TY  - MANSCPT
AU  - Mahgoub Kamel Mahmoud Mohammad,
TI  - The effect of task complexity and gender differences on efl learners’ writing performance
SN  - THE0000000 (Local)
PY  - 2025///
CY  - Kuantan Pahang
PB  - UMPSA
KW  - Center for Modern Language
KW  - Dissertations
KW  - Universities and colleges
KW  - Theses
N1  - Center for Modern Language; Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy) -- Universiti Malaysia Pahang – 2025; 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
ER  -