Evaluating Task-Based Lessons for Engineering Students at the National Institute of Technology

Abstract

This study explored the feasibility of task-based lessons (TBLs) at the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN). Seventy-five second-grade students took two TBLs based on collaborative writing tasks. The TBLs were evaluated from the viewpoints of learners’ attentional foci, quality of outcomes, and perceptions of tasks. The results showed that the TBLs worked successfully in English classrooms at KOSEN, just as the teacher had intended. During the lessons, the learners primarily focused on meaning to achieve outcomes, and their writing quality improved through TBLs. They perceived some difficulties in producing L2 and implementing tasks, but these were alleviated as the lessons progressed.