Effect of WhatsApp-based Tasks on Developing EFL Students’ Writing Skills

Abstract

The emergence of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and the development of MALL technology have been two of the most significant trends in TESOL. However, investigating how MALL combined with TBLT can promote EFL learners’ writing abilities is still lacking in the literature. In light of this, this study examines the effect of WhatsApp-based tasks on EFL learners’ paragraph writing performance of 66 Moroccan secondary school students. The participants were randomly assigned to the control (n=32) and experimental groups (n=34). While the control group taught writing in the traditional method using the process writing approach, the experimental group were taught writing through tasks in a WhatsApp-based instruction mode where participants chatted, shared and commented on each other tasks for one semester. To collect data, a writing test was used as a pre- and post-test to assess the participants’ performance in both groups. The findings, based on Independent T-Tests (SPSS-26), indicated that the experimental group outperformed the control group in the overall writing performance as well as in the five targeted writing subskills: content and ideas, appropriate organisation, variety of vocabulary, accurate use of language, and accurate use of mechanics (Reid, 1993; Brown, 2006). As a result, this suggested the pedagogical impact of MALL and TBLT, as an innovative mode of delivery challenging traditional structure-based models, on EFL learners’ paragraph writing performance.