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.
Research has shown that task-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) can foster attention to linguistic form in ways that may promote language learning (c.f., Blake, 2000; Smith, 2003, 2005). However, relatively little research has investigated how differences in the way that tasks are used in CMC settings influence learning opportunities during the task. In an attempt to shed light on the manner in which second language (L2) writing may contribute to L2 development, this chapter presents an empirical study of how two implementation features (degree of task structure and provision of language support) of a writing group task in simultaneous text-CMC influenced learner attention to linguistic form. The analysis draws on data from text chat performance and post-task group interviews to illustrate how aspects of task implementation in a technology-enhanced learning environment may promote attention to language expression and encourage collaborative work on language errors during writing task performance.
This study investigates the relationship between the cognitive demands of task complexity and learners' motivation towards several tasks using task-based instruction during asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) writing tasks. According to Robinson's Cognition Hypotheses (2001a, the production of language would be different when certain manipulation of task complexity was made. The tasks were manipulated following two variables from the Cognition Hypotheses, along resourcedirecting (+/-causal reasoning demand) and resource-dispersing (+/-task structure) dimensions. Eighty-eight undergraduate students from one of the technical universities in Malaysia were divided into four groups and assigned with a writing task. After the participants have completed the writing tasks, they were interviewed and asked to complete a questionnaire to gauge their motivation towards the tasks. Participants' written language production was coded and analyzed using syntactic and lexical complexity measures. Further analysis of the data was conducted using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and correlational analysis. Analyses of the results showed that there is a correlation between task complexity and task motivation among learners. However, the correlation is only evident in lexical complexity production and no correlation was found for any of the syntactic complexity measures. This study is significant as it explores the roles of task complexity and task motivation in mediating the production of language. It also highlights how the manipulation of task complexity would encourage the production of the language in terms of its complexity.
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