THE IMPACT OF CONVERGENT VS DIVERGENT TASK GOALS ON EFL LEARNERS’ BEHAVIOURAL ENGAGEMENT AND ORAL PERFORMANCE IN ONLINE TASK-BASED CLASSROOM

Previous research on task-based language teaching (TBLT) has highlighted the potential of the approach for promoting engagement and language performance in conventional settings. At the same time, little attention has been paid to how convergent (decision-making) and divergent (opinion-exchanging) tasks shape learner engagement and oral performance in online environments. To address this empirical gap, this study aims to investigate the impact of task goal orientation on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ behavioural engagement and English oral performance in online task-based settings. Adopting a mixed-methods design, the study invited 32 EFL learners from a Chinese university to complete two tasks in an online English-speaking course. Turn-taking frequency, word count, and task duration were used as indicators to assess behavioural engagement. Oral performance was also evaluated using syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency measures. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gauge learners’ experiences with online TBLT. The results indicated that participants exhibited greater behavioural engagement in convergent tasks. In contrast, their language accuracy was higher during convergent tasks than divergent ones. Additionally, participants demonstrated enhanced syntactic complexity while performing divergent tasks. Subsequent interviews revealed that task topics, pre-planning, language proficiency, and online learning conditions influenced learners’ engagement and oral performance. These findings underscore the importance of task goal orientation in online task design. Convergent tasks can be utilised to improve EFL learners’ behavioural engagement and language accuracy, while divergent tasks can be employed to enhance language complexity.