Cognition Hypothesis

According to Robinson’s Cognition Hypothesis discussed in Task Complexity, theory of mind, and intentional reasoning: Effects on L2 speech production, interaction, uptake and perceptions of task difficulty, instructional design is set to trigger acquisition and language development. Robinson (2007) argues that instructional tasks should be designed on the basis of increases in their cognitive complexity. He points out that such tasks lead to more accurate but less fluent speech production. Moreover, research points out that these tasks result in more interaction and uptake of linguistic forms that have been salient in the input.


Do you think that individual differences in language ability as well as various factors relevant to the cognitive demands of tasks will lead to differences in learners’ speech production, and uptake in short and long-term memory? Can we as instructors be sure that instructional tasks based on the Cognition Hypothesis will result in greater uptake of linguistic forms?