The Impact of Increase in Task Cognitive Complexity on Iranian EFL Learners’ Accuracy and Linguistic Complexity: A Test of Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis

Designing a task with reasonable level of cognitive complexity has always been important for syllabus designers, teachers, as well as researchers. This is because manipulation of the task may lead to different results in oral production. The present study was an attempt to explore the effect of this manipulation based on the three elements of Robinson’s resource-directing model (reasoning demands, number of elements, and here and now versus there and then condition) on picture narration tasks. This study included 30 Iranian EFL learners between the ages of 21 to 34. Each subject was required to perform the simple version as well as the complex version of the same picture narration task. The data were audio-recorded, and a parametric test of MANOVA was conducted. The results revealed that increase in task cognitive complexity led to greater accuracy and linguistic complexity. The findings of this study could have profound insights for material producers in preparing tasks and for learners in gauging their promotion.