Article published in:
International Journal of Corpus Linguistics
Vol. 25:1 (2020) ► pp. 4–35

Noun phrase complexity in young Spanish EFL learners’ writing

Complementing syntactic complexity indices with corpus-driven analyses

| University of Jaén
| University of Cambridge
The research reported in this article examines Noun Phrase (NP) syntactic complexity in the writing of Spanish EFL secondary school learners in Grades 7, 8, 11 and 12 in the International Corpus of Crosslinguistic Interlanguage. Two methods were combined: a manual parsing of NPs and an automatic analysis of NP indices using the Tool for the Automatic Analysis of Syntactic Sophistication and Complexity (TAASSC). Our results revealed that it is in premodifying slots that syntactic complexity in NPs develops. We argue that two measures, (i) nouns and modifiers (a syntactic complexity index) and (ii) determiner + multiple premodification + head (a NP type obtained as a result of a corpus-driven analysis), can be used as indices of syntactic complexity in young Spanish EFL learner language development. Besides offering a learner-language-driven taxonomy of NP syntactic complexity, the paper underscores the strength of using combined methods in SLA research.
Keywords: syntactic complexity, learner language, NP syntactic complexity taxonomy, automatic analysis of complexity, TAASSC
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Nouns in learner language research
    • 2.1Complexity and NPs
    • 2.2Defining complexity in the NP
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Corpus
    • 3.2Syntactic complexity indices
    • 3.3Corpus-driven manual analysis of NPs
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Analysing syntactic complexity across grades
      • 4.1.1Using NP syntactic complexity indices in TAASSC
      • 4.1.2Manual parsing of NPs: Corpus-driven classification of NP types
    • 4.2NP complexity in secondary school learner writing: Criterial features
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1NP types and grades
    • 5.2The use of complex structures in each NP group and grade
    • 5.3Number of non-target-like NP types used and grade
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Published online: 16 April 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.17058.die
References
Alexopoulou, T., Michel, M., Murakami, A., & Meurers, D.
(2017) Task effects on linguistic complexity and accuracy: A large-scale learner corpus analysis employing natural language processing techniques. Language Learning, 67(S1), 180–208. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E.
(1999) Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
Biber, D., & Gray, B.
(2010) Challenging stereotypes about academic writing: Complexity, elaboration, explicitness. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9(1), 2–20. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2011) Grammatical change in the noun phrase: The influence of written language use. English Language and Linguistics, 15(2), 223–250. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2016) Grammatical Complexity in Academic English: Linguistic Change in Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Biber, D., Gray, B., & Poonpon, K.
(2011) Should we use characteristics of conversation to measure grammatical complexity in L2 writing development? Tesol Quarterly, 45(1), 5–35. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Bulté, B., & Housen, A.
(2014) Conceptualizing and measuring short-term changes in L2 writing complexity. Journal of Second Language Writing, 261, 42–65. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Byrnes, H., & Sinicrope, C.
(2008) Advancedness and the development of relativization in L2 German: A curriculum-based longitudinal study. In L. Ortega & H. Byrnes (Eds.), The Longitudinal Study of Advanced L2 Capacities (pp. 109–138). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
Chan, T. P., & Liou, H. C.
(2005) Effects of web-based concordancing instruction on EFL students’ learning of verb–noun collocations. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 18(3), 231–251. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J.
(1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences. Hillsdale, NY: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Davies, M.
(2015) Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA). Version 2.2. Retrieved from: https://​dataverse​.harvard​.edu​/dataset​.xhtml​?persistentId​=doi:10​.7910​/DVN​/AMUDUW (last accessed November 2019).
Díez-Bedmar, M. B.
(2010) From secondary school to university: The use of the English article system by Spanish learners. In B. Bellés-Fortuño, M. C. Campoy, & Ll. Gea-Valor (Eds.), Exploring Corpus Linguistics in English Language Teaching (pp. 45–55). Castelló: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I.Google Scholar
(2015) Article use and criterial features in Spanish EFL writing: A pilot study from CEFR A2 to B2 levels. In M. Callies & S. Götz (Eds.), Learner Corpora in Language Testing and Assessment (pp. 163–190). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Díez-Bedmar, M. B., & Papp, Sz.
(2008) The use of the English article system by Chinese and Spanish learners. In G. Gilquin, Sz. Papp, & M. B. Díez-Bedmar (Eds.), Linking up Contrastive and Learner Corpus Research (pp. 147–175). Amsterdam: Rodopi. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Díez-Bedmar, M. B., & Pérez-Paredes, P.
(2012) A cross-sectional analysis of the use of the English articles in Spanish learner writing. In Y. Tono, Y. Kawaguchi, & M. Minegishi (Eds.), Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research (pp. 139–157). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ellis, N. C., Römer, U., & O'Donnell, M. B.
(2016) Usage-based Approaches to Language Acquisition and Processing: Cognitive and Corpus Investigations of Construction Grammar. Malden, MA: Wiley.Google Scholar
Foster, P., & Tavakoli, P.
(2009) Native speakers and task performance: Comparing effects on complexity, fluency, and lexical diversity. Language Learning, 59(4), 866–896. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Granger, S.
(1996) From CA to CIA and back: An integrated contrastive approach to computerized bilingual and learner corpora. In K. Aijmer, B. Altenberg, & M. Johansson (Eds.), Languages in Contrast: Text-based Cross-Linguistic Studies (pp. 37–51). Lund: Lund University Press.Google Scholar
(2015) Contrastive interlanguage analysis: A reappraisal. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research, 1(1), 7–24. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, J., & Filipović, L.
(2012) Criterial Features in L2 English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Housen, A., & Kuiken, F.
(2009) Complexity, accuracy and fluency in second language acquisition. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 461–473. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Housen, A., Kuiken, F., & Vedder, I.
(Eds.) (2012) Dimensions of L2 Performance and Proficiency: Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency in SLA. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ionin, T., & Díez-Bedmar, M. B.
in press). Article use in Russian and Spanish learner writing at CEFR B1 and B2 levels: effects of proficiency, native language, and specificity. In B. S. W. Le Brun & M. Paquot Eds. Learner Corpora and Second Language Acquisition Cambridge Cambridge University Press
Keenan, E. L., & Comrie, B.
(1977) Noun phrase accessibility and universal grammar. Linguistic Inquiry, 8(1), 63–99.Google Scholar
Kobayashi, T.
(2008) Usage of countable and uncountable nouns by Japanese learners of English: Two studies using the ICLE error-tagged Japanese sub-corpus. National Institute of Informatics Scholarly and Academic Information Navigator, 816(10), 73–82.Google Scholar
Kyle, K.
(2016)  Measuring Syntactic Development in L2 Writing: Fine Grained Indices of Syntactic Complexity and Usage-based Indices of Syntactic Sophistication (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.Google Scholar
Larsen-Freeman, D.
(1997) Chaos/Complexity science and second language acquisition. Applied Lingusitics, 18(2), 141–165. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2006) The emergence of complexity, fluency, and accuracy in the oral and written production of five Chinese learners of English. Applied Linguistics, 27(4), 590–619. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Laufer, B., & Waldman, T.
(2011) Verb-noun collocations in second language writing: A corpus analysis of learners’ English. Language Learning, 61(2), 647–672. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Leńko-Szymańska, A.
(2012) The role of conventionalised language in the acquisition and use of articles by EFL learners. In Y. Tono, Y. Kawaguchi, & M. Minegishi (Eds.), Developmental and Crosslinguistic Perspectives in Learner Corpus Research (pp. 83–103). Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Lu, X.
(2010) Automatic analysis of syntactic complexity in second language writing. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 15(4), 474–496. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2011) A corpus-based evaluation of syntactic complexity measures as indices of college-level ESL writers’ language development. Tesol Quarterly, 45(1), 36–62. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2017) The relationship of lexical richness to the quality of ESL learners’ oral narratives. The Modern Language Journal, 96(2), 190–208. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Luzón Marco, M. J.
(2011) Exploring atypical verb+noun combinations in learner technical writing. International Journal of English Studies, 11(2), 77–95. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
McEnery, T., & Hardie, A.
(2012) Corpus Linguistics: Method, Theory and Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Musgrave, J., & Parkinson, J.
(2014) Getting to grips with noun groups. ELT Journal, 68(2), 145–154. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Ortega, L.
(2003) Syntactic complexity measures and their relationship to L2 Proficiency: A research synthesis of college-level L2 writing. Applied Linguistics, 4(4), 492–518. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2009) Understanding Second Language Acquisition. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Osborne, J.
(2004) Articles and non-count nouns in learner English: Perception and production. In B. Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Ed.), Practical Applications in Language and Computers (PALC 2003) (pp. 359–369). Frankfurt: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Paquot, M.
(2019) The phraseological dimension in interlanguage complexity research. Second Language Research, 35(1), 121–145. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Parkinson, J., & Musgrave, J.
(2014) Development of noun phrase complexity in the writing of English for Academic Purposes students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 141, 48–59. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J.
(1985) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Rayson, P.
(2008) From key words to key semantic domains. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(4), 519–549. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Rimmer, W.
(2006) Measuring grammatical complexity: The Gordian knot. Language Testing, 23(4), 497–519. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Römer, U.
(2016) Teaming up and mixing methods: Collaborative and cross-disciplinary work in corpus research on phraseology. Corpora, 11(1), 113–129. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Skehan, P.
(1989) Individual Differences in Second Language Learning. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Tomasello, M.
(2003) Constructing a Language: A Usage-based Approach to Child Language Acquisition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University.Google Scholar
Tono, Y., & Díez-Bedmar, M. B.
(2014) Focus on learner writing at the beginning and intermediate stages: The ICCI corpus. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 19(2), 163–177. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Tsai, K. J.
(2015) Profiling the collocation use in ELT textbooks and learner writing. Language Teaching Research, 19(6), 723–740. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
UCLES/CUP
(2011) English Profile: Introducing the CEFR for English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from: http://​www​.englishprofile​.org​/images​/pdf​/theenglishprofilebooklet​.pdf (last accessed November 2019).
VanPatten, B.
(2002) Processing instruction: An update. Language Learning, 52(4), 755–803. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Verspoor, M., Lowie, W., & Van Dijk, M.
(2008) Variability in second language development from a dynamic systems perspective. The Modern Language Journal, 92(2), 214–231. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Vyatkina, N.
(2012) The development of second language writing complexity in groups and individuals: A longitudinal learner corpus study. The Modern Language Journal, 96(4), 576–598. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
(2013) Specific syntactic complexity: Developmental profiling of individuals based on an annotated learner corpus. The Modern Language Journal, 97(S1), 11–30. CrossrefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H. Y.
(1998) Second Language Development in Writing: Measures of Fluency, Accuracy, and Complexity. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.Google Scholar

Full-text

Noun phrase complexity in young Spanish EFL learners’ writing
Cited by

Cited by 5 other publications

Gedik, Tan Arda
2021. An analysis of lexicogrammatical development in English textbooks in Turkey: A usage-based construction grammar approach. ExELL 9:1 ► pp. 26 ff. Crossref logo
Kyle, Kristopher
2021. Natural language processing for learner corpus research. International Journal of Learner Corpus Research 7:1 ► pp. 1 ff. Crossref logo
Wu, Shu-Ling, Yee Pin Tio & Lourdes Ortega
2022. ELICITED IMITATION AS A MEASURE OF L2 PROFICIENCY. Studies in Second Language Acquisition 44:1 ► pp. 271 ff. Crossref logo
Yin, Shuhui, Yuan Gao & Xiaofei Lu
2021. Syntactic complexity of research article part-genres: Differences between emerging and expert international publication writers. System 97 ► pp. 102427 ff. Crossref logo
Ziaeian, Elahe & Seyyed Ehsan Golparvar
2022. Fine-grained measures of syntactic complexity in the discussion section of research articles: The effect of discipline and language background. Journal of English for Academic Purposes ► pp. 101116 ff. Crossref logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 15 april 2022. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.