The Effect of Task-based Teaching (TBT) on the Learning of Syntax by Learners with different intelligences
Subject Areas : Journal of Teaching English Language Studies
Sanaz Behboudi Nehzomi
1
()
Ramin Rahmany
2
(Department of English Language, Takestan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Takestan, Iran)
Keywords: Task-based Teaching (TBT), learning of syntax, different intelligences,
Abstract :
This study investigated the impact of task-based instruction on the learning of syntax by learners possessing different intelligences. Forty eight intermediate EFL learners were assigned to an experimental and a control group, both of which took a teacher-made grammar test of 40 items and the Multiple Intelligences Developmental Assessment Scale (MIDAS). The students in the experimental group were taught based on task-based teaching of grammar and the controls through the traditional teaching of grammar. Following 20 sessions of instruction, both groups took a grammar test of 40 items to assess their level of achievement. The results of the t-test analysis indicated that task-based instruction significantly improved the learners' knowledge of syntax compared to the traditional instruction. That is, the experimental group receiving task-based instruction outperformed the control group on the posttest of syntactic knowledge. The results are discussed with reference to the current theories of teaching and learning grammar.The following tests and questionnaire were used in the study: the Multiple Intelligence Developmental Assessment Scale for adults to assess the multiple intelligences of learners, the translated version of MIDAS, a test of grammar to make sure that the subjects' level of grammatical knowledge was as homogenous as possible both in terms of their grammar prior to the treatment and their pre-knowledge on the content of instruction, and a post-test measuring the syntactic achievement of the two groups as well as a KET test as a means of estimating the participants level of proficiency and homogenizing the students' general English.
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