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Although a great deal of research has been done to probe the effects of task complexity variables on the specific features of L2 learners’ output along the resource-directing dimension of the Cognition Hypothesis (Robinson, 2001a, 2003, 2005), only a few studies (e.g. Gilabert, 2007 Robinson, 2001a, 2001b Yuan & Ellis, 2003) have explored the effects of the resource-dispersing variables of task complexity on L2 output. Neither is there a rich literature on the effects of mutual interaction of these variables and task condition variables on the output. In addition, few studies have directly involved learners in oral tasks on the contrary, most of the previous studies have focused on written tasks and the oral production resulting from the performances of those tasks. This study investigated the effects of resource-dispersing variables and task condition variables on the complexity of L2 output. To this end, Preliminary English Test (PET) and an interview were administered to 20 EFL learners. After ranking the scores from the highest to the lowest, two expert/expert pairs and two novice/novice pairs were chosen to perform four tasks. The tasks were sequenced from the least to the most complex and the pairs were required to perform each task at a session, one pair after another. Their performances were tape-recorded and transcribed, and the data were subjected to statistical analysis. The results of the study indicated that, no matter whether the pairs were novices or experts, their output became more and more complex as the tasks increased in complexity. This is incompatible with the claim made by the Cognition Hypothesis that task complexity along  the resource dispersing variables does not lead to the complexity of the output (Robinson, 2001a, 2005).

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This study aims at investigating the effect of dynamic assessment (DA) on L2 writing achievement if applied via blogging as a Web 2.0 tool, as well as examining which pattern of interaction is more conducive to learning in such an environment. The results of the study indicate that using weblogs to provide mediation contributes to the enhancement of the overall writing performance, vocabulary and syntactic complexity, and quantity of overall information presented in a single paragraph. That is to say, DA procedures are applicable via Web 2.0 tools and are advantageous to L2 learners’ writing suggesting that L2 practitioners and instructors should actively consider the integration of Web 2.0 technology into L2 education system using DA. Moreover, the collaborative pattern of interaction as compared to expert/novice, dominant/passive, and dominant/dominant patterns is found to be more conducive to fostering writing achievement in the asynchronous computer-mediated communication environment.

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This study compares three integrated tasks of the TOEFL iBT speaking subtest in terms of complexity, accuracy, and fluency. To this end, a group of TOEFL iBT Iranian candidates took a simulated TOEFL iBT some days prior to their real exam. The collected oral responses were first transcribed and then quantified using software such as ‘Syllable Counter’ and ‘Coh-Metrix3’ for fluency and complexity, respectively. For accuracy, however, the responses were tallied manually. The results revealed the responses to the three speaking tasks were significantly different in terms of fluency. The difference in the accuracy index also turned significant, though the pairwise comparisons showed some inconsistencies. As for the selected complexity measures, lexical diversity, the mean number of modifiers per NP, and latent semantic analysis all showed significant differences between tasks 2 and 3 on the one hand and task 4 on the other. Left-embeddedness, however, revealed no significant difference among the three tasks. The results may support the influential role of prompting texts in such integrated speaking tasks