ERIC Number: EJ1126220
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Aug
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0008-4506
EISSN: N/A
Anticipating a Post-Task Activity: The Effects on Accuracy, Complexity, and Fluency of Second Language Performance
Foster, Pauline; Skehan, Peter
Canadian Modern Language Review, v69 n3 p249-273 Aug 2013
The concept of focus on form has been influential in second language (L2) acquisition and pedagogy. One example of the implementation of focus on form is a post-task activity (e.g., anticipation of a public performance) that can selectively orient learners toward increased levels of accuracy. The present research proposes a new operationalization of a post-task activity, requiring L2 speakers, post-task, to transcribe some of their earlier task performance for both narrative and decision-making tasks. This study indicates that the predicted accuracy effect is obtained with both tasks, but so too is an effect of complexity for the decision-making task. Results are discussed in terms of the way L2 speakers allocate attention during task performance and how this allocation can be influenced by experimental conditions.
Descriptors: Accuracy, Difficulty Level, Language Fluency, Second Language Learning, Oral Language, Prediction, Task Analysis, Decision Making, Attention, Experiments, Public Speaking
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A