Investigating Second Language Task Complexity
Authors:
- 1 December 1995
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in RELC Journal
- Vol. 26 (2) , 62-79
Abstract
Proposals for task-based approaches to pedagogy have conceded that valid criteria for determining the difficulty level of tasks have yet to be established. We suggest that this is an important area for future research by practicing teachers and we present rationales for three dimensions of task demands which we think may affect the difficulty level of tasks; amount of cognitive load imposed, amount of planning time allowed, and amount of prior information supplied. We briefly report the results of our own studies of speaking, writing and listening tasks which varied along these dimensions, and describe the units of analysis used to • analyse task performance. Finally we discuss the implications of our investigations of task complexity for task-based syllabus design.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- Research on Negotiation: What Does It Reveal About Second‐Language Learning Conditions, Processes, and Outcomes?Language Learning, 1994
- The Structural Syllabus and Second Language AcquisitionTESOL Quarterly, 1993
- Three Approaches to Task-Based Syllabus DesignTESOL Quarterly, 1992
- A Second Look at T-Unit Analysis: Reconsidering the SentenceTESOL Quarterly, 1992
- Are Classroom and Naturalistic Acquisition the Same?Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 1989
- Is Language Teachable? Psycholinguistic Experiments and HypothesesApplied Linguistics, 1989
- Content and Formal Schemata in ESL ReadingTESOL Quarterly, 1987
- Interlanguage Variability in Narrative Discourse: Style Shifting in the Use of the Past TenseStudies in Second Language Acquisition, 1987
- ADULT ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE UNDER DIFFERENT CONDITIONS OF EXPOSURELanguage Learning, 1983
- Relating Individual Differences to the Dimensions of Human TasksErgonomics, 1978