TESTING THE EFFECTS OF TASK-COMPLEXITY AND INSTRUCTION ON LEARNER’S IMMEDIATE INPUT INCORPORATION OF A TARGET FORM

Abstract

This research adopts a pretest/posttest design with treatment and control groups. The research question that guides the present study is the following: Do intermediate students of English, by being exposed to a complex task requiring high levels of information processing, show immediate incorporation of input after explicit instruction on the target form? To verify the effects of instruction, L2 students from two different groups of English Conversation classes took part in this study. The analysis of the data followed a qualitative approach, based on the theoretical work of the Cognition Hypothesis (ROBINSON; 2003), the concept of Focus on Form (LONG; ROBINSON; 1998), and the Comprehensible Output Theory (SWAIN; 1985). Swain defines comprehensible output as the output that extends a learner's linguistic repertoire as he/she attempts to create precisely and appropriately the meaning desired (1985, p. 295). The Cognition Hypothesis suggests that increasing the cognitive demands of tasks may promote high attention to and memory for input. The incorporation of new forms in complex tasks happens effectively when learners Focus on Form. The specific objectives of the present study were a) to test noticing strategies focused on form; b) to compare student’s performance in writing before and after the treatment procedure that worked specifically with explicit instruction; c) to relate student’s post-test performance with the theoretical basis adopted in this study. Thus, the results of this study indicate the incorporation of a target form in a written text by intermediate speakers after explicit instruction.