Title: Second Language Writing: A Case for Task-based Language Teaching
Presenter: Mark Johnson, East Carolina University
Location: Zoom, Password: iwl

Abstract: 
Writing provides ideal conditions for second language development. It provides learners with an opportunity for intense focus on linguistic form and manipulation of the “meaning-making resources” available to them (Byrnes, 2014). Specifically, the slower pace at which writing unfolds allows learners to access explicit L2 knowledge and thus gain greater control over previously acquired structures and/or experiment with partially acquired structures (Manchón, 2011; Manchón & Williams, 2016; Williams, 2008, 2012). However, writing poses substantial cognitive demands on learners (Kellogg, 1996), and these demands are compounded when learners write in a language over which they may have incomplete command (Johnson, forthcoming). Complex features of the writing task may compound these demands even further (Johnson, 2017; Zalbidea, 2019). This presentation first outlines Kellogg’s (1996) model of working memory in first language writing, focusing on unique features of the writing process, the cognitive demands the process makes of the learner, and how the process can be structured to promote second language production. The presentation then examines task-based language teaching (Robinson, 2011; Skehan, 1998) and how features of task complexity can be structured to facilitate second language writing performance and/or general development in the second language. To participate fully, attendees should bring examples of writing tasks they use with their students, as we will use Robinson’s framework to analyze and revise those writing tasks for future use in their classrooms.

Bio: 
Mark D. Johnson is associate professor of TESOL and Applied Linguistics at East Carolina University, where he teaches classes on linguistics and teaching English to speakers of other languages. His research focuses on cognition in second language writing, particularly on features of writing tasks and the demands they make on language production. His publications have appeared in TESOL Journal, Writing and Pedagogy, Language Teaching, and the Journal of Second Language Writing. His 2017 article, Cognitive Task Complexity and L2 Written Syntactic Complexity, Lexical Complexity, Accuracy, and Fluency: A Research Synthesis and Meta-Analysis, received an honorable mention from the Journal of Second Language Writing in their competition for the best paper of 2017. He serves on the editorial board of TESOL Quarterly and on the executive board of the Carolina TESOL Association.