Investigation of the effect of task-based language teaching approach on 4th grade English listening skills

Listening skill has been an overlooked area in lessons and English language teaching. Listening, which is the first step and one of the easiest ways to communicate, is at the forefront of the language skill area that needs to be developed in terms of foreign language learners. It has been argued by many linguists and English teachers that the task-based language teaching approach in English language teaching has positive contributions to foreign language learning. In this direction, the development of listening skills is discussed in the study on the basis of task and communication. The aim of the study is to examine whether the task-based language teaching approach has an effect on English listening skills. The study group of the research consists of 4th grade students of a primary school in Sorgun district of Yozgat in the 2022-2023 academic year. The students consist of 30 students, 16 of whom are girls and 14 are boys. An achievement test for listening skills was prepared in the study, which was designed as a quasi-experimental study with experimental and control groups. The achievement test was applied to both groups before the experimental procedure. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the pre-test results. While the researcher applied the task-based language teaching approach in the experimental group, traditional lessons were taught in the control group. In the post-test results after the experimental procedure, it was determined that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in favor of the experimental group. The post-test results showed that task-based language teaching significantly improved the English listening skills of the students in the experimental group. At the same time, it was observed that students were more active, more motivated and improved their communication skills during and after the lesson. According to this result, it can be said that the task-based teaching approach has a positive effect on the English listening skills of the students in the experimental group. Keywords:Task-Based Language Teaching, English Language Teaching, Listening Skill