LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH TASK-BASED SYNCHRONOUS COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION
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Keywords

CMC; fluency; syntactic complexity; TBLT; task structure

How to Cite

MUKHTAR, S. ., NIK MOHD ALWI, N. A. ., ALI , F., MAT DAUD, N. S. ., KASSIM , A. ., IBRAHIM , A. H. ., & MAT DAUD, N. . (2024). LANGUAGE LEARNING THROUGH TASK-BASED SYNCHRONOUS COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION. Issues in Language Studies, 13(1), 246–262. https://doi.org/10.33736/ils.5866.2024

Abstract

A limited number of studies have been conducted on the influence of task features on language production in computer-mediated communication (CMC) environments despite the role of tasks on the language production of L2 students who are mostly non-native speakers (NNSs). Among the prominent hypotheses on the relationship between tasks and language production are the Cognition Hypothesis and the Trade-Off Hypothesis. The current study examined the effect of task structure on student language production in terms of syntactic complexity and fluency in CMC environments. A one-shot design study involved 46 NNS undergraduates in Malaysia and Japan. The respondents were divided into two groups: (1) respondents who performed the task with task structure (+TS) and (2) respondents who performed the task without task structure (-TS). The data were then analysed using a t-test. The present study supported the hypothesis positing that the utilisation of +TS contributes to an increase in syntactic complexity among NNSs, as well as the hypothesis proposing that the use of +TS results in improved fluency. The results also suggest examining additional variables related to task difficulty when designing tasks for CMC environments to assess their effects on fluency and syntactic complexity.

https://doi.org/10.33736/ils.5866.2024
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