Spacing effects on repeated L2 task performance

This study aimed to explore task repetition (TR) under five performance conditions with different intervals between the initial and repeated performance. 71 adult learners of English as a foreign language performed a picture description task and, according to their randomly assigned groups, repeated the same, unanticipated task with either no interval (immediate repetition), a one-day, a three-day, a one-week, or a two-week interval. Performance was assessed using a range of measures which capture the three dimensions of complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF). Results showed that, overall, TR had a positive effect on L2 performance regardless of the length of intervals. Spacing appeared to mediate the effects of TR in terms of fluency and structural complexity with speed fluency benefitting most from immediate or small intervals between initial and repeated performances. Structural complexity and repair fluency scores were higher with an interval of one week between performances. Findings are discussed in terms of underlying speech production processing and the implementation of TR in the language classroom.