Chapter published in:

Learning Language through Task Repetition
Edited by Martin Bygate
[Task-Based Language Teaching 11] 2018
► pp. 75–96

Chapter 3. The effects of task repetition and task complexity on L2 lexicon use

YouJin Kim | Georgia State University

Scott A. Crossley | Georgia State University

YeonJoo Jung | Georgia State University

Kristopher Kyle | University of Hawai'i at Mãnoa

Sanghee Kang | Georgia State University

To date, a growing number of studies in instructed second language acquisition (SLA) have investigated the effects of task repetition on L2 performance (e.g., complexity, accuracy, fluency) as well as on the occurrence of interaction-driven learning opportunities (e.g., Bygate, 2001; Fukuta, 2016; Kim & Tracy-Ventura, 2013). However, studies have not investigated how repeating different aspects of tasks (e.g., content or procedure) during collaborative tasks affects second language lexical use. The current study aims to fill that gap by comparing the impact of procedural repetition and task repetition on the lexical use of paired language learners as they repeat collaborative tasks. Furthermore, how task complexity mediates task repetition effects was also investigated. Four intact junior high school English classes (n = 73) were randomly assigned to one of the following groups: (1) simple task with exact task repetition, (2) simple task with procedural repetition, (3) complex task with exact task repetition, and (4) complex task with procedural repetition. All groups participated in three collaborative tasks over three days. The task repetition groups carried out the same information-exchange task with the same content three times, while the procedural repetition groups followed the same task procedure but had different content for the three sessions. Learners’ interaction data during collaborative tasks were transcribed and analyzed for lexical use using a natural language processing tool. Lexical use was operationalized by word familiarity, age of acquisition (AoA), and word frequency (Kyle & Crossley, 2015). The findings indicated that as learners repeated tasks, they used words that are less familiar and have a higher age of acquisition. Task complexity was found to be a mediating factor for the relationship between task repetition and vocabulary use.

Published online: 25 September 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/tblt.11.03kim

References

Ahmadian, M. J.

(2013) Working memory and task repetition in second language oral production. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 23, 37–55.

Ahmadian, M.J., & Tavakoli, M.

(2011) The effects of simultaneous use of careful online planning and task repetition on accuracy, complexity, and fluency in EFL learners’ oral production. Language Teaching Research, 15, 35–59.

Brysbaert, M., & New, B.

(2009) Moving beyond Kučera and Francis: A critical evaluation of current word frequency norms and the introduction of a new and improved word frequency measure for American English. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 977–990.

Bygate, M.

(1996) Effects of task repetition: Appraising the developing language of learners. In J. Willis & D. Willis (Eds.), Challenge and change in language teaching (pp. 136–146). London: Heinemann.

(2001) Effects of task repetition on the structure and control of oral language. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan & M. Swain (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 23–48). Harlow: Longman.

(2016) Sources, developments and directions of task-based language teaching. The Language Learning Journal, 44, 381–400.

Bygate, M., & Samuda, V.

(2005) Integrative planning through the use of task repetition. In R. Ellis (Ed.), Planning and task performance in a second language (pp. 37–74). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Coltheart, M.

(1981) The MRC psycholinguistic database. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 33, 497–505.

Crossley, S. A., Cobb, T., & McNamara, D. S.

(2013a) Comparing count-based and band-based indices of word frequency: Implications for active vocabulary research and pedagogical applications. System, 41, 965–981.

Crossley, S. A., Feng, S., Cai, Z., & McNamara, D. S.

(2013b) Computer simulations of MRC Psycholinguistics Database word properties: Concreteness, familiarity, and imageability. In S. Jarvis & M. Daller (Eds.), Vocabulary knowledge: Human ratings and automated measures (pp. 135–156). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Crossley, S., & McNamara, D.

(2013) Applications of text analysis tools for spoken response grading. Language Learning & Technology, 17, 171–192.

Crossley, S. A., Salsbury, T., McNamara, D. S., & Jarvis, S.

(2011a) What is lexical proficiency? Some answers from computational models of speech data. TESOL Quarterly, 45, 182–193.

(2011b) Predicting lexical proficiency in language learner texts using computational indices. Language Testing, 28, 561–580.

Dobao, A. F.

(2012) Collaborative dialogue in learner–learner and learner–native speaker interaction. Applied Linguistics, 33, 229–256.

Ellis, R.

(2001) Non-reciprocal tasks, comprehension and second language acquisition. In M. Bygate, P. Skehan, & M. Swain. (Eds.), Researching pedagogic tasks: Second language learning, teaching and testing (pp. 49–74). Harlow: Longman.

Foster, P., & Skehan, P.

(1996) The influence of planning and task type on second language performance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18, 299–323.

Foster, P., Tonkyn, A., & Wigglesworth, G.

(2000) Measuring spoken language: A unit for all reasons. Applied Linguistics, 21, 354–375.

Fukuta, J.

(2016) Effects of task repetition on learners’ attention orientation in L2 oral production. Language Teaching Research, 20, 321–340.

Gass, S., Mackey, A., Alvarez‐Torres, M. J., & Fernández‐García, M.

(1999) The effects of task repetition on linguistic output. Language Learning, 49, 549–581.

Guo, L. Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S.

(2013) Predicting human judgments of essay quality in both integrated and independent second language writing samples: A comparison study. Writing Assessment, 18, 218–238.

Haberlandt, K. F., & Graesser, A. C.

(1985) Component processes in text comprehension and some of their interactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 114, 357–374.

Hawkes, M.

(2012) Using task repetition to direct learner attention and focus on form. ELT Journal, 66, 327–336.

Jackson, D. O., & Suethanapornkul, S.

(2013) The cognition hypothesis: A synthesis and meta‐analysis of research on second language task complexity. Language Learning, 63, 330–367.

Jung, Y., Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S.

(2015) Linguistic features in MELAB writing task performance (Working Paper No. 2015–05). Retrieved from Cambridge Michigan Language Assessment website: http://www.cambridgemichigan.org/about-us/research/working-papers/

Just, M. A., & Carpenter, P. A.

(1980) A theory of reading: From eye fixations to comprehension. Psychological Review, 87, 329–354.

Kim, Y.

(2013) Promoting attention to form through task repetition in. In K. McDonough & A. Mackey (Eds.), Second language interaction in diverse educational contexts (pp. 3–24). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

(2015) The role of tasks as vehicles for learning in classroom interaction. In N. Markee (Ed.), Handbook of classroom discourse and interaction (pp. 163–181). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kim, Y., & McDonough, K.

(2011) Using pre-task modeling to encourage collaborative learning opportunities. Language Teaching Research, 15, 1–17.

Kim, Y., & Payant, C.

(2014) A pedagogical proposal for task sequencing: An exploration of task repetition and task complexity on learning opportunities. In M. Baralt, R. Gilabert, & P. Robinson (Eds.), Task sequencing and instructed second language learning (pp. 151–177). London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Kim, Y., & Tracy-Ventura, N.

(2013) The role of task repetition in L2 performance development: What needs to be repeated during task-based interaction? System, 41, 829–840.

Kormos, J.

(2006) Speech production and second language acquisition. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Kuperman, V., Stadthagen-Gonzales, H, & Brysbaert, M.

(2012) Age-of-acquisition ratings for 30,000 English words. Behavior Research Methods, 44, 978–990.

Kyle, K. & Crossley, S. A.

(2015) Automatically assessing lexical sophistication: Indices, tools, findings, and application. TESOL Quarterly, 49, 757–786.

(2016) The relationship between lexical sophistication and independent and source-based writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 34, 12–24.

Lapkin, S., Swain, M., & Smith, M.

(2002) Reformulation and the learning of French pronominal verbs in a Canadian French immersion context. The Modern Language Journal, 86, 485–507.

Laufer, B., & Nation, P.

(1995) Vocabulary size and use: Lexical richness in L2 written production. Applied Linguistics, 16, 307–322.

Levelt, W. J. M.

(1989) Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Long, M.

(2015) Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell.

Lynch, T., & Maclean, J.

(2000) Exploring the benefits of task repetition and recycling for classroom language learning. Language Teaching Research, 4, 221–250.

Lynch, T.

(2007) Learning from the transcripts of an oral communication task. ELT journal, 61, 311–320.

Mackey, A.

(2007) Interaction as practice. In R. M. DeKeyser (Ed.), Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology (pp. 85–110). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

McCarthy, P. M., & Jarvis, S.

(2010) MTLD, vocd-D, and HD-D: A validation study of sophisticated approaches to lexical diversity assessment. Behavior research methods, 42, 381–392.

Meara, P., & Bell, H.

(2001) P_Lex: A simple and effective way of describing the lexical characteristics of short L2 texts. Prospect, 3, 5–19.

Michel, M. C., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I.

(2007) The influence of complexity in monologic versus dialogic tasks in Dutch L2. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 45, 241–259.

Mochizuki, N., & Ortega, L.

(2008) Balancing communication and grammar in beginning-level foreign language classrooms: A study of guided planning and relativization. Language Teaching Research, 12, 11–37.

Nation, P.

(2005) Second language vocabulary. In K. Brown (Ed.), Encyclopedia of language and linguistics (Vol. 14, pp. 413–448). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Patanasorn, C.

(2010) Effects of procedural, content, and task repetition on accuracy and fluency in an EFL context (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ.

Perfetti, C. A.

(1985) Reading ability. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Pickering, M. J., & Garrod, S.

(2004) Toward a mechanistic psychology of dialogue. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 27, 169–190.

Plonsky, L., & Kim, Y.

(2016) Task-based learner production: A substantive and methodological review. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 36, 73–97.

Rayner, K, & Pollatsek, A.

(1994) The psychology of reading. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Robinson, P.

(2001) Task complexity, cognitive resources, and syllabus design: A triadic framework for examining task influences on SLA. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Cognition and second language instruction (pp. 287–318). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(2007) Task complexity, theory of mind, and intentional reasoning: Effects on L2 speech production, interaction, uptake and perceptions of task difficulty. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 45, 193–213.

Salsbury, T., Crossley, S. A., & McNamara, D. S.

(2011) Psycholinguistic word information in second language oral discourse. Second Language Research, 27, 343–360.

Skehan, P.

(2009a) Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics, 30, 510–532.

(2009b) Models of speaking and the assessment of second language proficiency. In A. Benati (Ed.), Issues in second language proficiency (pp. 203–215). London: Continuum.

(2014) Limited attentional capacity, second language performance, and task-based pedagogy. In P. Skehan (Ed.), Processing perspectives on task performance (pp. 211–260). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Swain, M., & Lapkin, S.

(1998) Interaction and second language learning: Two adolescent French immersion students working together. The cModern Language Journal, 82, 320–337.

Van den Branden, K., Bygate, M., & Norris, J. M.

(2009) Task-based language teaching: Introducing the reader. In K. Van den Branden, M. Bygate & J. M. Norris (Eds.), Task-based language teaching: A reader (pp. 1–13). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Vermeer, A.

(2000) Coming to grips with lexical richness in spontaneous speech data. Language Testing, 17, 65–83.

Yu, G.

(2009) Lexical diversity in writing and speaking task performances. Applied Linguistics, 31, 236–259.

Zipf, G. K.

(1935) The psycho-biology of language. New York, NY: Houghton-Mifflin.

Cited by

Cited by other publications

Khezrlou, Sima

2019. Task Repetition and Corrective Feedback: The Role of Feedback Types and Structure Saliency. English Teaching & Learning 43:2 ► pp. 213 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 09 april 2020. 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.