The effect of task complexity and gender differences on efl learners’ writing performance / (Record no. 103745)

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control field MY-KuUP
005 - DATE AND TIME OF LATEST TRANSACTION
control field 20251216122442.0
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007 - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION FIXED FIELD--GENERAL INFORMATION
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020 ## - INTERNATIONAL STANDARD BOOK NUMBER
International Standard Book Number THE0000000 (Local)
Qualifying information Hardback
040 ## - CATALOGING SOURCE
Original cataloging agency UMPSA
Language of cataloging eng
Transcribing agency UMPSA
Description conventions rda
090 ## - LOCALLY ASSIGNED LC-TYPE CALL NUMBER (OCLC); LOCAL CALL NUMBER (RLIN)
Classification number (OCLC) (R) ; Classification number, CALL (RLIN) (NR) PBM .M34 2025 r Thesis
100 0# - MAIN ENTRY--PERSONAL NAME
Personal name Mahgoub Kamel Mahmoud Mohammad,
Relator term author.
245 10 - TITLE STATEMENT
Title The effect of task complexity and gender differences on efl learners’ writing performance /
Statement of responsibility, etc. Mahgoub Kamel Mahmoud Mohammad
264 #1 - PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Place of production, publication, distribution, manufacture Kuantan Pahang :
Name of producer, publisher, distributor, manufacturer UMPSA,
Date of production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright notice 2025
264 #4 - PRODUCTION, PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, MANUFACTURE, AND COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Date of production, publication, distribution, manufacture, or copyright notice © 2025
300 ## - PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Extent xiii, 534 pages :
Other physical details illustrations (some color) ;
Dimensions 30 cm. +
Accompanying material 1 CD-ROM
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Source rdacontent
Content type term text
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Source rdamedia
Media type term unmediated
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Source rdacarrier
Carrier type term volume
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Source rda
File type text file
Encoding format PDF
500 ## - GENERAL NOTE
General note Center for Modern Language
502 ## - DISSERTATION NOTE
Dissertation note Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang – 2025
504 ## - BIBLIOGRAPHY, ETC. NOTE
Bibliography, etc. note The current study investigates the effect of task complexity and gender differences on EFL learners’ writing performance. Task complexity is investigated along the resource- dispersing variables of pre-task planning time, post-task editing time and prior knowledge. Prior studies highlighted concern regarding EFL students’ written communication. However, little studies explored the interaction between task complexity and gender differences in EFL writing performance which motivated the current study to be conducted based on Skehan's Limited Attentional Capacity Model (1998), Robinson's Cognition Hypothesis (2001), and the Gender Similarities Hypothesis (Hyde, 2005). Methodologically this research is grounded in a positivist approach to research. In the current study, the participants were 160 high school students (80 males and 80 females) studying at international schools in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. Participants’ ages ranged from 15 to 16 years old (M=15.2 The essay writing topics were selected among the essay prompts similar to those of the IELTS test and the cause-and effect essay type was used. The learners' writing production was measured in terms of CAF i.e., complexity, accuracy and fluency. A series of T-Test and one-way ANOVAs were used for detecting the significant differences within the same-gender and cross-genders, Cronbach's alpha (α) for the task reliability, Wilk’s Lambda for variable contributions, Partial Eta squared (ηp2) for the effect size, and the Observed Power (or posthoc power) for the test statistical power. The findings reveal varying effects of task complexity and gender differences on EFL learners' writing performance in the context of resource-dispersing variables. Specifically, task complexity influenced the complexity, accuracy, and fluency (CAF) of writing differently for male and female EFL learners. The results indicate a partial support to the predictions of Skehan and Foster (2001) and those of Robinson (2005) in the CAF scores along the resourcedispersing variables. Similarly, findings show partial support to the Gender Similarities Hypothesis (GSH) (Hyde, 2005). The predictions of Skehan and Foster, as well as those of Robinson, were only partially supported. While there was a notable impact on CAF measures common to both genders, the study also uncovered distinct effects specific to each gender group. This suggests that while some expectations aligned with previous theories, there were notable deviations that highlight the nuanced influence of task complexity on writing performance across different gender groups. The female groups significantly outperformed their male counterparts on CAF of writing production along the resourcedispersing variables highlighting a notable exception to the Gender Similarities Hypothesis (GSH). This suggests that writing, as an academic skill, may diverge from the general pattern observed in other domains, where gender differences are typically less pronounced. This study further investigated how varying percentages of task complexity impact the resource-dispersing variables—such as planning time, editing time, and prior knowledge—and their subsequent effects on CAF scores. Besides, the researcher sorted the significant CAF metrics within same gender and across genders according to their occurrence and percentage in the performance of the current student participants. It is recommended for future research to utilize the most statistically significant metrics as prioritized by the findings of this study i.e. syntactic metrics; (The mean length of sentence (MLS), sentence coordination ratio (T/S), Sentence complexity ratio (C/S), T-unit complexity ratio (C/T)) , lexical metrics (Number of different words (NDW), Type/Token ratio (TTR)), lexical metrics; (Verb variation-I (VV1), Lexical word variation (LV), Noun variation (NV)), accuracy metrics; (Error-free T-unit ratio (EFT/T), Errors per T-unit (E/T), fluency metrics; Mean length of error-free T-unit (W/EFT)). EFL educators and curriculum designers incorporate pre-task planning, post-task editing, and prior-knowledge variables to enhance writing performance. Future research should explore the impact of task complexity and gender on EFL writing across task type.
610 20 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--CORPORATE NAME
Corporate name or jurisdiction name as entry element Center for Modern Language
General subdivision Dissertations
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Universities and colleges
General subdivision Dissertations
650 #0 - SUBJECT ADDED ENTRY--TOPICAL TERM
Topical term or geographic name entry element Theses
General subdivision Dissertations
942 ## - ADDED ENTRY ELEMENTS (KOHA)
Source of classification or shelving scheme Library of Congress Classification
Koha item type Thesis
Holdings
Withdrawn status Lost status Source of classification or shelving scheme Damaged status Not for loan Permanent Location Current Location Date acquired Total Checkouts Full call number Barcode Date last seen Price effective from Koha item type
  Not lost Library of Congress Classification   Not for loan UMPLIB PEKAN UMPLIB PEKAN 16/12/2025   PBM .M34 2025 r Thesis T000003845 16/12/2025 16/12/2025 Thesis
  Not lost Library of Congress Classification   Final Processing UMPLIB PEKAN UMPLIB PEKAN 16/12/2025   CD13793 T000003846 16/12/2025 16/12/2025 Thesis

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