Measuring Lexical and Syntactic Complexities in L2 Writing

Measuring Lexical and Syntactic Complexities in L2 Writing

This paper is intended to provide a concise explanation for measuring lexical and syntactic complexities. Syntactic and lexical constructs are two core building blocks of writing. An overview of the literature shows that it still looks very demanding to find robust, precise and accountable instruments to measure syntactic and lexical developments. Most L2 writing teachers and researchers could only manually estimate and account for a limited number of lexical and syntactic indices or components. On the other hand, in recent years, a good number of highly efficient and effective computational analyzers have been developed to gauge lexical and syntactic complexities. In this paper, we aim to introduce a few of these publicly available analyzers and explore complexities of learner-written essays graphically. We explain how these softwares work and analyze written corpora of L2 learners, what indices and components are the best indicators of lexical and syntactic measurement, which softwares are valid and reliable for measuring lexical and syntactic complexities, and how a learner’s lexical and syntactic developments are pictured through these multiple lenses. As lots of Iranian post-graduate students attend TOEFL or IELTS preparation courses with the aim of improving their writing skill and meeting the stringent requirements of those high-stake exams, TOEFL and IELTS preparation course instructors could employ these analyzers to see how their learners’ writing proficiency develops over the program. In essence, this is a methodology paper offered as a guideline for researchers undertaking syntactic and lexical analyses in L2 writing.

This paper is intended to provide a concise explanation for measuring lexical and syntactic complexities. Syntactic and lexical constructs are two core building blocks of writing. An overview of the literature shows that it still looks very demanding to find robust, precise and accountable instruments to measure syntactic and lexical developments. Most L2 writing teachers and researchers could only manually estimate and account for a limited number of lexical and syntactic indices or components. On the other hand, in recent years, a good number of highly efficient and effective computational analyzers have been developed to gauge lexical and syntactic complexities. In this paper, we aim to introduce a few of these publicly available analyzers and explore complexities of learner-written essays graphically. We explain how these softwares work and analyze written corpora of L2 learners, what indices and components are the best indicators of lexical and syntactic measurement, which softwares are valid and reliable for measuring lexical and syntactic complexities, and how a learner’s lexical and syntactic developments are pictured through these multiple lenses. As lots of Iranian post-graduate students attend TOEFL or IELTS preparation courses with the aim of improving their writing skill and meeting the stringent requirements of those high-stake exams, TOEFL and IELTS preparation course instructors could employ these analyzers to see how their learners’ writing proficiency develops over the program. In essence, this is a methodology paper offered as a guideline for researchers undertaking syntactic and lexical analyses in L2 writing.