Effects of Different Types of Pre-task Planning on English Oral Task Performance

Abstract

Under the framework of task-based language teaching and cognitive models of language learning, roles of pre-task planning for L2 speaking task performance have been actively investigated. Planning effects are generally believed to positively affect L2 learners oral performance, yet the effects on complexity and accuracy have not been clear-cut. In an attempt to enhance the effect of pre-task planning, in particular with regard to complexity and accuracy of production, the present study explored the provision of detailed guidance for strategic planning and the use of rehearsal as an alternative form of planning to strategic planning. Based on experimental research on 27 Korean high school students at intermediate level, this thesis investigated the effects of pre-task planning on narrative productions under three different planning conditions: free planning (i.e. strategic planning without detailed guidance), guided planning (i.e. strategic planning with detailed guidance to lead the learners to attend to both meaning and form), and rehearsal (i.e. repeating the task as many times as the learners want). Participants were divided into three groups and asked to perform two picture-cued narrative tasks: the first task without planning and the second task after a ten-minute pre-task planning activity which differed according to the method of planning assigned to each group. Students oral narratives were analyzed in two ways: by transcript analysis and by assessors rating. In the transcript analysis, participants oral performances were transcribed and measured in four aspects: quantity, fluency, complexity (both lexical and syntactic) and accuracy. These dimensions of L2 production were scored by a variety of indicators. For rating, two experienced native-speaker assessors assigned scores to each narrative, based on rating scales for task completion, fluency and accuracy. The Multivariate Analysis of Variance with repeated measures and paired-sample t-tests were used for statistical analysis. To provide further explanations for the results, retrospective data from the learners were also collected through the post-task questionnaire and interview. The results presented that pre-task planning had a facilitative effect on the L2 learners oral task performance as they produced significantly enhanced output under the planned condition in terms of quantity, fluency and complexity, although the immediate benefit on accuracy was not evident. These results suggest that pre-task planning can contribute to L2 learning, by assisting learners to produce a greater amount of output, actively using their linguistic knowledge and reaching the upper limit of their interlanguage competence. The present study also found that the three types of planning differed in their effect on complexity. While free planning had a moderate influence on both syntactic and lexical complexity, guided planning directed the learners attention to the lexical aspect through detailed instruction in the guiding worksheet, enhancing lexical complexity at the expense of syntactic complexity, and rehearsal led the learners to produce syntactically more complex language, by engaging them in the gradual revision of output. This result implies that the planning effect can be channeled onto a certain aspect through the manipulation of the planning method. Despite several limitations, the present study provides empirical evidence supporting the benefits of pre-task planning in the oral task performance and language learning, and suggests the need for a well-designed pre-task planning stage to be adopted in the language classroom, based on this study and further investigations on various elements of planning.