Abstract
The aim of this paper is to show the effectiveness of task-based activities in the 'Media English' course, an elective subject intended for third and fourth- grade students in the first semester of 2011. News items and magazine advertisements were created in English as task-based activities in class. Two kinds of English tests, essay-writing tests and basic-skills exams, were conducted at the beginning and end of the semester in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the task-based activities in improving students' writing abilities and basic skills in English. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey was conducted to ascertain how much these activities enhanced the low-level students' motivation for learning English. The results suggest that these kinds of task-based activities seem to ease the low-level students' anxiety about using English freely, and thereby allow for greater improvement in their English writing abilities. There remains, however, much room for further improvement. More effective methods for utilizing such task-based teaching for low-level students learning English in the media will be explored on the basis of the results of the research.
