THE EFFECT OF TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING (TBLT) AND TASK-SUPPORTED LANGUAGE TEACHING (TSLT) ON IRANIAN FEMALE INTERMEDIATE EFL LEARNERS' WRITING PROFICIENCY

This article investigated the impact of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) and Task-Supported Language Teaching(TSLT) on writing proficiency of the Iranian intermediate EFL learners. There were three groups of sixty students of the intermediate female learners studying English in Jahad-e-Daneshghahi Language Institute, ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen. They were the students of the researcher and participated in their regular classes in the institute and were assigned to three groups including two experimental groups of Task-Based Language Teaching(TBLT) and Task-Supported Language Teaching(TSLT) and a control group. In order to provide homogeneity, all students in three groups took an achievement test before conducting the treatment. As a pre-test; students were assigned to write a task at the beginning of the course. One of the classes received TBLT approach on their writing, while the other class received TSLT approach. For both groups there were the same tasks chosen from learners' text book. The task selection was in accordance with learning standards for ESL and TOFEL writing sections. At the end of the treatment, a post-test was administered to both experimental groups and the control group. Scoring was done on the basis of scoring scale of "Expository Writing Quality Scale". The researcher used ANOVA to analyze the collected data. The data analysis revealed that the subjects in TSLT group performed better on the writing proficiency post-test than TBLT. The findings of the study also demonstrated thatboth types of TBLT and TSLT enhance writing proficiency in both groups. However, it was indicated that TSLT has been more effective than TBLT in teaching writing proficiency to Iranian EFL learners.