Potential Implications of Task-Based Language Teaching on Developing EFL Learners' Oral Fluency

Abstract

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is an instructional approach that cultivates communicative competence by exposing learners to English speaking practice. This study examined the perceptions and implications of implementing ten fluency-based tasks with twenty EFL learners at a private university in Medellin, Colombia. These tasks addressed barriers, including a significant frequency of pauses, a low speech rate, and limited speech length, which hindered learners' ability to express themselves fluently. The research used qualitative date collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews, and oral production rubrics. The findings indicated that 100% of the learners held a positive perspective of TBL as a qualified methodology that assisted them in reducing the considerable number of pauses in communicating their ideas, moderating their pacing smoothness, and balancing their speech rate to speak with a moderate clearness and consistency. Learners valued the strategy as a potential method that enabled them to communicate their ideas, regardless of occasional mistakes. In conclusion, the tasks aided them in increasing their speech rate and enhancing speech fluency during conversations.