How the Difficulty of Speaking Tasks Affects Students’ Vocabulary in a Foreign Language

What is it about?

When learning a foreign language, students often aim to expand their vocabulary and use more sophisticated words. However, does the difficulty of a task affect how students use language? This study examined how increasing the difficulty of speaking tasks influenced the richness of students' vocabulary. 28 Polish high school students learning English completed three types of speaking tasks: 1. Brainstorming – Generating as many ideas as possible. 2. Sorting and Ordering – Organizing ideas in a logical way. 3. Problem-Solving and Argumentation – Defending opinions with reasoning. Key Findings: More difficult tasks led to richer vocabulary. Students used more varied and less common words as task difficulty increased. Cognitive challenge improved word choice. Tasks that required problem-solving and argumentation resulted in more sophisticated vocabulary. Thinking skills matter in language learning. Encouraging students to engage in complex thinking during tasks helps them develop better language skills.

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Photo by airfocus on Unsplash

Photo by airfocus on Unsplash

Why is it important?

1. This research looks at how task complexity affects vocabulary richness. 2. Language teachers can use these findings to design more effective classroom activities that encourage students to use more advanced vocabulary. 3. It highlights the role of cognitive skills in language learning. Many language classes focus only on communication, but this study shows that higher-order thinking skills (such as problem-solving and argumentation) improve vocabulary use. 4. The research adds evidence to task-based language teaching, which is gaining popularity in second language education. 5. By showing that task complexity influences vocabulary, this study helps teachers design better speaking exercises that push students toward more advanced language use.

Perspectives

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I hope this study encourages teachers to challenge students with increasingly complex speaking tasks and recognize that difficulty can lead to deeper learning.

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