复杂理论视角下任务复杂度对二语口语表现的影响

Effects of Task Complexity on L2 Oral Performance:From the Complexity Theory Perspective

本研究从Robinson的"认知假设"切入,旨在考察中国学习者口语表现中的任务复杂度效应。基于《中国学生英语口笔语语料库》中的八级口语语料库,我们对三年的口语独白任务重新进行任务复杂度分类,并针对低、中、高任务复杂度的口语语料进行了计量语言学分析。结果表明,学习者口语词汇复杂度各指标随着任务复杂度升高显著变化,但是整体词频结构维持稳定,说明口语词汇系统作为复杂自适应系统,与任务环境的认知需求产生互动适应。本研究从宏观层面揭示任务复杂度和学习者语言行为间的深层联系,结果显示数据驱动型语言学研究可为现有二语习得研究开拓疆域,运用计量手段可为系统研究语言复杂性提供新思路。

This study adopts the perspective of Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis and aims to investigate the task effects in Chinese L2 learners oral performance. In accordance with Robinsons task complexity framework, we re-categorized three monologue tasks included in the SWECCL 2.0 corpus into low-, medium-, and high-complexity, and conducted quantitative linguistic analyses on the oral data. Findings showed that the different lexical complexity indices significantly varied with different task complexity scales, but the overall lexical frequency structure remained stable. The results suggest that the learners oral language is a complex adaptive system which co-adapts to the cognitive demands exerted from the immediate task context. The present study reveals the linkage between task complexity and the L2 linguistic behavior via the macro-level quantitative analysis technique, and the findings imply that the data-driven linguistic research paradigm can contribute to advancing current second language acquisition research. Quantitative linguistics can serve as an alternative approach to the systematic investigation of the complex dynamic system of second language development.