Comparing students' preference between the task-based language teaching and teacher-centered approach a reading class

The present study aimed to achieve two goals: to compare the students’ preference between the task-based language teaching (TBLT) approach and the teacher-centered approach in reading science articles. The study also wants to find out how do cultural factors influence learners’ learning preferences between these two approaches. In the first half of the semester, 43 EFL first year medical university students at Ubon Ratchathani University were taught by the teacher-centered approach where they learned from the lecturer. Under this traditional teacher-centered learning, the students usually listened to the teacher’s explanations on vocabulary, grammar points and sentence meanings. Often there were interactions between the teacher and the students; the teacher often asked the students to answer questions or express opinions on the issues under discussion. They were also required to take quizzes after certain sessions of lecture. In the second half of the semester, participants were taught using task-based activities. Participants were asked to work in pairs or groups in order to read and understand a text and complete task-based activities. Before the semester ended, students were given questionnaires to answer which approach they preferred and why. The findings revealed that TBLT mean score is slightly lower than that of the teacher-centered approach. In paired t-test, comparing the two, the paired significance was sig. (2-tailed) p< .064 which was slightly above the p< .005 which can be interpreted as neither approach is significantly preferred. The opinion-based questionnaire revealed otherwise. It revealed that 67% percent or 29 out of 43 participants preferred teacher-centered approach; 23% or only 10 participants preferred TBLT approach; 4% or 2 preferred the combination while 4% or 2 didn’t choose any approach. In short, the teacher centered approach was still preferred by most learners compared to TBLT, and some learners suggested the combination of both approaches. Qualitative data from observations and findings showed that the students’ teaching and learning preferences were influenced by cultural factors.