Seminar | Operationalizing L2 Engagement: Task Design as a Mediating Variable in Learner Involvement

Engagement is a highly influential contributor to academic success in general education (Christenson et al., 2012). Despite its clear relevance to second language (L2) learning, research examining engagement and its impact on L2 learning processes remains limited (Hiver et al., 2021). Prior studies indicate that specific task characteristics, such as learner choice (Lambert et al., 2017; Nakamura et al., 2019) and task orientation (Dao, 2019), strongly influence engagement. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2020) and Goal-Setting Theory (Locke & Latham, 2019), this presentation addresses existing methodological gaps by investigating task design as a critical lever for maximizing L2 engagement across two quasi-experimental studies.

Study 1 examined the effect of goal specificity—how clearly goals are defined and understood—within a task framework. Involving 120 university-level L2-French learners completing counterbalanced goal-specific and goal-nonspecific tasks, the study triangulated self-reported questionnaires, qualitative interviews, and interaction data. Findings revealed that explicit goal specificity significantly enhanced cognitive and social engagement, task persistence, and learner satisfaction.

Study 2 extended this focus to listening tasks, comparing task-based scenarios embedded with metacognitive instruction against task-only and regular curriculum control groups while considering individual differences. While both experimental groups improved, only the Task group demonstrated statistically significant listening gains. Crucially, working memory moderated learning gains exclusively within the control group, indicating that metacognitively supported task-based instruction effectively mitigates cognitive constraints. Together, these findings contribute to a better understanding of engagement operationalisation and demonstrate how task design translates into actionable pedagogy.