The Impact of Task Structure on the Use of Vague Expressions by EFL Learners

Autor/inn/en	Parvaresh, Vahid; Ahmadian, Mohammad Javad
Titel	The Impact of Task Structure on the Use of Vague Expressions by EFL Learners
Quelle	In: Language Learning Journal, 44 (2016) 4, S.436-450 (15 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Ahmadian, Mohammad Javad)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0957-1736
DOI	10.1080/09571736.2016.1204108
Schlagwörter	English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Second Language Instruction; Foreign Countries; Illustrations; Language Usage; Semantics; Task Analysis; Statistical Analysis; Iran + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Ausland; Bildliche Darstellung; Sprachgebrauch; Semantik; Aufgabenanalyse; Statistische Analyse
Abstract	The present study sets out to examine whether and how task structure affects the number and type of vague expressions used by a group of higher intermediate EFL learners. The participants were 50 Iranian EFL learners from 6 intact classes, all native speakers of Persian with limited opportunity to communicate with native speakers of English, and no experience in English-speaking countries. To elicit data, two picture description tasks were used. These picture-stories possessed the defining characteristics of structured and unstructured narrative tasks, respectively. Results revealed that (a) unstructured tasks were associated with the production of significantly more vague expressions and (b) the most notable differences between performances on the two task types concerned "vague nouns", "vague quantifiers", "vague deintensifiers" and "vague subjectivisers". The results of the study have implications for both teachers and teacher educators in that they may help identify the kinds of tasks which induce language learners to use vague expressions more frequently. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01