Towards a More Effective Second Language Writing Pedagogy: Using Task-based Reading to Develop Writing Skills of ESL Learners

Abstract

The connection between reading and writing has been acknowledged since long and explored through comprehension-based learning activities but not investigated substantially through empirical research into task-based reading activities. This study was carried out to explore the link between task-based reading activities and improvement in ESL writing. The study was prompted by the need to inculcate the maximum level of writing proficiency in a limited time available for instruction in a 4 month semester. We experimented with introducing task-based critical reading to explore its impact on the ESL writing proficiency of Pakistani ESL learners at the undergraduate level with Computer Science as their major. Analyzing students’ pre-test and post-test scores using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and t-test revealed a significant improvement in the overall writing proficiency, content, organization, sentence structure (SS), grammar, punctuation, and spelling (GPS) of students. The findings have important pedagogical implications for improving the learners’ writing proficiency by integrating task-based reading activities in ESL teaching. The article also suggests some of the tasks that teachers can associate with reading in classrooms. It recommends making authentic reading material part of the ESL syllabus everywhere in the world in order to equip learners with better writing skills essential for success in all subjects, higher studies, and research. Keywords: Task-based language learning; proficiency; motivation; schemata; fluency; process-oriented approach; second language writing development