Abstract:

Communication is an important skill, for it equips students with a set of abilities they can use for the rest of their lives. Communications skill is most often used to express opinions, make arguments, offer explanations, transmit information, and make impressions upon others. The researchers had observed that first year student teachers (FYST were always shy and unable to express themselves in class in fear of being ridiculed by others. This study focuses on the importance of implementing task-based approach (TBA) in improving communicative skill of English First Additional Language (EFAL) first year student teachers. The study presents the experiences and viewpoints of FYST in the teaching English module. This is done in the context of both oral presentation and written reports of EFAL first year students. The study draws on qualitative data from semi structured interviews and observation with FYST whose home language (L1) isiXhosa. It has been studied with 12 students of FYS teachers to gather data. In this study, all the findings indicate that TBA applied in isiXhosa EFAL teaching class is very effective and beneficial for the enhancement of the students. The students in the TBA group considered this approach to be an important medium of input enhancement for improving communicative skill.

Keywords:

Task-based approach, communicative skill, English First Additional Language, first year student teachers.