Earticle

The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of two task-processing conditions (10 minutes of pre-task planning time and content familiarity of the task) on spoken performance in terms of the fluency, complexity, and accuracy in a narrative task. The subjects were 20 Korean undergraduate students with a high language proficiency. The results of the two-way interaction effect between the planning and familiarity of the MANOVA were significant in terms of pause length. The univariate test of familiarity in an unfamiliar condition for subordinate clauses in the MANOVA test was significant. The study also found a trade-off effect between complexity and accuracy in terms of the effects of planning time in planned and unfamiliar conditions. These results suggest that the performance of learners could be varied depending on the different combinations of task-processing conditions even in a single narrative task.

The study investigated the effects of three task-processing conditions on the 18 variables of fluency, complexity, and accuracy in an oral narrative task produced by students of low English proficiency. A 2-by-2-by-2 research plan was designed, with the two familiarity conditions (familiar or unfamiliar story), two planning conditions (with or without 10 minutes of planning time), and two cognitive load conditions (sequenced or jumbled pictures). The results of the MANOVA statistical test were not significant, except for the univariate result of familiarity for subordinate clauses, one of complexity measures (p=.014). Subordinate clauses were produced more in the unfamiliar story conditions, and different types of subordinate clause markers were used in familiar and unfamiliar story conditions. Although the univariate results for planning were not significant (p=.051), students in the planned conditions managed more subject ellipsis than those in the unplanned conditions. These findings address a number of pedagogic issues for teachers and material designers how tasks could be selected and combined under different conditions.