The interaction between task repetition and oral task enjoyment: Effects on speech complexity, accuracy, and fluency

Abstract

This study investigated the interaction between oral task enjoyment and task repetition and the effect of this interaction on second language learners’ speech complexity, accuracy, and fluency. In the context of task-based language teaching, task enjoyment is a context-specific, situational emotion that arises during task performance and is hypothesised to enhance engagement, motivation, and overall task performance, whereas task repetition is a classroom procedure shown to improve fluency, and possibly also complexity and accuracy. Fifty-two Polish young adult learners of L2 English completed the Oral Task Enjoyment Scale before exact task repetition. Their oral task performances were analysed before and after immediate exact task repetition. Results from Generalized Linear Model analysis reveal that 1) task repetition enhances lexical diversity and marginally improves fluency, 2) higher levels of oral task enjoyment positively influence learners’ lexical diversity, correct verb forms, and speech rate, yet 3) its interaction with task repetition is not significant, suggesting that task repetition benefits are consistent across different levels of enjoyment. These findings imply that task repetition is an effective strategy for improving language performance, regardless of learners’ emotional engagement with the task.