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GLOSAS DIDÁCTICAS ISSN: 1576-7809 Nº 13, INVIERNO 2005 linguistic data elicited has been a long recognized issue in the field of second language acquisition (see for example Tarone and Parrish, 1988; Larsen-Freeman and Long, 1991: 31) which seems to have passed overlooked in second language writing teaching and learning research. Nonetheless, several studies have proved the impact of composition topic in the learners’ response. For example, Koda (1993) worked with American learners of Japanese as a second language and he was able to identify significant quantitative and qualitative differences between two writing tasks: narration and description. These differences demonstrated that both tasks imposed varying linguistic and rhetorical requirements. Narrative discourse proved to be more difficult, in the sense that it involved higher linguistic and rhetorical processing, and consequently obtained a lower quality score. Although not thoroughly commented by Koda, a very interesting aspect appears in his data: a high positive correlation can be observed between “good vocabulary” and all other composition quality components (comprehensibility, organization, cohesion, grammaticality, sentence structure, content strength and interest value) and overall quality rating. This data is indicative of the importance of lexical measures in quality writing. By contrast, a later examination of topic effect in testing performance carried out by Jennings et al. (1999) yielded contradictory results. The comparison of the control i.e. no possibility of choosing the topic of their topic-based examination, and experimental group, i.e. with the chance to select the topic of their test, resulted in no statistical differences in the learners’ testing performance. However, while not statistically significant, the mean scores for the choice group were slightly higher than the mean scores for the no-choice group. Authors contend that, although topic effect can be felt in general language learning and performance, it is of little or no relevance in testing using a topic-based examination. Factors such as prior knowledge of the topic, the test-taker’s interest in the topic, the perceived relevance of the topic or the test-taker’s opinions concerning the topic proved to have no significant effect on the test-taker’s performance, probably, authors claim, because differences regarding these factors were ruled by the design of the topic-based examination. Reid (1990) also set to investigate the linguistic and rhetoric differences in learners’ responses to varying topic types and topic tasks. This author concentrated on three measures: fluency or number of words, syntactic variables and lexical variables. Concerning the main focus of interest of the present study, i.e. learner’s lexical performance, Reid’s study offered very valuable results, since it was proved that topic type is relevant as regards the lexical production of ESL. The vocabulary chosen by the participants in their essays varied significantly with topic type. He found considerable differences in vocabulary regarding three lexical variables: average length of words, percentage of content words, and use of pronouns, and depending not only on topic task, but also on topic task and language background. - 130 -
GLOSAS DIDÁCTICAS ISSN: 1576-7809 Nº 13, INVIERNO 2005 Fluency also differed from one topic task and topic type to another, nevertheless syntax was found to be invariable in all the cases. Similar observations regarding the variation of vocabulary choice in learners’ essays depending on topic type were made by Linnarud (1986). Different vocabulary content was obtained from two different writing tasks: exposition and narration. Her results serve as support for the general tendency commented here that varying writing tasks involve different linguistic competencies and elicit different language data, especially vocabulary. Some further evidence on this point comes from the quantitative error analysis study implemented by Jiménez Catalán (1992). In the four writing tasks she analyzed in her research, variation in the production of error type in quantitative and qualitative measures is absolutely evident. These results led her to the conclusion that the particular characteristics, and idiosyncrasies of each writing task somewhat determine the type of errors to appear in students’ responses. It is reasonable, therefore, to expect that tasks vary in the demands that they impose on learners’ vocabulary and consequently, the type of task will determine the lexical error types to appear in participants’ written essays. With these considerations in mind, the present paper intends to find out if different writing tasks originate varying lexical errors as regards their type and the proportions in which they manifest in each particular composition task. Consistently with previous research, the design of this study included two writing tasks of the narration and description type. In an attempt to better understand the process of L2 writing and the lexical variation observed in students’ responses, the present study examines the ways in which different writing tasks influence the quality and quantity of foreign language lexical performance, i.e. production of lexical errors in composition, and what consequences this lexical error variation may have on second language instruction and writing assessment. This study was designed to explore the following research questions: 1. Is there any quantitative difference in the production of lexical errors as regards response to different composition topics? 2. Can any quantitative variation in the type of lexical errors produced be observed as regards response to different composition topics? 2. Method Subjects A total of 77 subjects participated in the study. These were 10 year old Spanish speaking learners of English as a foreign language. Data was collected in a primary school in Logroño, La Rioja, Spain in spring 2004. All participants were 4 th graders and could be classified as early beginners of English. English is a compulsory school subject in La Rioja from the first grade of primary education onwards. According to this, subjects had received - 131 -
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descarga del nÃºmero 13 de glosas didÃ¡cticas completo

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