چکیده:
The present study was an attempt to investigate EFL learners’ perception of task difficulty. Twenty adult Iranian learners participated in this study on a volunteer basis. Drawing upon current models of task difficulty, the researchers managed to operationally define four oral narrative tasks of varying degrees of complexity. Having performed the tasks, the participants attended a round of retrospective interviews. The qualitative analysis brought to light five major themes. To explore how current models of task difficulty would explain the learners’ attitude toward task demands, these categories were juxtaposed with Skehan’s model and Robinson’s triadic componential framework. In this connection, the protocols were investigated from a cognitive, information-processing perspective on task-based language teaching and the most relevant implications were discussed.
خلاصه ماشینی:
In the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA), a number of researchers have tried to investigate task difficulty, task design, and performance conditions (see for example Ellis, 2003; Robinson, 2001; Samuda & Bygate, 2008; Skehan, 1998, 2001).
Therefore, the current study attempts to find out whether (and how) adjusting different aspects of oral narrative task demand alters the way learners perceive the difficulty of narrative tasks (Cf. Saeedi, Ketabi & Dastjerdi, 2011).
Table 1: Four Narrative Tasks Manipulated along Different Dimensions of Task Difficulty Football Picnic Walkman Unlucky Man Structure + + - - Here/Now + + - - Planning + - + - Procedure Before the participants were asked to perform the tasks, the purpose of the research was explained to them.
To clarify, consider the following table: Table 2: Identified themes and current models of TD Theme Skehan’s (1998) scheme Robinson’s (2001) framework Need for certain vocabularies and structures Code complexity No corresponding category Difficulty experienced when following unstructured storylines Information organization Cognitive factors: resource- directing (Robinson, 2001); resource-dispersing (Robinson & Pre-task planning Clarity of pictures No corresponding category Cognitive Processing (clarity and sufficiency of information given) Gilabert, 2007) Cognitive factors: resource- dispersing No corresponding category Processing load experienced while performing unplanned tasks without visual support No corresponding category Resource-dispersing and resource- directing factors As shown in the above table, the first identified theme, i.
The contribution that this study makes to the existing literature is the finding that simultaneously manipulating TD along planning time, task structure, and Here/Now variables can influence EFL learners’ perception of narrative task difficulty.