Processing Perspectives on Task Performance (Task-Based Language Teaching)

This volume, on the whole, presents a focused set of exceptionally well-designed studies that investigate task design variables and their major processing benefits for L2 speakers. A major contribution of this volume is Skehan's proposed finer-grained definition for the construct of "planning," which includes the traditional concept of planning, along with newer additions of readiness-task-internal properties, such as content familiarity and task. Moreover, the consistency of the CAF-lexis performance measures across the volume is a valuable model which, if adopted, could contribute to the validity and reliability of future studies. One area for improvement would be a fuller exploration of proficiency levels; the editor readily admits that this volume only contributes to our understanding of intermediate learners. In addition, the pedagogical implications are highly theoretical and would benefi t from more concrete examples. The volume assumes prior knowledge of several important theoretical concepts, such as serial versus parallel processing, rendering it somewhat inaccessible for a nonexpert audience. Nevertheless, this research significantly contributes to a theoretical understanding of task design, its impact on performance measures, and the manner in which L2 speakers can overcome the limitations of their finite cognitive resources.) -- Julie B. Lake, Georgetown University, in Studies in Second Language Acquisition 37:1 (2014