The Effect of Using a Task-Based Interactive Learning Program on English Reading Ability of Higher Vocational Certificate Accounting Students

Abstract

The three purposes of this study were to study the effect of a task-based interactive learning program for learners’ reading comprehension based on the standard criterion of 80/80, to compare the effectiveness of the task-based interactive learning program with the traditional teaching method for the first year higher vocational certificate students of E-Tech, and to examine the difference in learners’ satisfaction between the standard reading program and a task-based interactive learning program. The informants were 40 first year Accounting students, who were divided by purposive sampling method into two groups of 20 learners, an experimental and control group with 20 learners in each group. The research instruments used for data collection were lesson plans, a task-based interactive learning program, learners’ perception questionnaires, interview questions, and an achievement test (Pretest and Posttest). Quantitative data were collected and analyzed by means, standard deviations, and t-tests with SPSS. The interview data were read, reread, and then coded. Coding organized the raw data into meaningful categories. The results of this study indicated that the task-based interactive learning program was effective on the efficiency standard criterion E1 at 85.1% and E2 at 81.33%. The English reading ability of the first year Accounting students through the task-based interactive learning program after the experiment was significantly higher than at the pretest at the .01 level. From the questionnaire result, the overall students’ satisfaction rate after using a task-based interactive learning program wast “good.” Additionally, the interview results showed that the students were positively satisfied with the task-based interactive learning program. Recommendations were made and presented in two categories: benefits for future practice and further research.

Keywords : Task-Based Learning, Interactive Learning Program, Higher Vocational Certificate Students, English Reading