Secondary School Students' Perceptions of the use of Task-Based Speaking Activities in EFL Classes

Abstract

English speaking competence is considered to be one of the most important aims of teaching and learning English. How to speak English naturally and fluently inside and outside the classroom is all that the learners need. This study, therefore, aimed to explore students’ perception of task-based speaking activities (TBSAs) at a secondary school in Bien Hoa City, Vietnam. 134 students from 7th grade participated in the study. A mixed method research design was employed for the study with the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data to ensure the validity as well as the reliability of the study. For analyzing the data collected, descriptive statistics were employed for the questionnaire and content analysis for the interview respectively. The results of the study revealed that TBSAs were implemented frequently in EFL classes, confirming that all of the teachers have applied TBLT in their instruction. The findings also revealed that students not only found TBSAs useful for their improvement of language proficiency, skills of team work, and communicative competence, but they also discovered that they encountered such problems as classroom setting, mixed ability and some challenging tasks in the textbook when they join TBSAs. The study made some recommendations for both teachers and students to improve the quality of teaching and learning speaking skills at the school. This study is expected to shed light on the implementation of teaching speaking skills in the Vietnamese secondary school context and in other similar contexts.