The Influence of Task Goals on L2 Interaction

To explore the effects of task goals on second language interaction, 16 participants were randomly divided into 2 groups and requested to perform a one-way information-gap communication task. One group was informed in advance that they would be asked to conduct another task after completing the present one (actually it was not so). The other group had no such requirement. Results show that participants with a post-task requirement tended to be more concerned about the quality of information exchange. Besides, they were more actively involved and processed information more deeply during task completion.