The role of task repetition in L2 performance development: What needs to be repeated during task-based interaction?

Abstract

Previous task repetition studies have primarily investigated how repeating the same task affects complexity, accuracy, and fluency of language production, but whether different characteristics of task repetition have an effect on such performance measures has received little attention (Bygate, 2001; Patanasorn, 2010). The current study compared the impact of task and procedural repetition on Korean EFL learners' development of L2 performance as a result of carrying out collaborative tasks. The study employed a pretest-posttest design with a total of 36 Korean junior high school students from two intact English classes. Each class was assigned to one of two groups: task repetition or procedural repetition, and participated in a pretest, three collaborative tasks, and two posttests over a four-week period. The task repetition group repeated the same information-exchange task procedure with the same content three times, whereas the procedural repetition group repeated the same information-exchange task procedure with different content. Learners' oral production on a pretest and the two posttests were analyzed in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Results indicated that procedural repetition promoted syntactic complexity development and that both types of task repetition were beneficial for the use of task-induced linguistic features. Neither group showed any significant increase in speech rate as a result of the task repetition treatments. Implications for research and teaching on the role of different features of task repetition in task-based instruction are discussed. Published by Elsevier Ltd.