Effect of the linguistic complexity of the input text on alignment, writing fluency, and writing accuracy in the continuation task

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated that the continuation task has great language learning potential and that various task-related factors may affect the extent to which the potential can be exploited (e.g. Wang & Wang, 2015). This study investigates the effect of one understudied factor, the linguistic complexity of the input text, on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ alignment, writing fluency, and writing accuracy in the continuation task. Two comparable groups of Chinese undergraduate EFL learners read and continued a simplified and unsimplified version of the same incomplete story whose linguistic complexity matched and exceeded their production ability, respectively. Compared to the unsimplified version, the simplified version resulted in more automatic alignment and greater improvement in writing fluency and accuracy. The implications of these findings for writing pedagogy are discussed.