EFL Reading Instruction: Communicative Task-Based Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the overarching framework of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) reading instructional approach reflected in an EFL secondary school curriculum in Malaysia. Based on such analysis, a comparison was made if Communicative Task-Based Language is the overarching instructional approach for the Malaysian EFL secondary reading curriculum. This study used document reviews as the primary data collection. The coding of data analysis was based on the modifications of the components of Richards and Rodgers’s (2001) analysis of language teaching model. The curriculum was examined in terms of theories of SLA, theories of L2 reading as well as learner roles in relation to Communicative Task-Based Language Teaching (CTBLT) characteristics. The findings of the study suggest that the majority of reading tasks in the selected EFL secondary reading curriculum is highly lacking CTBLT characteristics. The results of the study were discussed in relation to the current Malaysian EFL secondary curriculum framework and their implications on the EFL reading at the tertiary level.