The Impact of Task-Based English Language Teaching(TBLT) and Content-Based Instruction (CBI) on the WritingPerformance of Iranian EFL Learners

This study explored the effects of Task-Based and Content-Based Instruction on the writingperformance of Iranian intermediate level EFL learners. The participants were ۸۴ learners who were placedinto three groups, including CBI (N=۲۹), TBLT (N=۲۸), and the control group (N=۲۷). While the TBLTgroup received task-based writing assignments, the CBI group received ten reading-based writinginstructions, and the control group was exposed to the conventional method of writing practice.After ۱۰ sessions of treatment, the learners in all groups were given a writing posttest, the scores ofwhich were analyzed to address the research question. The results of the statistical analyses indicated thatboth Content-Based and Task-Based writing instructions significantly contributed to writing performance ofthe participants. Moreover, it was found that TBLT was significantly more effective compared to CBI incontributing to the learners’ writing performance. Based on the findings, EFL teachers are recommended toemploy TBLT more, compared with CBI when it comes to enhancing EFL learners’ writing performance.

Keywords:

Writing performance , writing instruction , content-based instruction (CBI) , task-basedlanguage teaching (TBLT)