Chapter 12. Examining the influence of intentional reasoning demands on learner perceptions of task difficulty and L2 monologic speech

The present study examined the effect of manipulating intentional reasoning (IR) demands on learner perceptions of task difficulty from multiple perspectives. More specifically, the following issues were addressed: (1) the effect of IR on learner perceptions of task difficulty; (2) the relative importance of the learner’s individual differences in performing different tasks; and (3) relationships between perceptions of task difficulty and various second language (L2) production measures. Twenty four Japanese college students participated in the experiment and each performed three monologic tasks that differed in IR demands (i.e., no-reasoning, simple-reasoning, and complex-reasoning tasks). The results indicated that: (1) increasing IR demands affected learner perceptions of task difficulty in a way that more complex tasks were likely to be perceived more difficult and interesting; (2) the number of significant correlations between learner perceptions of task difficulty and L2 production measures tended to increase as task demands were increased; and (3) the lexical variation measure employed correlated with learner perceptions of task difficulty in a complex way as task demands were increased, while other measures showed rather stable patterns.