Hao Wang. Effects of task-based language teaching on thaikindergarten 3 students Chinese speaking skills and confidence. Master's Degree(Bilingual Education). Rangsit University Library. : Rangsit University, 2023.
Effects of task-based language teaching on thaikindergarten 3 students Chinese speaking skills and confidence
Abstract:
This experimental study aimed to enhance Thai kindergarten 3 (K3) students ability
to apply eighty Chinese words they learned in their kindergarten 1 and 2 in speaking as well
as their confidence in Chinese speaking through the implementation of task-based language
teaching (TBLT). A one group pretest-posttest design was implemented to investigate a
sample group of 14 students at a trilingual school in Bangkok, the number of which was
obtained through convenience sampling. The first hypothesis was tested using four
instruments including a 16-week lesson plan from May to September, 2022, Chinese speaking
tests, weekly assessments, and video records of the whole teaching and learning processes for
the purpose of inter-rater reliability. Observational data obtained from the video records were
also used to test the second hypothesis. Data were analyzed using paired-t test. The results of
the first hypothesis confirmed that TBLT affected the students Chinese speaking skills
positively with a significant difference of .000 (P<0.05) and that game-based tasks allowed
them to speak more Chinese. Data analyzed by a frequency distribution supported the second
hypothesis; TBLT affected their confidence in speaking Chinese gradually and positively as
evidenced by their active responses to the researcher as their teacher and discussions with
their group members, their enthusiasm for doing different tasks, their willingness to ask the
researcher for help and assist others during the lessons they liked, and their performance in
tasks that suited them. These findings revealed that TBLT enabled the K3 students in the
present context to use the Chinese vocabulary they learned previously to express themselves
verbally and meaningfully with confidence. The implementation of TBLT for K2 and K3
students at the target school was also recommended.