Improving Essay Writing through ICT and Task- Based Approach: A Strategy That Works- The case of 2nd Year EFL students at Jijel University in Algeria

Abstract

In EFL learners strive to acquire the necessary language skills in order to be able to communicate effectively in the target language. Writing is amongst EFL pillars and one of the skills that takes time and practice to master. It helps EFL students with certain opportunities, such as communicating ideas and researching papers. Algerian EFL students suffer in their writing process- essay writing in particular, and they, most of the times, fail in their writing performances because of some crucial factors. This paper analyzes the different factors affecting Algerian EFL learners in their essay writing. It also proposes a helpful strategy for improving their essay writing through ICT and Task- Based Approach which was conducted as an action research with second year EFL students at the English department at Jijel University during the second semester of 2013- 2014 academic year. The results showed an improvement in students’ writing skills after conducting the aforementioned strategy of taskbased learning approach together with the use of ICTs.