Abstract
This paper examines the role of syntactic complexity in L2 reading outcomes across different EFL proficiency levels in an Indonesian university. Indonesian university students (N = 148) at Intermediate and Advanced levels of proficiency read four English passages differing in syntactic complexity. The latter was measured by several widely used text modelling tools. Participants read two low and two high complexity texts and completed a post-test comprehension test. Syntactic complexity had a statistically significant but low magnitude effect size, accounting for 2%-5% of the variance of reading performance between the L2 English proficiency levels. There were also noticeable differences in text analysis measures across the different complexity tools. The usefulness of syntactic complexity as an isolated dimension of text complexity is evaluated. The contribution of this study to the field both in theory and practice is presented.
Highlights
Reading skill is of central importance in English medium academic study in a second language
The role of text complexity on reading outcomes has been of particular interest in reading education, where evidence shows texts with high complexity given to beginner readers may result in poor reading performance while texts with low complexity given to more advanced readers will result to less than optimum learning outcomes since the texts may not challenge their current level of reading ability
The questions being examined here are: 1) What is the effect of textual syntactic complexity measures on L2 reading outcomes? and 2) What is the contribution of syntactic complexity in predicting L2 reading outcomes by different proficiency levels?
Summary
Reading skill is of central importance in English medium academic study in a second language. Better readers in second language (L2) settings perform better than their less proficient counterparts Factors contributing to L2 reading include lexical knowledge (Kweldju, 1997, 2000; Muldjani, Koda, & Moates, 1998; Nurweni & Read, 1999; Sahiruddin, 2008b), the role of L1 reading (Koda, 1988), topic familiarity Textual Syntactic Complexity and Its Role in Second Language Reading Outcomes in Indonesia. The level of knowledge and skills the reader brings to a reading task are crucial predictors of reading outcomes. Reading outcomes are the result of the interaction between learnerinternal factors and the linguistic complexity level within the text. The role of text complexity on reading outcomes has been of particular interest in reading education, where evidence shows texts with high complexity given to beginner readers may result in poor reading performance while texts with low complexity given to more advanced readers will result to less than optimum learning outcomes since the texts may not challenge their current level of reading ability
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