Open AccessResearching Second Language Task Complexity: A Critical Review
Author(s) -
Jiaxin Xing
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
english language and literature studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1925-4776
pISSN - 1925-4768
DOI - 10.5539/ells.v5n4p87
Subject(s) - task (project management) , computer science , construct (python library) , task analysis , field (mathematics) , empirical research , language education , psychology , mathematics education , epistemology , philosophy , mathematics , management , pure mathematics , economics , programming language
The past three decades witnesses a substantial development of task-bask language teaching (TBLT) and task-based research (TBR). Consequently, task has become a fashionable word in both L2 teaching pedagogy and SLA research. Among many task features, task complexity has attracted researchers’ attention due to its importance in task implementation. This paper aims to provide a comparatively comprehensive review of the studies conducted so far. It first explores the development of the construct task complexity, and then critically reviewes some empirical studies about task complexity and language production, task complexity and interaction, and task complexity and language development. Finally, the paper summarizes the achievement that has already been made in the field and predicted the orientations for future research.