The Effect of Proficiency on Strategic Planning: What Difference Does It Make?

Abstract

This study investigates the role of proficiency in task-based planning studies within a psycholinguistic cognitive processing framework. Through mixed-methods research, a narrative task was used to examine the effects of planning time on the fluency, accuracy, and complexity of language production and explore the allocation of learners’ attention during planning time between two sets of language proficiencies in a Sultanate of Oman Foreign Language (EFL) context. The methodology employed a within-subjects design with two levels of planning conditions (strategic and pressured on-line), and a between-subjects design with two levels of proficiency (low-intermediate and high-intermediate). The results of both quantitative and qualitative analysis show that different proficiency levels interact differently to planning time. This has implications for both previous task-based planning studies and in attaining balanced inter-language development in the EFL classroom.