scholarly journals The Effect of Pre-Task Planning Time on L2 Learners’ Narrative Writing Performance

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keivan Seyyedi ◽  
Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail ◽  
Maryam Orang ◽  
Maryam Sharafi Nejad
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Writing ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
L2 Learners

Training planning in second language narrative writing

ELT Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sima Khezrlou
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Training Programme ◽  
Narrative Writing ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Effective Planning

Abstract This study attempted to explore whether learners could be trained to use effective planning behaviours and whether this could affect their writing performance. A complete class of Iranian learners (n = 42) of English as a foreign language received training in effective pre-task planning based on a number of operating principles. Writing performance, prior to and after the training, was measured through written narrative tasks. Retrospective interviews were also used to examine what learners did during planning. Results revealed that the effective planning behaviours are learnable, with many learners reporting positive ideas about the training programme. The findings also indicated significant improvements in learners’ writing quality in terms of complexity, accuracy and fluency. Based on these collective findings, it is suggested that L2 learners need to be guided towards using more helpful planning behaviours, particularly those that are not forgotten with time.

scholarly journals The impact of pre-task planning on speaking test performance for English-medium university admission

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan O’Grady
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
English Language ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Task Type ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
University Admission ◽  
The Impact

This study investigated the impact of different lengths of pre-task planning time on performance in a test of second language speaking ability for university admission. In the study, 47 Turkish-speaking learners of English took a test of English language speaking ability. The participants were divided into two groups according to their language proficiency, which was estimated through a paper-based English placement test. They each completed four monologue tasks: two picture-based narrative tasks and two description tasks. In a balanced design, each test taker was allowed a different length of planning time before responding to each of the four tasks. The four planning conditions were 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes. Trained raters awarded scores to the test takers using an analytic rating scale and a context-specific, binary-choice rating scale, designed specifically for the study. The results of the rater scores were analysed by using a multifaceted Rasch measurement. The impact of pre-task planning on test scores was found to be influenced by four variables: the rating scale; the task type that test takers completed; the length of planning time provided; and the test takers’ levels of proficiency in the second language. Increases in scores were larger on the picture-based narrative tasks than on the two description tasks. The results also revealed a relationship between proficiency and pre-task planning, whereby statistical significance was only reached for the increases in the scores of the lowest-level test takers. Regarding the amount of planning time, the 5-minute planning condition led to the largest overall increases in scores. The research findings offer contributions to the study of pre-task planning and will be of particular interest to institutions seeking to assess the speaking ability of prospective students in English-medium educational environments.

The effects of pre-task planning on EFL learners’ oral performance in a 3D multi-user virtual environment

ReCALL ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian ChengChiang Chen
Keyword(s):  
Language Production ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
World Knowledge ◽  
Oral Performance ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Linguistic Performance ◽  
L2 Learners

AbstractPrior research on pre-task planning examines its effects on the quality of second language (L2) learners’ planned output. Planning mitigates the cognitive overload placed upon L2 learners’ oral performance, thus improving language production. Despite the pedagogical benefits, studies on pre-task planning on L2 learners’ oral output are conducted mostly in a lab or class setting. Whether or not similar effects of pre-task planning can be evidenced in three-dimensional (3D) multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs), such as Second Life (SL), is still less explored. Hence, this study investigates whether pre-task planning could enhance the quality and quantity of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners’ task-oriented, voice-based outcomes in SL. Nine EFL learners worldwide participated in this 10-session virtual class. Data were collected through students’ oral presentations in performing real-life simulated tasks related to their home cultures and interests. Yuan and Ellis’s (2003) framework of T-units measures was adopted to analyze their linguistic performance measured by complexity and accuracy. Results indicated that EFL learners showed statistically significant improvement on grammatical complexity on the levels of syntactic complexity and variety (but not on lexical variety) and on linguistic accuracy across all measured levels (error-free clauses/T-units/verb forms). It is suggested that pre-task planning can be seeded in task-based instruction either in a classroom-based or 3D MUVE setting to optimize the quality of learners’ linguistic performance. Tasks that are real-world oriented and targeting learners’ cultural repertoires and world knowledge also positively impact their virtual learning experiences. These significant implications add new research and pedagogical dimensions to the field of computer-assisted language learning.

L2 fluency as influenced by content familiarity and planning: Performance, measurement, and pedagogy

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Bui ◽  
Zeping Huang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Factorial Design ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Content Familiarity ◽  
Split Plot ◽  
Two Factors

This study investigates how second language (L2) fluency is influenced by two factors: Pre-task planning and content familiarity. Planning was adopted as a between-participant variable, combined with content familiarity as a within-participant variable, in a 2 × 2 split-plot factorial design. Nineteen measures of fluency phenomena, constituting eight categories, were used. Both planning and content familiarity were found to enhance fluency, but the positive effects of planning were stronger and noticeable on a wider range of measures. The availability of planning time also helped to compensate for lack of content familiarity. Implications for pedagogy and L2 fluency measurement are discussed.

scholarly journals The Effects of Pre-task Planning on Iranian EFL Learners’ Accuracy of Writing Performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Sharafi-Nejad ◽  
Shohreh Raftari ◽  
Shaik Abdul Malik Mohamed Ismail ◽  
Lin Siew Eng
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Task Planning ◽  
Writing Performance ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Written Production ◽  
The Third ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Planning Condition

This study aims to investigate the effects of guided task-based planning on the accuracy of Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance. Participants were forty eight EFL learners' studying at Islamic Azad University in Kerman, Iran. They were randomly divided into three experimental groups of sixteen students: one group with meaning-based pre-task planning; the other group with form-based pre-task planning; and the last one with meaning and form based pre-task planning. Participants in the form-based planning were taught how to plan the form of their written production in five minutes for eight following sessions. In meaning-based planning condition, the learners were given instructions about planning the content of their argumentative writings in five minutes for eight sessions. In the third group, however, the learners were helped to focus both on form and content in five minutes for eight following sessions. Then, they engaged in planning. The three groups received the same pre-test as post-test and the same topic in each of the eight sessions with the same examples. After collecting and analyzing the pretest and posttest data, the results showed the significantly superior effects of form- and meaning-based pre-task planning on the accuracy of the writing performance. 

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