Syntactic and lexical complexity in L2 English academic writing: Development and competition

Abstract

Academic writing is both challenging and essential for university students studying in a second language. Linguistic complexity is a useful indicator of second language development, including academic writing. One area of interest is the relationship between lexical and syntactic complexity, which some studies have shown to be in competition in learner writing. However, given the dynamic nature of language development, identifying reliable complexity measures is not easy. This study aims to identify which measures of linguistic complexity best capture writing quality and what kind of interaction exists between lexical and syntactic complexity by analysing 42 L2 English essays of three Dutch undergraduates using 12 complexity measures. A correlation analysis using pairwise ratings revealed that the lexical frequency profile and complex nominals per sentence best predicted academic quality. Negative correlations between lexical diversity and phrasal complexity measures suggest a competitive relationship between lexical and syntactic complexity.