The Effect of Employing Task Complexity with Recasts on Improving Grammar Acquisition among EFL Egyptian Learners

Document Type : Original Article

Author

قسم المناهج وطرق التدریس، کلیة التربیة جامعة 6اکتوبر

Abstract

Abstract
The main purpose of the current study was to explore the effects of utilizing task complexity when associated with recasts on improving grammar acquisition among EFL Egyptian learners, as well as its effect on relation between aptitude and EFL learners’ grammar acquisition after recasts. To achieve the purpose of the study, 120 elementary FL learners were divided in two experimental groups: one of them finished complex decision-making assignments, while the other group accomplished simple information transmission assignments. Recasts were provided as a reaction to the participants’ errors when they used the present third person singular verb forms. To collect the data, the researcher used these tools; elicited imitation tests, oral production, and written production to measure EFL grammar acquisition, in addition to LLAMA D, LLAMA E, and LLAMA F to evaluate learners' aptitude. The results showed that it was more useful to employ tasks with less difficult cognitive demands. In complex task conditions, the grammar acquisition was predicted through the outcomes of the participants in LLAMA D, which measured both oral and written production. Added to this, grammar acquisition was also predicted by the learners' performance on LLAMA E, which was measured over elicited imitation.
 

Keywords

Main Subjects


References
Anderson, J. R. (1993). Rules of the mind. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Baralt, M. (2013). The impact of cognitive complexity on feedback efficacy during online versus face‐to‐face interactive tasks. Studies in Second Language Acquisition35, 689– 725. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263113000429
Bardovi‐Harlig, K. (1987). Markedness and salience in second‐language acquisition. Language Learning37, 385– 407. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-1770.1987.tb00577.x
Bates, D., Maechler, M., Bolker, B., & Walker, S. (2015). Fitting linear mixed‐effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software67, 1– 48. Retrieved from https://www.jstatsoft.org/article/view/v067i01
Bokander, L., & Bylund, E. (2019). Probing the internal validity of the LLAMA language aptitude tests. Language Learning, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12368
Carroll, J. B. (1965). The prediction of success in intensive foreign language training. In R. Glaser (Ed.), Training, research, and education (pp. 87– 136). New York, NY: Wiley.
Carroll, J. B. (1981). Twenty‐five years of research on foreign language aptitude. In K. C. Diller (Ed.), Individual differences and universals in language learning aptitude (pp. 83– 118). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Carroll, J. B., & Sapon, S. M. (1959). Modern language aptitude test. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
Cobb, T. (2016). VocabProfiler [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng
DeKeyser, R. (2007). Skill acquisition theory. In B. Van Patten & J. Williams (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition (pp. 97– 113). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford   University Press.
Ellis, R. (2005). Measuring implicit and explicit knowledge of a second language: A psychometric study. Studies in Second Language Acquisition27, 141– 172. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263105050096
Ellis, R., Basturkmen, H., & Loewen, S. (2001). Learner uptake in communicative ESL lessons. Language Learning51, 281– 318. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9922.00156
Ellis, R., Loewen, S., & Erlam, R. (2006). Implicit and explicit corrective feedback and the acquisition of L2 grammar. Studies in Second Language Acquisition28, 339– 368. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263106060141
Erlam, R. (2005). Language aptitude and its relationship to instructional effectiveness in second language acquisition. Language Teaching Research9, 147–171. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168805lr161oa
Erlam, R. (2006). Elicited imitation as a measure of L2 implicit knowledge: An empirical validation study. Applied Linguistics27, 464–491. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/aml001
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.‐G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods39, 175– 191. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.155
Grañena, G. (2013). Cognitive aptitudes for second language learning and the LLAMA Language Aptitude Test. In G. Grañena & M. H. Long (Eds.), Sensitive periods, language aptitude, and ultimate L2 attainment (pp. 105– 130). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Grigorenko, E. L., Sternberg, R. J., & Ehrman, M. E. (2000). A theory‐based approach to the measurement of foreign language learning ability: The CANAL‐F theory and test. The Modern Language Journal84, 390– 405. https://doi.org/10.1111/0026-7902.00076
Han, Z. (2002). A study of the impact of recasts on tense consistency in L2 output. TESOL Quarterly, 36, 543– 572. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588240
Han, Z. (2013). Forty years later: Updating the fossilization hypothesis. Language Teaching, 46, 133– 171. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444812000511
Harley, B., & Hart, D. (1997). Language aptitude and second language proficiency in classroom learners of different starting ages. Studies in Second Language Acquisition19, 379– 400. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263197003045
Heatley, A., Nation, I. S. P., & Coxhead, A. (2002). Range and frequency programs [Computer software]. Retrieved from http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/range.aspx
Jackson, D. O., & Suethanapornkul, S. (2013). The cognition hypothesis: A synthesis and meta‐analysis of research on second language task complexity. Language Learning, 63, 330– 367. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12008
Keating, G. D., & Jegerski, J. (2014). Experimental designs in sentence processing research: A methodological review and user's guide. Studies in Second Language Acquisition37, 1– 32. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263114000187
Kim, Y., Payant, C., & Pearson, P. (2015). The intersection of task‐based interaction, task complexity, and working memory: L2 question development through recasts in a laboratory setting. Studies in Second Language Acquisition37, 549– 581. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263114000618
Kourtali, N.-E., & Révész, A. (2019).The roles of recasts, task complexity, and aptitude in child second language development. Language Learning, 1– 40. Wiley Online Library https: //doi.org/10.1111/ lang.12374
Levelt, W. (1989). Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Li, S. (2010). The effectiveness of corrective feedback in SLA: A meta‐analysis. Language Learning60, 309– 365. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00561.x
Li, S. (2013). The interactions between the effects of implicit and explicit feedback and individual differences in language analytic ability and working memory. Modern Language Journal97, 634– 654. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2013.12030.x
Li, S. (2016). The construct validity of language aptitude: A meta‐analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition38, 801– 842. https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226311500042X
Lightbown, P. M. (2007). Transfer appropriate processing as a model for classroom second language acquisition. In Z.‐H. Han (Ed.), Understanding second language process (pp. 27– 44). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Linck, J. A., Hughes, M. M., Campbell, S. G., Silbert, N. H., Tare, M., Jackson, S. R., … Doughty, C. J. (2013). Hi‐LAB: A new measure of aptitude for high‐level language proficiency. Language Learning63, 530–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12011
Loewen, S., & Sato, M. (2018). Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching51, 285– 329. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444818000125
Longe, M. H. (1996). The role of linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie & B. K. Bhatia (Eds.), Handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 413– 468). New York, NY: Academic Press.
Longe, M. H. (2015). Second language acquisition and taskbased language teaching. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Blackwell.
Lyster, R. (1998). Recasts, repetition, and ambiguity in L2 classroom discourse. Studies in Second Language Acquisition20, 51– 81. https://doi.org/10.1017/S027226319800103X
Lyster, R., & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: Negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19, 37– 66. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263197001034
Lyster, R., & Saito, K. (2010). Oral feedback in classroom SLA: A meta‐analysis. Studies in Second Language Acquisition32, 265– 302. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263109990520
Marsden, E., Morgan‐Short, K., Thompson, S., & Abugaber, D. (2018). Replication in second language research: Narrative and systematic reviews and recommendations for the field. Language Learning68, 321– 391. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12286
Meara, P. (2005). Llama language aptitude tests: The manual. Swansea, UK: Lognostics.
Nassaji, H. (2009). Effects of Recasts and Elicitations in Dyadic Interaction and the Role of Feedback Explicitness. Language Learning59, 411– 452. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2009.00511.x
Norris, J. M. (2010, September). Understanding instructed SLA: Constructs, contexts, and consequences. Plenary address delivered at the annual conference of the European Second Language Association (EUROSLA), Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Plonsky, L., & Oswald, F. L. (2014). How big is “big”? Interpreting effect sizes in L2 research. Language Learning64, 878– 912. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12079
R Core Team. (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Computer software]. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from https://www.r-project.org
Ranta, L. (2002). The role of learners’ language analytic ability in the communicative classroom. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 159– 180). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Révész, A. (2009). Task complexity, focus on form, and second language development. Studies in Second Language Acquisition31, 437– 470. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0272263109090366
Révész, A. (2014). Towards a fuller assessment of cognitive models of task‐based learning: Investigating task‐generated cognitive demands and processes. Applied Linguistics35, 87– 92. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amt039
Révész, A., Sachs, R., & Hama, M. (2014). The effects of task complexity and input frequency on the acquisition of the past counterfactual construction through recasts. Language Learning64, 615– 650. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12061
Robinson, P. (2001). Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production: Exploring interactions in a componential framework. Applied Linguistics, 22, 27– 57. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/22.1.27
Robinson, P. (2003). The cognitive hypothesis, task design, and adult task‐based language learning. Studies in Second Language Acquisition21, 45– 105. Retrieved from https://doi.org/http://hdl.handle.net/10125/40656
Robinson, P. (2011). Second language task complexity, the Cognition Hypothesis, language learning and performance. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Second language task complexity: Researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance (pp. 3– 38). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Saito, K. (2017). Effects of sound, vocabulary, and grammar learning aptitude on adult second language speech attainment in foreign language classrooms. Language Learning67, 665– 693. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12244
Sato, M., & Loewen, S. (2018). Metacognitive instruction enhances the effectiveness of corrective feedback: Variable effects of feedback types and linguistic targets. Language Learning68, 507– 545.
Sheen, Y. (2006). Exploring the relationship between characteristics of recasts and learner uptake. Language Teaching Research10, 361– 392. https://doi.org/10.1191/1362168806lr203oa
Sheen, Y. (2007). The effects of corrective feedback, language aptitude, and learner attitudes on the acquisition of English articles. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition: A collection of empirical studies (pp. 301–322). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Skehan, P. (1998). A cognitive approach to language learning. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Skehan, P. (2002). Theorising and updating aptitude. In P. Robinson (Ed.), Individual differences and instructed language learning (pp. 69– 93). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Skehan, P. (2009). Modelling second language performance: Integrating complexity, accuracy, fluency, and lexis. Applied Linguistics, 30, 510– 532. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amp047
Skehan, P. (2014). Limited attentional capacity, second language performance, and task‐based pedagogy. In P. Skehan (Ed.), Processing perspectives on task performance (pp. 211–260). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Skehan, P. (2016). Foreign language aptitude, acquisitional sequences, and psycholinguistic processes. In G. Grañena, D. O. Jackson, & Y. Yilmaz (Eds.), Cognitive individual differences in second language processing and acquisition (pp. 17–40). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins.
Suzuki, Y. (2017). Validity of new measures of implicit knowledge: Distinguishing implicit knowledge from automatized explicit knowledge. Applied Psycholinguistics38, 1229– 1261. https://doi.org/10.1017/S014271641700011X
Suzuki, Y., & DeKeyser, R. (2015). Comparing elicited imitation and word monitoring as measures of implicit knowledge. Language Learning65, 860– 895. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12138
Suzuki, Y., & DeKeyser, R. (2017a). Exploratory research on second language practice distribution: An aptitude × treatment interaction. Applied Psycholinguistics38, 27– 56. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716416000084
Suzuki, Y., & DeKeyser, R. (2017b). The interface of explicit and implicit knowledge in a second language: Insights from individual differences in cognitive aptitudes. Language Learning67, 747– 790. https://doi.org/10.1111/lang.12241
Trofimovich, P., Ammar, A., & Gatbonton, E. (2007). How effective are recasts? The role of attention, memory, and analytical ability. In A. Mackey (Ed.), Conversational interaction in second language acquisition: A collection of empirical studies (pp. 171– 195). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Van Patten, B. (1996). Input processing and grammar instruction in second language acquisition. Westport, CT: Ablex.
Yilmaz, Y. (2012). The relative effects of explicit correction and recasts on two target structures via two communication modes. Language Learning62, 1134– 1169. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2012.00726.x
Yilmaz, Y. (2013). Relative effects of explicit and implicit feedback: The role of working memory capacity and language analytic ability. Applied Linguistics34, 344– 368. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/ams044
Yilmaz, Y., & Grañena, G. (2016). The role of cognitive aptitudes for explicit language learning in the relative effects of explicit and implicit feedback. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition19, 147– 161. https://doi.org/10.1017/S136672891400090X
Yilmaz, Y., & Koylu, Y. (2016). The interaction between feedback exposure condition and phonetic coding ability. In G. Grañena, D. O. Jackson, & Y. Yilmaz (Eds.), Cognitive individual differences in second language processing and acquisition (pp. 303– 326). Amsterdam, Netherlands: John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9922.00156