A meta-analysis of relationships between syntactic features and writing performance and how the relationships vary by student characteristics and measurement features

IF 4.2 1区文学 Q1 EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

Assessing Writing Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.asw.2024.100909

Jiali Wang, Young-Suk G. Kim, Joseph Hin Yan Lam, Molly Ann Leachman

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Students’ proficiency in constructing sentences impacts the writing process and writing products. Linguistic demands in writing differ in terms of both student characteristics and measurement features. To identify various syntactic demands considering these features, we conducted a meta-analysis examining the relationships between syntactic features (complexity and accuracy) and writing performance (quality, productivity, and fluency) and moderating effects of both student characteristics and measurement features. A total of 109 studies (effect sizes: 871; the total number of participants: 24,628) met the inclusion criteria. Results showed that there was a weak relationship for syntactic accuracy (r = .25) and complexity (r = .16). Writers' characteristics, including grade level and language proficiency, and measurement features, writing genres, writing outcomes, whether the writing task is text-based or not, and type of syntactic complexity measures, were significant moderators for certain syntactic features. The findings highlighted the importance of writer and measurement factors when considering the relationships between linguistic features in writing and writing performance. Implications were discussed regarding the selection of syntactic features in assessing language use in writing, gaps in the literature, and significance for writing instruction and assessment.

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语法特征与写作表现之间关系的元分析，以及这种关系如何因学生特征和测量特征而变化

学生造句能力的高低影响着写作过程和写作成果。写作中的语言需求在学生特征和测量特征上都存在差异。为了确定考虑到这些特征的各种句法需求，我们进行了一项荟萃分析，研究了句法特征（复杂性和准确性）与写作表现（质量、生产力和流畅性）之间的关系，以及学生特征和测量特征的调节作用。共有109项研究(效应量：871；总人数24628人符合纳入标准。结果表明，句法准确性（r = 0.25）与句法复杂性（r = 0.16）之间存在较弱的相关关系。作者的年级水平和语言熟练程度、测量特征、写作体裁、写作结果、写作任务是否基于文本、句法复杂性测量类型等特征对某些句法特征有显著调节作用。研究结果强调了在考虑写作中的语言特征与写作表现之间的关系时，作者和衡量因素的重要性。本文讨论了评估写作中语言使用的句法特征的选择，文献中的空白，以及对写作指导和评估的意义。

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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.