The goal of this study is to investigate the impact of manipulating the cognitive complexity of three different types of oral tasks on interaction. The study first considers the concepts of task complexity and interaction and then examines the specific studies that have looked at the effects of increasing task complex- ity on conversational interaction. In the experiment, learners of English as a foreign language organized into 27 dyads carry out three different types of tasks: a narrative reconstruction task, an instruction-giving map task, and a decision-making task. Two different versions of each task, one simple and one complex, are presented to learners in different sequences. Task complexity is manipulated along the degree of displaced, past time reference, the number of elements, and the reasoning demands. Audio recordings are transcribed and coded for interactional feedback, which is measured in terms of negotiation of meaning (i.e., confirmation checks, clarification requests, and comprehension checks), recasts, language-related episodes (LREs), and repairs, all of which have been described in the literature as being conducive to acquisition. Both parametric and non-parametric statistical tests are used. Results are discussed in the light of previous studies that have looked at the specific relationship between task complexity and interaction, attention models (Robinson 2001a, 2003, 2005, 2007b; Skehan and Foster 2001), and how different task types may variously affect the way interaction proceeds during task performance

Given that summer abroad programs are becoming more and more popular, the aim of the present study is to find out whether foreign language proficiency can be significantly improved during a summer stay of 3-4 weeks. The present study examines learners’ linguistic gains through oral fluency and accuracy measures as well as a listening comprehension task. Learners’ oral fluency is examined in terms of syllables per minute, other-language word ratio, filled pauses per minute, silent pauses per minute, articulation rate, and length of the longest fluent run. The accuracy of learners’ oral production is measured by means of the ratio of error free clauses and the average number of errors per clause. In addition, learners’ errors are classified into 4 categories: morphological errors, syntactic errors, lexical errors and covered errors. Results reveal that these short stays do indeed produce significant gains on most measures, and that proficiency level strongly affects the intensity of learners’ progress

This article offers a critical review of the existing literature on gains in a second language (L2) as a result of a study abroad (SA) experience. The aim of this article is (a) to provide an updated overview of the empirical evidence of L2 gains emerging during an SA experience in order to know what the current situation is, and (b) to identify gaps in the research on SA and evaluate where further research is needed in this area. Issues related to the SA participants' age, background, initial L2 proficiency level, length of stay (LoS) in the L2 country, duration of the effects of these SA experiences, and cognitive skills have been identified as crucial factors to be taken into account when carrying out research on SA as well as when drawing conclusions from the current empirical evidence.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the progress of 14 Spanish-speaking learners of English during a period abroad from a longitudinal perspective. Oral and written data were collected three times during an academic year at a British university. These samples were analyzed in terms of fluency, syntactic complexity, lexical richness, and accuracy. The results of the statistical analyses indicate that, while a few months abroad might be sufficient for some gains in oral performance to occur, improvement in written production is slower and does not seem to take place until students have spent more than one semester abroad. In addition, it was observed that the type of interaction experienced abroad and some attitudinal features can partly explain language development in some areas.