Phrasal Syntactic Complexity Measures in Linguistics Research Articles Written by Iraqi and English L1 Writers

Ali Alsahlanee, Paramaswari Jaganathan

Abstract


Complex phrasal structures are considered the distinctive features in the academic writing of high-proficiency writers. The use of more complex phrasal structures increases the quality of the written text. Based on the contrastive rhetorical theory of writing, writers are required to use linguistic components in a specific way that meets the genre of writing. This study aims to investigate and compare the phrasal syntactic complexity measures of the texts of linguistics research articles written by Iraqi and English L1 writers. It identifies if there is a significant difference between the writing of Iraqi and English L1 writers in terms of using phrasal syntactic structures.  This study utilised the corpus-based method to analyse linguistics research articles written by Iraqi and English L1 writers and published from 2016 to 2020. Twelve phrasal syntactic complexity measures were analysed by using the automatic analyser TAASSC. This study revealed a significant difference between the writing of Iraqi and English L1 writers in terms of the analysed phrasal complexity measures. Utilising the complex phrasal structures in Iraqi research articles would significantly contribute to the quality and publication acceptance in reputable international journals. This study is therefore significant to guide Iraqi researchers to improvise their academic writing skills for publication purposes.

 

Keywords: English for research publication purposes ERPP; English L1 writers; linguistics research articles; Iraqi writers; phrasal syntactic complexity


Full Text:

PDF

References


Ai, H., & Lu, X. (2013). A corpus-based comparison of syntactic complexity in NNS and NS university students’ writing. In Automatic treatment and analysis of learner corpus data (pp. 249–264). https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.59.15ai

Alsahlanee, A., & Jaganathan, P. (2022). Lexical complexity in the writings of Iraqi, English L2, and English L1 writers. Asian Journal of University Education, 18(4), 1105–1118. https://doi.org/10.24191/ajue.v18i4.20044

Ansarifar, A., Shahriari, H., & Pishghadam, R. (2018). Phrasal complexity in academic writing: A comparison of abstracts written by graduate students and expert writers in applied linguistics. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 31, 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2017.12.008

Anthony, L. (2017). AntFileConverter (1.2.1). Waseda University.

Barrot, J. S. (2013). Revisiting the role of linguistic complexity in ESL reading comprehension. 3L, Language, Linguistics, Literature, 19(1).

Beers, S. F., & Nagy, W. E. (2009). Syntactic complexity as a predictor of adolescent writing quality: Which measures? Which genre? Reading and Writing, 22(2), 185–200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-007-9107-5

Beers, S. F., & Nagy, W. E. (2011). Writing development in four genres from grades three to seven: syntactic complexity and genre differentiation. Reading and Writing, 24(2), 183–202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9264-9

Bi, P., & Jiang, J. (2020). Syntactic complexity in assessing young adolescent EFL learners’ writings: Syntactic elaboration and diversity. System, 91, 102248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102248

Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2013). Nominalizing the verb phrase in academic science writing. The Verb Phrase in English: Investigating Recent Language Change with Corpora, 9, 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139060998.006

Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English: Linguistic change in writing. Cambridge University Press.

Biber, D., Gray, B., & Poonpon, K. (2011). Should we use characteristics of conversation to measure grammatical complexity in L2 writing development? Tesol Quarterly, 45(1), 5–35. https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2011.244483

Biber, D., Gray, B., & Poonpon, K. (2013). Pay attention to the phrasal structures: Going beyond T-units—A response to WeiWei Yang. Tesol Quarterly, 47(1), 192–201.

Biber, D., Gray, B., & Staples, S. (2016). Predicting patterns of grammatical complexity across language exam task types and proficiency levels. Applied Linguistics, 37(5), 639–668. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amu059

Bulté, B., & Housen, A. (2012). Defining and operationalising L2 complexity. In Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Complexity, accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 21–46). John Benjamins Amsterdam/Philadelphia. https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.32.02bul

Bulté, B., & Housen, A. (2014). Conceptualizing and measuring short-term changes in L2 writing complexity. Journal of Second Language Writing, 26, 42–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2014.09.005

Casal, J. E., & Lee, J. J. (2019). Syntactic complexity and writing quality in assessed first-year L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 44, 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2019.03.005

Casal, J. E., Lu, X., Qiu, X., Wang, Y., & Zhang, G. (2021). Syntactic complexity across academic research article part-genres: A cross-disciplinary perspective. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 52, 100996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2021.100996

Chee Keong, Y., & Mussa, I. H. (2015). Academic writing difficulties of Iraqi postgraduate students in Malaysia. International Journal of Education and Research, 3(6), 25–34.

Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford university press.

Esfandiari, R., & Ahmadi, M. (2021). Syntactic Complexity Measures and Academic Writing Proficiency: A Corpus-based Study of Professional and Students’ Prose. The Journal of AsiaTEFL, 18(3), 745–763.

Espada-Gustilo, L. (2011). Linguistic features that impact essay scores: A corpus linguistic analysis of ESL writing in three proficiency levels. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 17(1), 55–64.

Gray, B. (2015). On the complexity of academic writing: Disciplinary variation and structural complexity. In Corpus-based Research in Applied Linguistics (pp. 49–78). John Benjamins.

Halliday, M. (2004). The Language of Science.–London/N.-Y. Continuum, 140, 158.

Hyland, K. (2003). Second language writing. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667251

Jameel, A. S., & Ahmad, A. R. (2020). Factors impacting research productivity of academic staff at the Iraqi higher education system. International Business Education Journal, 13(1), 108–126. http://ejournal.upsi.edu.my/index.php/IBEJ/article/view/3568

Jasim Al-Shujairi, Y. B., & Tan, H. (2017). Grammar errors in the writing of Iraqi English language learners. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 5(4), 122. https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijels.v.5n.4p.122

Kim, J. (2014). Predicting L2 Writing Proficiency Using Linguistic Complexity Measures: A Corpus-Based Study. English Teaching, 69(4).

Kyle, K. (2016). Measuring syntactic development in L2 writing: Fine grained indices of syntactic complexity and usage-based indices of syntactic sophistication.

Kyle, K., & Crossley, S. (2018). Measuring syntactic complexity in L2 writing using fine-grained clausal and phrasal indices. The Modern Language Journal, 102(2), 333–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12468

Lillis, T., & Curry, M. J. (2015). The politics of English, language and uptake. AILA Review, 28(1), 127–150. https://doi.org/10.1075/aila.28.06lil

Liu, L., & Li, L. (2016). Noun phrase complexity in EFL academic writing: a corpus-based study of postgraduate academic writing. Journal of Asia TEFL, 13(1), 48.

Lu, X. (2010). Automatic analysis of syntactic complexity in second language writing. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 15(4), 474–496. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.15.4.02lu

Lu, X. (2011). A corpus‐based evaluation of syntactic complexity measures as indices of college‐level ESL writers’ language development. TESOL Quarterly, 45(1), 36–62. https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2011.240859

Lu, X. (2014). Computational methods for corpus annotation and analysis. Computational Methods for Corpus Annotation and Analysis, 9789401786454, 1–186. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-8645-4

Lu, X. (2017). Automated measurement of syntactic complexity in corpus-based L2 writing research and implications for writing assessment. Language Testing, 34(4), 493–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265532217710675

Lu, X., & Ai, H. (2015). Syntactic complexity in college-level English writing: Differences among writers with diverse L1 backgrounds. Journal of Second Language Writing, 29, 16–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2015.06.003

Lu, X., Casal, J. E., & Liu, Y. (2020). The rhetorical functions of syntactically complex sentences in social science research article introductions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 44, 100832. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.100832

McNamara, D. S., Crossley, S. A., & McCarthy, P. M. (2010). Linguistic features of writing quality. Written Communication, 27(1), 57–86.

Mohammed, S., Mohammed, H., & Fahim Abdal Hussein. (2015). Grammatical error analysis of Iraqi postgraduate students’ academic writing. International Journal of Education and Research, 3(6), 283–294. www.ijern.com

Nasseri, M. (2021). Is postgraduate English academic writing more clausal or phrasal? Syntactic complexification at the crossroads of genre, proficiency, and statistical modelling. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 49, 100940. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.100940

Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (2009). Towards an organic approach to investigating CAF in instructed SLA: The case of complexity. Applied Linguistics, 30(4), 555–578. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amp044

Ortega, L. (2003). Syntactic complexity measures and their relationship to L2 proficiency: A research synthesis of college‐level L2 writing. Applied Linguistics, 24(4), 492–518. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/24.4.492

Ortega, L. (2015). Syntactic complexity in L2 writing: Progress and expansion. Journal of Second Language Writing, 29, 82–94. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2015.06.008

Pallotti, G. (2015). A simple view of linguistic complexity. Second Language Research, 31(1), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658314536435

Song, R., & Wang, H. (2019). An investigation into the syntactic complexity of Chinese doctoral dissertation abstracts. Journal of PLA University of Foreign Languages, 42, 84–91.

Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.

Tabachnick, B. G., Fidell, L. S., & Ullman, J. B. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (Vol. 5). pearson Boston, MA.

Taguchi, N., Crawford, W., & Wetzel, D. Z. (2013). What linguistic features are indicative of writing quality? A case of argumentative essays in a college composition program. Tesol Quarterly, 47(2), 420–430.

Wang, M., & Lowie, W. (2021). Understanding Advanced Level Academic Writing on Syntactic Complexity. Proceedings of the 35th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation, 452–462. https://aclanthology.org/2021.paclic-1.48

Wolfe-Quintero, K., Inagaki, S., & Kim, H.-Y. (1998). Second language development in writing: Measures of fluency, accuracy, & complexity (Issue 17). University of Hawaii Press.

Wu, X., Mauranen, A., & Lei, L. (2020). Syntactic complexity in English as a lingua franca academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 43, 100798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.100798

Yang, W., Lu, X., & Weigle, S. C. (2015). Different topics, different discourse: Relationships among writing topic, measures of syntactic complexity, and judgments of writing quality. Journal of Second Language Writing, 28, 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2015.02.002

Yin, S., Gao, Y., & Lu, X. (2021). Syntactic complexity of research article part-genres: Differences between emerging and expert international publication writers. System, 97, 102427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102427

Yoon, H.-J., & Polio, C. (2017). The linguistic development of students of English as a second language in two written genres. TESOL Quarterly, 51(2), 275–301. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.296




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/3L-2023-2901-11

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

 

 

eISSN : 2550-2247

ISSN : 0128-5157