Second Language Task Complexity

Understanding how task complexity affects second language learning, interaction and spoken and written performance is essential to informed decisions about task design and sequencing in TBLT programs. The chapters in this volume all examine evidence for claims of the Cognition Hypothesis that complex tasks should promote greater accuracy and complexity of speech and writing, as well as more interaction, and learning of information provided in the input to task performance, than simpler tasks. Implications are drawn concerning the basic pedagogic claim of the Cognition Hypothesis, that tasks should be sequenced for learners from simple to complex during syllabus design. Containing theoretical discussion of the Cognition Hypothesis, and cutting-edge empirical studies of the effects of task complexity on second language learning and performance, this book will be important reading for language teachers, graduate students and researchers in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and cognitive and educational psychology.

Daniel O. Jackson, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 34(4): 692-693 (2012):
This collection documents a broad spectrum of recent work motivated by the CH [Cognition Hypothesis] that seeks to inform theory and practice in task-based language teaching.
Each section offers unique perspectives on task complexity, establishing its relevance to L2 instruction. These insights from a range of experts add to the volume’s overall quality. This book should therefore find a wide audience among graduate students, language teachers, and researchers.