Content familiarity, task repetition and Chinese EFL learners’ engagement in second language use

Abstract

Previous research has considered the effects of content familiarity and task repetition on second language (L2) performance, but few studies have looked at the effect of these factors on learners’ engagement in task performance. This study explores the influence of content familiarity and task repetition on English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ engagement in oral performance. Sixty EFL learners performed four narrative tasks with two familiar and two unfamiliar topics. They also repeated the same tasks to the same audience. Their oral production was analysed with various measures of behavioural and cognitive engagement. Stimulated recalls were collected from twenty-one participants to capture their emotional engagement. The participants were behaviourally and cognitively more engaged in tasks with familiar topics as well as having a more positive affective response to them. Repeating the tasks, however, negatively influenced behavioural and cognitive engagement, although the participants felt more relaxed and confident. In addition, the participants were more motivated to repeat unfamiliar topics, although they demonstrated more noticeable declines in their frequency of self-repair (an indicator of cognitive engagement) for these topics. These results provided empirical evidence for the relationship between task design and implementation factors and L2 task engagement. Teachers might base repetition decisions partially on learners’ familiarity with the topic.

Engagement in the Use of English and Chinese as Foreign Languages: The Role of Learner‐Generated Content in Instructional Task Design

“…Previous research on LGC tasks has not systematically addressed the possibility that increased ELU might lead to attention to meaning at the expense of attention to form . However, serendipitous findings in previous studies of L2 task engagement (e.g., Kormos & Prefontaine, ; Qui & Lo, ; see Lambert, , for a review) raise the possibility that affectively engaging tasks result in more fluent production, whereas tasks requiring learners to experiment with novel language forms result in less affective engagement. One aim of the present study is thus to explore how ELU relates to CAF through a detailed analysis of case study data.…”

“…Previous studies have looked at learner engagement in L2 performance in terms of number of words, turns, and time on task (Dörnyei & Kormos, ), intake and pushed output (Batstone, ), corrective feedback (Hyland, ), language‐related episodes (Storch, ), language awareness (Svalberg, ), and learners’ engagement in language use (Lambert, Philp, et al, ). Philp and Duchesne () have also proposed a model L2 task engagement based on work in educational psychology (e.g., Christenson, Reschly, & Wylie, ), which has influenced several recent studies (Aubrey, ; Lambert, Philp, et al, ; Phung, ; Qiu & Lo, ; Stroud, ). However, none of these studies attempt to capture the broader range of variation associated with pedagogic task performance, and more detailed analyses of task performances using triangulated data sources are needed to better understand this variation (Lambert, ).…”

Experiential versus attitudinal topic types and task performance in EFL monologues

“…This gives evidence to the hypothesis that learners were more familiar with experiences and preferences than they were with opinions and attitudes . The more learners are familiar with topics and contents of the oral tasks they will perform, the more they will feel engaged and become productive during these tasks (Qiu & Lo, 2017) . This seems to apply to the manner in which learners in this study dealt with their experiences and preferences.…”

“…Nevertheless, how various task and topic types differ in their performance remains worth more exploration (Qiu, 2019). Other researchers (e.g., Bui & Huang, 2018;Qiu & Lo, 2017;Qiu, 2019) have called for research which aims to investigate such discourse features as complexity, fluency, lexical diversity , and accuracy in the light of task performance and in relation to topic familiarity. As a recent trend, researchers have shifted their attention from test scores to discourse features associated with oral production.…”

“…Bei (2010) investigated the relationship between topic familiarity and oral performance among 80 learners of EFL and found that topic familiarity enhanced fluency, accuracy, and lexical diversity. Qiu and Lo (2017) examined if each of topic familiarity and task repetition had any effects on the manner in which 60 EFL learners carried out four narrative tasks-two of the tasks were on familiar topics and the two others were on unfamiliar topics. The researchers found the learners to be more engaged in the familiar tasks in comparison to the unfamiliar ones.…”