Task-Based Activities to Improve Speaking Skills in A2 EFL Learners

Resumen

Ecuador, a plurilingual and multilingual country highly influenced by globalization, seeks to strengthen English language skills. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of implementing task-based activities to develop oral skills in A2 learners of English as a foreign language. A total of 30 teenage students from Unidad Educativa Particular Raúl González Astudillo-La Providencia were administered a 4-week treatment, during which they developed specific tasks, such as role-plays, debates, discussions, and presentations that predominantly involved oral communication in an individual and collaborative manner. Moreover, the literature review of this article consisted of the most prominent authors whose results are aligned and contrasted with the current reality of the country, as well as their publication dates between 2010 and 2025. To achieve the objective, this study was quantitative in nature with a quasi-experimental and action research design to collect data from two groups, A and B. Group A was exposed to the treatment, and subsequently, conclusions were drawn that may suggest modifications to the teacher-researcher's teaching methodologies. To measure results and students' perceptions, instruments such as a pre-test and post-test with a rubric, as well as a survey with a Likert scale, were implemented successfully. Therefore, motivation, interaction, and fluency rates increased when students in the controlled sample were exposed to task-based activities, in contrast to those in group B, who did not receive the treatment.