Task-Based Language Learning and Student Motivation in Vocabulary Acquisition

This article explores the impact of task-based language learning on motivating non-English majors to acquire vocabulary at a community college in Vietnam.An experimental study was used to investigate the effectiveness of the use of text-based tasks to enhance students' vocabulary.The quantitative analysis used data from a questionnaire and vocabulary tests to examine students' motivation in vocabulary learning over twelve weeks.The qualitative analysis from follow-up interviews with students examined their attitudes towards the use of text-based tasks in terms of task-based language learning.The findings indicated that the participants were motivated to learn vocabulary and their vocabulary achievement improved after the experiment.Suggestions for language teachers to make better use of this approach are also discussed.Vocabulary is viewed as a major part of language proficiency as it allows learners to use four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Richards & Renandya, 2002).This importance is recognised whether the language in question is a first, second, or foreign language (DeCarrico, 2001).However, many students at the community college level in Vietnam lack the vocabulary needed in many real-life situations, for example, at job interviews.This may be due to poor motivation, insufficient practice, and ineffective ways of learning vocabulary.Forty-eight percent of second-year students and 51% of first-year students at the community college in this study scored below five points out of ten on a vocabulary test at the beginning of the second semester.It could therefore be argued that the traditional vocabulary teaching technique in use, to some extent, was not an effective way to help students to communicate in English.Hence, it was important for the teachers of English at this college to stimulate students to learn vocabulary to improve the students' vocabulary gain.A different approach in teaching vocabulary to arouse students' interest in learning vocabulary needed to be considered.The effects of task-based learning (TBL) in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) classes have been addressed in the literature by a wide range of research.Studies have shown that