https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9308-701X

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6436-3538. Contacto: vamin21_12@hotmail.com

English is used as an international language to share information, knowledge, culture and

communication between people from all over the world. The teaching of any language involves

four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) which students should master to

sample of 30 students was randomly selected for this study. Consequently, different

mathematical-statistical procedures were used to gather, organize and present information by

means of tables. The data were gathered from the written materials produced by the students as a

result of task cycles completion. The results showed that the Task-based learning method which

was implemented contributed to enhance student writing skills in English as a Foreign Language

learning.

The teaching and learning process of any language involves four language skills (listening,

2021, p. 10).

Then teaching and learning of writing are also regarded as complex tasks because of its dynamic

nature. Researchers considered that writing required extensive cognitive activity and planning.

Appropriately writhing processes require not only the active use of writing knowledge but positive

attitudes to deploy the knowledge and regulate learning behavior (Teng, Sun, & Xu, 2017).

Having said that, learning of writing takes considerable time for students to become proficiently

competent with the types of writing they are expected acquire when learning a foreign language

(L2). That is why, the acquisition of English as a L2 writing skills has gained significance with

the expansion of businesses as a result of the economic and cultural globalization (Alharbi, 2017).

In L2 writing assessment, different dimensions and indicators can be assumed to measure students

understand not just what the current situation is (the level of students' writing proficiency), but

also how things have changed or are going to change over time (what changes are expected in

writing proficiency of the tenth-students). Most researchers concluded that TBL improves the

student’s language skills (speaking, reading, listening and writing) (Afifah & Devana, 2020).

The problem worldwide when students learn English is to fluently acquire the communicative

skills, especially the skill of writing. Valli (2016) indicates that writing is an intellectual activity

that leads to verbal skills. Writing in actual sense means clear and effective communication in

written form. No magic formula will make writing quick and easy. One can master the art of

writing with constant practice. Writing is not inborn; it is to be learnt. According to Misbah (2017)

starting point of this study is the difficulty that students have in learning a new language, since it

preliminary observation, the students of the Abdón Calderón Fiscal Educational Unit show some

limitations in the students' writing ability such as: Students do not have motivation to write letters,

essays and paragraphs and students have difficulties to communicate written ideas based on real

life. contexts and situations.

In this research, it was noticed that the main problem is the lack of vocabulary and the lack of

study base in many students who are not motivated by their fear of knowing and learning a new

language, learning goes hand in hand with the experiences and demonstration of what was learned

in the classroom. Due to the lack of motivation, they also have learning deficiencies, therefore

developing writing skills is a challenge for teachers and a challenge for students.

strategy that will be used is Learning based on specific tasks to successfully develop the skill of

writing. In order to achieve our objective, we made a plan that highlighted the dates and

achievement goals in which we could achieve each goal successfully and thus demonstrate the

effectiveness of using this learning strategy.

Weir, (2005) considered four main dimensions of writing: structure an organization; content;

argumentation and language use; and mechanics where each dimension has five sub-dimensions.

The different levels of writing proficiency are indicated by both a number and a qualitative

description.

The skill of writing development is based on the level of each student and understanding that

other skills are intertwined and to develop one with the other you must have reached a

considerable level of each of the skills. Let us remember that the difficulties in learning to write

are based on the lack of practice and lack of time in preparing to study a foreign language.

There are different approaches of teaching EFL. As students have different learning styles,

teachers should be creative to find new methods and strategies of teaching writing to satisfy

students diversity in terms of intelligence types, learning styles and cognitive development. Those

has become a topic which caught researchers’ attention in recent decades (Liu & Ren, 2021). In

addition, TBL is adopted in English language curricula of different counties worldwide (Sholeh,

2020; Liu & Ren, 2021; and Waluyo, 2019). Published research works showed that English

language teachers hold positive attitudes on TBLT as a current EFL approach (Bhandari, 2020).

In the same direction, the students also have positive attitude towards TBL and considered TBL

activities as a good way to improve English as L2 (Afifah & Devana, 2020). Along with the

above-mentioned ideas, TBL has been stablished as an innovative approach which was developed

from the Communicative Approach (Sholeh, 2020). The literature review showed that TBL is

defined an activity, a process, a teaching approach, a teaching strategy or a teaching method. For

example, Sholeh, (2020); Safitri, Rafli, & Dewanti, (2020) and Bhandari, (2020) defined TBL as

Tamimi, Muhsen Abudllah, & Ali Bin-Hady, 2020), define TBL as a method which involves

students in meaningful tasks using the target language. As referred, TBL involve students in

meaningful tasks which can be used to develop al language skills (speaking, reading, writing and

listening). Example of such tasks include creating a poster, producing newsletter, writing different

types of letters, creating a presentation, producing a video or a short movie, writing an article,

making a pamphlet, designing a map, among others (Willis, 2021). TBLT can be developed in

three stages or phases procedure, also known as TBLT cycle (Al-Tamimi, Muhsen Abudllah, &

Ali Bin-Hady, 2020):

2019). The main role of students in TBL is to complete the meaningful task appropriately and this

role include other roles such as group participation, monitoring, and risk-taker and innovator.

As a student-centered approach, the main role of the language teacher in TBL is to facilitate the

students learning throughout a meaningful task. Such tasks are directly related with real-life

problems and situations. In the meantime, teachers monitor students’ performance and intervenes

when necessary (Bhandari, 2020).

This paper assumed two variables of interest. The dependent variable or outcome is the writing

proficiency of students. Whereas the TBL method was defined as the independent variable. This

definition of variable was assumed from Hofman & Sutherland, (2018) mixed research approach

approach.

A mixed research approach was applied in which qualitative and quantitative methods were used

at the same time (Hofman & Sutherland, 2018). The methodology assumed was in accordance

with the longitudinal study theory. This study not only explored what the current situation of

students' writing proficiency is but also what changes are expected in writing proficiency of the

tenth-students. If there is any change, the study included a statistical analysis to evaluate if those

changes are significant under a reasonable significant level.

The participants of this study were 30 EFL students of tenth-grade of basic education from Fiscal

Abdon Calderon Educational Unit which is the total population. Abdon Calderon National

consisted of a comparison of students writing performance in two specific scenarios, before (pre-

TBLT method) and after (pre-TBLT method) to track writing performance. To implement TBLT

method, a procedure (TBLT cycle) was applied which consists of three phases or stages (Gan &

Leung, 2020; and Safitri, Rafli, & Dewanti, 2020).

According to the referred researcher, the TBLT method can be applied in a form of cycle where

the phases of this cycle can be named as Pre-Task or Phase 1, During-Task or Phase 2 and Post-

Task or Phase 3). TBL comprises a real-world situation and the task.

meaningful tasks focus on the real-world contexts. After the new topic is introduced,

language expressions and vocabulary words which are needed to complete the task are

carefully reviewed.

situations which require written communication. In this phase, students are grouped and

include planning of individual and group work.

encouraged to report their activities and feedback are given. The evaluation takes place

Mathematics and statistics methods were used to describe, summarize and present dataset in form

of tables as well as look for patterns in order to make predictions or inferences regarding Task-

Based Learning and writing proficiency. Descriptive statistics included the methods for

measuring central tendencies such as mean. It also included methods for measuring variability as

range and standard deviation.

A T-Test was applied to compare means of each dimension and sub-dimension in order to track

writing performance. The purpose of T-Test is to explore if there is a significant different

with Ho as the null hypothesis. Taking into consideration that only three dimensions and nine

sub-dimensions were compared (a total of twelve, less than 30), a T-test was chosen as

Because the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of TBLT method to

enhance writing performance in EFL lessons of tenth-grade students, ten TBLT classes were

planned and implemented in a period of five weeks (two TBLT classes per week). TBL structure

comprises a title, a real-world situation and the task. Table 2 shows one example of TBLT which

was designed and implemented based on (Willis, 2021).

Real world situation: You were searching for a job which, in your opinion, would be in

accordance with your profession and educational level. Certain day, you were reading a

A difference in all sub-dimensions and dimensions of students writing performance was observed

mean of +2,09). Comparing dimensions of students writing proficiency, the highest improvement

was observed in D2 (Content) which experienced a change in mean from 1,98 to 4,21 (a difference

of +2,23). The least improvement was observed in D3 (Language Use). It experienced a change

in mean from 2,00 to 4,15 (an increment in mean of +2,15).

The statistical procedure implemented reveled a p value of 0.00828 which is less than the

significance level of 0,05. As a result of the p value found, the null hypothesis is rejected. This

result showed that there is a significant difference in in terms of students writing performance

between Pre-TBLT and Post-TBLT means. In fact, the implementation of TBLT method

significatively enhance students writing performance in EFL.

The improvement that was observed was in the Supporting details and Transition words, this

indicates that the vocabulary that students acquire through task-based learning is very significant,

as indicated by Milarisa (2019), of course, who makes it clear in her research since there were a

significant effect on the students who were taught by TBLT using Supporting details and

Transition words.

Researchers considered writing as a complex process (Weir, 2005; Wijekumar, et al., 2019 and

Myers, et al., 2021). That is why, considerable research papers have been published during the

past few decades to assess writing in EFL. In that regards, different dimensions and indicators

have been defined to measure students writing proficiency. Becker, (2018), writing assessment

framework and rating scale can be used for assessing students writing proficiency in EFL

Currently, TBL method had won popularity and had been adopted in English language curricula