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The combined effects of task repetition and post-task teacher-corrected transcribing on complexity, accuracy and fluency of L2 oral performance

  • Huu Thanh Minh Nguyen ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Hang Le Thanh Nguyen , Ngoc Mai Vo and Nguyen Khanh Huynh
Published/Copyright: December 21, 2023
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
From the journal International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching Volume 63 Issue 2

Abstract

Given the benefits of task repetition, post-task transcribing and teacher corrective feedback, examining the combined effects of task repetition and post-task teacher-corrected transcribing is promised to produce gains in L2 oral performance. In recognition of this potential, this study examined the effects of task repetition combined with post-task teacher-corrected transcribing (TRPTCT) on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of L2 oral performance and CAF gains over time. On a sample of 27 second year English-majors in a Vietnamese university, they were randomly divided into three groups including TRPTCT, task repetition (TR), and control groups. They later orally performed three picture description tasks, which were measured in terms of CAF. Results showed that the TRPTCT condition was superior to the TR condition at increasing complexity and fluency for the students’ repeated task performances. Additionally, the TRPTCT condition was better at fostering accuracy in verb forms and complexity in terms of clause subordination and length of language production as learning gains in the new task performance.

Keywords: task repetition; post-task transcribing; teacher feedback; CAF; oral performance
Corresponding author: Huu Thanh Minh Nguyen, University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Danang, Da Nang, Vietnam, E-mail:
Appendix A

Task 1 – Picture A

Task 2 – Picture B

Task 3 – Picture C

Appendix B

Task instruction

You will be given three pictures (A, B, and C) themed by different environmental issues over the three weeks of this study. For each week, you will be asked to (a) describe what you see from each picture, (b) give your opinion on how each of the environmental problems affect nature and human life. Imagine that you are describing the pictures and saying what you think about them to those interested in environment. As randomly assigned, you will work on the three pictures as follows:

Group 1: Only describe three pictures over the three weeks.

Group 2:

  1. Week 1: Describe picture A

  2. Week 2: Repeat picture A description and describe picture B

  3. Week 3: Repeat picture B description and describe picture C

Group 3:

  1. Week 1: Describe picture A with recording at the same time → Transcribe the recording precisely and self-correct errors in the transcription → Send the self-corrected transcription to me for further feedback → Review the edited transcription.

  2. Week 2: Repeat picture A description → Describe picture B with recording at the same time → Transcribe the recording precisely and self-correct errors in the transcription → Send the self-corrected transcription to me for further feedback → Review the edited transcription.

  3. Week 3: Repeat picture B description and describe picture C.

Post-task transcribing instruction

After each picture description, you are asked to listen attentively to transcribe what you said as closely as possible in the OneDrive collaborative document that I shared with you earlier. Make sure you self-correct any errors you found in your transcription and post it into the collaborative document. You have three days to get it done. After receiving my feedback on your transcription, do spend time reviewing the edited transcription before the next class session.

Appendix C

Sample teacher feedback on Task 1.

Sample teacher feedback on Task 2.

Appendix D

Error analysis

Tables 1D and 2D

Table 1D:

Types and number of errors repaired in post-task transcription of Task 1 and Task 2 by the TRPTCT group.

Error repairs
Lexical errors (LE)1 Morphological errors (ME) in verb forms2 Syntactic errors (SE)3
Task 1 18 14 0
Task 2 11 6 1
Table 2D:

Types and number of errors in Task 3 performance by the TRPTCT group.

Error made
Lexical errors (LE) Morphological errors (ME) in verb forms Syntactic errors (SE)
Task 3 7 2 0

  1. 1LE refer to wrong word use made by the learners, e.g., Emission from the factory like this is a contributor to air pollution which reduces people’s health. 2ME in verb forms refer to errors in conjugating verb form, e.g., I can also notice that the meadow is eroding and there is a huge garbage dump under it. 3SE refers to the violation of grammar in syntactic construction that impedes understanding of ideas conveyed, e.g., During the flood have plenty of water, but polluted and unsafe to drink. Bolded and italicized words are identified as errors.

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Received: 2023-06-11
Accepted: 2023-12-03
Published Online: 2023-12-21
Published in Print: 2025-06-26

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Unpacking the positioning of being “disengaged” and “disrespectful” in class through nexus analysis: an international student’s navigation of institutional and interactional university norms
  4. Assessing English language learners’ collocation knowledge: a systematic review of receptive and productive measurements
  5. The role of awareness in implicit and explicit knowledge
  6. Intensity of CLIL exposure and L2 motivation in primary school: evidence from Spanish EFL learners in non-CLIL, low-CLIL and high-CLIL programmes
  7. Promoting young EFL learners’ oral production through storytelling: coursebook adaptation in the Vietnamese classroom
  8. Applying embodied meaning of spatial prepositions and the Principled Polysemy model to teaching English as a second language: the case of to and on
  9. The impact of guessing and retrieval strategies for learning phrasal verbs
  10. Unraveling the differential effects of task rehearsal and task repetition on L2 task performance: the mediating role of task modality
  11. Examining L2 studentsʼ development of global cohesion and its relationship with their argumentative essay quality
  12. The construct of integrated group discussion (IGD) among undergraduate students: to what extent does group discussion performance reflect performance on IGD tasks?
  13. Discipline-specific attitudinal differences of EMI students towards translanguaging
  14. Relationship between second language vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary learning strategy use: a meta-analysis of correlational studies
  15. Evaluative language in undergraduate academic writing: expressions of attitude as sources of text effectiveness in English as a Foreign Language
  16. Investigating optimal spacing schedules for incidental acquisition of L2 collocations
  17. The association between socioeconomic status and Chinese secondary students’ English achievement: mediation of self-efficacy and moderation of gender
  18. Integrated instruction of Appraisal Theory and rhetorical moves in literature reviews: an exploratory study
  19. Scaffolding in genre-based L2 writing classes: Vietnamese EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices
  20. Exploring the professional role identities of English for academic purposes practitioners: a qualitative study
  21. The combined effects of task repetition and post-task teacher-corrected transcribing on complexity, accuracy and fluency of L2 oral performance
  22. Teacher behaviour and student engagement with L2 writing feedback: a case study
  23. The effect of an intervention focused on academic language on CAF measures in the multilingual writing of secondary students
  24. Which approach best promoted low-proficiency learners’ listening performance: metacognitive, bottom-up or a combination of both?
  25. Enhancing young EFL learners’ written skills: the role of repeated pre-task planning
  26. The mediating roles of resilience and motivation in the relationship between students’ English learning burnout and engagement: a conservation-of-resources perspective
  27. Student and teacher beliefs about oral corrective feedback in junior secondary English classrooms
  28. The effects of context, story-type, and language proficiency on EFL word learning and retention from reading
https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2023-0128
Keywords for this article
task repetition; post-task transcribing; teacher feedback; CAF; oral performance

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Unpacking the positioning of being “disengaged” and “disrespectful” in class through nexus analysis: an international student’s navigation of institutional and interactional university norms
  4. Assessing English language learners’ collocation knowledge: a systematic review of receptive and productive measurements
  5. The role of awareness in implicit and explicit knowledge
  6. Intensity of CLIL exposure and L2 motivation in primary school: evidence from Spanish EFL learners in non-CLIL, low-CLIL and high-CLIL programmes
  7. Promoting young EFL learners’ oral production through storytelling: coursebook adaptation in the Vietnamese classroom
  8. Applying embodied meaning of spatial prepositions and the Principled Polysemy model to teaching English as a second language: the case of to and on
  9. The impact of guessing and retrieval strategies for learning phrasal verbs
  10. Unraveling the differential effects of task rehearsal and task repetition on L2 task performance: the mediating role of task modality
  11. Examining L2 studentsʼ development of global cohesion and its relationship with their argumentative essay quality
  12. The construct of integrated group discussion (IGD) among undergraduate students: to what extent does group discussion performance reflect performance on IGD tasks?
  13. Discipline-specific attitudinal differences of EMI students towards translanguaging
  14. Relationship between second language vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary learning strategy use: a meta-analysis of correlational studies
  15. Evaluative language in undergraduate academic writing: expressions of attitude as sources of text effectiveness in English as a Foreign Language
  16. Investigating optimal spacing schedules for incidental acquisition of L2 collocations
  17. The association between socioeconomic status and Chinese secondary students’ English achievement: mediation of self-efficacy and moderation of gender
  18. Integrated instruction of Appraisal Theory and rhetorical moves in literature reviews: an exploratory study
  19. Scaffolding in genre-based L2 writing classes: Vietnamese EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices
  20. Exploring the professional role identities of English for academic purposes practitioners: a qualitative study
  21. The combined effects of task repetition and post-task teacher-corrected transcribing on complexity, accuracy and fluency of L2 oral performance
  22. Teacher behaviour and student engagement with L2 writing feedback: a case study
  23. The effect of an intervention focused on academic language on CAF measures in the multilingual writing of secondary students
  24. Which approach best promoted low-proficiency learners’ listening performance: metacognitive, bottom-up or a combination of both?
  25. Enhancing young EFL learners’ written skills: the role of repeated pre-task planning
  26. The mediating roles of resilience and motivation in the relationship between students’ English learning burnout and engagement: a conservation-of-resources perspective
  27. Student and teacher beliefs about oral corrective feedback in junior secondary English classrooms
  28. The effects of context, story-type, and language proficiency on EFL word learning and retention from reading
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