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Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency in Learner Corpus Research
Edited by Agnieszka Leńko-Szymańska and Sandra Götz
[Studies in Corpus Linguistics 104] 2022
► pp. 209–240

Interaction between grammatical accuracy and syntactic complexity at different proficiency levels

Insights from a learner corpus

| University of Antwerp | Université Saint-Louis
| University of Antwerp

This learner corpus study tracks the development and interactional dynamics between grammatical accuracy (GrA) and syntactic complexity (SC) at four Common European Framework proficiency levels (intermediate and advanced levels B1/B2/C1/C2). Data from the International Corpus of Learner English (Granger et al. 2020) were error-tagged and submitted to the automatic L2 Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (Lu 2010). Interaction between B1 and B2 is characterised by a competitive relationship between GrA and SC, with the most marked improvement displayed in accuracy. Development between B2 and C1 displays subtle shifts, with GrA improving slightly and SC showing mild signs of reorganisation. Between C1 and C2, a more supportive relationship appears: SC shows the most marked signs of development, with GrA continuing to subtly improve.

Keywords: grammatical accuracy, syntactic complexity, interactional dynamics, proficiency levels
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and study rationale
  • 2.Construct definitions: Grammatical accuracy and syntactic complexity
  • 3.The dynamic relationship between L2 accuracy and complexity
  • 4.Is more syntactically complex better?
  • 5.Data and methodology
    • 5.1Learner corpus data
    • 5.2Grammatical accuracy and syntactic complexity indices
    • 5.3Study design
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Mapping the grammatical accuracy and syntactic complexity constructs
    • 6.2Capturing dynamic developmental patterns
  • 7.Conclusion and avenues for further research
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 1 December 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.104.09the
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