Greater complexity and higher efficiency: Effects of translanguaging during collaborative pre-task planning on EFL learners’ speaking performance

Translanguaging has thrived as a pedagogy for second language (L2) acquisition because of its potential in maximizing L2 learners’ communicative repertoire. However, limited attention has been paid to how translanguaging can influence L2 speaking within the framework of task-based language teaching (TBLT). This study explored how different language use (i.e., L2 only and translanguaging) in collaborative pre-task planning contributed to L2 learners’ subsequent monologic speaking performance, as measured by complexity, accuracy, fluency (CAF), and idea units. The planning behaviours were also examined to offer explanations for the differences in learners’ speaking performance. Altogether 72 undergraduate students from a Chinese university voluntarily participated in this study. The results showed that translanguaging planning contributed to the conceptualization stage of speech processing, as evidenced by gains in syntactic complexity and idea units. This positive effect might have resulted from enhanced communication efficiency due to translanguaging planning. The translanguaging group also generated more turns, produced more ideas on average, and devoted more time to vocabulary talk and task management. This was because translanguaging planning enabled learners to prioritize their language use for better task execution. In other words, the flexibility of translanguaging allows for a more strategic approach to language use, which can enhance collaborative efforts to successfully complete tasks. In contrast, the L2-only planning contributed to the formulation stage of speech processing, as was manifested in fewer mid-clause pauses. A trade-off between complexity and fluency was also observed in the study. Implications for the use of translanguaging in L2 speaking pedagogy are discussed.