Abstract
This study examined the trajectories of the multi-word constructions (MWCs) in 98 advanced second language (L2) learners during their first-year at an English-medium university in a non-English-speaking country, using linear mixed-effects modelling, over one academic year. In addition, this study traced the academic reading input that L2 learners received at university, and it was investigated whether the frequency and dispersion of the MWCs in the input corpus would predict the frequencies of MWCs in L2 writers’ essays. The findings revealed variations in the frequencies of different functional and structural categories of MWCs over time. This study provides empirical evidence for the effects of both frequency and dispersion of MWCs in the input corpus on the frequency of MWCs in L2 writers’ essays, underscoring the importance of both frequency and dispersion in learning MWCs and the reciprocity of academic reading and writing. The findings have significant implications for usage-based approaches to language learning, modelling MWCs in L2 academic writing, and L2 materials design for teaching academic writing.
Highlights
IntroductionBiber et al (2004) note that there is an association between structural categories and discourse functions of multi-word constructions (MWCs) in that referential expressions mostly consist of noun and prepositional phrases, whereas stance expressions are mostly verb phrases
Building on the previous longitudinal research (e.g., Garner & Crossley, 2018; Siyanova-Chanturia & Spina, 2020) and filling these gaps, this study aimed to track the trajectories of the structural and discoursal categories of multi-word constructions (MWCs) over one academic year at an English-medium university in Turkey. It aimed to determine the effects of frequency and dispersion of MWCs in the input corpus on the frequency of MWCs in the L2 writers’ essays, by tracing reading resources that students read at university
The present study revealed changes in the frequency of MWCs across different functional and structural categories of MWCs, by using linear mixed-effects modelling
Summary
Biber et al (2004) note that there is an association between structural categories and discourse functions of MWCs in that referential expressions mostly consist of noun and prepositional phrases, whereas stance expressions are mostly verb phrases. Building on the previous longitudinal research (e.g., Garner & Crossley, 2018; Siyanova-Chanturia & Spina, 2020) and filling these gaps, this study aimed to track the trajectories of the structural and discoursal categories of MWCs over one academic year at an English-medium university in Turkey. These reading materials were used as a proxy of their input for academic reading, since “reading and writing are reciprocal activities; the outcome of a reading activity can serve as the input for writing” (Grabe & Kaplan, 1996, p. 297)
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