The Emergence and Development of Syntactic Patterns in EFL Writing in a School Context: A Longitudinal Study

M Luz Celaya

doi:10.3390/languages4020041

Abstract

The present longitudinal study analyses the emergence and development of syntactic patterns in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) written production. Data were elicited by means of a paper and pencil task from sixteen school learners at three different times over a time span of 6 years. Studies in the area of Second Language Writing (SLW) have mainly focused on English as a second language and very few longitudinal studies have been carried out with low proficiency learners in a school context. To further contribute to the field, we have tried out a new measure of analysis, namely, the production of syntactic patterns. The results show that most learners produce both a wider variety and a higher number of patterns from one time to another, although statistically significant differences vary across patterns in relation to the times of data collection; secondly, it was found that the behaviour of two of the learners differed from that of the rest of the participants. It is concluded that in an instructional setting, the development of syntactic patterns in EFL writing as proficiency increases does not always show progression towards complexity and that it may be learner dependent.

Highlights

A large number of studies in the acquisition of second and foreign languages have for long focused on the analysis of second language writing (SLW)
The research reported here aims at (a) analysing the emergence and development of syntactic patterns in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing in a longitudinal sample of school learners, and (b) investigating whether the same behaviour is presented by all learners in the cohort or, alternatively, whether there exists individual variation
The first research question inquired into the emergence and development of syntactic patterns in EFL writing and how the data changed in the written production each time in terms of syntactic complexity

Summary

Introduction

A large number of studies in the acquisition of second and foreign languages have for long focused on the analysis of second language writing (SLW) (see Silva and Matsuda 2001; Manchón 2011; Manchón and Matsuda 2016; among others). The research reported here aims at (a) analysing the emergence and development of syntactic patterns in EFL writing in a longitudinal sample of school learners, and (b) investigating whether the same behaviour is presented by all learners in the cohort or, alternatively, whether there exists individual variation To this end, the present paper addresses two main lines of research in the review of the literature that follows, namely, the issue of measuring writing in an L2/FL and the relationship between the areas of complexity, accuracy and fluency and writing development with a special focus on low levels of proficiency and on syntactic complexity (which is the area dealt with in the present study) and, second, Languages 2019, 4, 41; doi:10.3390/languages4020041 www.mdpi.com/journal/languages. The development of complexity, accuracy, and fluency in the written production of L2

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion