Abstract
AbstractThe study investigated the effect of task complexity (TC) on second language (L2) learnersâ affective responses and writing performance and how these were modulated by cognitive and affective individual difference (ID) factors. A total of 412 Chinese 8thâgrade Englishâasâaâforeignâlanguage learners completed a working memory (WM) test, a scale measuring traitâlike L2 writing enjoyment, a simple (n = 206) or complex (n = 206) argumentative writing task, and posttask scales measuring taskâspecific enjoyment and motivation. Independent tâtest results showed that increased TC contributed to a slight but significant enhancement in task motivation and enjoyment and a significant performance improvement in content and organization but not in language. Structural equation modeling results showed that the cognitive and affective ID factors predicted writing performance jointly: WM and task motivation predicted writing performance consistently in both simple and complex tasks, taskâspecific enjoyment only played its role in the complex task, and traitâlike enjoyment became insignificant in predicting task performance. These findings support the integrated taskâmediated cognitiveâaffective model of L2 writing we propose by synthesizing and extending existing models. This study highlights the need to pay attention to the affective dimension of tasks and suggests TC as an intervention strategy to make a task more motivating and enjoyable.
Published Version
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