A Comparative Study of the Effects of Task-Based Writing under Different Pre-Task Planning Conditions on Intermediate EFL Learners Written Performancein Personal and Decision-Making Tasks

ABSTRACT: During the last two decades, there have been some attempts to revitalize language teaching and move towards meaning-focused instructions including task-based syllabuses. Such practices believe in engaging learners in real language use in the classroom through transacting various tasks involving implicit learning processes.As the quality of task performance can be promoted by having planning opportunities prior to their completion, the present study scrutinized the effects of task-based writing under different pre-task planning conditions on intermediate EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ written performance in personal and decision-making tasks. 120intermediate learners served as the participants who were randomly assigned to three experimental groups and one control group. While the former planned individually, in pairs or groups, the latter did not have any planning opportunity.Prior to the treatment, they received two personal and decision-making pretests whose results were compared with the two post-testsbelonging to the same task types to investigate the efficiency of task-based instruction in improving learners’ general writing ability.Following a factorial design, the data were analyzed, and it wasindicated that pre-task planning was an effective writing strategy and cooperative planning, specifically,played a crucial role in boosting EFL learners’ general writing ability when completing personal and decision-making tasks.