Meaning and function dimensions of linguistic complexity in second language writing

Abstract

Linguistic complexity analysis has played a prominent role in second language (L2) writing research. Such analysis has focused primarily on form-based indices of inherent or relative complexity, often without systematic attention to the effect of the meanings with which linguistic forms are used on their complexity or the rhetorical/pragmatic functions that complex forms are used to convey. This conceptual review article argues for the importance of and delineates the scope of the meaning and function dimensions of linguistic complexity analysis in L2 writing research, reviews the methods and findings of emerging efforts on these dimensions, and discusses how future L2 writing research could attend to these dimensions.