Three-tiered task set (information gap, problem solving, decision making) for manipulating task complexity with child learners¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The study operationalized task complexity through three classroom tasks around Lucy's Sunday schedule: an information gap task involving only information transmission (simple), a problem-solving task requiring learners to create a reasonable schedule (+complex), and a decision-making task requiring learners to compare schedules and reason who could help Grandpa Wang (++complex). Per Table 2, complexity was defined by +/-reasoning and +/-elements demands. All tasks were performed in pairs with oral English production and teacher recasts.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Tasks must be comparable in content but differ in difficulty, and be novel and interesting enough that students are willing to participate

Constraints¶

• Instructions were transmitted in the participants' L1 (Chinese); pilot tests with peer students were used to check appropriateness

Target Learners¶

• Grade-5 primary school EFL learners aged 11-12

Target Learning Goals¶

• production of the third person singular -s verb form during meaningful interaction

Claims¶

• Child EFL learners receiving recasts in task-based lessons improve their production of third person singular -s from pretest to posttest, in a study with no no-recast comparison group [+W]
• Higher task complexity is associated with lower written production of the target form among child learners receiving recasts [+W]
• Task complexity shows no significant effect on child learners' oral production of the target form when receiving recasts [+W]

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Lihui Lv & Chunyan Liu. (2022). Recast, Task Complexity and Child Learners' L2 Development. English Language Teaching, 15(9). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v15n9p95