Task-Based Language Teaching: Traditions, Trends, And Directions For Developing Professional English Competence Among Management Students
Keywords:
task-based language teaching, professional English, management education, communicative competence, business communication, language pedagogy, workplace English, BiharAbstract
Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) emerged approximately three decades ago as a principled approach to language instruction in which real-world tasks—rather than grammatical structures or isolated vocabulary items—serve as the primary unit of syllabus design and classroom activity. This paper traces the theoretical evolution of TBLT from its origins in communicative language teaching, examines its distinctive features in comparison with traditional form-focused instruction, and investigates its application to the development of professional English skills among management students in the Indian state of Bihar. A quasi-experimental study involving 380 undergraduate management students across ten colleges was conducted over a twelve-week period. The experimental group (n = 190) received TBLT-based instruction organized around management-specific tasks—business negotiations, case study discussions, client presentations, and professional correspondence—while the control group (n = 190) continued with conventional grammar-translation and lecture-based instruction. Results indicate that the TBLT group achieved a mean overall proficiency gain of 27.8 percentage points, compared to 8.6 points in the control group, with the largest effect sizes observed for interview skills (d = 1.14) and negotiation skills (d = 1.08). Student engagement, measured through weekly Likert-scale ratings, rose steadily in the TBLT group from 3.2 to 4.5 over twelve weeks while declining in the control group from 3.1 to 2.2. The findings suggest that TBLT, when adapted to the professional communication needs of management students and implemented with sensitivity to local pedagogical constraints, offers a viable and effective alternative to prevailing instructional approaches.
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