Fostering Communicative Competence in Business English among Algerian ESP University Learners through Task-Based Language Teaching: A Pedagogical Response to Emerging Professional Demands

In the Algerian higher education context, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses for business students often emphasize grammatical accuracy and domain-specific vocabulary at the expense of practical communicative competence. This study investigates the effectiveness of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) in fostering communicative competence among Algerian university students enrolled in Business English ESP programmes through a quasi-experimental design involving 54 second-year preparatory business students at the Higher School of Management and Digital Economy. Data triangulation was employed through pre- and post-intervention speaking assessments, a structured student perception questionnaire, and systematic instructor field notes. Participants in the experimental group received instruction via TBLT, while the control group followed traditional lecture-based methods. Results indicate that TBLT significantly enhanced learners' communicative competence, particularly in fluency (d = 1.26), interactional strategies (d = 1.41), and pragmatic appropriateness (d = 1.22). Moreover, students in the experimental group reported increased motivation (92.5% agreement), confidence (96.3% agreement), and perceived relevance of English instruction to their future professional lives. The study suggests that TBLT constitutes a contextually appropriate and pedagogically effective approach for addressing the communicative needs of Algerian ESP Business English learners, and recommends its integration into curriculum planning and teacher training initiatives.