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The Influence of Intentional Reasoning on EFL Fluency Using Tasks

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Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia
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Abstract

Recently, foreign and second language (L2) researchers have shown increasing interest in the influence of task complexity on various aspects of L2 production, leading to a number of questions related to this line of research (e.g. Ellis, 2005; Garcia-Mayo, 2007; Robinson, 2011; Skehan, 1998). Some of the issues investigated include whether it is feasible to direct learner attention to certain aspects of L2 forms by manipulating task complexity, thereby encouraging greater retention/uptake of the target L2 items (Révész et al., 2011; Robinson, 2007a), including investigating what learner factors are influential in increasing what type of task complexity (Albert, 2011; Ishikawa, 2006, 2012; Kormos & Trebits, 2011; Robinson, 2005a, 2007b); what production measures should be used to examine the influence of manipulation of task complexity (Housen & Kuiken, 2009; Ishikawa, 2005; Robinson, 2007a; Robinson & Gilabert, 2007); how pedagogic tasks should be sequenced (Robinson, 2010); and how manipulation of task complexity affects learner perceptions of task difficulty (Gilabert, 2005; Ishikawa, 2011), to name only some. The present study considers how manipulation of specific task design features influences L2 speech production (Gilabert, 2007; Ishikawa, 2007; Robinson, 1995). More specifically, the present study investigates the influence of one category of task complexity, proposed by Robinson (2007b), on L2 fluency in an English as a foreign language (EFL) context.

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© 2014 Tomohito Ishikawa

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Ishikawa, T. (2014). The Influence of Intentional Reasoning on EFL Fluency Using Tasks. In: Muller, T., Adamson, J., Brown, P.S., Herder, S. (eds) Exploring EFL Fluency in Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137449405_9

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