Complexity and Task-Complexity

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The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines complexity as ‘the state of being formed of many parts’ (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 2020). The general understanding is that an action or process is complex when it is difficult to understand and requires additional resources that are beyond one’s potentials, as opposed to a simple one that doesn’t. Thornbury (2006) defined complex language in SLA as that which ‘uses structures more typical of advanced learners than of lower level learners’ (p. 40). He listed the use of subordination including complex sentences, pronouns for back references, more lexical verbs than linking verbs, more content words than function words, and conjunctions as factors that determine complexity.
Long (2015) defined task-complexity in TBLT as “inherent, unchanging qualities of a task that make it more or less challenging than another task at a given moment in time” (p. 232). That is, task complexity is not external to task, but is inherent to the task itself. Relative complexity of different tasks or task types is the result of the cognitive demands they make on the language user. Long (2015, p. 227) lists valence, frequency of occurrence, learnability, and complexity and difficulty as criteria to judge the relative task-complexity. Task complexity is understood and manipulated in terms of the cognitive demands tasks make on the language user. Manipulation of task complexity influences the complexity of language output (Thornbury, 2006, p. 40). Assuming that increasing levels of task complexity improves specific characteristics of language output, task complexity can be manipulated to support interlanguage development (Long 2015, p. 231). Task sequencing and grading are used to help develop learners’ interlanguage. Different aspects of task complexity are discussed in the following sections. 

References 

Long, M. (2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Chichester: Wiley-                                Blackwell.  

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. (2020, March 2). Retrieved from Oxford Learner's Dictionaries:                              https://oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/complexity?q=complexity 

Thornbury, S. (2006). An A-Z of ELT: A dictionary of terms and concepts used in English Language                                 Teaching. Oxford: Macmillan.

 

A reflection on task-complexity

Task-complexity is an elusive concept, just the concept of language learning task itself is. But for all practical purposes, we practitioners require to understand tasks and task-complexity fairly well, in order to use them in our daily language classrooms.

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To make things easy for the practitioner in us, let us break down our understanding of task-complexity into two. Task-complexity can be understood in two ways:

1. by looking at task objectively as an isolated unit of learning, and
2. by looking at task subjectively as a tool used by learners.

Both these perspectives are useful for us practitioners, and we must use both of them.

Objectively, a task represents some form of text or material that prompts or directs the learner to perform an action that leads to language learning of some kind. The complexity of the task in this perspective depends on multiple elements like the level of language used in the text, the complexity of operations required to perform the task, number of elements, steps and operations involved in the task, sufficiency of the given data for task completion, the extent of background-information required, etc. In short, intrinsic complexity of a task depends on the task-internal elements that constitute the task itself.

Subjectively, a task is a tool used by a learner to learn language. Here, task-complexity is understood as partly external to the task. A learner may experience an intrinsically difficult task as easy and vice versa due to learner-related qualities. Learner's general cognitive capacity, language proficiency, familiarity with the type of task, the information and operations used in the task, and affective conditions may affect learner-related task-complexity.

In short, task complexity is a complex construct. We need to understand it in the context of the classroom where the learner, teacher, and learning materials are all dynamic partners in creating and maintaining a positive learning atmosphere.

So, here is the take-away you've been looking for: a task may be complex in your class if it has tough (reading) materials. But despite the text being tough, if you have clever learners who use apt strategies, the task may be experienced as a simple one.