It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and
proficiency

J 2023

It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and proficiency

WILLIAMS, Christopher

Basic information

Original name

It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and proficiency

Authors

WILLIAMS, Christopher (826 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Discourse and Interaction, Brno, Masarykova Universita, 2023, 1802-9930

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

50301 Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics [and education systems]

Country of publisher

Czech Republic

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

URL URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14410/23:00133184

Organization unit

Faculty of Education

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/DI2023-2-124

Keywords in English

syntactic complexity; lexical complexity; writing proficiency

Abstract

V originále

This paper explores the relationship between lexical and syntactic complexity measures and proficiency in L2 English argumentative essays written by L1 Czech high school students. Syntactic complexity is generally understood as referring to the “range and sophistication” (Ortega 2015) of grammatical constructions, whereas lexical complexity can refer to the range and frequency of the words used. The research used 100 essays written by final year high school students. Lexical complexity was analysed using the Lexical Complexity Analyzer (Ai & Lu 2010, Lu 2012), syntactic complexity using the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (Lu 2010, 2014) and Biber et al.’s (2011) hypothesised developmental stages for complexity framework. Despite a large number of measurements failing to produce any significant patterns, positive correlations were found between lexical diversity measures and vocabulary scores. Similarly, Mean Length of Clause (MLC) and Complex nominals per clause (CN/C) showed weak positive associations with grammar scores, as did Stage 5 of the developmental stages. The findings provide an insight into the kinds of complexity features that can be given more focus during instruction and underscore the potential of these measures as determinants of proficiency.

Links

MUNI/A/1335/2022, interní kód MU

Name: Výzkum v didaktice cizích jazyků

Investor: Masaryk University, Research in foreign language didactics

Citovat

WILLIAMS, Christopher. It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and proficiency. Discourse and Interaction. Brno: Masarykova Universita, 2023, vol. 16, No 2, p. 124-144. ISSN 1802-9930. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/DI2023-2-124.

@article{2364982,
   author = {Williams, Christopher},
   article_location = {Brno},
   article_number = {2},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/DI2023-2-124},
   keywords = {syntactic complexity; lexical complexity; writing proficiency},
   language = {eng},
   issn = {1802-9930},
   journal = {Discourse and Interaction},
   title = {It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and proficiency},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.5817/DI2023-2-124},
   volume = {16},
   year = {2023}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 2364982
AU  - Williams, Christopher
PY  - 2023
TI  - It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and proficiency
JF  - Discourse and Interaction
VL  - 16
IS  - 2
SP  - 124-144
EP  - 124-144
PB  - Masarykova Universita
SN  - 18029930
KW  - syntactic complexity
KW  - lexical complexity
KW  - writing proficiency
UR  - https://doi.org/10.5817/DI2023-2-124
N2  - This paper explores the relationship between lexical and syntactic complexity measures and proficiency in L2 English argumentative essays written by L1 Czech high school students. Syntactic complexity is generally understood as referring to the “range and sophistication” (Ortega 2015) of grammatical constructions, whereas lexical complexity can refer to the range and frequency of the words used. The research used 100 essays written by final year high school students. Lexical complexity was analysed using the Lexical Complexity Analyzer (Ai & Lu 2010, Lu 2012), syntactic complexity using the L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (Lu 2010, 2014) and Biber et al.’s (2011) hypothesised developmental stages for complexity framework. Despite a large number of measurements failing to produce any significant patterns, positive correlations were found between lexical diversity measures and vocabulary scores. Similarly, Mean Length of Clause (MLC) and Complex nominals per clause (CN/C) showed weak positive associations with grammar scores, as did Stage 5 of the developmental stages. The findings provide an insight into the kinds of complexity features that can be given more focus during instruction and underscore the potential of these measures as determinants of proficiency.
ER  -

WILLIAMS, Christopher. It’s complicated: The relationship between lexis, syntax and proficiency. \textit{Discourse and Interaction}. Brno: Masarykova Universita, 2023, vol.~16, No~2, p.~124-144. ISSN~1802-9930. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/DI2023-2-124.

Detailed Information on Publication Record