Development of Learning Achievement in the English Course on Present Simple Tense by using a Task-based Learning Model for Students of 6th Level of Primary Education

Abstract

Background and Aims: Present Simple Tense is fundamental to learning English. If a student does not understand the basics of English, a teacher must strengthen that student with a solid foundation by making him or her understand grammar so that the student can develop language skills, and also extend knowledge of Present Simple Tense to other tenses. This research aims to 1) Develop task-based learning plans about Present Simple Tense for students under the 6th level of primary education, 2) Compare academic achievement in Present Simple Tense before studying and after studying with the adoption of task-based learning model among students under the 6th level of primary education.

Methodology: This is a quasi-experimental research with a one-group pretest-posttest design. The target group included one class of six students studying English at the 6^th level of primary education at Anubanthachang School, Tha Chang District, Sing Buri Province, in the 2nd semester of the academic year 2023. The research instruments comprised nine task-based learning plans, 2 hours each, totaling 18 hours, and an academic achievement test after using the task-based learning model, which contained 30 questions with 4 multiple-choice questions each. Statistics for analysis included average and standard deviation.

Results: 1) Results of learning plan development were that nine task-based learning plans of Present Simple Tense and ten tasks accompanying the learning plans were built, 2) Regarding comparing learning achievement on Present Simple Tense, it was found that students who have passed activities using a task-based learning model gained higher academic achievements after studying (average of 24.04 with a standard deviation of 1.20) than before studying (average of 16.30 with standard deviation of 3.26).

Conclusion: This research shows that the task-based learning model is a learning model that mainly concentrates on tasks by using activity-centered learning. A student will learn content through activities and practices on his own while a teacher guides tasks, which will help increase the student’s learning performance and achievement.