Does writing development equal writing quality? A computational investigation of syntactic complexity in L2 learners

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 66-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Crossley ◽  
Danielle S. McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Writing Development ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Computational Investigation ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
L2 Learners

Beyond proficiency

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-289
Author(s):  
Stuart G. Towns ◽  
Richard Watson Todd
Keyword(s):  
Writing Development ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Development Studies ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Pulitzer Prize ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Interpretive Methods

Abstract Many studies have investigated the correlations between linguistic features and human judgements of writing quality. These studies usually investigate either proficient student writing or exceptional literary writing. The current study attempts to bridge these two perspectives by comparing proficient writing to award-winning exceptional writing using movie reviews written by bloggers and Pulitzer Prize winners. A range of linguistic features representing syntactic complexity, lexical complexity, and lexical cohesion were analyzed using both automated and interpretive methods. It is found that some, but not all, of the trends seen in writing development studies continue on to exceptional writing, with lexical sophistication and lexical cohesion through conceptual associations making the largest contributions to the differences between proficient and exceptional writers.

scholarly journals Task-Based Language Teaching With a Semantic-Centred Pedagogic Grammar

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-108
Author(s):  
James W. Gray ◽  
Ryan W. Smithers
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Skill Development ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Semantic Meaning ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Traditional Grammar ◽  
Pedagogical Grammar ◽  
Functional Support

Task-based language teaching (TBLT) is well known for providing authentic opportunities for second and foreign language (L2) skill development. However, for many learners the use of traditional grammar within TBLT lacks the functional support necessary to create accurate and fluent L2 output. The current study replaced traditional grammar explanations with a semantic meaning-order approach to pedagogical grammar (MAP or MAP grammar) as a means to bridge the language in tasks to their function and thereby strengthen form-to-meaning understanding. The study combined TBLT and MAP grammar to look for changes in the complexity, accuracy, and fluency of 127 L2 learners’ writings. The results showed TBLT and MAP separately increased syntactic complexity, whereas the combination of the two provided gains in accuracy and fluency. This was achieved by systematically directing learners’ attention to a sequence of functional choices thereby simplifying necessary metalinguistic explanations.

scholarly journals Exploring syntactic complexity and its relationship with writing quality in EFL argumentative essays

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-81
Author(s):  
Farzaneh Shadloo ◽  
Hesamoddin Shahriari Ahmadi ◽  
Behzad Ghonsooly
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Development Scheme ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Different Levels

Abstract To predict syntactic complexity in second/foreign language writing, some studies have advocated the use of T-unit and clausal subordination measures while others have argued for the use of phrase-based measures. This study seeks to identify syntactic features that can be regarded as discriminators among different levels of writing quality. For this purpose, a corpus of argumentative essays by EFL learners was compiled and then the essays were rated and placed into three groups of high-rated, mid-rated, and low-rated essays. The corpus was then coded and analysed for both phrasal and clausal features. The phrasal features were manually coded based on the development scheme hypothesized by Biber, Gray and Poonpon (2011) for academic writing, and the clausal features were analysed using the online L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer developed by Lu (2010). A separate ANOVA test was used to compare the three groups of essays for each of the phrasal and clausal features. The findings of the current study demonstrated that subordination and dependent clauses were not good indicators of different writing qualities in our corpus. Also, the pattern of noun phrase complexity predicted by Biber et al. (2011) was not observed across argumentative essays from three different levels of writing quality.

Non-canonical word order as a measure of syntactic complexity in advanced L2 German

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Lecouvet
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Considerable Increase ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Advanced Proficiency ◽  
Argumentative Texts ◽  
Detailed Picture

Abstract A major issue in SLA research concerns the operationalization of syntactic complexity, in particular the need for fine-grained measures that go beyond the traditional focus on syntactic elaboration. Following recent findings that have demonstrated the potential of syntactic diversity for providing a more detailed picture of how complexity develops across languages and proficiency levels, the present study argues for the use of two types of non-canonical structures, passives and argument inversions, as indices of syntactic complexification in advanced L2 German writing. Based on 75 argumentative texts written by experienced L2 learners of German (B2 to C2 CEFR levels), we addressed the question to what extent learners’ use of non-canonical word order is a hallmark of advanced proficiency compared to measures of syntactic elaboration. The results revealed a considerable increase in the frequency of argument inversions from B2 to C1 and highlighted the interrelationship between diversity and elaboration in learner compositions.

Defining proficiency

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Present-Thomas ◽  
Bert Weltens ◽  
John H.A.L. de Jong
Keyword(s):  
Item Response ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
The Common ◽  
Institutional Status ◽  
Proficiency Classification ◽  
English Students

In this study, various proficiency classification methods are explored in order to describe the relevant levels on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEF) that are represented by a group of 127 incoming English students at a Dutch university with respect to academic writing. The weakness of the widely-used group-based institutional status approach is demonstrated with two distinct student-centered approaches, self-assessment and test scores, both of which highlight the within-groups variation that is hidden in group-based approaches. Between-texts variation is further explored through the comparison of self-assessment and text-centered approaches to classification such as test item (response) scores, and widely used measures of lexical variation and syntactic complexity. Findings demonstrate the potential variation in the understanding of academic writing development depending on the the methods of proficiency classification used.

scholarly journals Effects of task structure on young learners’ writing quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-78
Author(s):  
Yin Ling Cheung ◽  
Hari Jang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Task Structure ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Writing Quality ◽  
Young Learners ◽  
Capacity Model ◽  
Language Writing ◽  
The Impact

In the past decade, research has yielded mixed results regarding the relationship between task complexity and writing quality. Some studies have suggested that an increase in task complexity results in the improvement of syntactic complexity, accuracy and fluency. Other studies have demonstrated partial improvement in fluency, accuracy, syntactic complexity, or lexical complexity. This study examines the impact of task structure on writing quality among English-as-a-second-language (ESL) young learners. The analysis is based on 236 ESL fourth-grade pupils’ narrative compositions. Using the Limited Attention Capacity Model and the Cognitive Hypothesis, the analysis revealed that Primary Four pupils wrote significantly longer and syntactically more complex texts in structured tasks, and they scored higher in lexical variety in unstructured tasks. The accuracy of writing did not vary significantly based on task structure. The study provides new empirical evidence for the argument that task structure affects ESL young learners’ writing performance in terms of syntactic complexity, fluency, and lexical variety. The findings contribute new knowledge to the field of second language writing. In particular, how task structures influence writing quality and how such knowledge can inform writing pedagogy and the evaluation of students’ written work.

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