Analysis of changes in L2 writing over the time of a short-term academic English programme

Abstract

The present study investigated what aspects of academic writing improved, if any, at the completion of one semester of studying an EAP course titled Advanced Academic English, which was specifically designed for undergraduate students from the degree in English Studies at a Spanish university. This study aimed to ascertain the nature and extent of the development of the English L2 writing proficiency of 59 college-level EFL learners at an advanced level of English proficiency over the time of a short-term academic English language programme by means of quantitative measures targeting different components of the syntactic complexity of the learners’ writing performance (global, clausal and phrasal). Results point to a significant increase in coordination and clausal and phrasal elaboration, at the expense of subordination. Results also suggest a tendency towards greater use of more complex phrasal constructions by more competent writers. Overall, these results underscore the importance of syntactic complexity, particularly nominal complexity in producing successful academic writing, and highlight the pedagogical attention that should be paid to the production and meaning of such structures in EAP courses and in L2 English writing instruction in general.