Re-examining Accuracy Measures in Task-based Research: Task Repetition

As a language performance measure, accuracy has been considered a relatively consistent and unproblematic construct; however, accuracy can be assessed in a variety of ways, which may affect the results. This study examines how different measures of accuracy explain changes in task performance in the context of task repetition. Three different accuracy measures were explored: a rater’s holistic assessment, a frequency-based global measure of accuracy that counts all errors, and a specific measure of accuracy based on specific error types. Twenty-four EFL learners completed two picture narration tasks, repeating each task twice. They also completed a transcription activity between the two narration sessions, which functioned as an attention-drawing intervention and provided information on which specific error types to examine in the specific measure of accuracy. The learners’ picture narrations were analyzed, and the effects of task repetition examined, using each of the different accuracy measures. Findings showed different results by measures; specifically, improvement in accuracy was observed only through the holistic measure, while no evidence of improvement was found through the global and specific measures. These findings suggest that a holistic measure of accuracy offers a useful supplement to other measures for gauging the effectiveness of task-based language teaching.