Chapter published in:
Task-Based Approaches to Teaching and Assessing PragmaticsEdited by Naoko Taguchi and YouJin Kim
[Task-Based Language Teaching 10] 2018
► pp. 266–285
Chapter 11Assessing functional adequacy of L2 performance in a task-based approach
Folkert Kuiken | University of Amsterdam
Ineke Vedder | University of Amsterdam
When assessing L2 performance in task-based research, dimensions of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) have typically been evaluated. Less attention has, however, been devoted to the functional dimension. This paper argues that it is critical to consider the functional dimension of L2 performance in addition to complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Functional adequacy as a task-related construct is viewed in the present study as a component of L2 pragmatics, referring to the appropriateness and felicity of the utterances of the speaker/writer within a particular context, and evaluated by the listener/reader. The study investigates the applicability of a rating scale developed for the assessment of functional adequacy in the L2, considered from the perspective of task-based language teaching (TBLT) and task-based language assessment (TBLA), as successful task completion. In the rating scale, four components of functional adequacy are distinguished: content, task requirements, comprehensibility, and coherence and cohesion. A group of non-expert raters judged the oral and written samples of two groups of university students of Dutch L2 and Italian L2. The results show that the scale appears to be a reliable and efficient tool for assessing the functional adequacy of written and spoken L2 production.
Article outline
- Introduction
- Assessment of L2 pragmatics
- The construction of a rating scale for functional adequacy
- Methodology
- Participants
- L2 learners
- Tasks
- Rating procedure
- Data analysis
- Results
- Interrater reliability
- Correlations between dimensions of functional adequacy
- Correlations between task 1 and task 2
- Raters’ perceptions of functional adequacy
- Discussion
- Conclusion
-
Acknowledgements -
Notes -
References
Published online: 15 August 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.10.11kui
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.10.11kui
References
Bachman, L. F.
Bardovi-Harlig, K.
Barron, A.
Bouton, L. F.
Bridgeman, B., Powers, D., Stone, E., & Mollaun, P.
Brown, P., & Levinson, S. D.
Cortés Velásquez, D., & Nuzzo, E.
2017). Assessing L1 functional adequacy: Can we use the same scale as for L2. Paper presented at TBLT 2017, Barcelona.
Council of Europe
Cumming, A., Kantor, R., & Powers, D. E.
De Jong, N. H., Steinel, M. P., Florijn, A. F., Schoonen, R., & Hulstijn, J. H.
(2012a) The effect of task complexity on functional adequacy, fluency and lexical diversity in speaking performances of native and non-native speakers. In A. Housen, F. Kuiken, & I. Vedder (Eds.), Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency. Complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 121–142). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 

Faone, S., Pagliara, F., & Vitale, G.
(2017) How to access L2 information-gap tasks through functional adequacy rating scales. Paper presented at TBLT 2017, Barcelona.
González-Lloret, M.
Grice, H. P.
Housen, A., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I.
Hulstijn, J. H., Alderson, J. C., & Schoonen, R.
(2010) Developmental stages in second-language acquisition and levels of second-language proficiency: Are there links between them? In I. Bartning, M. Martin, & I. Vedder (Eds.), Communicative proficiency and linguistic development: Intersections between SLA and language testing research (pp. 11–20). (Eurosla Monographs Series 1).
Iwashita, N., Brown, A., McNamara, T., & O’Hagan, S.
Knoch, U.
Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I.
Kuiken, F., Vedder, I., & Gilabert, R.
Long, M. H.
Martinez-Flor, A., & Usó-Juan, E.
Norris, J. M.
(2001) Identifying rating criteria for task-based EAP assessment. In T. Hudson & J. D. Brown (Eds.), A focus on language test development: Expanding the language proficiency construct across a variety of tests (Technical Report #21, pp. 163–204). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i, Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center.
Norris, J. M., Brown, J. D., Hudson, T., & Yoshioka, J.
Pallotti, G.
2017). Percorsi di educazione linguistica efficace per ridurre le diseguaglianze. In M. Vedovelli Ed. L’italiano dei nuovi italiani Atti del XIX Convegno Nazionale GISCEL pp. 505 520 Roma Aracne
Roever, C.
Ross, S. J., & Kasper, G.
Schoonen, R., Vergeer, M., & Eiting, M.
Searle, J. R.
Shehadeh, A.
Taguchi, N.
Thompson, I.
Upshur, J. A., & Turner, C. E.
Vitale, M., De Meo, A., & Pettorino, M.
Cited by
Cited by 6 other publications
Del Bono, Federica & Elisabetta Bonvino
Galbraith, David & Ineke Vedder
Kuiken, Folkert, Ineke Vedder, Alex Housen & Bastien De Clercq
Nuzzo, Elena & Giuseppe Bove
Schmidgall, Jonathan & Donald E. Powers
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 31 march 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.