Anticipating a Post-task Activity: The Effects on Accuracy, Complexity, and Fluency of Second Language Performance

TLDR: This paper proposed a post-task activity, requiring L2 speakers to transcribe some of their earlier task performance for both narrative and decision-making tasks, and found that the predicted accuracy effect is obtained with both tasks, but so too is an effect of complexity for the decision making task.

Abstract: The concept of focus on form has been influential in second language (L2) acquisition and pedagogy. One example of the implementation of focus on form is a post-task activity (e.g., anticipation of a public performance) that can selectively orient learners toward increased levels of accuracy. The present research proposes a new operationalization of a post-task activity, requiring L2 speakers, post-task, to transcribe some of their earlier task performance for both narrative and decision-making tasks. This study indicates that the predicted accuracy effect is obtained with both tasks, but so too is an effect of complexity for the decision-making task. Results are discussed in terms of the way L2 speakers allocate attention during task performance and how this allocation can be influenced by experimental conditions. (Authors' abstract)