This project will explore functional adequacy together with conventional CALF measures in L2 task-based language teaching with four major aims: 1) To validate several recently proposed European frameworks of functional adequacy in the cross-cultural L2 context in Hong Kong and explore a new functional adequacy framework suitable for L2 learners of a different cultural background 2) To examine the relationship between the conventional CALF model and the proposed functional adequacy framework in different task types and conditions 3) To investigate the consistency and variation of the proposed functional adequacy framework in terms of modes of production: effects of L2 speaking and writing tasks and 4) To explore the pedagogical implications for more effective TBLT with due emphasis on functional adequacy. Functional adequacy, defined as the extent to which a learner’s performance is successful in fulfilling the task’s goals efficiently (Pallotti, 2009), has been largely overlooked in TBLT literature. Criticism on CALF’s inadequacy in assessing L2 task performance has begun to appear in recent years (e.g., Kuiken & Vedder, 2018 Pallotti, 2009), highlighting that learners may speak fluently and accurately while talking nonsense the linguistic forms they produce may not be pertinent to the goal or the completion of a learning task. In TBLT, students’ L2 performance has been typically measured along the dimensions of complexity, accuracy, lexis and fluency (CALF, see Bui & Skehan, 2018 Housen & Kuiken, 2009). The past 30 years have witnessed a vast increase in research on second language (L2) task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT).
Principal Investigator: Dr BUI Gavin Hiu-yuet (HSUHK)
Project Title: Functional Adequacy in Second Language Speaking and Writing Tasks: Measurement and Pedagogy