MEASURING LONGITUDINAL WRITING DEVELOPMENT USING INDICES OF SYNTACTIC COMPLEXITY AND SOPHISTICATION

• Published in: Studies in second language acquisition Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 781 - 812
• Main Authors: Kyle, Kristopher, Crossley, Scott, Verspoor, Marjolijn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.09.2021
• Subjects: Difficulty Level; English as a second language learning; English for Special Purposes; English Language Learners; Form Classes (Languages); Language Acquisition; Language Proficiency; Learning Processes; Linguistics; Longitudinal studies; Research Article; Second language learning; Second language writing; Second Languages; Syntactic complexity; Syntactic structures; Syntax; Trends; Verbs; Writing; Writing acquisition; Writing Skills
• ISSN: 0272-2631; 1470-1545
• DOI: 10.1017/S0272263120000546

Measures of syntactic complexity such as mean length of T-unit have been common measures of language proficiency in studies of second language acquisition. Despite the ubiquity and usefulness of such structure-based measures, they could be complemented with measures based on usage-based theories, which focus on the development of not just syntactic forms but also form-meaning pairs, called constructions (Ellis, 2002). Recent cross-sectional research (Kyle & Crossley, 2017) has indicated that indices related to usage-based characteristics of verb argument construction (VAC) use may be better indicators of writing proficiency than structure-based indices of syntactic complexity. However, because cross-sectional studies can only show general trends across proficiency benchmarks, it is important to test these findings in individuals over time (Lowie & Verspoor, 2019). Thus, this study investigates the developmental trajectories of second language learners of English across two academic years with regard to syntactic complexity and VAC sophistication.