Journal: Journal of Higher Education Research DOI: 10.32629/jher.v7i4.5483
Abstract
This study employed a pre-test and post-test design to investigate the effect of task repetition on syntactic complexity of L2 writing across argumentative writing tasks. The experiment lasted for four weeks with a one-week interval between each task repetition. A total of 77 non-English-major undergraduates from a university in western China participated in the study, who were randomly allocated to a task repetition group (n = 38) and a non-task repetition group (n = 39). Four dimensions of syntactic complexity were measured, including Mean Length of Sentence, Mean Length of T-unit, Complex Nominals per T-unit, and Coordinate Phrases per T-unit. The findings revealed that task repetition significantly improves phrasal-level syntactic complexity (CN/T). However, the effect of task repetition did not significantly affect length-based measures (MLS, MLT) and coordinate structures (CP/T). This study provides empirical evidence for research on the relationship between task repetition and syntactic complexity in L2 writing. Furthermore, the findings offer foreign language teachers pedagogical implications are that task repetition can be effectively incorporated into L2 writing instruction to enhance learners’ syntactic complexity.
Keywords
task repetition; L2 writing syntactic complexity; argumentative tasks; TBLT
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[26]Foster, P., & Skehan, P. (2008). The influence of planning and task type on second language performance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(3), 299–323.
[27]Lu, X. (2011). A corpus-based evaluation of syntactic complexity measures as indices of college-level ESL writers’ language development. TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 36–62.
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[2]Robinson, P. (2011). Second language task complexity: Researching the cognition hypothesis of language learning and performance. John Benjamins.
[3]Ellis, R., & Barkhuizen, G. (2005). Analysing learner language. Oxford University Press.
[4]Nitta, R., & Baba, K. (2014a). Exploring repeated task performance in EFL writing: A classroom-based study of task repetition and its effects on written production. Language Teaching Research, 18(2), 237–263.
[5]Hanzawa, K., & Suzuki, Y. (2023). How do learners perceive task repetition? Distributed practice effects on engagement and metacognitive judgment. The Modern Language Journal, 107(2), 451–478.
[6]Lu, X. (2010). Automatic analysis of syntactic complexity in second language writing. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 15(4), 474–496.
[7]Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2009). Towards an organic approach to investigating CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. In A. Housen, F. Kuiken, & I. Vedder (Eds.), Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 141–165). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[8]Ortega, L. (2003). Syntactic complexity measures and their relationship to L2 proficiency: A research synthesis of college-level L2 writing. Applied Linguistics, 24(4), 492–518.
[9]Nitta, R., & Baba, K. (2018). Understanding benefits of repetition from a complex dynamic systems perspective: The case of a writing task. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. P. García Mayo (Eds.), Learning language through task repetition (pp. 279–309). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[10]Mansouri, M. R., Tavakoli, M., & Amirian, Z. (2025). Effects of task repetition awareness and the need for cognition on the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of L2 oral performance. Cogent Education, 12(1), 2579714.
[11]Ahmadian, M. J., & Tavakoli, M. (2020). Planning conditions (strategic planning, task repetition, and joint planning), cognitive task complexity, and task type: Effects on L2 oral performance. System, 93, 102297.
[12]Khezrlou, S. (2020). The role of task repetition with direct written corrective feedback in L2 writing complexity, accuracy and fluency. Journal of Second Language Studies, 3(1), 31–54.
[13]Nitta, R., & Baba, K. (2014b). Task repetition and L2 writing development: A longitudinal study from a dynamic systems perspective. In H. Byrnes & R. M. Manchón (Eds.), Task-based language learning: Insights from and for L2 writing (pp. 107–136). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[14]Kyle, K., & Crossley, S. A. (2018). Measuring syntactic complexity in L2 writing using fine-grained clausal and phrasal indices. The Modern Language Journal, 102(2), 333–349.
[15]Abdi Tabari, M., Khezrlou, S., & Tian, Y. (2022). Task complexity, task repetition, and L2 writing complexity: Exploring interactions in the TBLT domain. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 62(2), 871–901.
[16]Abdi Tabari, M., Khezrlou, S., & Tian, Y. (2024). Verb argument construction complexity indices and L2 written production: Effects of task complexity and task repetition. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 18(1), 1–16.
[17]Bygate, M. (2018). Learning language through task repetition. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[18]Michel, M., Révész, A., Shi, D., & Li, Y. (2019). The effects of task demands on linguistic complexity and accuracy across task types and L1/L2 speakers. In Z. Wen & M. J. Ahmadian (Eds.), Researching L2 task performance and pedagogy: In honour of Peter Skehan (pp. 133–151). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[19]Abdi Tabari, M., & Wang, Y. (2021). The effects of prompt types on L2 learners’ textual emotionality and lexical complexity. Journal of Second Language Studies, 5(1), 34–57.
[20]Abdi Tabari, M., Zhuang, J., & Farahanynia, M. (2025). Task repetition and L2 written performance: A meta-analysis. Journal of Second Language Writing.
[21]Anderson, J. R., Bothell, D., Byrne, M. D., Douglass, S., Lebiere, C., & Qin, Y. (2004). An integrated theory of the mind. Psychological Review, 111(4), 1036–1060.
[22]Abdi Tabari, M., & Farahanynia, M. (2025). Task repetition and L2 oral performance: A meta-analysis. System, 135, 103868.
[23]Biber, D., Gray, B., & Poonpon, K. (2011). Should we use characteristics of conversation to measure grammatical complexity in L2 writing development? TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 5–35.
[24]DeKeyser, R. M. (2007a). Practice in a second language: Perspectives from applied linguistics and cognitive psychology. Cambridge University Press.
[25]DeKeyser, R. M. (2007b). Skill acquisition theory. In B. VanPatten & J. Williams (Eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition (pp. 97–113). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[26]Foster, P., & Skehan, P. (2008). The influence of planning and task type on second language performance. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18(3), 299–323.
[27]Lu, X. (2011). A corpus-based evaluation of syntactic complexity measures as indices of college-level ESL writers’ language development. TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 36–62.
[28]Lu, X. (n.d.). L2 syntactic complexity analyzer. Retrieved March 1, 2026, from http://aihaiyang.com/software/l2sca/
[29]Ministry of Education, College Foreign Language Teaching Advisory Board. (2020). Guidelines for college English teaching (2020 edition). Higher Education Press.
[30]Plonsky, L., & Oswald, F. L. (2014). How big is “big”? Interpreting effect sizes in L2 research. Language Learning, 64(4), 878–912.
[31]Richardson, J. T. E. (2011). Eta squared and partial eta squared as measures of effect size in educational research. Educational Research Review, 6(2), 135–147.
[32]Róg, T. (2025). The interaction between task repetition and oral task enjoyment: Effects on speech complexity, accuracy, and fluency. Language Teaching, 1–15.
[33]Xu, J. (2022). Foreign language classroom task design and second language acquisition research. Modern Foreign Languages.
[34]Xu, T. S., & Zhang, L. J. (2023). Effects of cognitive task complexity and online planning on second language learners’ argumentative writing. Frontiers in Psychology.
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