Four Task Characteristics and Their Influence on Speaking Performance and Engagement

Motivation and engagement are related constructs (Appleton et al., 2006 ), which has led to some pretty significant overlap in the use of the terms in the literature. So, when responding to calls for engaging assessment tasks for young language learners (YLLs) (e.g., Hasselgreen, 2005 ; McKay, 2006 ; Taylor & Saville, 2002 ; Wolf & Butler, 2017 ), it is necessary to clarify how engagement and motivation are different and then identify what, exactly, makes tasks engaging. In this article, a definition of task engagement is proposed, and an investigation into the influences of four task characteristics hypothesized to support task engagement—topical choice, vocabulary support, novelty, and video animation—on speaking task performance and engagement is described. Following a non-experimental ex post facto research design, recordings of 401 YLLs responding to 11 computer-delivered TOEFL Primary® Speaking test tasks (Educational Testing Service, 2013 ) were evaluated. Results from Fischer’s ( 1973 ) linear logistic test model indicate that topical choice had a positive overall effect on task performance, while vocabulary support, novelty, and video animation did not. Then, acoustic measures of harmonicity and shimmer from the spoken responses themselves were identified as likely indicators of emotional engagement and employed in a structural model showing that, of the four task characteristics investigated, only topical choice and novelty affected engagement. The model also shows how YLL speaking performance was supported by task engagement, pointing to a need to include engagement in theoretical models of language performance.