EFFECTIVENESS OF TASK-BASED INSTRUCTIONS IN CHANGING THE ATTITUDES OF YOUNG LEARNERS TOWARDS ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The present experimental study explored the attitudes towards English of VII graders studying in elementary schools of Ambala district after being taught through task-based instructions. A sample of 140 randomly selected students participated in the study; of which 70 were allocated to experimental group (taught using task-based instructions) and other 70 became a part of control group (taught using grammar-translation method). A self-made attitude scale was used to explore the attitude of young learners towards English language both before and after teaching. T-tests were run to compare the attitudes of both the groups and to analyze if at all there was any significant improvement within the groups. Results of the t-tests revealed that the groups taught through task-based instructions exhibited a more favorable attitude towards English than their counterparts. This can be attributed to the fact that TBI is learner-centered approach with its emphasis on fluency and not on accuracy i.e. in task-based classroom learners use their language repertoire without the fear of being wrong.Additionally, the tasks used in the class are not mere fragmented pieces of knowledge holding any relevance in everyday life. The tasks practiced, in fact, cater to the real-world activities making learning both fun and authentic. Furthermore, the successful completion of tasks demands the learners to work either in pairs or in groups; this gives them opportunity to construct meaning in a social set-up. It is for this reason that task-based instructions can be labeled as the socio-constructivist approach to learning languages.