Meanwhile, the task-based group had a significantly higher mean on the posttest of expressive writing (M = 17.34) than pretest (M = 15.73) with Mean Difference = 1.61 and p = .012. Again, considerable improvement was obtained in the next group in which learners experienced progress for expression ofpersonal feelings, thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Thus, the second null-hypothesis as “task-based instruction did not have any significant effect on the development of expressive writing among EFL learners” also was rejected.
In addition to descriptive statistics, Pairwise Comparisons were conducted to compare each pair of posttests in both types of writings and indicate whether the difference between them was significant. Table 6 indicates that there was not any significant difference between task-based group’s means on posttests of referential (M = 17.34) and expressive (M = 17.34) writing with Mean Difference = .000 and p = 1. Thus, the third null-hypothesis as “there was not any statistically significant difference between the effect of TBI on referential and expressive writings among EFL learners” was supported.
By using three-stage tasks, learners’ ability in writing referential and expressive texts was improved. Statistically, significant difference was found between learners’ performance in pretests and posttests in each group revealing that implementing tasks is one of the influencing factors to enhance writing ability. The findings of the current study provided support for the position taken by some scholars in relation to the effectiveness of task-based techniques in instructional situations. The obtained results are in line with the findings declared by Sundari, HusnainiFebriyanti, and Saragih (2017). They examined the use of developed task-based materials in EFL writing classes at university level. However, the current study focused on two types of writings i.e., referential and expressive but their findings showed that developed task-based materials significantly affect writing performance in the forms of format, content, organization, and grammar and sentence.
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Findings are in line with those of Kafipour, Mahmoudi, and Khojasteh (2018) as well who investigated the effect of task-based language teaching on analytic writing in EFL classrooms. The results showed significant improvements in the writing ability of the Iranian EFL learners who practiced writing skills using task-based language teaching techniques. Besides, using task-based writing techniques improved the Iranian EFL learners’ ability significantly in terms of different aspects of the writing competence, including sentence mechanics, language use, vocabulary, content, and organization.
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
According to the results of this research, that the employment of task-bases instruction could increase the writing ability of EFL learners in both referential and expressive texts. Exploring the effect of task-based instruction (TBI) on the improvement of EFL learners’ referential and expressive writing, the researcher could come to some conclusions. The first conclusion of the current study was that task-based instruction affects the development of referential writing among EFL learners.This is because task-based instruction creates a natural language learning context and writing tasks may help to express meaning and transmit messages across situations that resemble real-world conditions (Nunan, 2010).This study is beneficial for teachers who want to promote better writing performance of students in general, and two types of writing in particular. TBI enhanced writing improvement in referential and expressive texts. Therefore, separate analysis and teaching of different texts is recommended. It may also be useful to improve students’ level of writing in proficiency tests.
