， two conclusions can be drawn as follows： 1）there is no significant difference between the two groups in pre-test scores. 2）There is significant difference between the two groups in post-test scores. To be specific， the experimental group performs better than the control group in post-test. Therefore it can be concluded that TBA is conducive to improving learners English proficiency more effectively than the traditional 3Ps teaching model.