Task Complexity Effects on Writing Processes and Correlations With Text Features

ABSTRACT Research on task complexity (TC) effects on second language (L2) text features is abundant and has contributed critical insights. Comparatively, less is known about how L2 writers respond cognitively to diverse TC conditions or about potential effects of such processing activity on the characteristics of the texts produced. To expand on previous research, this study examined (i) the effects of TC on L2 writers’ processing activity (operationalized as on‐line writing behaviors and macro writing processes) globally and across three time intervals; and (ii) any potential relationship of processing activity with text features (as measured by complexity, accuracy, and fluency indices). In an intra‐subject design study, 45 advanced L2 English users completed two argumentative writing tasks (in time‐compressed conditions) that varied in cognitive complexity, operationally defined as the provision of ±content support. Processing activity was captured with the keystroke logging software Inputlog, together with a self‐rating post‐task questionnaire. Results provided little evidence of TC effects on online writing behaviors but showed clearer differences in self‐reported macro‐writing processes, especially in the complex task condition. The analyses also indicated little evidence of TC effects on accuracy and syntactic complexity, together with selective associations between writing processes and text features across conditions.