Complexidade da tarefa: síntese de estudos na variável "± poucos elementos" da Hipótese da Cognição

Title: Complexidade da tarefa: síntese de estudos na variável "± poucos elementos" da Hipótese da Cognição
Variant title:
  • Task complexity: synthesis of studies on the variable "± Few Elements" of the cognition hypothesis
Author: Santos, Sara
Source document: Études romanes de Brno. 2021, vol. 42, iss. 2, pp. 249-280
Extent
249-280
  • ISSN
    1803-7399 (print)
    2336-4416 (online)
Type: Article
Language
 

Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.

Abstract(s)
Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar uma síntese de estudos primários na área do Ensino de Línguas Baseado em Tarefas, dentro do quadro da Hipótese da Cognição de Robinson (2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2015), nomeadamente no que respeita ao impacto da variável "±poucos elementos" da dimensão "recurso-direção" no desempenho oral de tarefas em língua estrangeira. Segundo as premissas da Hipótese da Cognição, o aumento do número de elementos da tarefa resulta num discurso linguisticamente mais complexo, mais correto, mas menos fluente. Foram analisados treze estudos, realizados entre 2001 e 2018, tendo-se procedido a um tratamento quantitativo dos dados. A revisão destes estudos permitiu concluir que (i) a operacionalização das exigências da tarefa foi diversa; (ii) os informantes foram aprendentes de inglês na maioria dos trabalhos, tendo sido encontrado, apenas, um estudo relativo à produção oral em português como língua estrangeira; (iii) o efeito do aumento do número de elementos da tarefa foi significativo ao nível da diversidade lexical e menos evidente nas restantes dimensões do desempenho oral em língua estrangeira. Na discussão dos resultados, problematizam-se algumas questões metodológicas consideradas pertinentes para investigação futura. Espera-se que este trabalho suscite novas contribuições na pesquisa do ELBT, nomeadamente em relação ao português, e possibilite a tomada de decisões pedagógico-didáticas informadas.
This paper presents a synthesis of primary studies in the field of Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), within Robinson's (2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2011, 2015) Cognition Hypothesis, more specifically on the impact of the "± few elements" resource-directing variable on the oral performance in foreign language. The Cognition Hypothesis claims that increasing the number of elements of a task will lead to a more complex and accurate speech but with a negative impact on fluency. Thirteen studies conducted between 2001 and 2018 were included in a quantitative analysis. The results of this review showed that: (i) the operationalisation of task complexity was diverse across studies; (ii) the target language was mainly English, and there was one study on the oral performance in Portuguese as a Foreign Language; (iii) the effects of increasing the number of elements of a task were significant in respect to lexical diversity, but less clear in respect to linguistic complexity and fluency. Some methodological issues are discussed for prospective studies. This work may encourage new research in the TBLT field, namely in respect to Portuguese, and may also inform teachers for pedagogical decisions.
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