Unraveling the Effects of Task Sequencing on the Syntactic Complexity, Accuracy, Lexical Complexity, and Fluency of L2 Written Production

Mahmoud Abdi Tabari,Michol Miller

doi:10.37213/cjal.2021.31306

Abstract

Although several studies have explored the effects of task sequencing on second language (L2) production, there is no established set of criteria to sequence tasks for learners in L2 writing classrooms. This study examined the effect of simple ̶ complex task sequencing manipulated along both resource-directing (± number of elements) and resource-dispersing (± planning time) factors on L2 writing compared to individual task performance using Robinson’s (2010) SSARC model of task sequencing. Upper-intermediate L2 learners (N = 90) were randomly divided into two groups: (1) Participants who performed three writing tasks in a simple–complex sequence, and (2) participants who performed either the simple, less complex, or complex task. Findings revealed that simple-complex task sequencing led to increases in syntactic complexity, accuracy, lexical complexity, and fluency, as compared to individual task performance. Results are discussed in light of the SSARC model, and theoretical and pedagogical implications are provided.

Highlights

Task Complexity and Task Sequencing: Framing Theoretical PerspectivesOver recent decades, many task complexity studies have been driven by two robust and competing models: Skehan’s (1998, 2001) Limited Attentional Capacity (LAC) Model and Robinson’s (2001, 2003) Cognition Hypothesis which make different predictions about the cognitive operations and attentional resources affecting L2 development
Given that past studies tested the role of the SSARC model in L2 oral production (Baralt, 2014; Malicka, 2014, 2018), finding that the simple-to-complex order led to significant gains in L2 production over the short or long term, the current study examined the effectiveness of the SSARC model in L2 written production using a simple–complex task design
The results demonstrated that simple–complex task sequencing favoured syntactic and lexical complexity, promoted accuracy, and assisted fluency, providing empirical evidence supporting the theoretical claim of the SSARC model regarding the beneficial role of simple–complex task sequencing for L2 written production

Summary

Introduction

Task Complexity and Task Sequencing: Framing Theoretical PerspectivesOver recent decades, many task complexity studies have been driven by two robust and competing models: Skehan’s (1998, 2001) Limited Attentional Capacity (LAC) Model and Robinson’s (2001, 2003) Cognition Hypothesis which make different predictions about the cognitive operations and attentional resources affecting L2 development. The LAC Model, grounded in psycholinguistic theories of first language (L1) acquisition, conceptualizes the relationship between cognitive and attentional resources during L2 processing (Skehan, 1998) This model predicts that increasing task complexity reduces cognitive capacity for monitoring linguistic form because complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) compete intensely for the same attentional resources. Robinson's (2001, 2003) Cognition Hypothesis (CH), grounded in functional/cognitive linguistics, takes an alternate view of learners’ cognitive abilities, arguing that learners possess multiple, rather than limited, attentional resources that do not compete This forms the basis for the central claim of the CH which states that, since different CAF elements belong to different attentional resources, complexity and accuracy can be attended to concurrently with possible decays in fluency

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