The effects of task complexity on EFL learners’ production: focusing on accuracy

International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences, vol.2, no.6, pp.365-376, 2012 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)

Based on Robinsons’ (2001) cognition hypothesis and Skehans’ (1998) limited attentional

capacity model, this study was conducted to examine the effects of task complexity on the

accuracy of 25 Iranian EFL learners’ essays. Task complexity was manipulated using three

variables: (1) +/- few elements; (2) +/- reasoning demand; (3) +/- here-and-now. Accordingly, 25

participants were assigned to three descriptive tasks in two forms (simple vs. complex). In simple

form, they performed the selected tasks according to (+ few elements, - reasoning demand, and

here-and-now) variables, but in complex form tasks were selected according to the (- few

elements, + reasoning demand, and there-and-then) variables. Results showed that increasing

task complexity with regard to all three variables produced significantly lower accuracy. In both

simple and complex tasks, the participants had the best performance in here-and-now task after

that in reasoning demand task and finally, in few elements tasks.