The purpose of this paper is to discuss the need to explore the effect of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) on English spoken production and spoken interaction among ESL university students in Malaysia. Most Malaysian ESL tertiary learners are facing difficulties communicating in English even though they have learned to use the language in school and this motivated the researcher to investigate this alarming situation. This study is a quasi-experimental research that utilized a mixed method of quantitative and qualitative research design. 64 ESL pre-university students and 2 ESL instructors were involved in this experimental research and instruments such as pre-test and post-test were used to measure students’ speaking performance. The Common European Framework of References (CEFR) for languages was used to identify students’ speaking proficiency levels. The result showed that the TBLT teaching intervention contributed to significant improvement in the students’ speaking performance.

This study aims to explore ways of enhancing EFL students’ oral skills using task-based language teaching (TBLT) through telling short stories in a classroom environment in Taichung, Taiwan. For this study, 54 students were enrolled in an EFL course titled “English Oral Communication” and “English for leisure and culture” from the Fall semester of 2022 to the Spring semester 2023. All the participants were required to tell a short story according to a set of pictures that the teacher-researcher gave them. To do so, the researcher randomly but not evenly assigned the participants into two different teaching methods. One teaching method, the planning group, allowed students to prepare their short story for 10 minutes. The second teaching method, the no planning group, required students to tell their short story immediately without prior preparation.

The use of L1 in the language classroom is a highly contested concept; however, an increasing number of studies have identified positive outcomes directly tied to L1 integration and learners’ target language development (Carstens, 2016; Scopich, 2018; Yamaguchi, 2018). Specifically linked to increasing a learner’s self-efficacy, confidence, and willingness to communicate (WTC), translanguaging has proved to be an invaluable pedagogical tool in language classrooms. In the Japanese context, WTC has been shown to be a strong determining factor in student output of their target language, particularly concerning group-focused activities (Aubrey, 2011; Yamaguchi, 2018). Using field notes, a pre-and post-class survey, and interviews with participants, this study explores the possibilities and challenges of a Japanese/English communication class where translanguaging was encouraged. The findings of the study suggest that promoting translanguaging in the language classroom positively impacted student self-efficacy as language learners and their WTC.

The current study proposed to integrate Problem-Based Learning into a college business communication course designed for English majors at the Department of English in a public university of science and technology in Taiwan. This study intended to examine students’ learning engagement and overall course effectiveness in the course infusing PBL learning. The research instruments consisted of both quantitative and qualitative methods, including learning engagement scale for college students (LESCS), the classroom teacher reflection notes, student interviews, and final course evaluation. The quantitative data were interpreted by using SPSS instrument to investigate pre-, mid-, and post- learning difference. The qualitative data presented the course effectiveness by looking into teacher reflections, student interviews, and reflections on course evaluation. The findings indicated: (1) PBL as an underpinning teaching method helped the participants engage, and (2) PBL, bringing in real-world issues, was embraced and considered an option to be adapted in EFL business courses.

Research on second language acquisition highlights the critical role of interaction for language learning, and current teaching methods encourage teachers to employ collaborative learning approaches utilizing pair and group activities. Still, classroom teachers often struggle to engage learners in activities that require collaboration with their classmates for successful completion. Learners may not feel comfortable interacting with others, not know how to interact collaboratively, nor have the language to do so. This session outlines the conditions that support collaboration between learners when participating in communicative and task-based language learning. These conditions include having a sense of class community, the establishment of interactional norms, learners’ facility with interactional language, and the design of tasks that require the collaborative involvement of all learners. Participants will leave this session with practical guidance for establishing these necessary conditions in their own classrooms to enhance the level of learner-to-learner collaboration.

The study investigates L1 and L2 speakers’ oral fluency across levels of task complexity and input formats to understand the cognitive processes in L2 speech production. Oral fluency is conceptualized as cognitive fluency, measured by frequency of pausing. The study builds on Skehan et al. (2016) hypothesis that pauses ‘within a clause’ suggest difficulties in formulation, and pauses occurring ‘between clauses’ mean problems with conceptualization. Eighty participants carried out two narrative tasks differentiated by complexity and input format. Participants were 40 English L1 speakers and 40 Korean L1 speakers who speak English L2 at an intermediate level. Data were coded for pauses using PRAAT. The findings reveal L2 speakers show increases in frequency of pauses at mid-clause level on more complex tasks. Pauses at end clause were unaffected by complexity for both L1 and L2 speakers. Findings are explained in terms of cognitive fluency, automaticity, and L2 speech production.