Longitudinal Learner Corpus Research Articles

A Corpus-Based Study on Cohesion Development in Writing by EFL Novices

This corpus-based study explored the development of cohesive devices in the writing of Chinese beginner learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) over a three-year span. Quantitative analysis utilizing the Tool for Automatic Analysis of Cohesion (TAACO) was conducted on a longitudinal learner corpus comprising over 500 exam essays. Lexical, syntactic, semantic, and discourse features were examined to identify reliable indices for tracking learners’ progressive mastery of cohesion. Results revealed that pronoun-related features, including pronoun density and repetition, significantly differed across year pairs and robustly predicted writing development. However, most lexical and connective indices showed ambiguous trajectories over time. The findings highlight the vital role of pronouns in building coherence for novice writers and underscore persistent difficulties in acquiring sophisticated content words and their collocations. This study contributes data-driven insights into the nonlinear processes and enduring challenges shaping EFL beginners’ cohesive competence. It demonstrates the value of computational tools and learner corpora in exploring discourse acquisition.

Measuring the development of lexical richness of L2 Spanish: A longitudinal learner corpus study

AbstractResearch has indicated that lexical richness is an important indicator of second language (L2) proficiency. However, most research has examined written, cross-sectional English L2 corpora and does not necessarily indicate how spoken lexical use develops over time or whether observed trends are stable across L2s. This study adds to previous research on the development of spoken vocabulary by investigating lexical features of L2 Spanish learners over a 21-month period, using the LANGSNAP corpus. Multiple lexical richness indices used in previous studies were examined including lexical diversity, word frequency, word concreteness, and bigram strength of association. Linear mixed-effects models were run to examine changes over time. The results suggest that although some features of lexical richness (e.g., word frequency) see meaningful change over time, others (e.g., bigram T score) may not be indicative of L2 oral development.

Second language acquisition of depicting signs

AbstractThis paper concerns the acquisition of the sign lexicon in L2 learners of Swedish Sign Language. Sampled data (conversation and narrative retelling) from a longitudinal learner corpus with 16 adult L2 signers was analyzed and compared with data from nine L1 signers. The use of three broad types of signs was analyzed: lexical signs, partly-lexical signs (i.e. depicting signs) and non-lexical signs. The results revealed some differences between L1 and L2 signers, especially with regard to depicting signs. The number of depicting signs used by L2 learners increased over time, approaching the target language use. Qualitatively, we observed differences between L1 and L2 signers in their use of depicting signs, related to handshape choice and sign constructions. We discuss these findings in light of previous research linked to L2 vocabulary as well as the role of gestural knowledge in sign L2 acquisition.

Constructing a longitudinal learner corpus to track L2 spoken English

The main purposes of this article are to provide an overview of a research project on a longitudinal learner spoken corpus and to share procedures related to the transcription of learners’ utterances from audio files using automated speech recognition (ASR) technology (IBM Watson Speech-to-text). The data of the corpus were collected twice or thrice a year for three consecutive years from 2016, creating eight data collection points altogether. They were gathered from 120 secondary school students who had been learning English in an English as a Foreign Language context for three years. The students were asked to take a monologue speaking test, the Telephone Standard Speaking Test, consisting of various tasks. The overall discussion of the article focuses on the details of this project and highlights how a methodological approach of combining electronic learner language data and ASR technology is useful in constructing learner spoken corpora.

Using Variationism and Learner Corpus Research to Investigate Grammatical Gender Marking in Additional Language Spanish

AbstractThe current study responds to the call for increased dialogue among different areas of additional language research. Specifically, we bring together learner corpus research and variationist approaches to second language acquisition to advance learner corpus research in two ways: (a) by modeling interlanguage development and variability and (b) by conducting an analysis that moves away from descriptive error analysis. To accomplish this goal, we analyzed grammatical gender marking in additional language Spanish. The data come from LANGSNAP, a longitudinal learner corpus. Through the use of a generalized linear mixed‐effects model (a multivariate, quantitative analysis), we revealed new information about the development and variable use of gender marking in additional language Spanish. Through our analyses, we hope to contribute to greater interactions among researchers working in different strands of additional language research.

Learning to evaluate through that-clauses: Evidence from a longitudinal learner corpus

The language of evaluation in academic writing has been increasingly studied. However, little is known about how students learn to make evaluative meanings. This article reports on a study of evaluative that-clauses based on a longitudinal corpus of 632 argumentative essays by 158 Chinese undergraduate students. The findings of the study show a non-linear trajectory of change in the use of evaluative that-clauses over time. It was found that the proportion of verb that-clauses decreased whereas the proportions of noun that-clauses and adjective that-clauses increased. Further, while the range of the lexical words co-occurring with evaluative that-clauses expanded, the authorial visibility in stance expression decreased. These changes indicate signs of agency and suggest that the development of evaluative language resources is an organic, dynamic process. Overall the study points to the value of developing and exploring longitudinal learner corpora for studying language learning in general and development in evaluative language in particular. Taking an approach to treating learner language in its own right, the study further contributes to a small but growing body of research based on an empowering ideology and to the empirical literature on evaluation and language learning. Implications for writing instruction are considered.

‘As we all know’: Examining Chinese EFL learners' use of interpersonal grammatical metaphor in academic writing

This article investigates Chinese EFL learners' use of evaluation and stance in academic texts by exploring their deployment of interpersonal grammatical metaphors (IGM), a construct mapped within Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL; Halliday, 1985; e.g., I believe, it is evident, etc.). The data is drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Learner Corpus (CLLC), a two-year diachronic study into university learners' development of academic literacy (Liardet, 2014a). When examining IGM, it is important to distinguish which metaphors of modality achieve the registers valued in academic discourse, namely, epistemic metaphors construed objectively (Hyland, 1998a; Schleppegrell, 2002). In the analysis of the CLLC, a widely used construction emerged, that of as we all know (e.g., it is known to all, as we know, etc.). To account for this construct, an additional axis has been mapped across Halliday's (1985) model of IGM. Building on SFL's framework of Appraisal and specifically, the system of ‘engagement’, the axis of expansion is used here to distinguish expressions that expand the ‘dialogic space’ (e.g., it is suggested; Martin & White, 2005; see also, Hyland, 2000, 2002) from those that contract this space (e.g., it is certain). In addition to the Chinese EFL learners' reliance on such deontic, contracting metaphors, this paper explores their preference for subjective realizations and identifies key areas for pedagogical intervention.

Does EAP affect written L2 academic stance? A longitudinal learner corpus study

This study explores the longitudinal development of L2 academic ‘stance’ features resulting from instruction in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) at a university in Hong Kong. We analysed the frequency and wordings of hedges, boosters, attitude markers and self-mention within a 205,682 word longitudinal corpus of essays and reports collected over a semester's instruction via pre-, mid- and post-instruction submissions, alongside data on submission grade. Data was analysed for frequency and wording differences alongside mixed-effect models to confirm the impact of instruction on the data. Results show significant longitudinal variation in the frequency of hedging, boosting, marking attitude and self-mention devices as the result of instruction, with a rise in the use of hedging and an overall reduction in the use of boosting and self-mention, serving to leave students with a more careful, narrower, less polarising and less personal range of expressions with which to convey their stance over time. We also present longitudinal genre-specific effects on stance features between essays and reports, and show how a longitudinal increase in hedges and boosters results in texts that receive a higher grade from teacher-raters. Our findings recommend explicit instruction of stance features as crucial in raising students' awareness of how to achieve persuasive academic writing.

Nominalization and grammatical metaphor: Elaborating the theory

This article presents an elaborated framework for mapping learners' development of nominalizations, one prominent realization of the linguistic resource, grammatical metaphor (Halliday, 1993; Martin, 2008). The framework emerges from a larger, corpus-assisted analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal Learner Corpus (CLLC), 520 Chinese learner texts collected during the students' first four semesters of university (Liardét, 2013b, 2014, 2015). Over the past few decades, SFL research has provided rich descriptions of nominalizations (e.g., Halliday & Matthiessen, 1999; Taverniers, 2006); however, little has been done to empirically describe deployment quality and map learners' development ontogenetically, over time (Baratta, 2010). The proposed framework outlined in this paper seeks to identify how learners develop nominalization proficiency by accounting for intermediate realizations that may otherwise be dismissed as mistakes. These nuanced descriptions are illustrated throughout using excerpts from the CLLC and the paper concludes with pedagogical recommendations for apprenticing learners to advanced nominalization proficiency.

Grammatical metaphor: Distinguishing success

This paper presents a systematic analysis of ten first-year university learners' texts. The texts are exposition essays written at the conclusion of the students' first semester of university study and collected as part of the Macquarie University Longitudinal Learner Corpus (MQLLC). The MQLLC is a longitudinal corpus that follows learners from their first year Academic Communication (AC) unit throughout their tertiary careers. These units are taught using a scaffolded, genre-based pedagogy, with explicit instruction of the linguistic resources necessary to navigate the diverse and increasingly specialised demands of tertiary study (Rothery & Stenglin, 1995). As part of a larger study into academic literacy development, this small-scale study focuses on learner deployment of grammatical metaphor, a key linguistic resource for achieving the lexical density, text cohesion and condensation valued in academic discourse (Halliday, 1993, 1998; Hyland, 2009; Martin, 1993, 2008; Schleppegrell, 2001; 2004). Specifically, this paper seeks to identify how high performing learners' deployment of grammatical metaphor differs from that of low performing students to elucidate which patterns distinguish success. The paper concludes with pedagogical recommendations for ensuring learners effectively deploy this valuable resource.

Modeling Systematicity and Individuality in Nonlinear Second Language Development: The Case of English Grammatical Morphemes

AbstractThis article introduces two sophisticated statistical modeling techniques that allow researchers to analyze systematicity, individual variation, and nonlinearity in second language (L2) development. Generalized linear mixed‐effects models can be used to quantify individual variation and examine systematic effects simultaneously, and generalized additive mixed models allow for the examination of systematicity, individuality, and nonlinearity within a single model. Based on a longitudinal learner corpus, this article illustrates the usefulness of these models in the context of L2 accuracy development of English grammatical morphemes. I discuss the strengths of each technique and the ways in which these techniques can benefit L2 acquisition research, further highlighting the importance of accounting for individual variation in modeling L2 development.Open PracticesThis article has been awarded an Open Data badge. All data are publicly accessible via the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/dbuh4. Learn more about the Open Practices badges from the Center for Open Science:https://osf.io/tvyxz/wiki.

Syntactic modification at early stages of L2 German writing development: A longitudinal learner corpus study

This study explores ab initio development of syntactic complexity in a longitudinal corpus of learner German writing from a Dynamic Usage-Based perspective. It contributes to the research on L2 writing complexity by focusing on beginning learners of an L2 other than English (German) and on fine-grained measures of syntactic complexity, operationally defined here as syntactic modification.The results show that not only ubiquitous global measures of syntactic complexity but also more specific measures, namely frequencies of syntactic modifiers, can serve as developmental indices at beginning L2 proficiency levels. The learners in this study modified their writing from the very onset of language study and the overall size and range of the modification system did not significantly change over four semesters. However, its composition changed continuously and reflected non-linear waxing and waning of different modifier categories. The study confirmed some results from previous cross-sectional research showing that interlanguage development is characterized by a decrease in cognitively easier (e.g., uninflected) categories and an increase in cognitively more difficult (e.g., inflected and clausal) categories. The high variability that was found along with uniform group trends demonstrates the necessity of simultaneous investigations of linguistic development in groups and individuals.

Crosslinguistic lexical transfer of English-based loanwords in English L2 writing by Japanese university students

Research has shown tentative support for a “borrowed word effect” of English-based loanwords in Japanese (gairaigo) on written production in English by Japanese learners. This study interrogates a longitudinal learner corpus of argumentative and narrative writing by Japanese learners (NNS) and a corresponding NS corpus. Vocabulary profile analyses revealed: 1) NNS writing showed greater deployment of loanword cognate items than NS writing in both genres. 2) The deployment of loanword cognate items in NNS writing in both genres did not change over time. 3) NS writing showed greater deployment of loanword cognate items in narrative writing than argumentative writing, but NNS genres showed no difference. Keyword analysis and concordances of selected loanword cognate items revealed widespread and consistent patterns of ungrammaticality resembling L1 usage. Findings suggest Japanese writers heavily rely on loanword cognates. While loanword cognates arguably contribute to fluency, findings suggest potential for overreliance and negative transfer.

Tracking Learners' Progress: Adopting a Dual ‘Corpus cum Experimental Data’ Approach

ABSTRACTThe article discusses the potential of combining learner corpus research with experimental studies in order to fine‐tune the understanding of learner language development. It illustrates the complementarity of the two methodological approaches with data from an ongoing study of the acquisition of the English tense and aspect system by French learners. The first research question relates to the development of accuracy of tense and aspect usage in written production over time; longitudinal learner corpus data is used to answer this question. Its results are then incorporated into an experimental study that addresses the second research question, which seeks to uncover reasons why some tense and aspect features remain difficult to master even for advanced L2 learners. The first part of the article reviews the status of longitudinal research in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and describes the Longitudinal Database of Learner English (Longdale) used for the study. The second half of the article presents the results of the learner corpus analysis. These reveal that over a period of 3 years, learners' tense and aspect errors decrease. However, the English progressive continues to present considerable learning difficulties. Two follow‐up experiments investigated which elaborations of the progressive epistemic schema L2 learners continue to find difficult. They showed that advanced learners master the most salient elaboration of the present progressive (i.e., ongoingness, including extended ongoingness). By contrast, their understanding of less core uses (i.e., planned events) is much less precise. The article concludes with suggestions for the teaching of tense and aspect to advanced EFL learners.

The Development of Second Language Writing Complexity in Groups and Individuals: A Longitudinal Learner Corpus Study

ABSTRACTThis study explores the development of multiple dimensions of linguistic complexity in the writing of beginning learners of German both as a group and as individuals. The data come from an annotated, longitudinal learner corpus. The development of lexicogrammatical complexity is explored at 2 intersections: (a) between cross‐sectional trendlines and the individual development paths of 2 focal learners and (b) between different complexity variables. The study contributes to the empirical body of linguistic complexity research by close tracking of beginning learners over 4 semesters of collegiate study of German as a second language (L2). For this purpose, data for multiple variables were collected at dense time intervals using multiple waves, and correlation analysis between various datasets was performed. The results confirm some general developmental trends established in previous research. However, the study also found significant variability between individual and cross‐sectional data. Furthermore, differences found for more specific complexity measures between this study's results and previous research are explained in terms of differences in instructional approaches. In addition, the study contributes to the discussion of methods and metrics appropriate for tracking the development of complexity in foreign language writing. The study concludes with implications for L2 pedagogy and further research, including applications of computational methods.

Detecting learning disorders in students' written production in the foreign language: Are learner corpora of any help?

This paper reports on the possibility to detect learning disorders when conducting Computer-aided Error Analysis (CEA). The study of a longitudinal learner corpus compiled at the Universidad de Jaen (Spain) and error-tagged with the Universite Louvain Error Editor (Hutchinson, 1996; Dagneaux, Denness, Granger and Meunier, 1996) reveals that the disorder of written expression, i.e. dysorthographia, may be detected in the students' production in the foreign language. Failure in recognising symptoms of this disorder may lead to incorrect interpretations of the CEAs, as the errors found in a learner corpus may be misleadingly attributed to the student's language acquisition process rather than to his or her learning disorders.