technology-mediated task-based language teaching

Learners’ self-regulation is of paramount importance in online language learning. Thus, the present study was conducted to compare three online instructional methods of Technology-Mediated Task-Based Language Teaching (TM-TBLT), Problem-Based Instruction Online (PBIO), and Online Flipped Learning (OFL) with each other and with lecture-based online teaching in terms of their effect on language learners’ self-regulation.  To this end, 120 intermediate-level English learners were selected through convenience sampling, screened through the Oxford Quick Placement Test (OQPT), and assigned (randomly) to one control and three experimental groups. They received instruction according to the principles of TM-TBLT, PBIO, OFL and a conventional lecture-based method, respectively. The data were collected using an online self-regulated English learning (OSEL) questionnaire and analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The findings revealed that all three experimental treatments had significant effects on online language learning self-regulation. The comparisons showed that all three instructional methods were equally effective in improving the participants’ online self-regulation. The findings will have practical implications for teachers to choose the best-fitting online instructional methods for improving learners’ self-regulation in online contexts. These findings can also help syllabus designers and material developers to write syllabi or create materials with special attention to fostering language learners’ self-regulation.

The present study aimed at investigating the efficacy of the implementation of technology-mediated reading comprehension tasks to develop learner autonomy and metacognitive strategy use of Iranian intermediate EFL learners in a reading comprehension class. To this end, a quasi-experimental design was used in which 80 participants were selected based on their performance in a placement test (Oxford Quick Placement Test), and were assigned on a random basis to experimental and control groups. Learner autonomy questionnaire as well as metacognitive awareness of reading strategies inventory (MARSI) version1.0. were used as pretest. After 20 sessions of reading comprehension instruction in the form of technology-mediated task-based instruction in the experimental group and traditional explicit instruction for the control group, the aforementioned questionnaires were administered again as posttest. The obtained pretest and posttest scores were analyzed statistically using ANCOVA. The results indicated that technology-mediated task-based instruction was more effective in enhancing learner autonomy and metacognitive strategy use in comparison to the traditional explicit reading comprehension instruction. The results of this study bear implications for teachers, teacher trainers and material developers as they can use the tasks implemented in this study to change the role of learners from passive recipient of information to autonomous learners who resort to strategies facing a problem. Further, using these tasks in a class of reading comprehension, learners are not only input receivers but also output producers.