The Effect of Online Task-Based Language Teaching on EFL Writing

The advancement of technology provides language teachers to create innovative learning environments for their students. This study aims at describing the effect of online task-based language teaching on writing performance and revealing the students’ perceptions towards its implementation in EFL writing course. This study employed a mixed-methods study with explanatory design. Twenty six undergraduate students majoring English program participated in this study. The instruments used were writing tests and semi-structured interviews in the writing course. The interviews consisting of five items were assigned to describe students’ perceptions towards the implementation of online TBLT in writing class. Data collections were taken from the results of writing tests and interviews. The quantitative data were analyzed using paired sample t-test. A thematic analysis is used to process qualitative data. The results reveal that there are greater improvements of post-test compared to pre-test in terms of overall writing skills, and the subscales of grammar, mechanics, and vocabulary. Students perceive positive attitudes towards the implementation of task-based language teaching mediated with a Google Classroom tool. Online learning promotes material delivery and assists writing processes in terms of idea construction and revision. Online task-based language teaching is an alternative for teaching online writing integrating between technology and task-based learning.