Exploring complexity at the lexis-grammar interface: Diversity and sophistication of verb-argument structures in L2 Dutch writing

IF 5 1区文学 Q1 LINGUISTICS

Journal of Second Language Writing Pub Date : 2025-02-14 DOI:10.1016/j.jslw.2025.101183

Rachel Rubin , Bram Bulté , Magali Paquot , Alex Housen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Phraseological complexity has received increasing attention within L2 complexity research, with studies calculating a range of quantitative measures targeting various types of phraseological units. One of the main aims of this research has been to establish an empirical link between phraseological complexity and L2 proficiency. The present study expands upon existing research by investigating phraseological complexity in a corpus of L2 Dutch writing collected from the B1, B2, and C1 levels of the Certificaat Nederlands als Vreemde Taal (CNaVT) exams. To this end, measures of verb-argument structure (VAS) diversity and sophistication, respectively operationalized as the type-token ratio (TTR) and mean mutual information (MI) score of these units, are calculated, alongside similar sophistication measures for verb + direct object dependencies. The complexity measures are entered as predictors in multiple regression models predicting the assessed proficiency of the learners, as indicated by their numeric overall exam scores. Results indicate that the measure of VAS sophistication, in particular, demonstrates strong potential as a quantitative measure to include alongside measures of dependency-based phraseological units. Not only does this measure exhibit a clear relationship with learner proficiency at the advanced stages, it also appears to supplement the predictive ability of existing phraseological complexity measures.

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探索词汇-语法界面的复杂性：二语荷兰语写作中动词-论点结构的多样性和复杂性

短语复杂性在第二语言复杂性研究中受到越来越多的关注，研究计算了一系列针对不同类型短语单位的定量测量。本研究的主要目的之一是建立短语复杂性和二语熟练程度之间的实证联系。本研究在现有研究的基础上进行了扩展，通过调查从荷兰语言证书（cnvt）考试的B1， B2和C1级别收集的二语荷兰语写作语料库中的短语复杂性。为此，计算了动词参数结构（VAS）多样性和复杂程度的度量，分别作为这些单元的类型标记比（TTR）和平均互信息（MI）分数进行操作，以及动词+ 直接对象依赖性的类似复杂程度度量。复杂性度量作为预测因素输入到多元回归模型中，预测学习者的评估能力，正如他们的数字总体考试分数所表明的那样。结果表明，VAS复杂性的测量，特别是，显示出强大的潜力，作为一种定量测量，包括基于依赖的短语单位的测量。这种测量方法不仅与高级阶段的学习者熟练程度有明确的关系，而且似乎还补充了现有的短语复杂性测量方法的预测能力。

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

Journal of Second Language Writing LINGUISTICS-

CiteScore

8.80

自引率

13.10%

发文量

审稿时长

59 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Second Language Writing is devoted to publishing theoretically grounded reports of research and discussions that represent a significant contribution to current understandings of central issues in second and foreign language writing and writing instruction. Some areas of interest are personal characteristics and attitudes of L2 writers, L2 writers'' composing processes, features of L2 writers'' texts, readers'' responses to L2 writing, assessment/evaluation of L2 writing, contexts (cultural, social, political, institutional) for L2 writing, and any other topic clearly relevant to L2 writing theory, research, or instruction.