Task-based assessment and its impact on oral presentations of undergraduates: Insights from students' narratives

Abstract

Innovative teaching methods stimulate learners' interest in learning and assessments. In this context, task-based assessment can be utilized to benefit the learners, offering them opportunities to upgrade their oral language proficiency. As the existing literature indicates a gap in task-based assessments' effect on the oral presentation of the undergraduates, research examining the interplay between the task-based assessment and the oral presentation skills could potentially benefit both the teachers and the learners. This study presents the findings of an investigation into how task-based assessment affects the oral presentations of the undergraduates. Six third-year sports science undergraduates purposively sampled, based on their personal branding video marks constitute the sample population of this study. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. The interviews were transcribed intelligent verbatim and analyzed using thematic narrative analysis. The participants cited previous speaking assessments as non-engaging, ineffective, and product-focused, while they perceived their experience with task-based assessment as an important change that prompted them to rethink their language learning approach and readjust their learning strategies through the exercise of autonomous learning. It has eventually resulted in individual repositioning, as the participants were often critical of the pedagogical boundaries that had limited their exposure to the contextualized use of the language. Moreover, the participants seek membership in imagined English-speaking communities of their discipline, as their need for presentation skills is predominantly driven by the desire to secure a future career. The study concludes that allowing the free exercise of autonomy within a structured task-based assessment framework assigns learners an investigative role and agency that begins with self-realization and ends in repositioning. It suggests aligning course content with the learner needs and including more explorative spoken-related tasks such as research-based group discussions, personal branding videos, and press conferences that assess their oral presentation skills in a contextually meaningful language learning setting.