Task difficulty is an important but complex phenomenon in Applied Linguistics, for which there is relatively little empirical research. This article discusses approaches to defining task difficulty and focuses on objective task difficulty derived from ratings of performances and on difficulty derived from an error count in the performances, thus taking errors as indicators of writing task difficulty. Errors are described in terms of the Scope–Substance error taxonomy in writing performances from the Slovene General Matura examination in English. The most frequent errors are located at word and phrase level. Generally, error frequency decreases as writing proficiency increases, but some error types do not conform to this trend. This is the case for punctuation errors, which gain prominence at higher levels of mastery. The results of this study are relevant for assessment, particularly for rating scale development or revision, and for rater training. They are equally relevant for teaching, since knowing sources of difficulty in tasks is a prerequisite for effective pedagogical action. More generally, if applied to performances based on a wider range of tasks, viewing errors as indicators of difficulty can lead to a better understanding of difficulty-generating task features.

中文翻译：

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错误作为斯洛文尼亚通用英语写作任务难度的指标

任务难度是应用语言学中一个重要但复杂的现象，对此的实证研究相对较少。本文讨论了定义任务难度的方法，并着重于从成绩评分得出的客观任务难度和从成绩中的错误计数得出的难度，从而将错误作为写作任务难度的指标。错误是根据斯洛文尼亚通用马图拉英语考试的写作表现中的 Scope-Substance 错误分类来描述的。最常见的错误位于单词和短语级别。一般来说，错误频率随着写作水平的提高而降低，但有些错误类型并不符合这一趋势。标点错误就是这种情况，它在更高的掌握水平上变得突出。本研究的结果与评估相关，特别是评估量表的制定或修订，以及评估员培训。它们与教学同样相关，因为了解任务中的困难来源是有效教学行动的先决条件。更一般地说，如果应用于基于更广泛任务的表现，将错误视为难度的指标可以更好地理解产生难度的任务特征。