الفهرس 
chapter one- problem of studyOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The main objective of teaching English as a foreign language exceeds the level of memorizing vocabulary and learning grammatical structures to enable students to use English for communication. Assisting students in the development of EFL communicative competence is a challenge that demands both the teacher’s and the student’s attention because of the critical role that communicative competence plays in language learning. Task-based approach is a student-centered approach aiming at promoting students’ communicative competence. Compared to the traditional teaching methods, task-based approach can motivate students to learn English and enable them to gain sense of success. Therefore, it can be widely applied in English teaching.
The current study was an attempt to give a general overview about task-based approach in EFL context and its effect in developing EFL communicative competence among secondary school students. Task-based approach is based on the use of communicative and interactive classroom tasks, which is the best opportunity to practice the target language and enhance the students’ level in EFL communicative competence. Task-based approach helps foreign language teaching-learning process to be more enjoyable and successful for both teachers and students. When using task-based learning, teachers ask their students to perform tasks that resemble authentic, “real-life” situations. This approach particularly challenges students who are used to a more traditional classroom by focusing on analyzing, practicing, and memorizing a few irregular verbs.
1. Statement of the Problem
The problem of the present study could be stated in the following sentence:
”EFL communicative competence is low among students at the secondary stage as secondary school students face difficulties in EFL communicative competence”. In other words, there is problem embodied in students’ weakness in communicative competence. It affects their current way of studying and attaining their learning objectives. It may have side effects on their future use of language. Secondary school students need to develop their competence.
2. Questions of the Study
Based on the statement of the problem, the current study is an attempt to find answers to the following main question:
What is the impact of a task-based course for developing EFL communicative competence among secondary school students?
This question can be divided into the following sub-questions:
1- What is the impact of a task-based course for developing EFL discourse competence among secondary school students?
2- What is the impact of a task-based course for developing EFL sociolinguistic competence among secondary school students?
3- What is the impact of a task-based course for developing EFL grammatical competence among secondary school students?
4- What is the impact of a task-based course for developing EFL strategic competence among secondary school students?
3. Significance of the study
The present study can be beneficial to:
a) Students of the secondary stage who lack EFL communicative competence. This study can raise students’ awareness of how important task-based approach is for the development of the students’ EFL communicative competence. Hence, students can participate actively in their learning experience because students express their own thoughts, feelings, interpretations, and evaluative judgments through authentic situations in real-life communicative tasks.
b) EFL researchers because the current study opens research various avenues for them.
c) Designers of the curriculum and textbooks to take into consideration the importance of developing EFL communicative competence.
d) EFL supervisors to clarify to the teachers their roles in training students to use task-based approach to develop EFL communicative competence among secondary school students.
e) EFL teachers in secondary schools. This study can provide teachers with practical procedures and guidelines for helping students to use task-based approach in a learner-centered classroom.
4. Statistical analysis
The following statistical procedures were used for answering the current study questions:
1. t-test for independent groups
2. eta squared for determining the size effect
3. Pearson’s correlation coefficient
5. Results
The study revealed the following results:
1. There were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on the posttest in EFL communicative competence in favor of the experimental group. Also, there were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group in EFL communicative competence in favor of the post-test scores.
2. There were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on the posttest in EFL discourse competence in favor of the experimental group. Also, there were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group in EFL discourse competence in favor of the post-test scores.
3. There were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on the posttest in EFL sociolinguistic competence in favor of the experimental group. Also, there were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group in EFL sociolinguistic competence in favor of the post-test scores.
4. There were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on the posttest in EFL grammatical competence in favor of the experimental group. Also, there were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group in EFL grammatical competence in favor of the post-test scores.
5. There were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups on the posttest in EFL strategic competence in favor of the experimental group. Also, there were statistically significant differences at (0.01) level between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the experimental group in EFL strategic competence in favor of the post-test scores.
The most important results are the task-based course proved to be effective for developing EFL communicative competence.