The Effects Of Task Complexity Along Resource-directing And Resource-dispersing Dimensions On L2 Oral Production

In the past decades,task-based language teaching has been widely recognized and used for research and pedagogical purposes.A large amount of studies have demonstrated that in the Triadic Componential Framework,modulating task complexity and the implementation conditions in an appropriate and flexible way can promote the development of oral language production.To date,there are limited studies at home and abroad which endeavor to explore the synergistic effects of manipulating task complexity along both resource-directing dimension and resource-dispersing dimension simultaneously on EFL learners' oral performance.Furthermore,most research with regard to task planning condition concentrate on the length of planning time.In contrast,task repetition,the crucial and influential factor,has been a neglected variable in the field of SLA.Indeed,task repetition can exert some effects on participants' oral performance.In order to fill the gaps,based on Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis,this research is devoted to investigate the effects of manipulating task complexity along resource-directing dimension(±Here-and-Now)and resource-dispersing dimension(±task repetition)on EFL learners' oral narrative task performance.Specifically,it addresses three research questions: What effects does the manipulation of task complexity respectively along the Here-and-Now dimension and the task repetition dimension have on the fluency,complexity,and accuracy of L2 learners' oral performance? Are there any interaction between the two dimensions in affecting the accuracy,fluency and complexity of L2 oral production?Forty freshman English majors from the Faculty of English Language and Culture in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies were selected to participate in this study.They were randomly divided into two groups: simple group and complex group.Twenty students in the simple group were required to narrate the story while looking at the cartoon strips,whereas the twenty students in complex group werearranged to retell the story without context support.Three days later,the two groups of students would repeat the same task under the same condition.After the task,they were invited to complete the questionnaires and shared their feelings during implementing the oral narrative tasks.The recorded oral narrations were transcribed and scored based on the measures selected for assessing accuracy,fluency,lexical complexity and syntactic complexity.And then well-organized data were sent to SPSS 22.0 to compare the effects of different groups.The research results revealed that:(1)increasing resource-directing task complexity along ±Here-and-Now dimension resulted in striking improvements on accuracy,lexical complexity as well as syntactic complexity,but no significant effect was showed on fluency;(2)task repetition dimension made beneficial influence on accuracy,fluency and syntactic complexity,whereas no noticeable significance could be found on lexical complexity;(3)there exists significant interactional effects in the aspect of lexical complexity and syntactic complexity.Furthermore,if the researcher increased task complexity along resource-directing dimension and meanwhile reduce it along resource-dispersing dimension,the largest benefits in terms of accuracy,fluency and complexity of oral performance may be obtained.The findings provide support for the predictions of Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis further and enlighten teachers to help students find an efficient way to practice and improve their spoken English.