Extroversion is not a benefit in a task-based language classroom Reza Gholami 1* , Reza Vaseghi 1 , Hamed Barjasteh 2 , Noreen Nordin 1 1 Faculty of Educational Studies, Putra University, Malaysia (UPM) 2 Islamic Azad University, Research and Science Campus; and Department of ELT, Islamic Azad University, Ayatollah Amoli Branch, Amol, Iran Abstract. There is common belief that the way we learn is influenced by our personality. Also, there is a contradiction between the predictions of psychologists and applied linguists in respect to the relationship between extraversion and learning as there is still a debate to know which personality type is in advantage. On one hand, psychologists maintain that extraversion is a disadvantage for learning since an extravert has less cortical arousal, has a limited long term memory, and is more easily inhibited. On the other hand, many applied linguists declare that extraversion is an advantage for learning L2 because the extraverts elicit more input and generate more outputs. To examine such controversies, a case study was designed to observe 7 extroverts and 7 introverts performing over various task based activities in an EFL language class in Iran. Primarily, an Eysenck’s Personality Questionnaire-Revised in Persian Language was given to 140 students at pre-intermediate levels of an English Institute in Mashhad Iran to determine the dominant personality type among the students. Then, 14 students were randomly chosen so that their performances of task-based activities could be observed. The authors used a reliable checklist of Assessing Learners’ Oral Proficiency (CALOP) for observing the students’ performances of the three task types namely information-gap, reasoning-gap, and opinion-gap. The results revealed that extroversion was dominant (53. 6 %) in the population. More importantly, the introverts and extroverts showed no significant differences over their performances of the three task types. Keywords: Extroversion, introversion, TBLT, information-gap activity, reasoning-gap activity, opinion- gap activity. 1. Introduction It is believed that the difference existing in the performance of the learners in L2 courses is due to the individual differences among language learners [1]. Also, there are always some classes with which the teachers are not satisfied regarding the final performance of the students i.e. some individuals are more successful than others in mastering the language [2]. Success or failure in learning L2 is determined by particular personal factors [1]. The way we learn is definitely affected by our personality. Practitioners assume that understanding of the personality type can help teachers explain why students approach tasks differently [3] & [4]. Personality is one of the individual differences widely accepted to have an effect on learning in general and second language acquisition (SLA) in particular [5]. This case study attempted to investigate Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) as a recent version of a communicative methodology” [6] and also focused on extroverts and introverts to find out whether their performances differ significantly in TBLT activities; a teaching method which is currently popular among private English schools in Iran [7]. “Task-based learning is a very good approach to getting people to interact conversationally, without being limited to conversation classes [8]. Tasks are pieces of meaning-focused work which involve learners in comprehending, manipulating, producing or interacting in the target language while their attention is principally focused on meaning rather than form [8]. In this research, three task types were chosen as central * Corresponding Author’s e-mail: Gholami.phd@hotmail.com 137 2011 International Conference on Languages, Literature and Linguistics IPEDR vol.26 (2011) © (2011) IACSIT Press, Singapore