TBLT emphasized students’ teamwork, so there were many opportunities for students to cooperate with each other and improve their interpersonal relation and communication.
Most of the students, especially the low-achievers, liked to learn English in groups, because they felt safe in their groups and could learn English from other students. From the course feedback sheet, all of the low-achievers strongly agreed the Q11, i.e. “In group discussion, I could learn English from other students”, and it’s identical with their interview data.
T: !"#$%&'()*+,-&./012345? (Would you like English teacher use TBLT in your future English class?)
Candy (low-achiever): Yes, 6789:;<=>?<0=@0&'ABC8D0EFG
;<0HIJ(Yes, because I like to learn English in groups, and I learned how to cooperate with classmates.)
T: 7KG!9:LM>NO0&'? (Why do you like learning English in groups?)
Candy (low-achiever): PQRDSTABCUVW/8J(It’s less pressure and my team member could teach me.) (IS131118s19)
Although some of the students didn’t think they could learn English from other students in the group discussion, they still got involved in their tasks happily. The following was Kitty’s response towards group learning.
XYZ[\?]^8_0`aAbc8def0=gA67+,hDiABC8jk
$/8Vl>?<0J(Although I’ve learned most of the content related to this lesson, I was still willing to learn again. Not only because it’s interesting to learn English by tasks but also because I can teach my team members.) (IS131015s16)
The results indicated that all of the students liked learning English in groups. For low-achievers, group learning offered them a safe environment and they could ask their team members for assistance; besides, they could learn English from their team members. For middle-achievers and high-achievers, they also like to lean English in groups. They engaged in the task discussion positively; at the same time, they taught their team member during the task cycle phase.
(3) Confidence
Based on the data of interviewing students and the course feedback sheets, students had confidence in English learning after the TBLT action plan and they considered carrying out tasks could benefit their English competence.
"#!
From Q17 in the course feedback sheet “Through this class to learn English I’m confident of doing well”, most of the students chose strongly agree or agree, and only few of them chose neutral. Besides, in the part II of the course feedback sheet “Which group impressed me the most?
Why?” some of the students considered their own group was the best, and it indicated they were confident about themselves.
!"#$%&'()*!"+,-./0123456+78(Our own group was the best, because we had creativity and could speak loudly on the stage.) (CF131029s1)
9:%(!"#$;%)8!"1<=4>?@A+B8(Group 5 (our group). We could speak fluently when reporting.) (CF131029s17)
!"#$;%()*!"CDEFG(/07HI+JK8(Our own group, because we had teamwork and everyone worked hard.) (CF131203s6)
9 L % ( ! " # $ ) M ! N O & P Q ( ) * ! " R S 4 & ' 8 (Group 1 (ourselves) impressed me the most, because we were the best.) (CF131203s23)
Compared with the interview question, “Do you have confidence in English learning after the TBLT course”, students’ response was also positive. The following were some of the students’ positive response towards their confidence in English learning.
!TU,+VWXYC(Z[!\A!4]^,_`!(Although there was still a lot of vocabulary I didn’t know, I thought my English was improving.) (IS131024s8)
13abcd]efg4hi(!j]^kAl,mn8/03h+,o(M!pV gLq8(I became more confident in English learning after the TBLT course. Besides, it interests me and makes me want to learn more.) (IS131031s5)
!,+VrC32s]^(/0!t@+u4vw8xy!j]^gz,mn8(I had many opportunities to speak English on the stage, and I said lots of long sentences. So I had confidence in English learning in the future. ) (IS131107s6)
!jg]^,mn()*!{yg|+V(/0!,lV>}~]^8j!4 ]^I,8(I was confident in English learning, because I could learn more and had more time to contact English, and these could benefit my English learning.) (IS131118s19) Moreover, according to Q4 to Q8 in the course feedback sheet, students considered they could practice English through performing tasks and improve their English listening, speaking, reading, and writing ability. When interviewing them “Do you think TBLT provide help in English learning (listening, speaking, reading, and writing)”, most of them thought TBLT could improve their English listening, speaking, reading, and writing competence. However, some of them considered they still needed to make an effort to review the content after class, and then their English could improve.
bcd]efgj!g]e+,(Z[! VLq>}z3h48 (TBLT provided help for my English learning, but I needed more time to review the content.) (IS131118s19)
!\Aj!4@,()*! g1@8Z[ M
l ' ( h i ( W X z 8 (It’s beneficial in listening and speaking, because it pushed me not only to concentrate what teacher or students were talking about but to practice speaking. However, if I want to improve reading and writing, I need to memorize the vocabulary and practice writing after class.) (IS131107s6)
"#!
!"#$%&'()*+,-./0(1-234*5678()9:;<=>?@0 (Through these lessons, my English became better. Yes, TBLT was beneficial for my listening, speaking, reading, and writing.) (IS131205s20)
According to the collected data, students became more confident in their English learning and themselves, and they considered their listening, speaking, reading, and writing competence of English could improve through TBLT once reviewing the content after class.
4.3.2 Students’ High Learning Motivation towards TBLT
The primary goal of the present study was to improve students’ learning motivation through TBLT, so it’s essential to get students’ opinion towards the impact of TBLT on their learning motivation. During the ten weeks TBLT action plan, students displayed their high learning motivation towards the course. Most of the students considered TBLT could improve their English competence, and they had more confidence in English learning.
Besides, because all of the students had interests in the tasks and the task difficulty was within their abilities, they didn’t give up when encountering difficulty but ask other students or English teacher for help. All of the students were willing to get involved in English learning, and they also developed their self-regulated learning, built up their confidence, and achieved their satisfaction in English learning.
The part I in the course feedback sheet related to students’ attitudes and learning motivation towards TBLT, and students’ response was positive. Therefore, it indicated that students had high learning motivation during the TBLT action plan. When interviewing students “What would you solve the problems when encountering the difficulties during the task execution” and “If you don’t understand the English which the teacher or other students use, what would you do”, most of the students said they would make a guess first, and then ask other students or the English teacher.
A(>BC)DE'(CF(GHI)J70KLMNO(BP)*+'(CQRS )TUVWXYZ[\]'^_(B`a[-8B8'(CF(GHI)J7bcW RS0(When I came across the difficulty, I would ask our group members. If I didn’t know the English, firstly, I would guess the meaning based on teacher’s body language or the picture displayed on the screen. If I was still not sure, I would ask my team members or English teacher.) (IS131015s15)
Besides, when interviewing students “Would you like English teacher use TBLT in your future English class”, all of the students’ response was also positive. The following were some of the positive response towards TBLT.
d>e'fg(GBhij&=klmno0(It was fun, and we didn’t need to stay at our seats during the entire class.) (IS131015s15)
(pqh234*567r7*+'st(uv7Odw0(I liked learning English in TBLT, because I can learn more content.) (IS131017s1)
"#!
!"#$%&'()*!+,-./0123(I learned more vocabulary and I have much more interests towards English.) (IS131024s3)
!4567,-89:6;<=>,?@"A@!B(CD!EFGHIJKLMN O3(I would like English teacher use TBLT in my future English class, because I liked group discussion and reporting on the stage.) (IS131118s19)
!PQRST$UVLWX,-Y(CD!Z[$/13(I was looking forward to your English class every week, because I had a lot of fun in your class.) (IS131205s20)
In sum, students got high learning motivation after the TBLT action plan. Although there was some difficulty in the class, they didn’t give up but make a try or seek others’ help.
Moreover, they liked TBLT and would like their English use TBLT in their future English class.
4.4 What were observers’ attitudes of implementing TBLT?
In order to understand observers’ (i.e. the homeroom teacher and the English teacher) attitudes of implementing TBLT, they were invited to do the classroom observation during the TBLT action plan, the homeroom teacher observed 4 times and the English teacher observed 2 times. Besides, the interview was used to collect observers’ opinion towards TBLT. From the collected data, observers pointed out the advantages and the difficulties of implementing TBLT, and they also provided their insight of carrying out TBLT.
4.4.1 The Advantages of Implementing TBLT
Both observers considered the advantages of implementing TBLT were to improve students’ learning motivation and to involve all of the students in learning.