Previous task-based focus on form studies have shown that second language (L2) learners are strongly interested in lexis, which allows minimal attention for morphosyntax. A possible reason may be a lack of sufficient lexical knowledge crucial for completing a meaning-oriented task. In other words, from an L2 information processing perspective, learners may have limited attentional capacity to focus on the multiple aspects of a language, so they choose to focus on words as they express their meaning. But this leaves little attention for less salient and meaningful grammatical forms. Thus, this study investigated if providing learners with lexical assistance during a synchronous text-based computer-mediated communication (CMC) task would reduce their attention to lexis and divert that attention to morphosyntax. Twenty Korean learners of English performed a picture-based narrative task in dyads through online text chatting. While engaging in this task, one group of learners (n=10) was able to refer to a list of English words for the task, while the other group (n=10) was not. The findings showed no statistically significant differences between and within the groups. Possible explanations are discussed with suggestions for teaching and future research.