Thesis
From task-based to task-mediated language teaching : a case study – action research approach to developing a Chinese EFL writing course
- Creator
- Rights statement
- Awarding institution
- University of Strathclyde
- Date of award
- 2026
- Thesis identifier
- T18201
- Person Identifier (Local)
- 202056425
- Qualification Level
- Qualification Name
- Department, School or Faculty
- Abstract
- Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been widely promoted in China as an approach that emphasises learning by doing and real-world communication. Yet, cultural and practical challenges, such as the dominance of high-stakes examinations, limited teacher training, and learner expectations for teacher-led instruction (Ji & Pham, 2020; Li & Thomas, 2023; Liu et al., 2021), make TBLT application in authentic classrooms less straightforward. To better localise TBLT in China, scholars and practitioners have undertaken great efforts to adapt this approach to varied teaching contexts (e.g., Ji & Pham, 2020; Lu, 2022; Wen, 2018). Most of these adaptations are underpinned by Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories that adopt a cognitive view of acquisition, where learning is seen as an individual mental process resulting from interaction. Within this SLA-oriented trajectory, adaptations have primarily sought to improve the provision of comprehensible input and to incorporate explicit grammar instruction, thereby addressing the accuracy-oriented nature of the Chinese context. What remains underexplored, however, is how to design tasks that embed scaffolding and mediation to support learners who are accustomed to teacher-led guidance and need more systematic support. This gap highlights the potential value of a sociocultural perspective, which views language learning as a socially mediated process where learners internalise knowledge through interaction and scaffolding. To better address how learners can be scaffolded and provided with effective mediation during task-based instruction, this study adopts a sociocultural perspective to adapt Willis (1996, 2021) and Ellis et al. (2020)’s task-based pedagogical frameworks in three iterative research cycles. Situated within paradigms of both interpretivism and social constructivism, this study employs a qualitative approach to explore learners’ language development process and their perceptions of their language-learning experiences in an online writing course, while simultaneously examining how iterative action research cycles informed the development and refinement of the TBLT frameworks. Informed by the Sociocultural Theory (SCT), I designed a SCT-informed TBLT online English writing course to teach email writing in a mainland China commercial English learning centre. In this course, SCT-featured instructional designs, including focus-group Needs Analysis, SCOBAs, collaborative writing, graduated corrective feedback, were integrated into traditional three-phase TBLT framework. Following the research design of ac<on research, I, as the teacher-researcher, evaluated and developed the course in three iterative research cycles, where there was an independent cohort per cycle. The participants were 17 adult Chinese learners who planned to study abroad in English-speaking countries. Data was collected by video-recorded classroom observations and semi-structured interviews. I used microgenetic analysis (Aljaafreh & Lantolf, 1994; Ellis, 2005) to explore the classroom interactional data, and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022) to examine the data on learners’ perceptions. Findings indicate that learners’ English developed from external to internal regulation, supporting the trajectory of L2 development grounded in SCT. During this transition from other-regulation to self-regulation, learners co-regulated the learning process, appropriated language resources and mediation tools, and often made use of L1 for its cognitive, affective and interactional mediating functions. Both linguistic and pragmatic improvements were evidenced by microgenetic growth and were further affirmed by learners in semi-structured interviews. Findings also show that learners held a generally positive perception of the online writing course. They attributed their improvement mainly to teacher and peer scaffolding, the tailored instructional support, and the course’s built-in opportunities for reflection. They appreciated their contribution to the course, acknowledging their ownership of the learning process, which reflects their demonstration of learner agency. Based on the interpretation of these findings, I developed the Task-Mediated Language Teaching (TMLT) pedagogical framework that embodies both learner-centred and learner-directed nature with five principles. The framework promotes learning by doing through process-oriented language development, encourages personalised instruction, upholds task authenticity, promotes collaboration, and supports an agentive role for learners throughout the course. Built on mainstream TBLT frameworks that only underscore the learner-centredness, the TMLT pedagogical framework further deepens this aspect by elevating it to a learner-directed nature. It grants power to learners throughout the course, highlighting learner agency in process. By integrating sociocultural perspectives into TBLT, this study contributes to a less explored dimension of TBLT research, offering insights into how SCT tenets shape the adaptation process of TBLT frameworks. Pedagogically, the revised TMLT framework offers a structured approach for designing task-mediated writing courses that values learners’ co-construction of the learning process and teacher professional learning.
- Advisor / supervisor
- Sims, Rebekah
- Huang, Alan
- Resource Type
- DOI
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