Pre-Service English as a Foreign Language Teachers’ Perceptions of Task Based Language Teaching for Higher Education Programs in Mexico: Methodology of a Case Study

Abstract

This quantitative case study research explored English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teachers’ perception of the Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) for facilitating written language competency for learners of English in northern Mexico. The participants in the study (n = 193) were from two locations: A public university in the state of Nuevo León, Mexico with 112 EFL Pre-service teachers (Location A) and a Normal Superior School with 81 (Location B). All participants took part in the study voluntarily and responded to a survey via email. The study included a survey with a five-point scale (1. Strongly disagree, 2. Disagree, 3. Neutral, 4. Agree, 5. Strongly agree). The survey contained a demographic section followed by three subscales with a total of 35 items: Subscale one, The Teaching Process (items 1-10); Subscale two, The Role of the Task (items 11-18), and Subscale 3, The Teaching of Language Competencies (items 19-35). The last five items (31-35) asked participants about the facilitation of written expression competency through TBLT. The items of the survey responded to the three research questions of the study, regarding perceptions about TBLT approach to the teaching of English; the role of task in English language learning; and the contribution of TBLT for teaching of the written expression competency in Mexico. The construction of the survey was informed by contributions of Prabhu (1987), Nunan (2004), Swan (2005), Ellis (2009), Long (2015), Jeon and Hahn (2006), and SEP (2018). The survey was administered using the SurveyMonkey platform. Since this is an in-progress research, findings and conclusions will appear in further publications.