Processing Perspectives on Task Performance

Processing Perspectives on Task Performance
Author: Peter Skehan
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2014-04-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027270414

Understanding how second language task-based performance can be raised is vital for progress with task-based approaches to instruction. The chapters in this volume all attempt to advance this understanding, and do so within a viewpoint which assumes limited attentional capacities and accounts for second language speaking based on Levelt's model of first language speaking. Six empirical chapters present original studies. They explore the topics of task planning, familiarity of information in a task, task repetition, task characteristics, and the effects of using post-task transcription. The studies interweave with and build upon each other, reflecting their conjoint focus on how second language learning memory and attention limitations shape their performance in using the target language. In the concluding chapter the accumulated findings across these studies are discussed in terms of the nature of preparation for a task, the role of task structure, the respective claims of the Tradeoff and Cognition Hypotheses, the role of selective attention, and the implications of the studies for pedagogy. The book is a central reference for students in psycholinguistics, second language acquisition, and task-based language teaching.

Researching L2 Task Performance and Pedagogy

Researching L2 Task Performance and Pedagogy
Author: Zhisheng (Edward) Wen
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2019-08-28
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027262381

This volume honours Peter Skehan’s landmark contributions to research in Task-Based Language Teaching. It offers state-of-the-art reviews as well as cutting-edge new research studies, all reflective of key theoretical and methodological issues in current research, such as the role and nature of task complexity and the distinct dimensions of L2 task performance. Collectively, these chapters celebrate Professor Skehan’s seminal influence on TBLT and second language acquisition research, and they bear witness to the sustained academic mentoring and collaboration that have characterised his career. Contributed both by senior academics and more recent participants in SLA and TBLT research, the chapters variously explore conceptual frameworks and methodological insights on central issues in TBLT research, theoretical debates, innovative research paradigms and methodologies, as well as practical pedagogical proposals. The book provides a wide-ranging and balanced account of Skehan’s work and its impact on other researchers, serving as an introduction as well as a critical review for both seasoned and novice researchers and for interested practitioners.

Planning and Task Performance in a Second Language

Planning and Task Performance in a Second Language
Author: Rod Ellis
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2005-03-11
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 902729464X

The last decade has seen a growing body of research investigating various aspects of L2 learners’ performance of tasks. This book focuses on one task implementation variable: planning. It considers theories of how opportunities to plan a task affect performance and tests claims derived from these theories in a series of empirical studies. The book examines different types of planning (i.e. task rehearsal, pre-task planning and within-task planning), addressing both what learners do when they plan and the effects of the different types of planning on L2 production. The choice of planning as the variable for investigation in this book is motivated both by its importance for current theorizing about L2 acquisition (in particular with regard to cognitive theories that view acquisition in terms of information processing) and its utility to language teachers and language testers, for unlike many other constructs in SLA ‘planning’ lends itself to external manipulation. The study of planning, then, provides a suitable forum for demonstrating the interconnectedness of theory, research and pedagogy in SLA.

Second Language Speech Fluency

Second Language Speech Fluency
Author: Parvaneh Tavakoli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2020-12-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1108603432

Second language (L2) fluency is an exciting and fast-moving field of research, with clear practical applications in language teaching. This book provides a lively overview of the current advances in the field of L2 fluency, and connects the theory to practice, presenting a hands-on approach to using fluency research across a range of different language-related professions. The authors introduce an innovative multidisciplinary perspective, which brings together research into cognitive and social factors, to understand fluency as a dynamic variable in language performance, connecting learner-internal factors such as speech processing and automaticity, to external factors such as task demands, language testing, and pragmatic interactional demands in communication. Bringing a much-needed multidisciplinary and novel approach to understanding the complex nature of L2 speech fluency, this book provides researchers, students and language professionals with both the theoretical insights and practical tools required to understand and research how fluency in a second language develops.

Task-Based Language Teaching

Task-Based Language Teaching
Author: Rod Ellis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 435
Release: 2020
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1108494080

A comprehensive account of the research and practice of task-based language teaching.

Fluency in L2 Learning and Use

Fluency in L2 Learning and Use
Author: Pekka Lintunen
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2019-12-06
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1788926323

This book brings together theoretical and empirical approaches to second language (L2) fluency and provides a state-of-the-art overview of current research on the topic. The strength of the volume lies in its interdisciplinarity: the chapters approach fluency from non-traditional starting points and go beyond disciplinary boundaries in their contributions. The volume includes chapters investigating fluency from an L2 perspective and integrates perspectives from related fields, such as psycholinguistics, sign language studies and L2 assessment. The book extends the common foci and approaches of fluency studies and offers new perspectives that enable readers to evaluate critically existing paradigms and models. This encourages the development of more comprehensive frameworks and directs future L2 fluency research into new areas of L2 learning and use.

Becoming and Being an Applied Linguist

Becoming and Being an Applied Linguist
Author: Rod Ellis
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2016-10-03
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9027266786

Becoming and Being an Applied Linguist contains narrative accounts of the lives of thirteen well-established applied linguists. Their professional autobiographies document the development of some of the key areas of applied linguistics – second, language acquisition, motivation, grammar, vocabulary, testing, second language writing, second language classroom research, practitioner research, English as a lingua franca, teacher cognition, and computer-assisted language learning. The book tells how these applied linguists grew into their areas of specialization. It will be of interest to any would-be applied linguist. The book also provides a readable overview of the whole field that will be of value to students of applied linguistics.

Multiple Perspectives on Learner Interaction

Multiple Perspectives on Learner Interaction
Author: William J. Crawford
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2021-09-07
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1501511289

In the field of Second Language Studies, shared datasets provide a valuable contribution to second language research as many variables are held constant (e.g., participants, tasks, research context) thus allowing for an evaluation of theoretical and/or methodological perspectives that may not otherwise be comparable. This edited volume includes a wide range of studies using a common dataset (the Corpus of Collaborative Oral Tasks). The corpus includes 820 spoken tasks (268,927 words) carried out by dyads of L2 English speakers (primarily Chinese and Arabic learners). Studies included in the book are categorized into three main traditions: learner corpus research, Task-Based Language Teaching, and assessment. Because the corpus contains text and sound files, both lexico-grammatical and phonological analyses are included. Intended for researchers in the field of Second Language Studies with an interest in oral interaction research, this book provides a collection of methodological, pedagogical, and assessment studies using a common dataset.

The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching

The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching
Author: Mohammad Javad Ahmadian
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 820
Release: 2021-12-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 110886502X

Written by leading international experts, this handbook provides an accessible resource to task-based language teaching for teachers, as well as academic researchers. Chapters in the volume are presented in a reader-friendly style, with ideas made accessible through case studies, questions for discussion, and suggested further readings.

New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance

New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance
Author: Edwin A. Locke
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 690
Release: 2013
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0415885485

This book concentrates on the last twenty years of research in the area of goal setting and performance at work. The editors and contributors believe goals affect action, and this volume will have a lineup of international contributors who look at the recent theories and implications in this area for IO psychologists and human resource management academics and graduate students.