Chapter 3 Research Methodology .................................. 23
3.1 Research Questions ......................... 23
3.2 Participants ........................................... 23
3.3 Quasi-Experiment ...................... 24
Chapter 4 Results .................................... 30
4.1 Learner Engagement in Different Task Types ........................ 30
4.1.1 Behavioral Engagement in Different Task Types ............................... 30
4.1.2 Cognitive Engagement in Different Task Types ................................ 32
Chapter 5 Discussion ............................ 39
5.1 The Effects of Task Types on Learner Engagement ............................ 39
5.1.1 The Effects of Task Types on Behavioral Engagement ...................... 39
5.1.2 The Effects of Task Types on Cognitive Engagement ....................... 41
Chapter 5 Discussion
5.1 The Effects of Task Types on Learner Engagement
This section primarily investigates the effects of task types on learner engagement, specifically examining how participants vary in their engagement across different dimensions within the two tasks and analyzing the reasons behind these differences.
5.1.1 The Effects of Task Types on Behavioral Engagement
As the results presented above, task types have significant effects on senior high school students’ behavioral engagement. To be specific, learners tend to spend more time, utter more words, and take more turns in decision-making task than in free discussion task. Which is also in line with Skinner and Belmont’s (1993) study, although their study did not explicitly break down different task types, it suggested that the nature of instructional tasks is likely to impact student engagement.
The findings of the study indicate that learners exhibit a tendency to allocate more time, produce a greater number of words, and engage in more turns during decision-making task compared to free discussion task. This disparity in engagement can be attributed to several factors.
Chapter 6 Conclusion
6.1 Major Findings
The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of two task types (decision-making task and free discussion task) on senior high school students’ learner engagement, and on their oral production, as well as the mediating role of learner engagement between task types and oral production. According to the purposes of this paper, the major findings are shown below.
The investigation into the effects of task types, specifically decision-making tasks and free discussion tasks, on senior high school students’ learner engagement yielded noteworthy findings. In terms of behavioral engagement, a significant divergence was observed between the two tasks concerning the metrics of words spoken, turns taken, and time spent on task. Remarkably, the decision-making task consistently exhibited higher averages in these behavioral engagement measures compared to the free discussion task. Turning to cognitive engagement, the study identified significant disparities between the tasks in both negotiation of meaning (NoM) and interactional language functions (ILF). Once again, the decision-making task demonstrated superior cognitive engagement, indicating a more robust intellectual engagement than its free discussion counterpart. Social engagement also proved to be influenced by task types, particularly in the realm of affiliative backchannels, where the decision-making task demonstrated significantly higher levels of social engagement compared to the free discussion task. Lastly, emotional engagement, measured through instances of enjoyment, revealed significant differences between the two tasks, with the decision-making task consistently surpassing the free discussion task in eliciting emotional&n
