TEACHING COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS TO A2 LEARNERS THROUGH TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING

Abstract

This article reports on the design and reflective evaluation of a grammar-focused mini-unit for 8th-grade A2 learners in a multilingual secondary school context in the Namangan region. Responding to learners’ reliance on simple sentences and the need to progress toward B1 proficiency, the unit targets coordinating conjunctions—and, or, but—and integrates Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) with brief form-focused instruction. Drawing on Endley’s semantic perspective and Ehrlich & Murphy’s practical taxonomy of conjunctions, the sequence comprises a pre-task (concise, level-appropriate grammar priming), a meaning-focused pair role-play (weekend-planning), and a post-task, learner-centered error review. Evidence from classroom observation suggests gains in learners’ accuracy and fluency with compound sentences, increased willingness to communicate, and improved metalinguistic awareness of how conjunctions shape meaning (additive, disjunctive, contrastive). The article concludes with implications for balancing explicit instruction and communication, leveraging visual supports, and using targeted feedback to strengthen form-meaning connections.