The Effect of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) on the Iranian Intermediate ESP Learners Reading Comprehension

Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) is an approach to teaching a foreign language that seeks to engage learners in interactionally authentic language use by having them perform a series of tasks. This study investigated the effect of TaskBased Language Teaching (TBLT) on reading comprehension of the Iranian intermediate ESP learners. There were two groups of thirty five participants in the current research: a control group and an experimental group (TBLT). They were chosen randomly from the students of Payam Noor University majoring in accounting and management. The subjects were given a reading comprehension pretest (reading section ofTOEFL) in order to make them homogeneous regarding EFL reading comprehension at the outset. Then, in group A, reading comprehension was taught to the subjects based on the principles of TBLT. However, in group B, reading comprehension was taught to the students through content based language teaching. The researcher utilized independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test to analyze the collected data. The data analysis using paired samples t-test showed that teaching reading comprehension in both group was influential. The data analysis using independent samples t-test revealed that the subjects in TBLT group performed better on the reading comprehension post-test in comparison to the control group. This revealed that TBLT has been more effective than the counterpart method in teaching reading comprehension to Iranian ESP learners. Results are expected to raise the awareness of writing practitioners regarding their own practice in an EFL context. There is also a need for further studies of the use of metadiscourse in emerging genres and established ones.