The effects of task types on L2 oral production and learner engagement

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuyan Qiu ◽  
Hong Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
L2 Speaking ◽  
Different Types ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Task Types

Abstract In task-based language teaching, various types of tasks are developed from different scenarios in daily communication. Different kinds of tasks encourage oral production of different generic features and can impose different degrees of information-processing pressure on second language (L2) learners. Therefore, the functions and nature of task types are worth considering when designing tasks. Although the effects of task types on L2 oral output have been explored in the current literature, L2 learners’ engagement in different types of tasks is relatively under-explored. Since engaging L2 learners in task performance can facilitate L2 learning, it is important for us to attend to learner engagement in task-based research. This study investigated the effects of two types of tasks, opinion-exchange tasks and storytelling tasks, on the oral performance of 20 English as a foreign language learners in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency and their engagement in L2 use. They performed two opinion-exchange tasks and two storytelling tasks. The analysis of their oral discourse revealed that the learners spent longer time, had more turn-taking, and more frequently negotiated language-related issues when co-constructing stories than in opinion-exchange tasks. The results reinforce the importance of considering task types in teaching L2 speaking.

Picture or non-picture? The influence of narrative task types on lower- and higher-proficiency EFL learners’ oral production

2019 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuyan Qiu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Oral Narrative ◽  
L2 Proficiency ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Task Types

Abstract Picture-based storytelling tasks, i. e. telling a story relying on some pictures, and short speech tasks, i. e. producing a speech with a given topic without pictures, are two types of oral narrative tasks widely adopted in previous studies. However, few have discussed what effects these two types of tasks may exert on second language learners’ speaking performance. In this study, sixty English as a foreign language learners, divided into lower- and higher-proficiency groups, performed a picture-based storytelling task and a short speech task. Stimulated recalls were collected from seventeen participants. Their oral discourses were analysed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Stimulated recalls were analysed based on Levelt’s speaking model. The short speech tasks raised participants’ accuracy and lexical complexity and were more effective for higher-proficient learners regarding structural complexity. The findings yield suggestions for designing oral narrative tasks for EFL learners with different L2 proficiency levels.

scholarly journals Developing intonation skills in English: A systemic functional linguistics perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-20
Author(s):  
Renata Fabiana Cardinali ◽  
Maria Celina Barbeito
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Oral Production ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
National University ◽  
Oral Skills

This paper explores whether the teaching of English intonation within the framework of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) contributes to the development of intonation skills of Argentine Spanish speakers to become teachers of English as a Foreign Language. The findings of the study that focused on the oral production of students in the first course of phonetics in the programme offered at the National University of Rio Cuarto are presented. This paper reports the analysis of recordings of first-year students reading an English text aloud and the results obtained in the pre- and post-tests reveal that there was improvement in students’ oral production such as in tone system considering the three systems of intonation in SFL after a series of training sessions. Hence, this approach seems promising for the development of intonation skills and oral skills in foreign language learners. These results favour for teacher trainers as well as for trainers   Keywords: EFL, intonation, systemic functional linguistics, teacher training.

scholarly journals FRAME MARKERS AND COHERENCE IN L2 ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-71
Author(s):  
Višnja Pavičić Takač ◽  
Sanja Vakanjac Ivezić
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Academic Literacy ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Language Knowledge ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
The Relationship

Academic literacy includes the learners’ ability to use their language knowledge to form articulate texts. In communicative competence models this ability is subsumed under the notion of discourse competence which includes the concepts of cohesion and coherence. Starting from the premise that constructing a coherent text entails efficient use of metadiscourse (i.e. means of explicit text organisation) this study focuses on elements referring to discourse acts, text sequences or stages called frame markers, i.e. items providing framing information about elements of the discourse and functioning to sequence, label, predict and shift arguments, making the discourse clear to readers or listeners (Hyland 2005). It analyses patterns of L2 learners’ use of frame markers, compares them to English native speakers’, and explores the relationship between frame markers and coherence. The corpus includes 80 argumentative essays written by early undergraduate Croatian L2 learners of English at B2 level. The results indicate that foreign language learners’ argumentative essays are characterized by an overuse of a limited set of frame markers. Finally, implications are drawn for teaching and further research.

Hindi Heritage Language Learners’ Performance during OPIs: Characteristics and Pedagogical Implications

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-174
Author(s):  
Gabriela Nik. Ilieva
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Heritage Language Learners ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
New York University ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Oral Proficiency Interviews ◽  
High Level

The present paper examines the oral performance of Hindi language learners during practice Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPI) conducted during workshops hosted by New York University and sponsored by STARTALK. The most salient characteristics of the heritage language learners’ output are compared with the output of foreign language learners who are rated similarly at the Intermediate Mid or Intermediate High level on the ACTFL scale. The paper’s focus is on patterns of grammar and discourse strengths and deficiencies, as well as elaboration of topics and code-mixing in relation to students’ background. Pedagogical implications are discussed with reference to teaching strategies that address the differences in the language abilities of the heritage versus foreign language learners of Hindi.

scholarly journals Gender Errors in French Interlanguage

2015 ◽  
pp. 7-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Dewaele
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Correct Identification ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Indefinite Article ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
L2 Learners

Many studies on gender assignment in French have focused on the effect of the final morpheme of the noun on the identification of the gender of the noun and the subsequent agreement with any determiners. The present study considers the effect of a noun’s initial vowel on gender accuracy in conversations with 36 Dutch-speaking French foreign language learners. The analysis of 1540 indefinite article + noun sequences revealed that gender accuracy was significantly lower when the noun started with a vowel. This effect was significant for French L3 learners but weaker among more advanced French L2 learners. It thus seems that an initial vowel, and the resulting gender syncretism, delays the correct identification of a noun’s gender among French L2 learners.

Syntax Rules and (Un)Grammaticality

2019 ◽  
pp. 103-126
Author(s):  
Christian Waldmann ◽  
Kirk P. H. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
Learner Engagement ◽  
Foreign Language Learners ◽  
Grammaticality Judgment ◽  
Grammaticality Judgments ◽  
Linguistically Diverse Learners

This chapter deals with syntax rules and grammaticality judgments in the teaching and learning of English as a second and foreign language for linguistically diverse learners. Grammaticality judgment tasks are used in linguistic research to probe speakers' implicit knowledge about the syntactic rules of language. This chapter discusses grammaticality judgment tasks in educational contexts and proposes a method for teaching syntactic rules of English based on the grammaticality judgments of second and foreign language learners of English. The chapter also attempts to raise grammatical consciousness for teaching of English as a second or foreign language as well as illustrating how various media can be used to design and present grammaticality judgment tasks to support language learning and learner engagement, participation, and motivation.

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