Task complexity effects on the complexity and accuracy of writing via text chat

Abstract

Despite limitations with text chat as a mode of writing (e.g., a simplified register, short turns), researchers have argued that it offers unique advantages as a site for language practice. However, realizing these advantages in second language (L2) writing-to-learn environments may depend on whether tasks are implemented in a way that facilitates learners' attention to language form in their writing. It follows that the design and selection of appropriate tasks to use in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) are key issues. Inspired by the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2005), the current study examined the role of two instructional interventions related to task implementation-the amount of task structure and inclusion of language support-in promoting accurate and complex writing via text chat by L2 learners in a classroom setting. Data were collected from 96 students performing an engineering simulation task via text chat. The learners were placed in one of four counterbalanced experimental groups. Analysis of the chat exchanges provided evidence that task complexity influenced the accuracy of student writing in line with the Cognition Hypothesis. However, the influence of task complexity on the linguistic complexity of their writing failed to match predictions of the Cognition Hypothesis.

Taking Technology to Task: Technology-Mediated TBLT, Performance, and Production

“…These findings, which are similar to Nik's (2010) results indicating that simple tasks in SCMC led to improved accuracy, suggest that complex tasks may not facilitate L2 learning in SCMC in the same way that they do in FTF contexts, possibly due to the noncontingency of feedback episodes (Baralt, 2013). Adams, Nik, and Newton (2015) also found that task complexity affected the accuracy but not the complexity of learners' production in SCMC contexts, findings that fail to meet the predictions set forth by the cognition hypothesis (Robinson, 2001). Because much of the research on task complexity is situated within the framework of Robinson's cognition hypothesis, whose central claim is that cognitive complexity should serve as the determining factor for the sequencing of simple and complex tasks, it is necessary to also investigate sequencing in a computer-mediated learning context.…”

The Impact of Oral and Written Feedback on EFL Writers With the Use of Screencasts

“…Leki (2009) also claimed that using writing to develop second language may be a central objective in second language learning. This new perspective has been called "writing-to-learn-language (wll)" and emphasizes the role of writing as a medium for language development as has been supported by studies as recent as that of Adams, Alwi, and Newton (2015). There are several traits of writing that have led prominent authors to argue that writing plays an important role in language learning.…”

Second and Foreign Language Writing and Computer-Mediated Communication: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis of Recent Research

“…With CMC, the affordances of online planning are greatly expanded. While the synchronous nature of CMC bestows upon the writing process in text chat characteristics of speaking such as the possibility for overlapping turns, it is not a simple hybrid of both production modes (Adams, Alwi, & Newton, 2015). Compared to speaking, CMC allows for a greater amount of lag time between turns, which can be utilized for online planning (Sauro & Smith, 2010).…”