A Task-Based Approach to Speaking and Listening Skill Development: Improving Communicative Proficiency in Intermediate-Level EFL Students

Аннотация

Learning foreign languages has become more and more important for young people who want to study or work elsewhere in today's globalized society. This article examines useful speaking and listening tasks created for a group of English language learners at the intermediate (B1 level). The study emphasizes two linked tasks: a map-based activity to improve listening comprehension and a visual description task to improve speaking fluency. Learners are encouraged to increase their descriptive vocabulary, enhance their accuracy and fluency, and develop strategic listening skills through organized group projects and simulations of real-world situations. The findings show that both activities are pedagogically appropriate for the learners' level and considerably contribute to their productive skill development, as indicated by academic literature and CEFR recommendations. Keywords: Productive skills, speaking task, listening comprehension, real-life communication, EFL learners, B1 level, task-based learning, CEFR, young learners, group work, vocabulary development, fluency, pronunciation, ESL pedagogy. language for educational purposes as well as Introduction: Learning new languages becomes crucial preparation for IELTS examination. They have to part of young generation’s life in our era as it opens the improve their knowledge and level from B1 to B2, C1 door of new chances everywhere. Especially English and take higher scores in CEFR and IELTS exams. Their language is expanding and becoming essential main aim from leaning language is to improve their language and a basic means of communication in language proficiency, become fluent and study abroad foreign countries for the people whose first language is after finishing the school. not English. The group that I have to teach consists of 10 students. they are 14 years old and study in the 8th My students are able to support their ideas with grade of secondary school. Their English language relevant examples and generate multiple questions to proficiency is intermediate (B1). My students are keep conversation, match 2 speakers’ speeches and independent users of the target language and can identify the main meaning, compare and contrast understand speeches on familiar situations such as ideas, plans and information, understand daily work, travel, leisure, school and others. They can announcements, reports and statements in a limited communicate on a daily basis and many topics related degree. My learners can understand texts with high- to daily situations and describe dreams, hopes, frequency vocabulary. However, they face difficulties ambitions, events and experiences, their backgrounds with low-frequency words. Moreover, students have and give reasons and explanations of the plans as well problems related to intonation, pronunciation of some as opinions. My learners are also able to read words, fluency in speaking and vocabulary range is newspapers, simple textbooks, assignments and their limited. My students are able to find main ideas and explanations (Using the CEFR: Principles of good details from passages, identify the topics, connect practice, 2011). My students have been learning people to actions based on oral descriptions in a English language since the 5th grades. They are learning detailed way. They can find relationship between main American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research 40 https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajsshr American Journal Of Social Sciences And Humanity Research (ISSN: 2771-2141) opinions and details in paragraphs, identify reasons for challenging about describing the picture and strategies claims and opposite points of view. They also can they used to do this task. [L, S, D] produce short paragraphs with essential ideas and The task that I chose belongs to real-life tasks category. some details, write dialogues based on personal It teaches to demonstrate streets ways and locations. I experiences, provide feedbacks with acceptable used it for pedagogical purposes. Describing a picture explanations and examples and support their ideas is appropriate for my target learners’ level. Because my with relevant samples students are good at describing real-life situations and (https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/Ca this task seeks to expand the knowledge within this nDo-KeyUses-Gr-6-8.pdf). They need an improvement area by making it impressive. They have enough in speaking and listening skills as these skills are weak vocabulary in this topic and skills to do this task points of my students and also in writing, reading skills. (Bassano, 2013). This is because, my students do not Moreover, my students have good grammar face difficulties while doing this activity. The objective knowledge. of this task is to make students more fluent, confident, Task 1-Speaking activity (describing a picture)- enhance vocabulary range and explanation strategies. pronunciation- Communicative language teaching Describing something is one