Task Complexity and Discourse Features of Academic Writing Performance: The Role of Language Proficiency, Self-Regulated Writing Strategies, and Self-Efficacy

Recent studies on task-based approaches have explored how variations in task demands influence linguistic features such as fluency, accuracy, and syntactic or lexical complexity (Johnson, ۲۰۱۷). However, the studies on task complexity and discourse features have received scant attention. In response to this limited attention, this study examined how Iranian EFL learners employed discourse features across tasks of varying complexity levels. Furthermore, the study investigated the influence of strategic self-regulation in writing, overall language proficiency, and writers’ confidence on students’ academic writing performance. To this aim, ۱۰۸ intermediate EFL writers participated in an English Proficiency Test (PET) and writing tasks with varying degrees of difficulty. They also completed self-regulated writing strategies and self-efficacy questionnaires. To examine how different levels of task complexity shaped EFL writers’ performance in cohesion, coherence, and organizational patterns, along with the role of learner-related factors (language proficiency, self-regulated writing strategies, and self-efficacy), a range of measures was employed. The results revealed that increasing task demands contributed to improved student performance with respect to discourse-related aspects of writing. In addition, learner-related variables showed meaningful predictive power for academic writing performance, explaining ۳۱% of the variance in low-complexity tasks, ۵۸% in medium-complexity tasks, and ۶۴% in high-complexity tasks. Findings highlight pedagogical and assessment implications, emphasizing scaffolded instructional support and task-sensitive evaluation in academic writing

کلیدواژه ها:

Academic Writing ، Language Proficiency ، Self- Efficacy ، Self-Regulated Writing Strategies ، Task Complexity