F. Kuiken

Task complexity and measures of linguistic performance in L2 writing

Abstract In a study on L2 proficiency in writing, conducted among 84 Dutch university students of Italian and 75 students of French, manipulation of task complexity led in the complex task to a significant decrease of errors, while at the same time a trend for a lexically more varied text was observed (Kuiken and Vedder 2005, 2007, in press). Based on this first analysis in which some global performance measures were used, a more specific analysis was carried out. In the latter analysis, which is reported in this article, accuracy was investigated in more detail according to the type of errors in the L2 texts, while lexical variation was analysed further by distinguishing frequent words from infrequent ones. Results showed that the effect of task complexity could mainly be attributed to lower ratios of lexical errors in the more complex task. With respect to the use of frequent versus infrequent words mixed results were found. On the basis of these findings a number of implications with regard to the operationalisation of task complexity and linguistic performance are discussed.

The Influence of Complexity in Monologic versus Dialogic Tasks in Dutch L2.

Abstract This study puts the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson 2005) to the test with respect to its predictions of the effects of changes in task complexity (± few elements) and task condition (± monologic) on L2 performance. 44 learners of Dutch performed both a simple and a complex oral task in either a monologic or a dialogic condition. The performance of the L2 learners was analysed with regard to linguistic complexity, accuracy, and fluency. As predicted by the Cognition Hypothesis, the complex task generated more accurate though less fluent speech. Linguistic complexity, however, was only marginally affected. Dialogic tasks triggered more accurate and fluent output though it was structurally less complex. The interaction of task complexity and task condition showed effects on measures of accuracy only: in the monologic but not in the dialogic condition task complexity did promote accuracy. As a consequence, our results only partially support the Cognition Hypothesis.

The effect of interaction in acquiring the grammar of a second language

Abstract In this paper the effect of interaction between learners of English as a second language during a dictogloss task on the acquisition of the passive form is investigated. Subjects were 34 Dutch high school students in their fifth year of English. The experimental group was given two dictogloss tasks, which consisted in the reconstruction in small groups of two texts read by the teacher (+interaction). The control group was submitted to the same tasks, but this time the students had to reconstruct the texts individually (−interaction). Knowledge of the passive was established by means of a pre-test. After the treatment a post-test and delayed post-test were administered. By means of a quantitative analysis it could not be demonstrated that recognition and frequency of use of the passive differ depending on the degree in which learners are encouraged to interact with each other. A qualitative analysis makes clear that numerous instances of interaction lead to the noticing of passive forms.

The effect of direct and indirect corrective feedback on L2 learners’ written accuracy

Among scholars there is disagreement on the benefits of corrective feedback on second language learners� written output. While some researchers advocate the usefulness of corrective feedback, Truscott claims that all error correction is unnecessary, ineffective, and even harmful, in that it diverts time and energy away from more productive aspects of writing instruction. Until now, research outcomes cannot settle this debate since only short-term effectiveness of corrective feedback could be demonstrated. Due to methodological shortcomings, results from studies that investigated long-term effects of error correction on accuracy improvement are inconclusive. By trying to overcome some of these design related drawbacks (i.e. the lack of a proper control group and time-on task differences between treatment groups), the present study intends to make a contribution to the ongoing error correction debate. The effectiveness of direct and indirect corrective feedback was compared to the effect of two control treatments: a treatment that offered students an extra opportunity to practice their writing skills, and a treatment in which students self-corrected their errors without any available feedback. Results show that corrective feedback can be effective in improving students� accuracy: while short-term effects were found for both direct and indirect corrective feedback, only direct feedback proved to have a significant long-term effect. Neither of the control treatments had a significant effect on students� accuracy.

Grammatical analysis of developmental language disorders: A study of the morphosyntax of children with specific language disorders, with hearing impairment and with Down's syndrome

Using a Dutch adaptation of the LARSP procedure by Crystal, Fletcher and Garman (1976) this investigation aimed at two questions: (1) is it possible to discern patterns in the morphosyntax of three groups of language-disordered children: children with specific language disorders, children with hearing impairment and children with Downs syndrome? and (2) can these patterns be related to the clinical characteristics of the children? Analysis of samples of spontaneous speech produced an affirmative answer to the first question. The answer to the second question is that the different clinical characteristics of the children did not so much lead to different kinds of language disorders as to differences in the degree of being language-disordered. The three groups of children showed more commonalities than differences in producing morphosyntax.

Collaborative Writing in L2: The Effect of Group Interaction on Text Quality

This chapter investigates the role of group interaction in L2 writing. It is assumed that text quality in L2 is positively affected by collaborative dialogue. When learners are given the opportunity to reconstruct a text together, which has been read to them by their teacher, their joint product will be better than an individual reconstruction. In order to test this hypothesis, three groups of L2 learners of English, Dutch, and Italian were submitted to a dictogloss task. The focus of the study was on the grammatical and lexical complexity of the text produced by the learners and on the linguistic strategies they used during the text reconstruction phase. However, a positive effect of interaction could not be established. This may partly be due to the cross-sectional design of the study. Other factors which may have had an impact on the obtained results are also discussed, such as level of L2 proficiency, difficulty of the text, group dynamics and the general problem of measuring the role of interaction in L2 writing. In the final section of the chapter it is suggested that a qualitative analysis of the discussions between the learners might shed some light on the benefits of a collaborative writing task like dictogloss.

Rating written performance: What do raters do and why?:

This study investigates the relationship in L2 writing between raters’ judgments of communicative adequacy and linguistic complexity by means of six-point Likert scales, and general measures of linguistic performance. The participants were 39 learners of Italian and 32 of Dutch, who wrote two short argumentative essays. The same writing tasks were administered to a control group of 18 native writers of Italian and 17 of Dutch. During a panel discussion raters were asked to verbalize for which reasons they assigned a text to a particular rating level. The results show that although raters’ judgements of communicative adequacy largely corresponded to their judgments of linguistic complexity, the findings for L2 and L1 turned out to be different. In L2 overall ratings of linguistic complexity were correlated with lexical diversity and accuracy, but not with syntactic complexity. In L1 hardly any correlations between raters’ judgements and general measures of syntactic complexity and lexical diversity were found. Furthermore, raters used different strategies when assessing high- and low-proficiency L2 writers or native writers, and seemed to attach more importance to textual features connected to communicative adequacy than to linguistic complexity and accuracy.

Raters' decisions, rating procedures and rating scales

This special issue of Language Testing explores raters’ evaluations of L2 proficiency and possible causes of variability of rater judgments. In addition to the analysis of rater behavior and rater consistency, we investigate the relationship between general measures of oral and written L2 performance concerning complexity, accuracy and fluency of L2 production and overall judgments of oral and written L2 performance by raters, based on holistic rating scales. Finally, the use of rating scales in different contexts and for different types of learners is also examined. In this introduction the three central themes presented in the various contributions are briefly discussed: rater behavior and rater consistency, rater judgments and measures of language performance, and the use of global rating scales.

The role of majority and minority language input in the early development of a bilingual vocabulary

The current longitudinal study investigated the role of home language and outside home exposure in the development of Dutch and Frisian vocabulary by young bilinguals. Frisian is a minority language spoken in the north of the Netherlands. In three successive test rounds, 91 preschoolers were tested in receptive and productive vocabulary in both languages. Results showed a home language effect for Frisian receptive and productive vocabulary, and Dutch productive vocabulary, but not for Dutch receptive vocabulary. As for outside home exposure, an effect was found on the receptive vocabulary tests only. The results can be explained by the amount of L2-input that participants received. The Dutch input is higher for participants with Frisian as home language compared to the Frisian input for participants with Dutch as home language. The conclusions lead to further implications for language professionals working in language minority contexts.

Generalizability of spontaneous speech data: the effect of occasion and place on the speech production of children

This study evaluated the effect of occasion and place on the generalizability of spontaneous speech data. Language samples were obtained from four normally developing children aged 3;8 and 3;9 from Dutch-speaking professional homes. Four samples of 100 utterances were gathered from each child, two samples at home and two in a clinical setting. All samples were recorded under unstructured conversational conditions. The time gap between first and last date of recording was no longer than 21 days. GRAMAT, a morphosyntactic model based on LARSP, was used for analysis at three levels: clause, phrase and morphological level. The data obtained were statistically analysed using loglinear model fitting. The results revealed a lack of generalizability at all three levels of morphosyntactic analysis. Some consequences of this outcome are discuased.