Chapter 12. Task repetition or task iteration?
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Diane Larsen-Freeman
Abstract
This chapter recommends a different understanding of task “repetition” from the perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). It suggests that a better term than “repetition” is “iteration”. While substituting one term for another might seem to be purely an academic exercise, doing so actually has important implications for researchers and teachers. For one, it is an acknowledgement of the common observation that learners’ performance on tasks will never be the same from one iteration to the next. In addition, it maintains that useful language pedagogy should build learners’ capacity to make meaning beyond their exploiting conventional uses of language to which learners have already been exposed. Further to this point, iteration instead of repetition is consistent with the CDST position that learning is not limited to reproduction. Through iteration, learners receive practice in adapting their language resources to mutable temporal and spatial contexts, and they construct their own learning paths. Also, the chapter problematizes the notion of transfer of learning, conceiving of it as transformation rather than transfer, and it addresses issues of measurement and nonlinearity. Finally, calling it task iteration honors the agency and uniqueness of learners and the construal that they give to the task at hand. As such, it calls for researchers to adopt a more emic perspective.
Abstract
This chapter recommends a different understanding of task “repetition” from the perspective of Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST). It suggests that a better term than “repetition” is “iteration”. While substituting one term for another might seem to be purely an academic exercise, doing so actually has important implications for researchers and teachers. For one, it is an acknowledgement of the common observation that learners’ performance on tasks will never be the same from one iteration to the next. In addition, it maintains that useful language pedagogy should build learners’ capacity to make meaning beyond their exploiting conventional uses of language to which learners have already been exposed. Further to this point, iteration instead of repetition is consistent with the CDST position that learning is not limited to reproduction. Through iteration, learners receive practice in adapting their language resources to mutable temporal and spatial contexts, and they construct their own learning paths. Also, the chapter problematizes the notion of transfer of learning, conceiving of it as transformation rather than transfer, and it addresses issues of measurement and nonlinearity. Finally, calling it task iteration honors the agency and uniqueness of learners and the construal that they give to the task at hand. As such, it calls for researchers to adopt a more emic perspective.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Series Editors’ Preface vii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Task repetition for language learning 27
- Chapter 2. Grammatical structures and oral fluency in immediate task repetition 43
- Chapter 3. The effects of task repetition and task complexity on L2 lexicon use 75
- Chapter 4. Discourse performance in L2 task repetition 97
- Chapter 5. The impact of intra-cultural and inter-cultural task repetition on interaction 117
- Chapter 6. Effects of task type, task-type repetition, and performance criteria on L2 oral production 143
- Chapter 7. The effects of awareness-raising through stimulated recall on the repeated performance of the same task and on a new task of the same type 171
- Chapter 8. Perform, reflect, recycle 193
- Chapter 9. Second language learning through repeated engagement in a poster presentation task 223
- Chapter 10. Mediating input-based tasks for beginner learners through task repetition 255
- Chapter 11. Understanding benefits of repetition from a complex dynamic systems perspective 279
- Chapter 12. Task repetition or task iteration? 311
- External reviewers 331
- Subject index 333
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Series Editors’ Preface vii
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Task repetition for language learning 27
- Chapter 2. Grammatical structures and oral fluency in immediate task repetition 43
- Chapter 3. The effects of task repetition and task complexity on L2 lexicon use 75
- Chapter 4. Discourse performance in L2 task repetition 97
- Chapter 5. The impact of intra-cultural and inter-cultural task repetition on interaction 117
- Chapter 6. Effects of task type, task-type repetition, and performance criteria on L2 oral production 143
- Chapter 7. The effects of awareness-raising through stimulated recall on the repeated performance of the same task and on a new task of the same type 171
- Chapter 8. Perform, reflect, recycle 193
- Chapter 9. Second language learning through repeated engagement in a poster presentation task 223
- Chapter 10. Mediating input-based tasks for beginner learners through task repetition 255
- Chapter 11. Understanding benefits of repetition from a complex dynamic systems perspective 279
- Chapter 12. Task repetition or task iteration? 311
- External reviewers 331
- Subject index 333
