Methodological Approaches to Investigating Task-Based Language Teaching

This chapter provides an overview of key methods that are used to examine the role of tasks in second language performance and development. For each method, I provide a short description of the area(s) of research in which it is typically used, followed by examples to demonstrate how the method can be employed to investigate task-related issues. I also highlight and discuss the advantages and limitations associated with each method, and consider how potential limitations might be mitigated through careful design and implementation. Next, I turn to a discussion of some current issues in task-based language teaching research methodology, such as the tension between internal and ecological validity, the need for more developmental and longitudinal research to complement the current focus on task-based performance, the value of investigating task-based processes besides products, the advantages and challenges of triangulating data sources, and the importance of thorough data reporting and transparency

Task-induced Content-familiarity, Task-driven Attention to Form, and Learner Uptake of Recasts: A Preliminary Inquiry

Recent SLA research has found that recasts on morphosyntactic features are more effective in form-focused classrooms than in meaning-based classrooms. Based on this understanding, it is hypothesized that there is a positive correlation between the effectiveness of recasts on morphosyntactic features and the amount of attention learners pay to form. This paper reports on a preliminary study that tests this hypothesis through administering a sequence of communicative tasks, designed to promote different degrees of attention to form and meaning. The tasks differed as to (a) the extent of learners’ familiarity with task content and (b) the intrinsic capacity of the task to draw attention to form. The study observed both learners’ uptake and perception of recasts through the tasks. The data collected consisted of transcripts of the participants’ task-based interactions and stimulated recall sessions. The results show that both the amount of uptake after recasts and the accurate perception of recasts are positively correlated with the amount of attention learners devote to form during task-based interaction. The preliminary study, therefore, suggests that learners’ familiarity with task content along with the intrinsic capacity of a task to promote attention to form can increase the effectiveness of form-focused recasts

Exploring task-based cognitive processes

This paper argues that TBLT researchers should dedicate more effort to investigating the cognitive processes in which L2 learners engage during task work to facilitate theory-construction and to inform pedagogical practices. To help achieve this, a review follows of various subjective (questionnaires, interviews, think-aloud/stimulated recall protocols) and objective (dual-task methodology, keystroke-logging, eye-tracking) methods that are available to TBLT researchers to examine cognitive processes underlying task-based performance. The paper concludes that, to obtain a more valid understanding of task-generated cognitive processes, it is best to combine various methods to overcome the limitations of each. Finally, some methodological recommendations are provided for future cognitively-oriented TBLT research

Noise map: professional versus crowdsourced data

Ponencias, comunicaciones y pósters presentados en el 17th AGILE Conference on Geographic Information Science "Connecting a Digital Europe through Location and Place", celebrado en la Universitat Jaume I del 3 al 6 de junio de 2014.The goal of the recent study is to evaluate the usability of the data measurement capability of an average smartphone and make a comparative study on available open source mobile applications potentially suitable to noise mapping. In the study a dataset generated by professional equipment was used as a reference. The study confirmed that the mobile applications running on the smartphones tested are not capable for scientific measurement although correlation suggest that calibration may lead to reasonably accurate noise level capture. The study also revealed that different mobile applications produce different outputs. These type of user generated noise measurements cannot substitute professional surveys but can contribute to noise monitoring to testing the effect of the action plans created by the settlements in order to reduce noise pollutions

The Effects of Task Repetition on Child EFL Learners’ Oral Performance

While the role of task repetition has received much attention in task-based research, few studies have examined how exact task repetition affects the performance of child second language learners. Also, little is known about the impact of exact task repetition on trade-off effects between linguistic performance areas among child learners. To help fill this gap, we investigated the impact of task repetition on 40 Chinese EFL learners’ oral production. The children repeated the same story-telling task three times, and transcripts of their performance were coded for linguistic complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Complexity was expressed in terms of overall complexity and subordination and phrasal complexity. We assessed accuracy with weighted clause ratios and proportion of errors. Fluency was captured by repair and breakdown fluency measures. Wilcoxon signed rank tests revealed positive effects for task repetition on fluency and accuracy. Trade-off effects observed during participants’ first performance had decreased by their third retelling. These results support Skehan’s (1998) Limited Capacity model and suggest that task repetition is a useful pedagogical tool in instructed child L2 contexts.Alors que le rôle de la répétition des tâches a reçu beaucoup d'attention dans la recherche sur l’apprentissage par tâches, peu d'études ont examiné comment la répétition exacte des tâches affecte la performance des enfants apprenant une L2. De plus, on sait peu sur l'impact de la répétition exacte sur les effets de compensation entre les domaines de performance linguistique chez ces enfants. Pour combler cette lacune, nous avons étudié l'impact de la répétition d’une tâche sur la production orale de 40 apprenants chinois d’anglais L2. Les enfants ont répété la même narration trois fois, et nous avons codé les transcriptions de leurs performances pour la complexité, la précision, et la fluidité linguistiques. La complexité a été exprimée en matière de complexité globale, de subordination, et de complexité phrastique. Nous avons évalué la précision à l'aide de ratios pondérés de propositions et de la proportion d'erreurs. La fluidité a été saisie par des mesures de fluidité de réparation et de rupture. Des tests de rangs signés de Wilcoxon ont révélé des effets positifs de la répétition sur la fluidité et la précision. Les effets de compensation observés lors de la première performance avaient diminué lors de la troisième répétition. Ces résultats appuient le modèle de capacité limitée de Skehan (1998) et suggèrent que la répétition des tâches est un outil pédagogique utile dans les contextes d'enseignement d’une L2 aux enfants

Exploring the relationship of working memory to the temporal distribution of pausing and revision behaviors during L2 writing

This study examined the extent to which L2 writers with varied working memory display differential pausing and revision behaviors at different periods during writing. The participants were 30 advanced Chinese L2 users of English, who wrote an argumentative essay. While composing, participants’ keystrokes and eye-gaze movements were recorded to capture their pausing, revision, and eye-gaze behaviors. The working memory battery included tests of phonological and visual short-term memory and executive functions. We divided the writing process into five equal periods. The results revealed that participants’ pausing and revision patterns were consistent with previous findings that planning, linguistic encoding, and monitoring processes dominate the initial, middle, and later composing periods, respectively. Various working memory components had differential effects on pausing depending on period, largely reflecting the predictions of Kellogg’s (1996, 2001) model. However, we identified no differences in the temporal distribution of revision behaviors contingent on working memory

Exploring the relationship of working memory to the temporal distribution of pausing and revision behaviors during L2 writing

This study examined the extent to which L2 writers with varied working memory display differential pausing and revision behaviors at different periods during writing. The participants were 30 advanced Chinese L2 users of English, who wrote an argumentative essay. While composing, participants’ keystrokes and eye-gaze movements were recorded to capture their pausing, revision, and eye-gaze behaviors. The working memory battery included tests of phonological and visual short-term memory and executive functions. We divided the writing process into five equal periods. The results revealed that participants’ pausing and revision patterns were consistent with previous findings that planning, linguistic encoding, and monitoring processes dominate the initial, middle, and later composing periods, respectively. Various working memory components had differential effects on pausing depending on period, largely reflecting the predictions of Kellogg’s (1996, 2001) model. However, we identified no differences in the temporal distribution of revision behaviors contingent on working memory

Using eye-tracking as a tool to develop lexical knowledge

Eye-tracking is primarily used as a tool to capture attentional processes in second language (L2) research. However, it is feasible to design visual displays that can react to and interact with eye-movements in technology-mediated contexts. We explored whether gaze-contingency can foster L2 development by drawing attention to novel words reactively during reading. In particular, we investigated whether the acquisition of lexis can be facilitated by interactive glosses, that is, making glosses visually salient when triggered by fixations on a target word. We found that interactive, gaze-contingent glosses led to more and longer fixations at target words and glosses but did not lead to superior performance in recognition scores. We observed, however, an interaction between interactivity and form recognition, with more gloss fixations being associated with better performance under the interactive, but with worse outcomes in the non-interactive, condition. We attributed this difference to distinct motivations for viewing glosses in the groups

A közösségi anyagcsere vizsgálata anaerob deklorináció során = Investigations on the community metabolism in anaerobe dechlorination

A rövidszénláncú alifás klórozott szénhidrogének gyakori talajvízszennyezők hazánkban. A perklóretén, triklóretén biológiai bontása hatékony folyamat, mégis nagy sebességkülönbségek jellemzők különböző szennyezett területeken. A reduktív deklorinációban a klórozott vegyületek elektronakceptorok, elektrondonor a hidrogén, vagy kis molekulatömegű szerves vegyületek. A folyamat elindulásához a deklorináló baktériumoknak felül kell kerekedniük a kompetítor mikrobákon, amelyek szintén hidrogént és szerves vegyületeket hasznosítanak. Szennyezett területekről származó mikrobaközösségek szerkezetét, tagjainak szerepét laboratóriumi körülmények között polifázikus módszerekkel vizsgáltuk, új molekuláris technikákat vezettünk be a mikrobák közötti anyagcsere-kapcsolatok megértésére. Megállapítottuk, hogy sikeres deklorináló közösségben jellemző a Dehalococcoides ethenogenes dominanciája; a mikrobiális diverzitás csökkenése. A lebontás folyamatát fermentáló szervezetek jelenléte lassítja, akárcsak a kometabolikus partnerek gátlása. Hatékony bontás során biofilm kialakulása jellmező és elengedhetetlen kellő mennyiségű hozzáférhető szerves anyag jelenléte. Négy új módszert (MDA, SNuPE, SEM és FISH) optimáltunk a deklorináló mikroba közösség vizsgálatára. Megállapítottuk, hogy a valós aktivitással jobban korreláló RNS alapú vizsgálatok szükségesek a deklorinációban résztvevő mikrobiális kapcsolatok feltárásához. | Chlorinated short chain aliphatic hydrocarbons are common groundwater pollutants in Hungary. Biological decomposition of perchloroethene and trichloroethene is effective process, though speed of decomposition extremely differ in different sites. At reductive dechlorination chlorinated hydrocarbons serve as electron acceptors, H2 or small organic compounds act as donors. At startup of degradation dechlorinating microbes have to outcompete compeptitor microbes utilising similarly H2 and organic compounds. Microbial communities originating from different polluted sites and the role of their members in the community dechlorinating metabolism were investigated under controlled laboratory microcosm experiments using polyphasic approach, and by introducing new techniques. It could be determined that effective dechlorinating communities are characterised by the dominance of Dehalococcoides ethenogenes, and a simplification of the original diversity. The presence of fermenting microbes retards the speed of degradation; the inhibition of co-metabolic partners acts similarly. Effective degradation is characterised by Dehalococcoides spp. biofilm formation, and presence of adequte available organic compounds is indispensable. Four novel methods (MDA, SNuPE, SEM and FISH) were optimised for the investigation of dechlorinating communities. RNA based investigations better correlate real activities thus their use is indispensable in the investigation of microbial metabolic interactions

Nanomaterials by severe plastic deformation: review of historical developments and recent advances

International audienceSevere plastic deformation (SPD) is effective in producing bulk ultrafine-grained and nanostructured materials with large densities of lattice defects. This field, also known as NanoSPD, experienced a significant progress within the past two decades. Beside classic SPD methods such as high-pressure torsion, equal-channel angular pressing, accumulative roll-bonding, twist extrusion, and multi-directional forging, various continuous techniques were introduced to produce upscaled samples. Moreover, numerous alloys, glasses, semiconductors, ceramics, polymers, and their composites were processed. The SPD methods were used to synthesize new materials or to stabilize metastable phases with advanced mechanical and functional properties. High strength combined with high ductility, low/room-temperature superplasticity, creep resistance, hydrogen storage, photocatalytic hydrogen production, photocatalytic CO2 conversion, superconductivity, thermoelectric performance, radiation resistance, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility are some highlighted properties of SPD-processed materials. This article reviews recent advances in the NanoSPD field and provides a brief history regarding its progress from the ancient times to modernity