Does “more complexity” equal “better writing”? Investigating the relationship between form-based complexity and meaning-based complexity in high school EFL learners’ argumentative writing

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Assessing Writing Pub Date : 2024-06-13 DOI:10.1016/j.asw.2024.100867

Sachiko Yasuda

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The study examines the relationship between form-based complexity and meaning-based complexity in argumentative essays written by high school students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in relation to writing quality. The data comprise argumentative essays written by 102 Japanese high school learners at different proficiency levels. The students’ proficiency levels were determined based on the evaluation of their argumentative essays by human raters using the GTEC rubric. The students’ essays were analyzed from multiple dimensions, focusing on both form-based complexity (lexical complexity, large-grained syntactic complexity, and fine-grained syntactic complexity features) and meaning-based complexity (argument quality). The results of the multidimensional analysis revealed that the most influential factor in determining overall essay scores was not form-based complexity but meaning-based complexity achieved through argument quality. Moreover, the results indicated that meaning-based complexity was strongly correlated with the use of complex nominals rather than clausal complexity. These insights have significant implications for both the teaching and assessment of argumentative essays among high school EFL learners, underscoring the importance of understanding what aspects of writing to prioritize and how best to assess student writing.

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更复杂 "就等于 "更好的写作 "吗？探究高中英语学习者议论文写作中形式复杂性与意义复杂性之间的关系

本研究探讨了将英语作为外语（EFL）学习的高中生所写的议论文中基于形式的复杂性和基于意义的复杂性与写作质量之间的关系。数据包括 102 名不同水平的日本高中生所写的议论文。学生的水平等级是根据人工评分员使用 GTEC 评分标准对他们的议论文进行的评价确定的。我们从多个维度对学生的文章进行了分析，重点关注基于形式的复杂性（词法复杂性、大粒度句法复杂性和细粒度句法复杂性特征）和基于意义的复杂性（论证质量）。多维分析的结果表明，决定作文总分的最大影响因素不是形式复杂性，而是通过论证质量实现的意义复杂性。此外，分析结果表明，意义复杂性与复杂名词的使用而非分句复杂性密切相关。这些见解对高中 EFL 学习者的议论文教学和评估具有重要意义，强调了了解写作的哪些方面应优先考虑以及如何最好地评估学生写作的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Assessing Writing Multiple-

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

17.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Assessing Writing is a refereed international journal providing a forum for ideas, research and practice on the assessment of written language. Assessing Writing publishes articles, book reviews, conference reports, and academic exchanges concerning writing assessments of all kinds, including traditional (direct and standardised forms of) testing of writing, alternative performance assessments (such as portfolios), workplace sampling and classroom assessment. The journal focuses on all stages of the writing assessment process, including needs evaluation, assessment creation, implementation, and validation, and test development.