A Comparative Study On Effects Of Continuation Task Types On Senior High School Students’ English Writing Accuracy And Complexity

The continuation writing task,an innovative approach to integrate reading and writing,was proposed by Wang Chuming and has garnered significant attention as an effective way of teaching and testing.While numerous studies have examined the primary form of the continuation task,relatively little attention has been paid to the other new types of this task,including the multi-turn continuation task,which is distinct from the typical or single-turn continuation task.In addition,there have been few comparative studies investigating the differences between these two types of continuation tasks,particularly in terms of their effects on writing accuracy and complexity.This comparative study aims to investigate the effects of the single-turn and multi-turn continuation tasks on writing accuracy and complexity,and to examine whether there are significant differences in the effects of these tasks.The study involved a total of 72 students from two parallel classes in the first year of a high school in Shandong Province.The experimental method and interview were utilized to answer three research questions:(1)What effect does the single-turn continuation task have on writing accuracy and complexity?(2)What effect does the multi-turn continuation task have on writing accuracy and complexity?(3)Is there a significant difference in the effects on writing accuracy and complexity between the single-turn continuation task and the multi-turn continuation task?If so,what is the difference? If not,why?To measure writing accuracy and complexity,this study employed EFT/T(error-free T units/total T units),C/T(clauses/T unit),and TTR(type token ratio)metrics.Specifically,writing accuracy was assessed using EFT/T,while syntactic complexity and lexical complexity were evaluated using C/T and TTR,respectively.Data were collected from pretests in the first week of the experiment,post-tests and interviews in the seventh week,and were analyzed using the syntactic complexity analysis software Neo SCA,the vocabulary complexity analysis software Range,SPSS 26.0,Excel,and a calculator.This study utilized both quantitative and qualitative data,and after eight weeks of experimentation,several results were obtained.Firstly,the single-turn continuation task significantly promoted the development of students’ writing accuracy,syntactic complexity,and vocabulary complexity.Secondly,the multi-turn continuation task significantly improved the accuracy and complexity of students’ writing.Lastly,while the multi-turn continuation task had a slight advantage over the single-turn continuation task in improving the accuracy of students’ writing,there was no significant difference between the two task forms in improving the complexity of students’ writing.Based on these results,this study offers valuable insights into English teaching.Firstly,since both single-turn and multi-turn continuation tasks have a significant positive impact on students’ writing accuracy and complexity,teachers should consider other factors in the actual teaching situation more when selecting continuation tasks.Secondly,teachers can consider appropriately increasing the number of rounds of the continuation task when teaching of it.Thirdly,the process-oriented multi-turn continuation task,especially the two-round continuation task,offers new possibilities for teaching the continuation task compared to the result-oriented single-turn continuation task.Lastly,joint training on the teaching of continuation tasks can be organized for teachers within or across schools to alleviate the pressure of facing new question types.While this study had some limitations,including short duration,a limited selection of participants,indicators to measure writing,and online implementation due to the pandemic,it nevertheless enriches and expands the research perspective on the continuation task.The empirical findings support some existing views,provide further verification for their correctness,and develop these views to some extent.Additionally,this study clarifies the effects of the two continuation tasks on the impact of writing accuracy and complexity,enabling teachers to maximize the learning promotion effect of both tasks and contributing to the enhancement of continuation task teaching quality and students’ writing performance.Finally,recommendations for future research are presented,aimed at enriching and improving this area of study.