The Effectiveness of Content-Based Language Teaching and Task-Based Language Teaching in Teaching Reading to Learners of Military English

Abstract

This study explored the effectiveness of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Content-Based Language Teaching (CBLT) on the reading ability of military English learners. 120 sophomore learners of military English were pretested and then homogenized and evenly assigned to four classes, with two belonging to the control group and the other two the experimental group. The control group received reading instruction based on CBLT, while the experimental group received reading instruction based on TBLT, both two sessions a week for 10 weeks. After the intervention, they were posttested. Then, their pretest scores and posttest scores were analyzed on SPSS 19.0 using paired samples t-test and independent samples t-test. A follow-up interview was also carried out to collect students’ feedback on the teaching method used. The results show that both the TBLT group and the CBLT group improved significantly regarding their reading ability from the pretest to the posttest, with the TBLT group outperformed the CBLT group in the posttest. It can be concluded that both TBLT and CBLT methods are effective in teaching reading comprehension to learners of military English, with TBLT method being more effective. A follow-up interview was carried out to explore the underlying reasons and some pedagogical implications are listed accordingly.