TASK - Volume 2, Issue 2, 2022

Researchers investigating TBLT have used psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic theories in support of the approach, but there has been limited discussion of motivational frameworks. A framework for motivation within TBLT would enhance our understanding of learner motivation, and could be utilised in future studies. This paper argues that Self-Determination Theory is an appropriate framework. After briefly describing the key tenets of TBLT and SDT, the paper shows how SDT helps us understand the motivational benefits of tasks. It outlines the six mini-theories of SDT, and aligns them with existing studies to highlight how results may be explained by these theories. Some suggestions are then provided as to how these theories can be used for conducting future classroom-based research.

This study explored the role of cognitive task complexity in designing speaking assessment tasks. A sample of 120 English learners at different proficiency levels engaged in four narrative tasks with distinct levels/types of cognitive complexity. Performances were assessed using linguistic measures and a task accomplishment rubric. Findings revealed that one of the middle-complexity tasks with moderate intrinsic, moderate germane, and low extraneous complexity elicited the best linguistic performances overall, while the lowest complexity task elicited the highest task accomplishment ratings. Focusing on distinguishing among learner abilities, however, the highest complexity task demonstrated the best discrimination. Cognitive task complexity was also found to moderate the relationship between task accomplishment ratings and linguistic measures. Implications for research into task design, learner performance, and assessment purpose are considered.

In this study, we compared the impact of audio-, video-, and text-chat interaction on target language use during online learner-learner interaction and on learner affect amongst adolescent learners of German as a foreign language. Repeated measures and ANOVA analyses revealed a high percentage of target language output in all conditions for all four tasks, especially in text- chat. Audio-chatters produced the most output and used the most meaning negotiation, compensation strategies, self-repair and other-repair strategies. Learners in all conditions gained in enjoyment, willingness to communicate and self-efficacy. Anxiety reduced for text-chatters. Task effects partly determined the quantity of L2 output, while condition effects determined meaning-oriented and form-focused processing.

School children in China’s remote Northwestern region are generally from poor farming villages where English language education presents significant challenges, particularly since the implementation of China’s 2001 English curriculum innovation requiring tasked-based language teaching (TBLT). This one-month field study, set in a typical rural secondary school, investigated the degree to which the curriculum aspirations for TBLT were reflected in classroom practices in the school. Participants were ten 7th-grade teachers of English. Data included lesson observations, interviews, and field journals. Findings showed that classroom practices did not conform to the principles of TBLT, though some efforts in using task-like activities were observed. The contributing factors influencing classroom practices were multifaceted with teacher education the most salient. This result indicates that teacher preparation for TBLT needs to be tailored for the rural context if it is to have any chance of gaining a foothold in this context.