Factors Affecting Task-Based Language Teaching from Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Teachers play the most important part in the application of a new method or approach in English language education. However, whether they implement the method successfully or not depends on various factors. This paper aims to explore the factors that affect English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ implementation of task-based language teaching (TBLT) at the tertiary level through the use of two instruments: “focus-groups” with five experienced EFL teachers and interviews with ten individual teachers at five universities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The findings revealed that factors affecting teachers’ implementation of TBLT include external factors such as time allocation, testing, students’ motivation and English proficiency and textbooks, and internal factors such as teachers’ experience, knowledge about TBLT, English proficiency, and ability to use technology. The findings of the study provide EFL curriculum designers and teachers with both theoretical and practical implications in the implementation of TBLT at the tertiary level in Vietnam.