Chapter 11. Task-based language teaching through film-oriented activities in a teacher education program in Venezuela

The goal of this study is to explore ways of enhancing EFL students’ oral skills using task-based language teaching (TBLT) through film-oriented activities in a teacher education program in Venezuela. Students’ diaries, recordings, and focus group interviews were used to gather data from 50 third-year students enrolled in the program. The study was carried out over a ten-week period and consisted of three stages: pre-task (planning), task (delivering an oral report in class), and post-task (producing film-based activities). The study found that implementing TBLT through cooperative learning projects using films was successful and beneficial for L2 learning in multiple ways, including improvements in the students’ fluency and intelligibility in L2, their listening comprehension, and their vocabulary building skills. The project was also a useful source that exposed students to different accents of the English language and fostered collaboration among students, which ensured more authentic and purposeful communication. In line with the recent EFL teaching curriculum reforms in Venezuela, which recommend the adoption of TBLT for teacher education programs in the country, the main implication of the findings of the study is that through TBLT, these would-be teachers were able to both develop their English competence as learners, and at the same time gain firsthand knowledge about the TBLT methodology and practice in order to implement it successfully in their future teaching situations.