John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 5. Get it right in the end
Abstract
Given the small body of existing research concerning focus on form at the post-task stage in task-based language teaching, the present study uses a post-task transcribing condition as a focus on form activity and explores the effects of transcribing under various conditions. Eighty participants, divided into four experimental groups and one control group completed four tasks with a one-week interval between each task. Different experimental groups were assigned various post-task activities respectively. No post-task activity was adopted in the control group. Task performance was measured in terms of complexity, accuracy and lexical performance. The findings are multifaceted. First of all, the adoption of post-task transcribing, in general, was found to be efficient for different formal aspects of task performance. In the second place, pair-based transcribing led to more syntactically complex language, whereas the individual-based transcribing at the post-task stage led to an improvement in lexical sophistication. Thirdly, further revision after transcribing had mixed effects on accuracy and complexity. The findings are discussed in light of the concepts of noticing and attention, interaction theory and other related SLA theories. Based on the theoretical discussion, pedagogical implications are proposed.
Abstract
Given the small body of existing research concerning focus on form at the post-task stage in task-based language teaching, the present study uses a post-task transcribing condition as a focus on form activity and explores the effects of transcribing under various conditions. Eighty participants, divided into four experimental groups and one control group completed four tasks with a one-week interval between each task. Different experimental groups were assigned various post-task activities respectively. No post-task activity was adopted in the control group. Task performance was measured in terms of complexity, accuracy and lexical performance. The findings are multifaceted. First of all, the adoption of post-task transcribing, in general, was found to be efficient for different formal aspects of task performance. In the second place, pair-based transcribing led to more syntactically complex language, whereas the individual-based transcribing at the post-task stage led to an improvement in lexical sophistication. Thirdly, further revision after transcribing had mixed effects on accuracy and complexity. The findings are discussed in light of the concepts of noticing and attention, interaction theory and other related SLA theories. Based on the theoretical discussion, pedagogical implications are proposed.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Series editors’ preface to Volume 5 ix
- Preface xi
- Chapter 1. The context for researching a processing perspective on task performance 1
- Chapter 2. On-line time pressure manipulations 27
- Chapter 3. Task readiness 63
- Chapter 4. Self-reported planning behaviour and second language performance in narrative retelling 95
- Chapter 5. Get it right in the end 129
- Chapter 6. Structure, lexis, and time perspective 155
- Chapter 7. Structure and processing condition in video-based narrative retelling 187
- Chapter 8. Limited attentional capacity, second language performance, and task-based pedagogy 211
- Author Biodata 261
- Index 263
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents vii
- Series editors’ preface to Volume 5 ix
- Preface xi
- Chapter 1. The context for researching a processing perspective on task performance 1
- Chapter 2. On-line time pressure manipulations 27
- Chapter 3. Task readiness 63
- Chapter 4. Self-reported planning behaviour and second language performance in narrative retelling 95
- Chapter 5. Get it right in the end 129
- Chapter 6. Structure, lexis, and time perspective 155
- Chapter 7. Structure and processing condition in video-based narrative retelling 187
- Chapter 8. Limited attentional capacity, second language performance, and task-based pedagogy 211
- Author Biodata 261
- Index 263
