Linguistic complexity in second language development: variability and variation at advanced stages

Verspoor, Marjolijn; Lowie, Wander; Chan, Hui Ping; Vahtrick, Louisa

doi:10.4000/rdlc.1450

Cited by 39 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Furthermore, the development of certain learners appears to be fairly gradual, whereas for others it is characterized by more variability and sometimes sudden shifts. The findings also suggest that one needs to be careful when drawing conclusions on the basis of single-case studies (as in, for example, Spoelman & Verspoor, 2010;Verspoor et al, 2008), and equally careful when applying the conclusions of group studies to individual learners, which supports the claim made by DST studies that one cannot generalize from the individual to the group, or vice versa (Verspoor, Lowie, Chan, & Vahtrick, 2017). As pointed out by, for example, Byrnes (2009) and Vyatkina (2012), it is therefore important to both look at group scores and individual developmental trajectories for a full understanding of the dynamics of L2 development.…”

Section: Research Questionssupporting

confidence: 57%

Syntactic complexity in L2 writing: Individual pathways and emerging group trends

Bulté

Housen

2018

Int J App Linguistics

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The present study aims to contribute to a fuller understanding of how the L2 production of L2 learners varies over time in terms of syntactic complexity by analyzing a substantive number of English L2 writing samples (n = 11) produced by a sizable group of learners (n = 10) over a relatively long period of time (19 months), using a judicious selection of quantitative measures of syntactic complexity. The focus is on synchronic and diachronic variation, both within and across learners. Our analyses show that whereas development over time is relatively regular at the group level, individual developmental paths are characterized by a high degree of variability and often deviate from the mean group trends.

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Section: Research Questionssupporting

confidence: 57%

Syntactic complexity in L2 writing: Individual pathways and emerging group trends

Bulté

Housen

2018

Int J App Linguistics

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“…A similar measure, i.e. mean number of finite verbs per total number of words, has also been found to develop linearly over time (Verspoor, Lowie, Chan, & Vahtrick, 2017). Mean number of finite verbs per total number of words is the same as mean length of clause provided that each clause in the data contains a finite verb and all the words in the word count belong to a clause.…”

Section: Measuring Syntactic Complexitymentioning

confidence: 92%

Measuring syntactic complexity in learner Finnish

Mylläri¹

2020

Apples

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In the study of complexity, accuracy and fluency (CAF), syntactic complexity can be measured by a multitude of measures. Traditionally, the measures are quantitative and they use production units such as words, clauses, T-units, and sentences. Despite the vast number of measures available, many studies have used only one or two of them, or parallel ones tapping the same component of complexity. The present study explores syntactic complexity using seven frequently used quantitative complexity measures to gauge different facets of complexity in written learner Finnish. The data of the study consist of texts written by adult and adolescent language learners, and they cover proficiency levels from beginner (A1) to advanced learner (C2) in the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). According to the results, changes in the measures are not linear from one proficiency level to the next. The results also show that while all the selected measures catch some statistically significant differences between proficiency levels in adult language learner texts, only four measures do so in adolescent language learner texts. The results also suggest that the measures are sensitive to task type.

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“…Complex Dynamic Systems Theory has been proposed and used to describe developmental processes (e.g., van Geert, 2008 ; Spoelman and Verspoor, 2010 ; Verspoor et al, 2017 ; Larsen-Freeman, 2018 , 2019 ; Lowie et al, 2018 ) and variability (e.g., van Geert and van Dijk, 2002 ; Larsen-Freeman, 2006 , 2017 ; Polat and Kim, 2014 ; Lowie and Verspoor, 2015 , 2018 ) in L2 learning in a number of recent SLA studies, proposing non-linear development of overweight cause-effect relationships, and emphasizing that disordered details and dynamic changes can be indicators of development ( Larsen-Freeman and Cameron, 2008 ; Verspoor et al, 2008 , 2017 ; van Dijk et al, 2011 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

A CDST Perspective on Variability in Foreign Language Learners’ Listening Development

Chang

Zhang

2021

Front. Psychol.

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Within a Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST) framework, this longitudinal qualitative study explored the complex patterns and identified the degree of variability in three learners’ developmental process. Learners’ listening performance was tracked and examined every 6 weeks, followed by retrospective interviews and self-reflections every 7 weeks over the 43-month span. A series of CDST techniques were adopted for data analysis, including using min–max graphs to trace the minimum and maximum scores on the EFL learners’ listening developmental indices over time. Monte-Carlo and Loess smoothing analyses were applied to gauge for degrees of variability. The results suggest that: (1) Min–max graphs and smoothed Loess curves depict flux developmental processes of learners’ L2 listening; (2) learners differed from each other in the degree of inter-individual variability in their listening developmental trajectory; and (3) occurrence of unanticipated patterns confirm that learners demonstrated personalized intra-individual variability within their unique listening developmental process. Results indicate that variability is a pattern characteristic of CDST both between and within individuals, and inform us about how Chinese EFL listeners’ language develops. We conclude by discussing the implications for researchers and practitioners who are concerned with learners’ developmental trajectories and unexpected changing patterns in the process of foreign language learning.

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Linguistic complexity in second language development: variability and variation at advanced stages

Cited by 39 publications

References 25 publications

Syntactic complexity in L2 writing: Individual pathways and emerging group trends

Syntactic complexity in L2 writing: Individual pathways and emerging group trends

Measuring syntactic complexity in learner Finnish

A CDST Perspective on Variability in Foreign Language Learners’ Listening Development

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