A Qualitative Study on Technology-Mediated TBLT for Soft Skill Development in an ESAP Course

Abstract

The present study explores the implementation of technology-mediated Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in an undergraduate course and to what extent that affects the students’ soft skill development. The qualitative study involves 11 English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) first-year students of the Fine Arts Department and implements three technology-mediated tasks: a gallery interview, increasing audience engagement with books and creating an artefact for promotional purposes, all designed by author one. The tasks provide real-content and reinforce the development of three soft skills: convincing, problem-solving and creativity skills, pertinent to a Fine Arts context. The purpose of the study is to explore a) to what extent the students believe the technology-mediated tasks affect their soft skill development throughout the semester and b) which set of skills they believe they have developed more through the tasks. The study uses the collection and analysis of qualitative data through two semi-structured interviews conducted in weeks 3 (beginning) and 13 (end) of the semester. Qualitative research aims to offer a more exploratory investigation of the development of the students’ soft skills. Research findings reveal that the tasks positively affect the students’ soft skills to a large extent, while convincing skills are more developed through the tasks. Thematic analysis also illustrates that students feel the whole ESAP curriculum and the class oral discussions conduce to the development of their soft skills.