The Effects of Task-Based Language Teaching on Writing Achievement at a High School in Vietnam

The current study determines the effectiveness of using task-based language instructions in teaching writing at a high school in Thai Nguyen province. The participants consist of 92 grade 10 students from Bing Yen high school, Dinh Hoa district. The study employs a mix method research design (MMR) as the plan for the research. The results of the study reveals that the results of writing performance were reported at a low level (M=3.72). The results also confirmed that the intervention worked well for the experimental group. The mean score of the pre-test (the baseline for both groups) was M=3.72. The intervention focused on TBLT instructions. After first five weeks, the means of post-test1 were M=4.96 and M=3.83 for experimental group and control group respectively. There was a significant difference between the mean of pre-test and post-test1 for the experimental group (M=3.72 compared to M=4.96), while the control group showed a little improvement (M=3.72 compared to M=3.83) the difference was not significant. After another five weeks, the difference in the mean scores of the experimental group were far more than the mean scores of the control group, M=5.56 and M=4.45 respectively. By the end of the fifteenth week of the intervention, the mean of post-test 3 of the experimental group reached M=6.41, the mean for control group was M=5.54. The difference of the mean scores in the pre-test and post-test revealed a significant improvement in both groups. However, the experimental group showed a greater improvement, M=6.41 and M=5.54 respectively. It can infer that the uses of TBLT writing instruction improved writing achievement greatly.